Federal Judge Rules ObamaCare is ALL Unconstitutional (PDF of Judge Ruling)

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi News Release: U.S. District Court Judge Finds the Federal Health Care Law Unconstitutional TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced that Florida, along with 25 other states and the National Federation of Independent Business, prevailed in federal court where Judge Roger Vinson struck down the federal health care law as unconstitutional. The Attorney General’s Office filed the lawsuit in response to President Obama signing the Health Care Reform Bill into law last March. “Today’s ruling by Judge Vinson is an important victory for every person who believes in the freedoms granted to us by our Constitution,” said Attorney General Bondi. “This proves that the federal government requiring Americans to purchase health insurance is in fact unconstitutional. In addition, the bipartisan effort from Attorneys General across the country shows the federal government that we will not back down from protecting the constitutional rights of our citizens.” The lawsuit, filed last March, alleged the new law infringed upon the constitutional rights of Floridians and residents of the other states by mandating all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage or pay a penalty. The law would also coerce citizens into an expansive Medicaid program which would result in enormous costs to taxpayers. “NFIB is extremely pleased with Judge Vinson’s decision,” said Bill Herrle, executive director of NFIB/Florida. “NFIB joined this case to protect the rights of small-business owners to own, operate, and grow their businesses free from unconstitutional government intervention. The individual mandate gives the federal government entirely too much power. Small business owners are delighted Judge Vinson agreed with NFIB and Attorney General Bondi on this critical issue.” A copy of today’s ruling is available at: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/JDAS-8DMNTD/$file/VinsonRuling1312011.pdf Unfortunately that’s not the end…the Left will surely take this fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. Michelle Malkin has more.
RELATED - ObamaCare Lawsuit Site - Obamacare waiver beneficiaries (If ObamaCare is so good, why are people asking to be exempted.)

