History for February 12 - On-This-Day.com:
Charles Darwin 1809, Abraham Lincoln (U.S.) 1809 - Sixteenth President of the United States, Lorne Green 1915
Joe Don Baker 1936 - Actor, Michael McDonald 1952 - Musician (Doobie Brothers), Arsenio Hall 1955 - Actor, comedian , talk show host
1878 - Frederick W. Thayer patented the baseball catcher’s mask.
1880 - The National Croquet League was organized in Philadelphia, PA.
1909 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded.
1918 - All theatres in New York City were shut down in an effort to conserve coal.
1971 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney died at the age of 95. The company closed for business for one-half day as a memorial to the company's founder.
1998 - A U.S. federal judge declared that the presidential line-item veto was unconstitutional.
2003 - The U.N. nuclear agency declared North Korea in violation of international treaties. The complaint was sent to the Security Council.
2013 - North Korea conducted its third underground nuclear test.
Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!
Friday, February 12, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
‘Disrespectful’: State Department Ordered to Release Final Clinton Emails Before Super Tuesday — but Just Barely | TheBlaze.com
‘Disrespectful’: State Department Ordered to Release Final Clinton Emails Before Super Tuesday — but Just Barely | TheBlaze.com:
"A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday ordered the State Department to publish the final remaining emails from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state before voting begins on Super Tuesday.
Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the emails released in batches on Feb. 13, Feb. 19, Feb. 26 and Feb. 29."
"A U.S. District Court judge on Thursday ordered the State Department to publish the final remaining emails from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state before voting begins on Super Tuesday.
Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered the emails released in batches on Feb. 13, Feb. 19, Feb. 26 and Feb. 29."
Obama's Own National Intelligence Director Just Threw The President Under The Iran Bus
Obama's Own National Intelligence Director Just Threw The President Under The Iran Bus:
"When President Barack Obama and his Democrat allies tried to sell the American public on his nuclear deal with Iran as a way to guarantee the mullahs won’t obtain a nuclear weapon, he rammed through the pact over the objections of many. Now, Obama’s own national intelligence director has just told Congress that Iran sees the deal differently.
Much differently. And that difference could present a very real danger for the United States and our friends around the world."
"When President Barack Obama and his Democrat allies tried to sell the American public on his nuclear deal with Iran as a way to guarantee the mullahs won’t obtain a nuclear weapon, he rammed through the pact over the objections of many. Now, Obama’s own national intelligence director has just told Congress that Iran sees the deal differently.
Much differently. And that difference could present a very real danger for the United States and our friends around the world."
THE DAILY GLOBAL WARMING HOAX REPORT
(22) THE DAILY GLOBAL WARMING HOAX REPORT
Breaking NEWS! The greenhouse conjecture about CO2 has now been smashed by experiments.
It has been discovered that the assumption that 390W/m^2 of solar radiation and radiation from the colder atmosphere is not enough to explain the mean surface temperature of 288K because we now know by experiment that the Earth's surface is not a flat blackbody upon which the Sun shines uniformly night and day from equator to pole, as would be required to get 288K.
Sadly (for those whose income depends on the old 20th century false assumption by James Hansen) we now realize that the Earth is spherical and thus receives variable flux which, even if it did have a mean of 390W/m^2, would only produce a mean temperature less than 5°C.
This comes from new understanding (never apparently known in climatology circles) that the Stefan Boltzmann calculations are based on temperature being proportional only to the fourth root of flux.
Hence all the high (well above average) flux in the tropics isn't pulling its weight as it doesn't drag the mean temperature up in proportion to its contribution to the mean flux..."
Breaking NEWS! The greenhouse conjecture about CO2 has now been smashed by experiments.
It has been discovered that the assumption that 390W/m^2 of solar radiation and radiation from the colder atmosphere is not enough to explain the mean surface temperature of 288K because we now know by experiment that the Earth's surface is not a flat blackbody upon which the Sun shines uniformly night and day from equator to pole, as would be required to get 288K.
