NYT REJECTS MCCAIN'S EDITORIAL; SHOULD 'MIRROR' OBAMA

An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.

'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'

MORE

In McCain's submission to the TIMES, he writes of Obama: 'I am dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it... if we don't win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president.'

NYT's Shipley advised McCain to try again: 'I'd be pleased, though, to look at another draft.'

[Shipley served in the Clinton Administration from 1995 until 1997 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter.]

MORE

A top McCain source claims the paper simply does not agree with the senator's Iraq policy, and wants him to change it, not "re-work the draft."

McCain writes in the rejected essay: 'Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. 'I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,' he said on January 10, 2007. 'In fact, I think it will do the reverse.'

MORE

Shipley, who is on vacation this week, explained his decision not to run the editorial.

'The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans.'

Shipley continues: 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.'

Developing...



The DRUDGE REPORT presents the McCain editorial in its submitted form:

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.

To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.

Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military's readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.

No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.

But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.

Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”

The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.

I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.

International Court Charges Sudan President With Genocide

FoxNews.com
Associated Press

This is a significant event in the ongoing sad saga that is Sudan. The declaration of genocide permits foreign or global intervention in a country's internal affairs.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed genocide charges Monday against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.

The filing marked the first time prosecutors at the world's first permanent, global war crimes court have issued charges against a sitting head of state, but al-Bashir is unlikely to be sent to The Hague any time soon. Sudan rejects the court's jurisdiction, and senior Sudanese officials said the prosecutor was politically motivated to file the charges. ...

Taxes - What it means at election 2008 - SCARY

(Compiler's note: Source a friend)

INTERESTING DATA ON TAXES

Proposed changes in taxes after the 2008 General election:

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

MCCAIN
0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.

OBAMA
28% on profit from ALL home sales

How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.

DIVIDEND TAX

MCCAIN 15% (no change)

OBAMA 39.6%

How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.'

INCOME TAX

MCCAIN (no changes)

Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)

Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!

INHERITANCE TAX

MCCAIN 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)

OBAMA Restore the inheritance tax

Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.

NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA

New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet.

New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already)

New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity)

New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....

New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!

You can verify a lot of the above at the following web sites:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

(and there are many more to choose from, just use your favorite search engine)

Bosnian Serb Arrested on War Crimes Charges

The Bosnian Serb wartime president, Radovan Karadzic, one of
the world's most wanted men, has been arrested on war crime
charges, a statement from the office of the Serbian president
said Monday. ...

Shariah Compliant Banks

(Compiler's note: Many emails are asking for a list of banks participating in Sharia finance. I urge you to visit this website. It lists financial institutions here and around the world and the latest information on Sharia finance. rca)

Alpha Natural ResourcesAsset Acceptance Capital Corporation

Aviva Plc

AXA

Barclays PLC

BNP Paribas Group

Citibank, N.A.

Credit Agricole, S.A.

Deutsche Bank AG

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Equity Insurance Group Limited

Goldman Sachs Group

HBOS plc

HSBC Holdings plc

INVESCO Perpetual

Julius Baer Group

Maersk Logistics

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

Morgan Stanley

NYSE Euronext

Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Singapore Power

National Security and Financial Risks: Islamists are attempting to impose Shariah Compliant Finance (SCF) on Western institutions to use our own financial strengths against us. The most serious problem with SCF is that it legitimates and institutionalizes Shariah law (i.e., Islamic law), a theo-political- legal doctrine violently opposed to Western values. With $1 -$2 trillion petrodollars annually looking for an investment home, blind exuberance is driving financial institutions to adopt SCF, without even a minimal baseline for legal compliance. This willful blindness, and lack of both transparency and due diligence may cause SCF to be the next sub-prime crisis, but this time with deadly consequences.

Legal Risks: Western financial institutions which adopt SCF may have criminal and civil exposure to claims of aiding and abetting sedition and the material support of terrorism, securities fraud, consumer fraud, racketeering, and antitrust violations, as well as exposure to tort claims for sedition and terrorism, and for the violation of internationally recognized norms of the law of nations.

Terror Financing Mechanism: SCF as monitored by paid Shariah law advisors to U.S. banking institutions must “purify” certain return on investment (ROI) dollars that do not meet Shariah law standards. This money must be donated to Islamic charities - including some that promote Jihad and support suicide bombing. Investment disclosures state that these profits can be as high as 6% of profits of investments. With $800 billion already in SCF assets, the potential for billions of dollars to be siphoned off for terrorism is real. This would be a serious criminal violation of U.S. law.