CHAOS IN EGYPT: News Roundup

Updated by FactReal on Feb. 17, 2011
WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH EGYPT? Egyptian leaders’ dilema:  “It’s a trap with two sides: On the one hand, the regime understands that hatred of Israel remains the string that binds an unhappy and increasingly fractious country together, and it has been perfectly happy to allow an otherwise censored media free rein in this department. On the other, the regime has to pay the increasingly steep political price of allying itself with Israel, as it essentially did in the 2006 war in Lebanon and the 2009 war in Gaza.” Will Egyptians choose freedom and democracy or let radical Islamists (i.e., Muslim Brotherhood) take control of their government and nation. Will the Obama Administration orchestrate a replay of the 1979 Iranian revolution? Mid-December 2010 - Al-Qaeda Released Statement Targeting Alexandria Church 2 Weeks Ago 12/31/2010, Friday - Car Bomb Kills 21 Christians Leaving Church in Egypt After New Year’s Mass (Video) - Islamic anger and intolerance led to attack on Coptic Church 1/16/2011, Sunday - Egypt Stocks Drop on Concern Tunisia Unrest May Spread 1/18/2011, Tuesday - Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution: A Harbinger of Future Uprisings? 1/22/2011, Saturday - Obama Administration Lifts US Ban on Muslim Brotherhood Leader:  “The Barack Obama administration has decided to lift a ban preventing Muslim Scholar Professor Tariq Ramadan from entering the United States. Ramadan, an Egyptian currently living in Switzerland, is a leading member of Europe’s Muslim Brotherhood branch and the grandson of the movement’s founder Hassan al-Banna. The Muslim Brotherhood is the parent organization for Hamas and some of the groups that recently merged into al-Qaeda, including Ayman al Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad.”  The Obama administration “has now decided to lift the ban and possibly allow both Ramadan and South African Muslim activist Professor Adam Habib onto American soil. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters that the government no longer views Ramadan or Habib as representing threats to the United States. “The next time Professor Ramadan or Professor Habib apply for a visa, they will not be found inadmissible on the basis of the facts that led to denial when they last applied.”   1/25/2011, Tuesday - Egypt Protests: “Some 20,000 demonstrators, complaining of poverty, unemployment, corruption and repression and inspired by this month’s downfall of the president of Tunisia, had turned out in cities across Egypt on Tuesday to demand that Mubarak step down…Egypt’s population of 80 million is growing by 2 percent a year. About 60 percent of the population — and 90 percent of the unemployed — are under 30 years old…About 40 percent live on less than $2 a day, and a third are illiterate.” - Hillary Clinton: “Mubarak’s government is stable” “Washington, a close ally of Egypt and a major donor, called for restraint.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mubarak’s government was stable and seeking ways to meet Egyptians’ needs…[O]ur assessment is that the Egyptian Government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.” (Via State Dept.: http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/01/155280.htm) 1/26/2011, Wednesday - Egyptian Regime Bans Protests After Massive Unrest Video: Protester shot…but who shot him? 1/27/2011, Thursday - As Usual…Obama’s Response to the Egyptian Crisis Is Late & Pathetically Weak (Video): “Egypt’s been an ally of ours on a lot of critical issues…It is very important that people have mechanisms in order to express their grievances,” Obama said in an interview being broadcast live on YouTube: (Full video: http://www.youtube.com/worldview?utm_source=SEM&utm_medium=BKWS&utm_campaign=Obama  (Video mark 16:45)) - Joe Biden expresses support for Mubarak 1/28/2011, Friday - Game Changer: The Muslim Brotherhood join the protests: “The Muslim Brotherhood, which doesn’t have any qualms about completely misrepresenting itself and its aims in order to achieve its goals, is thus ideally positioned to take advantage of the chaos that would follow Mubarak’s ouster. And, because Egypt is a much more powerful nation than most Middle Eastern states thanks to years of American aid and support, if the Muslim Brotherhood grabbed control in Egypt it would be a disaster along the lines of Khomeini taking over in Iran.” - The Muslim Brotherhood – the radical Islamic supremacist group - Protests get violent after noon prayers - Mubarak Calls Out Army Against Unrest. Protesters shaked hands with the soldiers, and chanted: “The army and the people are united” and “The revolution has come.” - Beware: ElBaradei - friend of the Muslim Brotherhood: “ElBaradei is a radical himself to some extent. During his time with the International Atomic Energy Agency, he oftentimes served as an apologist for Iran’s nuclear program. He hasn’t shown himself to be a friend of the United States. The “loose alliance” he has established with the Muslim Brotherhood, the ideological grandfather to al Qaeda, is a mile-wide red flag that if he succeeds Mubarak, Egypt will probably fall out of alliance with the US and Israel and will likely fall into Iran’s orbit.” - Iranian Regime Hails New Islamic Middle East Taking Shape: “Tehran Friday Prayer Leader has said that the United States’ dream of creating a new Middle East under its domination did not come true and a new Middle East, based on Islamic principles, is taking shape…Ayatollah Khatami told worshippers at the Tehran University campus, ‘Today, an Islamic Middle East is taking shape and this is a new Middle East which is based on Islam, religion, and religious democracy’…Ayatollah Khatami also said that the recent developments in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and other Arab states echo the 1979 Islamic Revolution.” - Obama admin. plays every angle - Cynicism: In Phone Call Obama Lectures Mubarak On Economics and Makes Egypt About Himself: ‘When I was in Cairo Shortly After I was Elected President, I Said…’ 1/29/2011, Saturday - Obama Doctrine is Failing in the Middle East - More Video of the Night Violence, Fires and Clashes in Cairo Egypt - Chaos in Cairo – Massive Protests Resume In Egypt - IRANIAN REGIME Urges Egypt to Exercise Restraint Against Democracy Protesters…This comes from the same regime that in 2009 was shooting at democracy protesters from rooftops. - It’s Obama’s Fault… Looters Break Into King Tut Museum & Destroy Artifacts - Photos of Egyptian museum damage - Egyptian Spy Chief Omar Suleiman Appointed VP (Video) - El-Baradei Lashes Out at US & Urges Mubarak to Step Down Today - Muslim Brotherhood: Arabs Will Topple Leaders Allied With the US - Obama & MSM partying while Egypt burns Obama=Carter - OBAMA-CARTER Redux in the Middle East: “In Year One, Carter invested all the international prestige of his presidency in diplomacy and image-making. His energy was dedicated almost exclusively to ‘making nice’ on the world stage. It’s what drove his actions in the Israeli-Egyptian peace process, at strategic-arms limitation talks and in negotiating the Panama Canal Treaty.” Then Carter stood by impotently as violence engulfed Iran, revolutionaries danced in the rubble of the U.S. embassy, and Americans were held hostage. Equally controversial and damaging for Carter was the American response to the Kawangju student protests in South Korea. As the senior U.S. commander at the time recalled, “It was a setback to the democratization process in the [Republic of Korea] and a poor harbinger for the human rights goals that were central to President Carter’s foreign policy.” - Obama=Carter: Egypt Is the New Iran - Obama admin. mixed signals: Vice President Joe Biden denied that President Mubarak was a dictator, in an interview with the PBS News Hour, and stated that Mubarak should not step aside. Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on Fox News and urged the start of an “orderly transition” to bring about a “democratic, participatory government” while stopping short of calling for Mubarak’s ouster. - Muslim Brotherhood Announces They Will Support El-Baradei - Egyptian Miltary Jets Fly Low Over Cairo - Frightening: Muslim Brotherhood Militants Escape From Prison in Egypt (Video) - Saudi King Told Obama Not to Humiliate Mubarak (Full article) 1/30/2011, Sunday - Two Christian Families Massacred by Muslims - Video: London’s Muslim Brotherhood Rep. Calls for Civil Disobedience, Including “Halting Passage through the Suez Canal… and Preparing for War with Israel”: “I am absolutely certain that this revolution will not die, and that the next step must be one of civil disobedience. This civil disobedience will generate strife among the Egyptians. This disobedience must include halting passage through the Suez Canal, stopping the supply of petroleum and natural gas to Israel, and preparing for war with Israel,” Muhammad Ghanem said to Al-Alam TV (Iran) (Transcript) - Escaped convicts and looters on the streets - Less like a rebellion for democracy…more like radical Muslim takeover: “The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to establish an Islamist state in Egypt, has made some statements that it was willing to let ElBaradei act as point man for the movement. But it also appeared to be moving for a more prominent role after lying low when the protests first erupted. On Sunday evening, the presence of overtly pious Muslims in the square was conspicuous, suggesting a significant Brotherhood representation. Hundreds performed the sunset prayers. Veiled women prayed separately. A senior Brotherhood leader, Essam el-Erian, told The Associated Press he was heading to Tahrir Square to meet with other opposition leaders. El-Erian told an Egyptian TV station that the Brotherhood is ready to contact the army for a dialogue, calling the military “the protector of the nation.” [...] Egyptian security officials said armed men fired at guards in overnight battles that lasted hours at the four prisons — including one northwest of Cairo that held hundreds of militants. The prisoners escaped after starting fires and clashing with guards. Those who fled included 34 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose lawyer, Abdel-Monaem Abdel-Maqsoud, told the AP they were among scores rounded up by authorities ahead of Friday’s large demonstrations. The escapees included at least seven senior members of the group.” - Mohamed ElBaradei: “Muslim Brotherhood Threat is a Myth Pushed by Dictatorial Regime” - Mohamed ElBaradei at Tahrir Square: “The Regime Must Go, and a New Phase Must Begin” - American communists rally against Mubarak 1/31/2011, Monday - Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Leader: “Prepare for War with Israel” - Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: US will stay out of Egyptian politics: “The United States government does not determine who’s on the ballot.” “That is not for our country or our government to determine.” “I want to be clear — I want to be very clear because I don’t — that is not for me to determine. That is not for our government to determine. That is for the people of Egypt to determine. So I have not weighed in on anything other than — as we have throughout this process — on the side of the people of Egypt to determine what Egypt looks like in their future.” “It is not up to us to determine when the grievances of the Egyptian people have been met by the Egyptian government.” - Egypt’s new VP, Omar Suleiman, Target of Assassination Attempt That Killed Two Bodyguards 2/1/2011, Tuesday - Obama to Hosni Mubarak: Don’t run for another term. Transition must begin now. - White House to Mubarak: Stay Put…Wait, We Don’t Take Sides…Uh, Hit the Road - Senator John Kerry Urges Mubarak to Step Down - Obama’s envoy (Frank Wisner) tells Mubarak his tenure coming to a close - MUBARAK ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION – He Will Not Run Again for President After Obama Admin. Asks Him to Step Aside 2/2/2011, Wednesday - Leftist Code Pink in Cairo to Protests Against Mubarak - RINO John McCain to Greta: It’s Time for Egypt’s Mubarak to Step Down (Fox News Video: Part 1 | Part 2) - Obama’s Caliphate: Administration Says ‘Muslim Brotherhood Could Play Role in Egypt’ - Video: London-Based Egyptian Islamist Calls to Block the Suez Canal and to Halt the Flow of Oil (Transcript) - Video: Egyptian TV host: US and Iran Orchestrating Egyptian Uprising (Transcript) 2/3/2011, Thursday - NYT: Obama Administration in Talks For President Mubarak’s Immediate Resignation - Mubarak to ABC News’ Christiane Amanpour: ‘If I Resign Today There Will Be Chaos’; Obama doesn’t understand the Egyptian culture - Marxist Left allies with Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Middle East - Obama Administration Warned About Unfolding Crisis in Egypt in Late 2010… Did Nothing: The nation’s spy services had warned the Obama administration late last year that Egypt’s government could fall. “We warned of instability,” said Stephanie O’Sullivan, who has been nominated to become the nation’s No. 2 intelligence official. 2/4/2011, Friday - Video: Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei Calls Upon Egyptian Army to Join Masses in Ousting Hosni Mubarak - Ayatollah Khamenei Calls For Islamic Regime in Egypt - Unions Working to Influence Egyptian Uprising (Video) - “Day of Departure” Protests Fail… Mubarak Says He Will Stay On 2/5/2011, Saturday - Egyptian Gas Pipeline Blown Up Near Gaza AP: An explosion went off at a gas terminal in Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula on Saturday, causing a fire along a pipeline that transports gas to Israel, Syria and Jordan. No injuries were reported, but officials say they suspect sabotage. - Egypt: Christian Church Bombed, Militant Buddhists Wanted For Questioning: Assailants detonated a bomb Saturday in an empty church in a small town in northern Egypt…in the town of Rafah, on the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. - VP’s assassination plot denied by Egyptian security - Obama’s envoy says Mubarak must stay for now: “We need to get a national consensus around the preconditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes,” Frank Wisner told a security conference in Munich… - Obama administration distanced itself from Frank Wisner, Obama’s own envoy to Mubarak - Obama’s mixed messages on Egypt 2/6/2011, Sunday - Muslim Brotherhood Says It Started Talks With New Egyptian VP Omar Suleiman - Muslim Brotherhood Terrorists to Press Demands During Talks - ABC’s Amanpour Says Muslim Brotherhood Group Is Not Fundamentalist. But facts contradict Amanpour: Former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahdi Akef, says that jihad is the personal duty of every Muslim man and woman: “Allah commanded us to wage Jihad. Jihad is a personal duty incumbent upon every Muslim man and woman…” - Senior US Marine: Multiple Platoons Are Heading to Egypt - Hillary Clinton Refutes Obama – Says Mubarak May Need to Stay On - Pro-Egypt Rallies in NY and Canada Turn Into Pro-Hamas, Jew-Hate Fests 2/7/2011, Monday - Egypt Approves 15 Percent Raise For Government Employees - Google Manager (Wael Ghonim) and organizer of the protests is released by the Egyptian government 2/8/2011, Tuesday - Obama’s White House scrambles to regain message on Egypt 2/9/2011, Wednesday - On 1/29/2011, Saudi King Told Obama Not to Humiliate Mubarak. Saudi Arabia also irritated with the “inconsistent messages from American politicians since the crisis in Egypt.” (Full article) - Obama Regime Claims They Haven’t Been Sending Out Mixed Signals on Egypt 2/10/2011, Thursday - Mubarak says won’t resign, but will transfer power 2/11/2011, Friday - Mubarak resigns- What’s next? Freedom or Sharia? - CBS News Reporter Lara Logan Raped and Beaten TIMELINE - EGYPT TIMELINE IN VIDEOS: OBAMA’S CONFLICTING MESSAGES DURING THE 2011 EGYPT UPRISING
RELATED - Flashback 2010: MOSQUE NEAR GROUND ZERO – A MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD - Flashback 2008: Cindy Sheehan Supported Islamic Terrorists – In Egypt - Flashback 1981: Iran frees US hostages on Reagan’s Inauguration Day