Sadly (for those whose income depends on the old 20th century false assumption by James Hansen) we now realize that the Earth is spherical and thus receives variable flux which, even if it did have a mean of 390W/m^2, would only produce a mean temperature less than 5°C.
This comes from new understanding (never apparently known in climatology circles) that the Stefan Boltzmann calculations are based on temperature being proportional only to the fourth root of flux.
Hence all the high (well above average) flux in the tropics isn't pulling its weight as it doesn't drag the mean temperature up in proportion to its contribution to the mean flux..."
Senate report: Illegal immigrants benefited from up to $750M in ObamaCare subsidies
Senate report: Illegal immigrants benefited from up to $750M in ObamaCare subsidies | Fox News
Illegal immigrants and individuals with unclear legal status wrongly benefited from up to $750 million in ObamaCare subsidies and the government is struggling to recoup the money, according to a new Senate report obtained by Fox News.
The report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined Affordable Care Act tax credits meant to defray the cost of insurance premiums.
It found that as of June 2015, “the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence.”
The review found the credits went to more than 500,000 people – who are illegal immigrants or whose legal status was unclear due to insufficient records.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed to FoxNews.com on Monday that 471,000 customers with 2015 coverage failed to produce proper documentation on their citizenship or immigration status on time – but stressed that this does not necessarily mean they’re ineligible..."
Illegal immigrants and individuals with unclear legal status wrongly benefited from up to $750 million in ObamaCare subsidies and the government is struggling to recoup the money, according to a new Senate report obtained by Fox News.
The report, produced by Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examined Affordable Care Act tax credits meant to defray the cost of insurance premiums.
It found that as of June 2015, “the Administration awarded approximately $750 million in tax credits on behalf of individuals who were later determined to be ineligible because they failed to verify their citizenship, status as a national, or legal presence.”
The review found the credits went to more than 500,000 people – who are illegal immigrants or whose legal status was unclear due to insufficient records.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed to FoxNews.com on Monday that 471,000 customers with 2015 coverage failed to produce proper documentation on their citizenship or immigration status on time – but stressed that this does not necessarily mean they’re ineligible..."
BOMBSHELL: Newly Uncovered Secret Memos Reveal The REAL Horror Of Obama's Overreach
BOMBSHELL: Newly Uncovered Secret Memos Reveal The REAL Horror Of Obama's Overreach:
"Race hustlers like the “Rev.” Al Sharpton and Chicago’s Jesse Jackson have made for themselves a national name – and a considerable fortune – by following a pattern many people would call a shakedown or a protection racket. They publicly hit American businesses with spurious “racism” charges and demand punitive payment. But the likes of Sharpton and Jackson are pikers next to the Democrat-run federal government in the age of Obama.
That’s the conclusion of an eye-opening column in Sunday’s New York Post that documents how the Washington-based Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB) managed to extort almost $100 million from an American auto lender to settle racism accusations. "
"Race hustlers like the “Rev.” Al Sharpton and Chicago’s Jesse Jackson have made for themselves a national name – and a considerable fortune – by following a pattern many people would call a shakedown or a protection racket. They publicly hit American businesses with spurious “racism” charges and demand punitive payment. But the likes of Sharpton and Jackson are pikers next to the Democrat-run federal government in the age of Obama.
That’s the conclusion of an eye-opening column in Sunday’s New York Post that documents how the Washington-based Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB) managed to extort almost $100 million from an American auto lender to settle racism accusations. "
U-M pharmacy supervisor kept getting promoted despite drug theft conviction
U-M pharmacy supervisor kept getting promoted despite drug theft conviction | MLive.com
A University of Michigan Health System pharmacy supervisor who makes a six-figure salary kept getting promoted despite a conviction for stealing narcotic painkillers, records show.