Consider this example: Shariah Mutual Funds promote themselves as “ethical funds.” To be Shariah-compliant, they donate “tainted” revenues to Shariah-compliant “charities.” A post 9-11 U.S. investor in a Shariah-compliant “ethical investment” is not told that Shariah law also requires imposing Shariah as U.S. law, execution of gays and female apartheid. Is he a victim of consumer fraud? Is this same post 9-11 investor unwittingly funding terror? The government has shut down the three largest Shariah-compliant charities in the U.S. - the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the Global Relief Foundation - after proving they funded terrorist organizations. The American taxpayer deserves answers to these questions. The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is meeting directly with members of Congress, U.S. regulatory agencies and Wall Street financial institutions in order to ensure the enforcement of existing U.S. laws on sedition, disclosure, material support of terrorism, and money-laundering. CSP is committed to revealing the civil liability and criminal exposure of Shariah law and Shariah-compliant finance.

WHAT IS SHARIAH LAW?
Understanding Shariah law is integral to understanding the dangers of Shariah-compliant finance. Shariah law is Islamic law dating back to the 7th century and is today the law of the land in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and the law under which the Taliban operates. Recent polls reveal that only 10-15% of Muslims worldwide want to live under this all-encompassing system of Islamic jurisprudence that covers all aspects of a Muslim’s life including religious, social, political, and military obligations. However, with a current population of 1.5 billion Muslims, this translates to a huge pool of Jihadist recruits and supporters - a base of approximately 150 - 225 million Muslims. Shariah law authorities, some of whom are now being paid handsomely by Barclays, Dow Jones, Standard & Poors, HSBC, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Deutschebank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse and others have the power to dictate Shariah compliance as deemed by “scholarly consensus” on matters of finance, family, penal law, apostasy, and war. Examples of authoritarian Shariah law include: requirement of women to obtain permission from husbands for daily freedoms; beating of disobedient woman and girls; execution of homosexuals; engagement of polygamy and forced child marriages; the testimony of four male witnesses to prove rape; honor killings of those, principally women, who have dishonored the family; death to apostate Muslims who chose to leave Islam; inferior status of non-Muslims, and capital punishment for those “slander Islam.”

Beware Charismatic Men Who Preach 'Change'

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

Each year I get to celebrate Independence Day twice. On June 30 I celebrate my independence day and on July 4 I celebrate America's. This year is special, because it marks the 40th anniversary of my independence.
On June 30, 1968, I escaped Communist Cuba and a few months later I was in the United States to stay. That I happened to arrive in Richmond on Thanksgiving Day is just part of the story, but I digress.
I've thought a lot about the anniversary this year. The election-year rhetoric has made me think a lot about Cuba and what transpired there. In the late 1950s, most Cubans thought Cuba needed a change, and they were right. So when a young leader came along, every Cuban was at least receptive.
When the young leader spoke eloquently and passionately and denounced the old system, the press fell in love with him. They never questioned who his friends were or what he really believed in. When he said he would help the farmers and the poor and bring free medical care and education to all, everyone followed. When he said he would bring justice and equality to all, everyone said "Praise the Lord." And when the young leader said, "I will be for change and I'll bring you change," everyone yelled, "Viva Fidel!"
But nobody asked about the change, so by the time the executioner's guns went silent the people's guns had been taken away. By the time everyone was equal, they were equally poor, hungry, and oppressed. By the time everyone received their free education it was worth nothing. By the time the press noticed, it was too late, because they were now working for him. By the time the change was finally implemented Cuba had been knocked down a couple of notches to Third-World status. By the time the change was over more than a million people had taken to boats, rafts, and inner tubes. You can call those who made it ashore anywhere else in the world the most fortunate Cubans. And now I'm back to the beginning of my story.
Luckily, we would never fall in America for a young leader who promised change without asking, what change? How will you carry it out? What will it cost America?
Would we?

Manuel Alvarez Jr.
Sandy Hook, VA

Court Confirms President's Dictatorial Powers in Case of US "Enemy Combatant" Ali al-Marri

Wake up, America! On July 15, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled by 5 votes to 4 in the case of Al-Marri v. Pucciarelli (PDF) that the President can arrest US citizens and legal residents inside the United States and imprison them indefinitely, without charge or trial, based solely on his assertion that they are "enemy combatants." Have a little think about it, and you'll see that the Fourth Circuit judges have just endorsed dictatorial powers.