OBAMA’S CUBAN BAILOUT Eases U.S. Travel and Remittances Restrictions to Cuba…and Helps Castro

OBAMA’S BROKEN PROMISE “My policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: Libertad [Liberty]. And the road to freedom for all Cubans must begin with justice for Cuba’s political prisoners, the rights of free speech, a free press and freedom of assembly; and it must lead to elections that are free and fair.“ Candidate Obama (May 23, 2008)[1] OBAMA’S FALLACY How soon did Obama forget his promise. Where is Cuba’s liberty? On 1/14/2011, Obama issued an executive order to further loosen restrictions on U.S. travel and remittances to Cuba without obtaining “justice for Cuba’s political prisoners” like Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet.[2] Obama’s executive order also “undercuts recent attempts to pressure the Cuban regime to release U.S. citizen Alan Gross.”[3] Obama did not get one concession from Cuba. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio indicated that these changes only weaken U.S. policy towards Cuba. “What does need to change are the Cuban regime’s repressive policies towards the independent press and labor unions, its imprisonment of political prisoners and constant harassment of citizens with dissenting views, and its refusal to allow free multi-party elections…It is unthinkable that the administration would enable the enrichment of a Cuban regime that routinely violates the basic human rights and dignity of its people,” Rubio said.[4] “Unthinkable not only because this decision throws a cash-starved regime some money, but because of the message it sends Cuba’s prisoners—those actually behind (or in Cuba’s case, under) bars and the millions others walking the streets, but prisoners nonetheless. The U.S. message at the moment is: You’re utterly alone; we outside are accommodating your tyrants, why not you?”[5] Obama’s executive order “will make it easier for Americans who support Castro’s government to send money there and visit the island for propaganda purposes.”[5] The White House statement indicated that changes will be made to “regulations and policies governing: (1) purposeful travel; (2) non-family remittances; and (3) U.S. airports supporting licensed charter flights to and from Cuba. These measures will increase people-to-people contact; support civil society in Cuba; enhance the free flow of information to, from, and among the Cuban people; and help promote their independence from Cuban authorities.”[6] It sounds so benevolent, but the facts contradict Obama. Decades of “people-to-people” contacts between Cuba and Europe have not fostered a pro-democracy environment in the communist island. According to liberals like Obama, the contact between Cubans and Americans will suddenly lead to a Cuban government “that respects the basic rights of all its citizens.”[6] Liberals want people to believe that the only thing keeping Cuba in misery is the U.S. trade embargo and not the failure of their Marxist policies.

OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ORDER TO RESCUE CASTRO[7] “Cuba will be bankrupt in 2011.” (Italian ambassador to Cuba, Wikileaks Cable) “Here I come to save the day!” (U.S. President Barack Obama, Jan. 14th 2011) Obama Helping Castro: Last Friday President Obama threw the desperate Castro regime a lifeline. He signed executive order further easing travel and remittance restrictions from the U.S. to Cuba. We note that the President waited till after the November elections (such a Democratic initiative would not have helped Democratic candidates in crucial Florida) to sign the executive order. We also note that he announced it on a Friday afternoon, the slowest news period of the week. The Trojan Horse: As presented by the media, the order sounds pretty innocuous—downright sensible in fact. After all, the goal is simply to increase “people-to-people” contacts between Americans and Cubans. The U.S. Embargo Myth: …[M]ost Americans probably think the U.S. actually “embargoes” Cuba. But in fact: The U.S. has transacted more than $2 billion worth of business with Castro’s Cuba in the last decade. Until last year, the U.S. served as Castro’s Cuba’s biggest food supplier and fifth biggest import partner. Furthermore, the U.S. has been Castro’s Cuba’s biggest donor of humanitarian aid including medicine and medical supplies for decades. Last year a defector from Castro’s regime revealed that owing to Obama’s earlier “loosening” of remittance restrictions to Cuba, almost $2 billion a year in remittances were succoring the cash-strapped Castro regime. This ranks the U.S. right between Red China and Hugo Chavez’ Venezuela as Castro’s lifeline. At this rate we’ll soon be number one. Some “embargo.”  Last year Castro’s Cuba also received 200,000 visitors from the U.S.—legally. Global Travel Industry News reports that another 200,000 Americans visited Cuba illegally. Every euro, peso, lira, pound, dollar, etc. spent in Cuba ultimately lands in the pocket of the regime. Liberals’ Utopia: The anti-“embargo” mantra  stresses that a flood of rich Western tourists will magically smother Cuban Stalinism, whereupon the island nation will quickly mutate into a bigger (and more historic and picturesque) Cozumel. This reasoning seems to go something like this: Rewarding and enriching the KGB-trained and heavily armed guardians of Cuba’s Stalinist status-quo will magically convert them into instant opponents of that Stalinist status quo. Cuban Reality: As two decades of such tourism have amply proven, any trickle of foreign currency that reaches the Stalinist regime’s subjects (primarily from prostitution) is offset a thousand-fold by the millions ($2.4 billion last year, for instance) crammed into the regime’s military and secret-police coffers. …[A]t a hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee…a recently retired Defense Intelligence Agency Cuba specialist…showed how Raul Castro’s military owns virtually every corporation involved in Cuba’s tourism industry, the regime’s top money-maker. Clinton’s Cuba Policy = More spies: The Clinton administration also made a fetish of fostering such travel—with disastrous results. The deepest and most damaging penetration of the U.S. Defense Department by an enemy agent resulted precisely from “cultural exchanges” by the Clinton team with Stalinist Cuba.

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE IN CUBA? CASTRO STILL CONTROLS EVERY ASPECT OF CUBAN LIFE[8] After much debate and with trepidation, the Cuban economic “reformers” have decided to permit the 500,000 to 1,300,000 Cubans being fired from state jobs to solicit permits to become self-employed in certain activities. It is instructive to examine a handful of the 178 trades and professions that are supposed to help rescue the economy. Trade No. 23 will be the purchase and sale of used books. Trade 29 is an attendant of public bathrooms (presumably for tips); 34 is a palm-tree pruner (apparently other trees will still be pruned by the state). Trade 49 is covering buttons with fabric; 61 is shining shoes; 62 is cleaning spark plugs; 69 is a typist; 110 is the repair of box springs (not to be confused with 116, the repair of mattresses). Trade 124 is umbrella repairs; 125 is refilling of disposable cigarette lighters; 150 is fortune-telling with tarot cards; 156 is being a dandy (technical definition unknown, maybe a male escort?); 158 is peeling natural fruit (separate from 142, selling fruit in kiosks). This bizarre list of permitted private-sector activities will not drive economic development. But it does reveal the regime’s totalitarian mindset. Here Cuban technocrats foreshadow the degree of control they intend to impose by listing the legal activities with specificity. These are not reforms to unleash the market’s “invisible hand” but to reaffirm the Castros’ clenched fist.

CUBA’S POLITICAL PRISONERS[5] Cuba’s prison guards keep their prey in dark underground cells, the easier to dump urine and excrement on them when the whim strikes them, or for rats to scurry in and bite the prisoners while they sleep—which they have to do standing up. (Their cells are not big enough to lie down in.) If you’re uncomfortable reading about these conditions, imagine what it’s like for the prisoners who endure them. These men and women—behind bars for years for such infractions as exercising their freedom of speech, assembly, religion or movement—are the few on that island Gulag who still refuse to give in to the communist regime. Cuba’s other millions have learned the art of outwardly going along, lest they, too, get whisked away to one of the prison compounds that dot the island. Who can blame them? How many of us would not just surrender and practice what Orwell called “doublethink”?