A University of Michigan Health System pharmacy supervisor who makes a six-figure salary kept getting promoted despite a conviction for stealing narcotic painkillers, records show.
In 2005, Denise Kathyrn Brower, who currently makes $138,551 a year as an assistant pharmacy director, had her license suspended and wasn't allowed to handle certain controlled substances while on work probation, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
But the conviction didn't derail Brower's climb to a management position overseeing potent sedation medications as well as the very pills she was convicted of stealing.
But the conviction didn't derail Brower's climb to a management position overseeing potent sedation medications as well as the very pills she was convicted of stealing.
Read on.....sick!
True Climate Criminals Facing Trial
True Climate Criminals Facing Trial | Somewhat Reasonable
Another prominent climate scientist has been accused of breaking the law.
Following on the heels of the resignation of Rajendra Pachauri as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change under a cloud of sexual abuse charges, Dr. Daniel Michael Alongi, senior principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, was arrested, accused of fraudulently diverting more than half-a-million dollars in government funds intended for climate research into his own pockets during the past seven years.
If convicted of all charges, Alongi faces up to 30 years in prison.
...Meanwhile back in the U.S., a trial has begun for five climate activists with Rising Tide Seattle arrested in 2014 for criminal trespass and blocking the passage of a train carrying crude oil from the Bakken Formation in Montana and North Dakota to oil terminals in the Pacific Northwest.
...Climate skeptics exercise their free speech rights and the mainstream media trumpets legislators and climate radicals calls try them for racketeering.
Meanwhile, climate alarmists commit real crimes and the mainstream media is virtually silent on the matter."
Another prominent climate scientist has been accused of breaking the law.
Following on the heels of the resignation of Rajendra Pachauri as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change under a cloud of sexual abuse charges, Dr. Daniel Michael Alongi, senior principal research scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, was arrested, accused of fraudulently diverting more than half-a-million dollars in government funds intended for climate research into his own pockets during the past seven years.
If convicted of all charges, Alongi faces up to 30 years in prison.
...Meanwhile back in the U.S., a trial has begun for five climate activists with Rising Tide Seattle arrested in 2014 for criminal trespass and blocking the passage of a train carrying crude oil from the Bakken Formation in Montana and North Dakota to oil terminals in the Pacific Northwest.
...Climate skeptics exercise their free speech rights and the mainstream media trumpets legislators and climate radicals calls try them for racketeering.
Meanwhile, climate alarmists commit real crimes and the mainstream media is virtually silent on the matter."
Inside the Pages of Obama’s $4.1 Trillion Budget Request Lies a Very Expensive Gun Control Initiative | TheBlaze.com
Inside the Pages of Obama’s $4.1 Trillion Budget Request Lies a Very Expensive Gun Control Initiative | TheBlaze.com:
"President Obama’s 2017 budget proposal includes a wallet-busting request for a gun control initiative, The Hill reported.
Filed Tuesday, the request includes funding increases for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI to reduce gun violence."
"President Obama’s 2017 budget proposal includes a wallet-busting request for a gun control initiative, The Hill reported.
Filed Tuesday, the request includes funding increases for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI to reduce gun violence."
How Local Governments Toe the Line Advocating for Tax Hikes
How Local Governments Toe the Line Advocating for Tax Hikes [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
The Muskegon County Road Commission wants voters to approve a $6.7 million property tax hike on Feb. 24.
A road commission flier states, “Repairing our roads is costly, but if everybody pitches in to help with this 1.5 mill proposal, it’s not much at all.”
The flier is an example of how governments go right up to the line of illegal tax-funded electioneering.
And it is far from uncommon.
The road commission’s revenue increased from $15.4 million in 2012 to $17 million in 2015.
Yet the flyer claims, “Currently our budget is short $9 million.”
Only in government is a desire to spend 53 percent over budget characterized as a shortfall.
It would be like a household with annual income of $60,000 claiming a shortfall because they want to buy a $90,000 car next year.