In the words of Judge William B. Traxler, whose swing vote confirmed the court's otherwise divided ruling, "the Constitution generally affords all persons detained by the government the right to be charged and tried in a criminal proceeding for suspected wrongdoing, and it prohibits the government from subjecting individuals arrested inside the United States to military detention unless they fall within certain narrow exceptions ... The detention of enemy combatants during military hostilities, however, is such an exception. If properly designated an enemy combatant pursuant to legal authority of the President, such persons may be detained without charge or criminal proceedings for the duration of the relevant hostilities." ...

Harry Reid Blocking Legislation to Lower Gas Prices

Amid soaring gas prices, President Bush rightly announced on Monday that he would lift a long-standing executive order banning offshore oil drilling in an effort to increase domestic production.

And, he essentially dared Congress to do the same!

But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid responded by telling President Bush, and the American people for that matter, to DROP DEAD!

Here's what President Bush said:

"When Congress lifts the legislative ban, I will lift the executive prohibition... The only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress. Now the ball is squarely in Congress' court... For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. And now Americans are paying at the pump." [Emphasis Mine]

But according to media reports, Reid came right out and said he would BLOCK any amendments to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. Rather, Reid is vowing to ram through legislation that could ADD 30 PERCENT TO THE COST OF CRUDE OIL!

According to CQ Politics:

"House and Senate Democratic leaders plan to bring energy legislation to the floor this week, using procedural tactics designed to block Republicans from offering amendments that would lift the drilling ban." [Emphasis Mine]

"In the Senate, Democrats hope to take up as early as Wednesday a still-un-drafted bill that would tighten regulation of speculation in energy futures, which some lawmakers contend adds as much as 30 percent to the price of crude oil. [Emphasis Mine]

"Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said he would block any effort to propose amendments to the bill that did not deal directly with the speculation issue."

You read that right!

Harry Reid is essentially saying that he will BLOCK any legislation to drill for oil unless conservatives agree to pass legislation that would potentially DRIVE UP the price of gas at the pump.

And he may be BLOCKING this legislation as you read this letter!

But guess what? You are making a HUGE difference!

According to the same article:

"With gasoline prices continuing a steady rise, Republicans have intensified their calls for more offshore drilling in the face of polls that show growing public support. Republicans claim Democratic leaders are trying to hold off votes on drilling out of fears that some members are shifting positions." [Emphasis Mine]

The credit for that shift is YOURS! Your calls and Blast Faxes have had a tremendous effect!

Now let's FINISH the job! Let's deluge these congressional leaders RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW!

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

Send your blast faxes now

AOL Members Can Also Use This Hyperlink

If the above hyperlinks do not appear to function, copy and paste the first hyperlink into the address bar of your browser.

Did Domenici Actually Call Harry Reid A Chicken?

At a press conference, Senator Lamar Alexander said:

"After today's announcement by the president, the only hurdle left to beginning offshore exploration is congressional action, and it's time for the Democratic leadership to listen to the millions of Americans who are demanding we begin today."

Then, Senator Pete Dominici turned to Alexander and said:

"Does it seem to you like it does to me like Harry Reid is either scared chicken to have a vote, or has decided that he's going to dictate to the United States Senate? I don't know if you'll use the word 'chicken,' but I will because that's what he's saying: He's saying, 'I'm frightened by the idea that we're going to actually have a vote on a new plan for this huge, huge, reserve of gas and oil that belongs to none other than the people of the United States.' "

If Domenici is right and Reid is "chicken," maybe it's because he's looking at the polls.

Rasmussen, June 17: 67% Favor, 18% Oppose ("67% Support Offshore Drilling, 64% Believe It Will Lower Prices")

Reuters/Zogby, June 18: 60% Favor, 40% Oppose ("Most Americans support more oil drilling")

Gallup Poll, June 19: 57% Favor, 41% Oppose ("Majority of Americans Support Drilling Off-Limits Areas")

Pew Research Center, July 2: 57% Favor, 41% Oppose ("As Gas Prices Pinch, Support for Energy Exploration Rises")

And it's not just conservatives... If you look closely at the data from the liberal Pew Research Center poll, you'll notice that even liberals are fed-up!

The numbers are up for Democrats by 16 points, from 30 to 46%. The numbers for Liberals are up by 23 points (more than double), from 22 to 45%. Independents up 19 points, from 31 to 50%. Women up 18 points, from 28 to 46%. Young (18-29) up 25 points, from 26 to 51% -- most of any age group. College grads up 17 points, from 30 to 47%

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid strut in front of TV cameras, proclaiming they are "for the people."

Yet, their actions proclaim otherwise!

If liberals in Congress want to commit political suicide, that's one thing. But we can't let them take down the entire nation as well.

Let's send them that message. Let's drive it home RIGHT NOW!