WHO BENEFITS?[9] Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the travel loosening are likely to be radical pro-Castro groups that earn cash on “reality tours.” Global Exchange, for instance, led by wealthy Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin, sends leftists to Cuba to sing the regime’s praises. Cuba is picky about who gets in, and these groups will have the edge. [...] But the biggest beneficiary of all will be Fidel Castro. It’s he who will end up with the extra money, which is already about $2 billion a year. Anyone sending remittances to Cuba pays a 20% tax off the top, and often a 10% exchange fee. Cubans who buy something with the cash in government-owned stores pay other fees. In the end, the regime gets all the money, notes prominent Cuban-American Val Prieto, who blogs at Babalu. [...] Unlike visits, the remittances may be more policy than politics…the White House may be bailing out Castro because it fears Cuba may collapse on its watch. “The administration doesn’t want a confrontation,” Claver said. “They know they’ll stabilize the Cuban economy with these changes.” He notes that the Castro regime doesn’t have the hard currency to back all its purchases from Spain right now — the very same crisis Cuba was in when Clinton loosened rules in the 1990s. Clinton meant to stabilize the regime to prevent another Mariel flotilla. Obama may be thinking the same thing. The bottom line is that these changes benefit and further entrench the failed Castro regime at a time when it should be thinking about becoming a democracy.

SOURCES 1- Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Renewing U.S. Leadership in the Americas (5/23/2008) (http://www.barackobama.com/2008/05/23/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_68.php) 2- Cuban political prisoner: Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet 3- Obama’s Ill-Timed, Confusing Concessions Leave Cuba Unimpressed 4- U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s Press Release (1/14/2011) 5- Easing Cuban Travel Restrictions, Team Obama Slaps Cuba’s Political Prisoners In the Face 6- Reaching Out to the Cuban People (1/14/2011) (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/14/reaching-out-cuban-people) 7- Obama To Rescue Castro, Babalublog 8- The “New” Cuban Economic Reform 9- Obama’s Latest Gift To Castro RELATED - Castro praised ObamaCare (3/25/2010) - OBAMA & CASTRO CONNECTION

President Reagan’s Inaugural Address – January 20, 1981

President Ronald Reagan delivered his first inaugural address 30 years ago today:
(H/t: IUSB Vision, C-Span)	“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” “To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I’ve just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy.” “The crisis we are facing today…does require…our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God’s help we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.”

HIGHLIGHTS OF HIS SPEECH (Full Transcript here) These United States are confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. We suffer from the longest and one of the worst sustained inflations in our national history. It distorts our economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the fixed-income elderly alike. It threatens to shatter the lives of millions of our people. Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, human misery, and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity. But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children’s future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals. You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we’re not bound by that same limitation? We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding: We are going to begin to act, beginning today. [...] In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price. [...] So, as we begin, let us take inventory. We are a nation that has a government — not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government. Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it’s not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work — work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. If we look to the answer as to why for so many years we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price. It is no coincidence that our present troubles parallel and are proportionate to the intervention and intrusion in our lives that result from unnecessary and excessive growth of government. It is time for us to realize that we’re too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We’re not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope. We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we’re in a time when there are not heroes, they just don’t know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they’re on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They’re individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life. [...] Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic “yes.” To paraphrase Winston Churchill, I did not take the oath I’ve just taken with the intention of presiding over the dissolution of the world’s strongest economy. In the days ahead I will propose removing the roadblocks that have slowed our economy and reduced productivity. Steps will be taken aimed at restoring the balance between the various levels of government… It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities, and on these principles there will be no compromise. On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, president of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, “Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of . . . . On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.” Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children. And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom. Read the entire address: Here. SOURCES - Public Papers of the President: Ronald Reagan, 1981-1989 - Ronald Reagan’s First Inauguration – January 20, 1981 - The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library - Library of Congress: Presidential Inaugurations

BLACK BABIES TARGETED BY PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION CLINICS (statistics, non-graphic video)