Incidentally, if voters approve a $2 billion tax hike on the May 5 statewide ballot, the Muskegon County Road Commission will get an another $6.4 million annually by 2018..."
The Muskegon County Road Commission wants voters to approve a $6.7 million property tax hike on Feb. 24.
A road commission flier states, “Repairing our roads is costly, but if everybody pitches in to help with this 1.5 mill proposal, it’s not much at all.”
The flier is an example of how governments go right up to the line of illegal tax-funded electioneering.
And it is far from uncommon.
The road commission’s revenue increased from $15.4 million in 2012 to $17 million in 2015.
Yet the flyer claims, “Currently our budget is short $9 million.”
Only in government is a desire to spend 53 percent over budget characterized as a shortfall.
It would be like a household with annual income of $60,000 claiming a shortfall because they want to buy a $90,000 car next year.
Incidentally, if voters approve a $2 billion tax hike on the May 5 statewide ballot, the Muskegon County Road Commission will get an another $6.4 million annually by 2018..."
Detroit Police Sergeant Under Investigation After Comparing Beyonce’s Super Bowl Performance To KKK
Detroit Police Sergeant Under Investigation After Comparing Beyonce’s Super Bowl Performance To KKK « CBS Detroit:
DETROIT (WWJ) – A Detroit police sergeant who allegedly criticized Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime show by posting a reference to the Ku Klux Klan is being investigated.
The sergeant, who was unnamed but is reportedly a 17-year veteran of the department, apparently didn’t like the halftime performance — particularly Beyonce’s dancers, who were sporting afros, berets and dressed in an all-black style similar to the Black Panther party.
At one point in the performance, the dancers raised their fists to the sky and made a formation on the field in the shape of an X that, according to the sergeant, was attributed to black activist Malcolm X.
The sergeant was so displeased with the performance that he took his option to his personal Facebook page, saying next year’s halftime show should include the KKK.
The post included a photo of Beyonce’s dancers above a group wearing white Ku Klux Klan robes, according to a report byWJBK.
It included the text: “So if the dance troupe at the top is ok for this years’ halftime show, then the one at the bottom should be ok for next years’, right?”
His post drew complaints from many of his co-workers, who reported it to Police Chief James Craig.
Craig said the sergeant’s views are not representative of the department or any other officer.
The sergeant has since removed his post and replaced it with a message offering an apology.
The sergeant remains on the job although the incident is under investigation.
DETROIT (WWJ) – A Detroit police sergeant who allegedly criticized Beyonce’s Super Bowl halftime show by posting a reference to the Ku Klux Klan is being investigated.
The sergeant, who was unnamed but is reportedly a 17-year veteran of the department, apparently didn’t like the halftime performance — particularly Beyonce’s dancers, who were sporting afros, berets and dressed in an all-black style similar to the Black Panther party.
At one point in the performance, the dancers raised their fists to the sky and made a formation on the field in the shape of an X that, according to the sergeant, was attributed to black activist Malcolm X.
The sergeant was so displeased with the performance that he took his option to his personal Facebook page, saying next year’s halftime show should include the KKK.
The post included a photo of Beyonce’s dancers above a group wearing white Ku Klux Klan robes, according to a report byWJBK.
It included the text: “So if the dance troupe at the top is ok for this years’ halftime show, then the one at the bottom should be ok for next years’, right?”
His post drew complaints from many of his co-workers, who reported it to Police Chief James Craig.
Craig said the sergeant’s views are not representative of the department or any other officer.
The sergeant has since removed his post and replaced it with a message offering an apology.
The sergeant remains on the job although the incident is under investigation.
School Shooters Will Be Shot: Some Oklahoma Schools Post Warning Signs Staff May Be Armed
School Shooters Will Be Shot: Some Oklahoma Schools Post Warning Signs Staff May Be Armed | The Daily Sheeple:
In an era where school shootings have been blasted all over the news media so it would seem to the average TV view that these things happen all the time in this country (even though they don’t), some schools have decided those “gun free zone” signs they post out front might as well be akin to “Hey, unarmed victims here!” and have decided instead to advertise that they now allow staff to carry firearms.