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

Send your blast faxes now

AOL Members Can Also Use This Hyperlink

If the above hyperlinks do not appear to function, copy and paste the first hyperlink into the address bar of your browser.

A Little Recent History Is In Order...

Here's what our liberal legislators have done over the past several weeks.

First, liberals attempted unsuccessfully to pass the so-called Boxer Climate Bill.

But it wasn't a "Climate Bill" at all. In actuality, it was really just a huge liberal plot to increase taxes. Here's how Sen. Mitch McConnell described it:

"It is, at its heart, a stealth and giant tax on virtually every aspect of industrial and consumer life. It would result in massive job losses. And it seeks to radically alter consumer behavior, without any measurable benefit to the environment in return."

"And that's why it's so hard to comprehend the Majority's decision to move to a bill, at the start of the summer driving season, that would raise the price of gas by as much as $1.40 a gallon, home electricity bills by about 44 percent, and natural gas prices by about 20 percent."

"Overall, it's expected to result in GDP losses totaling as much as $2.9 trillion by 2050."

Yup, leave it to Barbara Boxer and other liberals in Congress to increase taxes when the price of gasoline at the pump is almost beyond the ability of most Americans to afford it!

But fortunately, because patriotic Americans like you made your voices heard, that bill died an unceremonious death!

But then -- without missing a beat -- several days later, Senate liberals tried to slip through ANOTHER TAX BILL-- masquerading as energy policy.

What were they thinking: Did they wink and chuckle at each other and say:

"Now that the Boxer Bill has failed, they won't be expecting another attempt so soon?"

Fortunately, that measure failed as well!

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

Send your blast faxes now

AOL Members Can Also Use This Hyperlink

If the above hyperlinks do not appear to function, copy and paste the first hyperlink into the address bar of your browser.

Meanwhile... In the House of Representatives...

On the House side, Congressman John Peterson introduced an amendment that would have extended the limits of offshore drilling.

Surely, Peterson thought, liberals had gotten the message. The crisis facing our nation was too grave, too painful for "politics as usual." This time he was certain his amendment would pass.

It didn't.

After the defeat of his amendment, Peterson said:

"I was stunned today. I didn't expect this to happen. A lot of Democrats who supported us voted against the amendment. All six Republicans voted 'aye' and all nine Democrats voted 'nay.' I think 'Pelosi Power' was lurking. They were strong-armed from above."

These days, Pelosi Power rules Capitol Hill. San Francisco values are the values of today. It's DOWN with people and UP with the snail darter, the Wyoming toad, and the Colorado squawfish.

Left-wing fanatics and environmental whackos are thumbing their noses at their fellow citizens -- a growing number of whom can barely afford to drive to work.

And, as analyst Stephen Schork recently predicted,

"If you think your gasoline bills are expensive now, wait till you get your home heating bill this winter."

As a consequence of Pelosi-Reid-inspired policies, the time has come to put middle-and lower-income Americans on the Endangered Species list.

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

Send your blast faxes now

AOL Members Can Also Use This Hyperlink

If the above hyperlinks do not appear to function, copy and paste the first hyperlink into the address bar of your browser.

But Here's The Icing On The Cake&

Senator Obama and a gaggle of liberal legislators started stumping for a windfall tax on oil... a strategy guaranteed to do only one thing... raise the price of gasoline.

A generation ago, the Carter Administration imposed just such a tax and the results were disastrous: a reduced incentive to drill for oil, a drop in domestic production, severe shortages, and long lines at the pump.

Obama was a teenager at the time, but you'd think he'd remember.

These actions raise a chilling question: "Are liberals actually TRYING to drive up gas prices?"

For years the Greenies have been down on their knees, begging for higher gasoline prices. In the Energy Bulletin, Hamish McRae published an article with a title that says it all:

"Oil at $100 a barrel will do more to save the planet than all the wind farms in the world."

With the price of oil hovering around $140 per barrel, is the earth safe yet?

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter wrote:

"Democrats couldn't care less about high gas prices. The consistent policy of the Democratic Party, going back at least to Jimmy Carter, has been to jack up gas prices so we can all start pedaling around on tricycles."

"Environmentalists are constantly clamoring for higher gas taxes as the cure-all to their insane global warming theory. Clinton proposed a 26-cent tax on gas. John Kerry said it should be 50 cents. Gore endorsed the Malthusian proposal of Paul and Anne Ehrlich in 'The Population Explosion' that gas taxes be raised gradually to match prices in Europe and Japan."