SILENT GENOCIDE IN AMERICA (Hat tip: Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.) MORE BLACK BABIES KILLED IN ABORTIONS (Statistics) Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America.  78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn’t that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the black vote will be insignificant. Did you know that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a devout racist who created the Negro Project designed to sterilize unknowing black women and others she deemed as undesirables of society? The founder of Planned Parenthood said, “Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated.” How is her vision being fulfilled today?Minority women constitute only about 26% of the female population (age 15-44) in the United States, but they underwent approximately 36% of the abortions. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion. On average, 1,452 black babies are aborted every day in the United States. This incidence of abortion has resulted in a tremendous loss of life. It has been estimated that since 1973 Black women have had over 13 million abortions. Michael Novak had calculated “Since the number of current living Blacks (in the U.S.) is 31 million, the missing 10 million represents an enormous loss, for without abortion, America’s Black community would now number 41 million persons. It would be 35% larger than it is. Abortion has swept through the Black community like a scythe, cutting down every fourth member.” A highly significant 1993 Howard University study showed that African American women over age 50 were 4.7 times more likely to get breast cancer if they had had any abortions compared to women who had not had any abortions. ABORTION CLINICS TARGET BLACKS “Taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood aborted 324,008 innocent lives and only made 2,405 adoption referrals according to their own latest Annual Report; that’s 135 children killed for every 1 adoption referral.” [Pastor] Hoye says he’s excited about the billboard campaign as he has been trying to raise nationwide awareness of the way in which abortions target black children. “The impact of abortion in the African-American community is the Darfur of America,” Hoye declares, citing the 53 million aborted since 1973, 18 million of which are African-American. Dr. La Verne Tolbert, a former Planned Parenthood board member, says black children are targeted through the schools for abortions in California. “In California, children are targeted for abortions through school-based clinics and school-linked clinics, which are family planning clinics on or near school grounds. Girls are taken off campus to a Planned Parenthood clinic, where abortions are performed without parental consent or notification,” she said.

ABORTION BY SUCTION Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life shows the instruments of suction abortion and challenges abortion supporters:

- Alveda King’s blog - Priests For Life - Jill Stanek RELATED - Obama & Big Abortion - FactSheets: Abortion - The Philadelphia Horror: How mass murder gets a pass

MIAMI DICTATORS? Mayor and Commissioner Facing Recalls Hire P-I to Investigate Citizens

INTIMIDATING VOTERS According to WIOD:1 Miami-Dade’s mayor and a commissioner will not be recalled without a fight. Mayor Carlos Alvarez has reportedly hired private investigators to question those who collected petition signatures like Rigoberto Carrigan. He says a P-I came to his house in Westchester last month asking who taught him how to collect the signatures and fill out the recall forms. He says the P-I stayed for about a half hour, but he wasn’t upset since he felt it was his duty to collect the signatures. He says he’s very upset over how his local government is running and given the chance, he’d collect the signatures again. Commissioner Natacha Seijas has hired a private investigations firm to do background checks on those being deposed in her pending lawsuit. She wants her election blocked, Alvarez is putting petitions under the microscope for a potential second legal challenge. Miami Herald has more details:2	Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez Commissioner Seijas
With the recall elections for Mayor Alvarez and County Commissioner Natacha Seijas set for March 15, both politicians are employing private investigators, lawyers and political consultants in a bare-knuckles fight for survival. [...] Last month Alvarez’s political action committee, Citizens For Truth, hired private investigative firm Sessler & Lopez. The PAC paid the firm $5,000 on Dec. 17 and another $5,000 on Dec. 22, according to year-end financial disclosures. Seijas has hired ICDA Investigations, run by former county homicide detective Raul Diaz, to probe into the backgrounds of recall-petition gatherers, known as circulators, in search of evidence that may help discredit the petitions they were involved with. Diaz has done a lot of private investigative work over the years for the county, and previously worked for Seijas. Seijas’ PAC, Abre Los Brazos, paid Diaz’s firm $5,000 on Dec. 22, according to the latest filings. Stephen Cody, an attorney for Seijas, said the private investigations firm is doing background checks on those whom he will depose in her pending lawsuit, but hasn’t interviewed petition circulators.

FLASHBACK 9/24/2010: COMMISSIONER SEIJAS: RECALL? BRING IT ON

SOURCES: 1- WIOD: http://wiod.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=122821&article=8053638 2- Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/16/v-fullstory/2019490/alvarez-seijas-in-fight-for-survival.html#ixzz1BLxg4cQn  RELATED - MIAMI-DADE 2010 BUDGET: Commissioners Voted to Raise Property Taxes…recall coming! (9/24/2010)

MLK DREAM: Colorblind America (video)

‘Freedom Is Colorblind’ Anthem Takes on MSM Depictions of Conservative ‘Racism’ (H/t: Breitbart) Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
- MLK Day proposal: Give the race card a rest - Martin Luther King – Republican - Civil Rights Acts and Republicans - Black babies targeted by abortion clinics

ARIZONA SHOOTING: How the Left Falsely Accused Conservatives (videos)