Okay Public School Superintendent Charles McMahan told theMuskogee Phoenix, “The signs are more or less a deterrent. We don’t want to be a soft target.”
The school district, located 50 miles southeast of Tulsa, passed an “Armed School Employees” policy just this past August.
The policy requires an armed staff member to possess an Oklahoma Self Defense Act license, be CLEET qualified, and hold Council on Law Enforcement Education Training Certification or a license.
The school district, located 50 miles southeast of Tulsa, passed an “Armed School Employees” policy just this past August.
The policy requires an armed staff member to possess an Oklahoma Self Defense Act license, be CLEET qualified, and hold Council on Law Enforcement Education Training Certification or a license.
Well isn’t that what most gun free zones are?
Filled with soft targets?
Can anyone think of a mass shooting that’s happened recently that didn’t take place in a gun free zone?"
Filled with soft targets?
Can anyone think of a mass shooting that’s happened recently that didn’t take place in a gun free zone?"
Take a Look at What a Photographer Spotted on the Ground at Hillary Clinton’s N.H. Rally — You’ll Quickly See Why Some Aren’t Happy | TheBlaze.com
Take a Look at What a Photographer Spotted on the Ground at Hillary Clinton’s N.H. Rally — You’ll Quickly See Why Some Aren’t Happy | TheBlaze.com:
"The U.S. Flag Code stipulates:
§8. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
It also states that the flag “should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”
"The U.S. Flag Code stipulates:
§8. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
It also states that the flag “should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: European banking’s slow-motion crisis is picking up speed — and …
Instapundit » Blog Archive » NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: European banking’s slow-motion crisis is picking up speed — and …:
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: European banking’s slow-motion crisis is picking up speed — and it’s all a lot simpler and scarier than you think.
“You know it’s bad when the finance minister of Germany has to publicly state he has ‘no concerns’ about his country’s biggest lender –Deutsche Bank – as Wolfgang Schauble did on Tuesday while bank shares plummeted.
It’s been brewing for a while.
The business models available to European banks, the methods by which they make money on a consistent basis, are disappearing fast and investors are taking flight.”
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: European banking’s slow-motion crisis is picking up speed — and it’s all a lot simpler and scarier than you think.
“You know it’s bad when the finance minister of Germany has to publicly state he has ‘no concerns’ about his country’s biggest lender –Deutsche Bank – as Wolfgang Schauble did on Tuesday while bank shares plummeted.
It’s been brewing for a while.
The business models available to European banks, the methods by which they make money on a consistent basis, are disappearing fast and investors are taking flight.”
Obama’s Mosque Speech: What He Really Said
Obama’s Mosque Speech: What He Really Said:
If you seek to understand Barack Obama and his views, the best place to go is his speeches.
But you have to read them in their entirety, not rely on hearing them or on the media’s summary of them.
When you do, you come to realize how often what Obama says is morally and intellectually confused and even untrue.
The most recent example was his speech last week at a mosque in Baltimore.
In addition to reassuring Muslim Americans that they are as American as Americans of every other faith — a point that any president, Republican or Democrat, would and should make — President Obama spoke a lot of nonsense, some of it dangerous nonsense.
President Obama: “So let’s start with this fact: For more than a thousand years, people have been drawn to Islam’s message of peace. And the very word itself, ‘Islam,’ comes from ‘salam’ — peace.”
Why did Mr. Obama say this?
Even Muslim websites acknowledge that “Islam” means “submission” [to Allah], that it comes from the Arabic root “aslama” meaning submission, and that “Islam” is the command form of that verb.
That’s why “Muslim” means “One who submits,” not “One who is peaceful.”
“Jefferson and John Adams had their own copies of the Koran.”