Coulter continued:

"Democrats have worked hard to ensure that Americans pay as much for gas as Europeans do. After a quarter-century of gas tax hikes, a ban on drilling for oil and a complete destruction of the nuclear power industry in America, I guess liberals can declare: Mission accomplished! "

"In response to skyrocketing gas prices, liberals say, practically in unison, 'We can't drill our way out of this crisis.'

"What does that mean? This is like telling a starving man, 'You can't eat your way out of being hungry!' 'You can't water your way out of drought!' 'You can't sleep your way out of tiredness!' 'You can't drink yourself out of dehydration!'

"Seriously, what does it mean? Finding more oil isn't going to increase the supply of oil?

"It is the typical Democratic strategy to babble meaningless slogans, as if they have a plan."

In other words, the higher the price at the pump. the fewer the drivers on the road.

Of course, those who can no longer afford gasoline will inevitably be the poor.

But, as Al Gore would say, "Let them ride buses."

Use the hyperlink below to send your urgent and personal Blast Fax messages to President George W. Bush and EACH and EVERY Member of the Leadership of both house of Congress.

Tell them to stop their evasions. Tell them to stop ducking the issue. Tell them there is absolutely NO EXCUSE NOT to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. The American people do NOT need to pay high gas prices at the pump or freeze this winter or pay outrageous prices for food at the grocery store simply because liberal politicians want to pass their failed left-wing agenda on the backs of the American people.

Send your blast faxes now

AOL Members Can Also Use This Hyperlink

If the above hyperlinks do not appear to function, copy and paste the first hyperlink into the address bar of your browser.

Yours In Freedom,

Jeff Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom

P.S. Please help us reach as many concerned Americans as possible by forwarding this e-mail to at least 10 of your friends and family members.

The CFIF Action Alert is a service to the conservative community. If you would like to subscribe please click here.

Center for Individual Freedom
113 S. Columbus St., Suite 310
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-535-5836
Fax:703-535-5838

CFIF is a 501(c)(4) not-for-profit constitutional advocacy organization with
the mission to protect and defend individual freedoms and individual rights.

Contributions to CFIF are
not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
Contributions may be deductible as a business expense.

Powered by GrassTopsUSA

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Tells Americans To Expect Tough Months Ahead

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sought to reassure an anxious public Sunday that the banking system is sound, while also bracing people for more troubled times ahead.

"I think it's going to be months that we're working our way through this period _ clearly months," he said.

Paulson said the number of troubled banks will increase as they struggle to cope with big losses on bad mortgages. The government this month took over IndyMac after a run led it to become the largest regulated thrift to fail.

"Of course the list is going to grow longer given the stresses we have in the marketplace, given the housing correction. But again, it's a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation," he said in broadcast interviews.

Paulson used appearances on the Sunday talk shows to tell people that deposits up to $100,000 are fully insured. He said no one has lost a single penny on an insured deposit in the 75 years that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has operated.

"We're going through a challenging time with our economy. This is a tough time. The three big issues we're facing right now are, first, the housing correction which is at the heart of the slowdown; secondly, turmoil of the capital markets; and thirdly, the high oil prices, which are going to prolong the slowdown," he said.

"But remember, our economy has got very strong long-term fundamentals, solid fundamentals. And you know, your policy-makers here, regulators, we're being very vigilant."

Paulson said he hoped Congress soon would approve his plan to help shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage companies

Worse than 1000 Atomic Bombs

We incessantly worry about Iran?s nuclear development program and the global ramifications of nuclear bombs in the hands of an Islamic fascist regime. This apprehension is primarily based on the supremacist eschatological ideology of the Iranian political leadership. The problem essentially is not the development of atomic bombs by Iran but their potential use.

There are today thousands of nuclear weapons all over the world, most of them much more destructive than those Iran might produce in the foreseeable future -- yet we have little reason to worry about them. The problem is the ideology and not the technology.

There is little doubt that Israel will be a major target for Iranian attack or blackmail once Iran acquires atomic bombs. But the global problem is much larger by far. Even if Iran was prevented from acquiring nuclear warfare capability by a preemptive Israeli strike or otherwise, the existential danger to Israel will not disappear. Israel is being threatened by Islamist ideology more than by Islamist weapons.

The same ideology might prompt the use of other destructive terrorizing technologies to achieve the same goal: Destabilizing and ultimately destroying Israel and all other non-Islamic civilizations. For instance, the coordinated poisoning of thousands of innocent citizens by toxins, or the spread of virulent epidemics in numerous urban centers, might have a far greater devastating effect on an industrial nation than the destruction of a city by a nuclear blast. Even if such terrorist acts were sporadic, they would readily become unnerving, disruptive and destabilizing. ...