THE LEFT = MERCHANTS OF HATE, LIBEL, MALICE This past week, the Left (mainstream media and Democrats) decided to exploit the Tucson massacre to destroy those whom they hate and to advance their political agenda. They let lose the dogs of their own hellish madness to link Conservatives or the Tea Party to the violent act. Within hours of the shooting, there were reports indicating that the shooter might be insane. The Left decided to ignore the facts. They continued with their witch-hunt and pushed their narrative to re-write the facts. They blamed political rhetoric (of course, from the Right). More facts were being discovered indicating the shooter, Jared Loughner, was not a Tea Partier, but actually a registered independent, who didn’t vote in the crucial 2010 election, and who didn’t watch TV or listen to political radio. Friends claimed that Loughner was a liberal pothead influenced by the anti-religion, anti-Capitalist movie “The Zeitgeist”. There was no evidence that political rhetoric from the Right had contributed to the shooting. Liberals were not deterred – they were determined to obtain a political advantage out of the tragedy. The Left saw an opportunity to further exploit the tragedy by attacking the First and Second Amendments. They re-directed the national discourse from repealing Obamacare and cutting government waste to gun control and censorship. Besides advancing their repressive agenda, liberals are trying to tacitly perpetuate the myth that the shooter was a right-wing extremist and not a demented person. On top of that, leftists are now pontificating about civility and bi-partisanship. These merchants of hate want Americans to forget their vitriolic past against Bush or against anyone who disagrees with them. They have no shame! They want to be our “Civility Police” and control our behavior and our speech. One question remains: How many people are going to fall for these tricks from the Left? Here is just a sampling of how liberals blamed Conservatives for the Tucson shooting without any evidence:

Video

1/8/2011 - The Left blames Sarah Palin, Tea Partiers, Limbaugh, Beck, etc. - Paul Krugman Blames Giffords Shooting on Palin, Limbaugh and Beck - Jane Fonda Blames Giffords Shooting on Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and the Tea Party - AZ Pima County Sheriff blames political rhetoric for shooting - Olbermann blames Palin, Allen West, Angle, Beck, O’Reilly, and the Tea Party - Geraldo Goes Out of His Way to Connect Tea Party With Tuscon Shooting - CNN on AZ Massacre: Palin “Allowed This Kind Of Instance To Happen” 1/9/2011 - Democrat James Clyburn blames Sharron Angle rhetoric for Giffords shooting - NY Daily News: “Giffords blood is on Sarah Palin’s hands” - CNN’s Candy Crowley Pushes Palin ‘Cross Hair’ Motive Narrative - Rep Bob Brady: Let’s ban crosshairs - Pima County Sheriff continues to blame Sarah Palin and Sharron Angle for shooting - AZ survivor Patricia Maisch: “The Extreme Right Have Added to This Problem” (Video mark 9:08) - Fox News Megyn Kelly Confronts Sheriff Dupnik Over His “Political Spin” On Shooting 1/10/2011 - NBC’s Today Show links Palin to AZ shooting - Arizona Sheriff blames Rush Limbaugh - Brokaw Blames Guns For AZ Massacre - Democrats conveniently forget Obama’s calling Latinos to punish their “enemies” - Hillary Clinton in Abu Dhabi: ‘We Have Extremists In My Country’ just like you - Bill Maher: 2007 vs 2011 On Inciting Violence And Hate 1/11/2011 - Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson: Violent Rhetoric Comes Exclusively From The Right - MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer: ‘People’ Are Blaming ‘Vitriolic Right-Wing Talkers’ for Shooting - Liberals use Giffords shooting to press for gun control - Democrat Brad Sherman: Az Shooter Picked Up Some Extreme Right Positions - Maher: Right-Wing Believes “Wouldn’t It Be Fun To Kill The People We Disagree With” - A Tale of Two Matthews: How MSNBC’s Host Handled Tucson Shooting vs. Ft. Hood Shooting 1/12/2011 - Media Matters’ David Brock: Beck Responsible for 3 Assassination Attempts - Democrat Rep. James Clyburn: We Need the Fairness Doctrine or Something (Video) - Hillary Clinton: Tucson Shooting Was Political Extremism - Oakland vigil for Tucson victims turns into a malicious blame-mongering event - Anti-Palin Posters Appear In San Francisco - Democrats call for Speech Limits - “Brown Relief”: NPR Latino Glad Assassin Was A “Gringo” (video) - MSNBC’s Ed Schultz: Palin Used ‘Blood Libel” To Appeal To Extremist Christian Conservatives 1/13/2011 - Democrat Rep. Clyburn Says “Double Barrel” After Denouncing Violent Rhetoric - Liberal Talker Thom Hartman: Beck Is Like Osama Bin Laden…The Right Is Activating Lone Wolf Terrorist - Tom Brokaw: I’d be nervous of going to a bar in Arizona (video) - Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.): Palin Should Have Said Sorry For “Overblown Rhetoric” - Pelosi Calls Tucson Murders an ‘Accident’ (Rep. Gabrielle Giffords did not vote for Pelosi as Speaker) - NY Times Shamelessly Spins Quote to Imply Giffords’ Shooter Was a Pro-Life Zealot - PoliticalWire claims Palin’s blood libel is a “dog whistle” to conservatives 1/14/2011 - AZ Shooting Victim Blames Boehner, Palin, Beck and Angle - MSNBC’s Resident RINO Joe Scarborough Says “This Probably Ended Sarah Palin’s Political Career” - Democrat Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr: Giffords’ Shooter is an “Anti-Government Activist”

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