America is Not Post–Anything

By Victor Davis Hanson

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | In the last 20 years, we were lectured constantly about "post-industrial" America.

Experts proclaimed that the United States had evolved into an "information society" of "high-tech jobs." The traditional sources of American strength — manufacturing, the production of food and fuel, and the assembling of cars and trucks — were apparently passe. Instead, others less fortunate abroad were to do those more grubby tasks, while Americans, with their BlackBerrys and laptops, funded, organized, lectured and critiqued them.

Illegal aliens might cook our meals or change our children's diapers to free us up for far more important tasks of litigation, finance and environmental review. The Chinese would make everything from our shoes to our phones. The Japanese would supply us with quality high-end goods like cars and cameras. The Africans, Arabs, Iranians, Russians and Venezuelans would drill oil in nasty, dirty places so we wouldn't have to.

Even our food — which would be always in season — would increasingly be shipped in from Mexico and South America.

Refined Americans became more concerned over questions of gender, race and class justice in our universities and courtrooms, as if the chief problem were only dividing the American pie equitably, rather than expanding it.

The real source of American wealth apparently was the mere fact that we were Americans. Therefore, the rest of the world should naturally loan us money to sustain our envied lifestyle. Our homes got bigger, and we bought and sold them more as investments than as places to raise our families.

Our top graduates opted for Wall Street, insurance, law, journalism and academia. Why not, when laws made it more conducive to invest and trade, but harder and less lucrative to build, drill, farm and manufacture?

American universities bragged that they were teaching the world how to design and engineer — as our own kids gravitated to law and management schools. We relied on a paternalistic government to regulate what we shouldn't do rather than turn to our best and brightest private citizens to show us what we could.

Alas, no successful civilization in history — Greece, Rome, England, France, the list goes on — ever found prosperity through its bureaucrats and lawyers.

The result of all this growing American laxity and condescension so far is mixed.

The good news, aside from the fact that Americans have never had it so good, is that millions in China are no longer starving. Japan talks of marketing hybrid cars, not re-establishing its old "Co-Prosperity Sphere." The Persian Gulf looks more like Las Vegas than the badlands of Waziristan. Billions in the new globalized world are now emulating the American middle class, which, for all the caricatures, still represents freedom and affluence for so many.

The downside, of course, is a growing collective panic here at home, over whether such undeniable progress is sustainable when America is up to its neck in debt, dependent on foreign energy and plagued by self-doubt and inaction.

Our 21st-century paralysis is surprising. The United States is not materially exhausted. We sit atop trillions of dollars worth of untapped oil, gas, coal, shale and tar sands.

America could mine more uranium, and reprocess fuels to build hundreds of nuclear plants. American agriculture is blessed with the world's best soils, most developed irrigation systems, and most productive and astute farmers.

There is as much sun and wind in the western United States as anywhere in the world. We have plenty of natural resources and the know-how to make all the wood, steel and cement products we need.

A new, hungrier generation of Americans will have to want to reclaim our pre-eminence and change the national attitude. It must be ready to pay off generations of debt rather than borrow, build rather than sue, and drill rather than whine.

It's time to honor rather than avoid and outsource physical labor. Our children are healthy enough to cut our own lawns and pick our fruit. Let's also hope they want to hear a lot more about Gen. David Petraeus' success, and a lot less of Madonna's latest psychodramas.

But just as importantly, what Americans need now is leadership to get moving again — rather than more platitudes about hope, squabbling about race and gender, and endless rhetoric about who is really a maverick or a true conservative or the most liberal. What we need to know from our two presidential candidates are specifics about how to jumpstart America.

So, how many more barrels of oil, refineries and megawatts will America produce —and when and how? How much debt will the next administration retire — and when and how. How and when will our schools return to knowledge-based rather than the present (and failing) therapeutic curriculum?

Americans, in short, should be tired of hearing that we are a post-industrial, postmodern, post-anything society. Instead, we want to be known again as a can-do producer nation that sweats as much as it thinks. And the confident presidential candidate who can best assure us of that will surely win this election.

Academia to high schools: No God allowed

Arguments were heard today in a federal district court case to determine whether a state university system can dictate that private Christian schools in the state teach their college prep courses from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks.

As WND reported earlier, the University of California system adopted a policy last year that basic science, history, and literature textbooks by major Christian book publishers wouldn't qualify for core admissions requirements because of the inclusion of Christian perspectives.

Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that the university's discriminatory policy creates an ultimatum for Christian schools. "If you want courses to be approved in private education, so your students are qualified to attend (UC) institutions, you must teach from a secular point of view," he said. ...

Muslim Moles

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY ... In a sign background checks are far too lax, an alarming number of Arabs and Muslims have landed sensitive government jobs only to be caught later spying for the enemy.

Guarding against penetration by terrorist agents and sympathizers should be a top concern of public agencies, but it's not. Guarding against charges of job discrimination is.

Multiculturalism and political correctness have made it easier for the terrorists to use Arabs and Muslims to infiltrate the government and steal security secrets.

In the latest example, a former city 911 operator faces multiple felony counts for allegedly searching the names of friends and relatives on the FBI's terrorist watch list.

Nadire P. Zenelaj, an ethnic Albanian, says she's being singled out because she is Muslim. "I feel they targeted me because of my religion," she said.

No, she was investigated for looking up classified information on her confederates. At least one of the 227 names she checked was on the terrorist watch list, according to Rochester, N.Y., police.

A D.C.-area cop recently was convicted of doing the same thing.

Federal prosecutors say Fairfax County Police Sgt. Weiss Rasool, an Afghan immigrant, tipped off a fellow mosque member that he was under FBI investigation. When agents went to arrest the terrorist target early one morning they found him and his family already dressed and destroying evidence. They knew they had a mole and worked back through the system to find Rasool.

Thanks to post-9/11 data-sharing, local police like Rasool — as well as first responders like Zenelaj — now have access to classified FBI files on terror suspects maintained with the NCIC, or National Crime Information Center system.

Prosecutors said Rasool's actions "damaged the integrity of the NCIC system and jeopardized at least one federal investigation."

That's not all. In May, the Energy Department had to revoke the security clearance of an Egyptian-born nuclear physicist because of "conflicting allegiances." The FBI questioned Moniem El-Ganayni, also a Muslim prison chaplain, for allegedly inciting inmates to carry out jihad against the U.S., charges he denies.

Still, such questioning should've taken place before El-Ganayni got acccess to nuclear secrets. It's likely his extracurricular activities would have been enough of a red flag to bar his employment.

Same goes for an EPA toxicologist who turned out to be an al-Qaida fundraiser.

Waheeda Tehseen would never have been hired at all if the feds hadn't cut corners on her background check. Not only did Tehseen's husband work for Pakistani intelligence, but she lied about her U.S. citizenship on her government application. EPA missed it.

Then there's the case of Hezbollah spy Nadia Prouty. The Lebanese immigrant also lied about her citizenship and was hired anyway by both the FBI and CIA.

The good news is, these moles were caught. But they should have been screened out before they could ever get in and do damage.

Socialism: Still a dirty word

In the 1950s, the word "socialism" was as vulgar as the four-letter words, which, when uttered by a youngster, could result in a mouthful of soap. Not so today. Perhaps contemporary acceptance of the term is the result of tolerance lessons, or political correctness that permeates progressive thought today. It could be ignorance; schools no longer teach the flaws of socialism. Or, what's even worse, today's acceptance of the term is more likely to be acceptance of the system.

When Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., blurted out in a congressional hearing that she was ready to "socialize" the oil industry, it caused only a minor ripple in the media. There's no way of knowing, of course, whether any school teachers seized on the event to discuss with their students why government should, or should not, follow Ms. Waters' advice and "socialize" the industry. This would have been a great teaching opportunity.

Had a representative made such a suggestion in the 1950s, she might not have been allowed to complete her term, and almost certainly would not have been re-elected. Civics teachers across the nation would have pounced on the opportunity to explain why socialism must never be allowed to penetrate the American system of government. Many of today's teachers may not know why socialism should be avoided. Or worse, they may believe socialism should be embraced.

As frustrating and painful as it is to pay $4 per gallon for gasoline, Maxine Waters' medicine would be far worse than the disease. The price of gasoline is determined by the amount people are willing to pay for the available supply. As the supply diminishes, the people who need gasoline are willing to pay ever-higher prices, as long as they can. When they can no longer pay the price, they do not use the product. When they stop buying, the supply increases by the exact quantity they no longer purchase. The more people who are priced out of the market, the less demand there is, and the more supply is available, which tends to put downward pressure on the price. ...

Islam Bullish In A Bear Market

The Amana funds, invested according to Sharia, have more than doubled since 2003, to $1.3 billion. ...

Anything that grows 'can convert into oil'

After three years of clandestine development, a Georgia company is now going public with a simple, natural way to convert anything that grows out of the Earth into oil.

J.C. Bell, an agricultural researcher and CEO of Bell Bio-Energy, Inc., says he's isolated and modified specific bacteria that will, on a very large scale, naturally change plant material – including the leftovers from food – into hydrocarbons to fuel cars and trucks.

"What we're doing is taking the trash like corn stalks, corn husks, corn cobs – even grass from the yard that goes to the dump – that's what we can turn into oil," Bell told WND. "I'm not going to make asphalt, we're only going to make the things we need. We're going to make gasoline for driving, diesel for our big trucks." ...

"We're actually gonna tell people how we do it, with streaming video. We're to the point now with our patent that we can say more and we fully intend to.

"We want to develop public support so they can understand what we're doing; to develop political support, because this is a combination of making the United States more independent from foreign oil sources; make [the country] healthier from an economic point of view; and it goes a long way to solving the environmental problems a lot of people are concerned about."

When asked why he thought no one else has patented this process, Bell answered, "It literally is because it's too simple. Everyone was looking for a real complicated mechanism. We looked at how it occurs naturally. But it's now going to develop in a hurry."

Recalling other great inventions, Bell cited on another person with his last name.

"Alexander Graham Bell put together stuff that was already on the shelf and made a phone. I don't want to compare myself to the great inventors. I'm not there yet, but to be able to look at simple things and create things from them, that's how we think in this company."

McCain's war buddy riles Muslims

One of John McCain's fellow Vietnam POWs compared Muslims to terrorists during a defense of the Iraq War on Friday, saying ``The Muslims have said either we kneel or they're going to kill us.''

Col. Bud Day riled Muslim leaders with the remarks made in a conference call with reporters arranged by the Republican Party of Florida on McCain's behalf.

He added: ``I don't intend to kneel and I don't advocate to anybody that we kneel, and John doesn't advocate to anybody that we kneel.'' ...

Al-Qaida assassination plot on Bush revealed

JERUSALEM – On the heels of a visit here next week by Sen. Barack Obama, Israel today announced it arrested six Arabs who allegedly were plotting to assassinate President Bush on behalf of al-Qaida. ...

Top physics group shows crack in warming 'consensus'

---

Lord Monckton (DailyTech.com)

In another strike against the conventional assertion of a consensus on global warming, a publication of an organization representing more than 50,000 physicists acknowledges many members of the scientific community don't believe humans are the primary cause of climate change.

The editor of Physics & Society, a newsletter of the American Physical Society, says that with his July issue he wants to kick off a debate concerning one of the main conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC.

The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year along with former Vice President Al Gore for sounding the alarm about alleged man-made global warming. Yesterday, in a speech at Constitution Hall in Washington, Gore challenged the U.S. to make a "man on the moon" effort to produce all of the country's electricity from renewable resources within 10 years.

But Physics & Society Editor Jeffrey Marque says there's a "considerable presence within the scientific community" of experts who don't agree with the IPCC's contention human-produced CO2 emissions likely are the primary cause of global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution. ...

Father: 'System' killing my disabled daughter

the courts in Delaware are considering whether to designate that Lauren is in a persistent vegetative state, even though, "We've had doctors look at her … There are possibilities with treatments. But she's not getting treatments."

"The state does not allow this for prisoners. If they had treated a dog this way, they would be doing jail time," ...

"With therapy, she might be eating [by herself] within a couple months," he said. "Right now they're trying to hang her out to dry."

He said he's identified treatments that could be tried and therapy that could be attempted, and he's offered to provide the care his daughter needs, but has been rejected.

"My daughter has been there for 16 months. I've had enough," he said. "I'm really ticked about it. This Medicaid thing is paying huge numbers to keep her in this home when she could be at my home for nothing."

Even now, without substantive treatment, he said, "She has been trying to sit up and also has tried to verbalize. She looks good, is loving, she cries, she can giggle, she can't talk but does try to verbalize, we can tell when she's in pain or uncomfortable."

He previously posted a YouTube video of her, which can be seen here:

...the court-appointed lawyers have now banned him from showing any pictures or videos which reflect Lauren's condition.

... "it is becoming increasingly apparent that persons who are suffering from severe brain injuries often have cognitive functions significantly beyond what medical science previously estimated."

Finally, they determine, "it is also becoming increasingly apparently that the diagnosis of 'persistent vegetative state' or 'PVS' is a category that recent science shows is far more uncertain and overly broad than had been previously thought, including a high rate of misdiagnoses of PVS patients who have not been able to exhibit responses, but whose consciousness can now sometimes be measured."

Vile MSNBC Host Calls America's Most Decorated Veteran a Clown

I really hate to give this man any attention but this stunt was so over the top that it could not be ignored...
Blogs For McCain posted this clip of MSNBC Host Keith Olbermann attacking Col. Bud Day, America's most decorated war veteran: ...