The primary, if not only, reason Jefferson had a copy of the Koran was to try to understand the Koran and Islam in light of what the Muslim ambassador from Tripoli had told him and John Adams.
When asked why Tripoli pirates were attacking American ships and enslaving Americans, the Muslim ambassador explained that Muslims are commanded to do so by the Koran.
Jefferson wrote that the Tripoli ambassador told him that “it was written in their Koran that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman [Muslim] who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to Paradise.”
That’s why Jefferson and Adams had Korans.
Given this reason, why did the president mention that Jefferson and Adams owned copies of the Koran?..."
If you seek to understand Barack Obama and his views, the best place to go is his speeches.
But you have to read them in their entirety, not rely on hearing them or on the media’s summary of them.
When you do, you come to realize how often what Obama says is morally and intellectually confused and even untrue.
The most recent example was his speech last week at a mosque in Baltimore.
In addition to reassuring Muslim Americans that they are as American as Americans of every other faith — a point that any president, Republican or Democrat, would and should make — President Obama spoke a lot of nonsense, some of it dangerous nonsense.
President Obama: “So let’s start with this fact: For more than a thousand years, people have been drawn to Islam’s message of peace. And the very word itself, ‘Islam,’ comes from ‘salam’ — peace.”
Why did Mr. Obama say this?
Even Muslim websites acknowledge that “Islam” means “submission” [to Allah], that it comes from the Arabic root “aslama” meaning submission, and that “Islam” is the command form of that verb.
That’s why “Muslim” means “One who submits,” not “One who is peaceful.”
“Jefferson and John Adams had their own copies of the Koran.”
The primary, if not only, reason Jefferson had a copy of the Koran was to try to understand the Koran and Islam in light of what the Muslim ambassador from Tripoli had told him and John Adams.
When asked why Tripoli pirates were attacking American ships and enslaving Americans, the Muslim ambassador explained that Muslims are commanded to do so by the Koran.
Jefferson wrote that the Tripoli ambassador told him that “it was written in their Koran that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman [Muslim] who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to Paradise.”
That’s why Jefferson and Adams had Korans.
Given this reason, why did the president mention that Jefferson and Adams owned copies of the Koran?..."
History for February 11
History for February 11 - On-This-Day.com:
Thomas Alva Edison 1847 - Inventor and businessman. His inventions included the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, Leslie Nielson 1926 - Actor,
Burt Reynolds 1936 - Actor ("Smokey and the Bandit")
Jeb Bush 1953 - Governor of Florida, brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, Sarah Palin 1964 - Governor of Alaska, Jennifer Aniston 1969 - Actress ("Friends")
1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
1812 - The term "gerrymandering" had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
1858 - A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.
1943 - General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1945 - During World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. (Today in World War II History)
1975 - Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1979 - Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1982 - ABC-TV’s presentation of "The Winds of War" concluded. The 18-hour miniseries cost $40 million to produce and was the most-watched television program in history at the time.
Thomas Alva Edison 1847 - Inventor and businessman. His inventions included the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, Leslie Nielson 1926 - Actor,
Burt Reynolds 1936 - Actor ("Smokey and the Bandit")
Jeb Bush 1953 - Governor of Florida, brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, Sarah Palin 1964 - Governor of Alaska, Jennifer Aniston 1969 - Actress ("Friends")
1808 - Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
1812 - The term "gerrymandering" had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
1858 - A French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary near Lourdes.
1943 - General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1945 - During World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. (Today in World War II History)
1975 - Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to head a major party in Britain when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
1979 - Nine days after the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Iran (after 15 years in exile) power was seized by his followers.
1982 - ABC-TV’s presentation of "The Winds of War" concluded. The 18-hour miniseries cost $40 million to produce and was the most-watched television program in history at the time.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
LIBERTY REVIEW
LIBERTY REVIEW:
http://www.libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2016/02/epiphanies-while-driving-by-tammy.html
This is the same administration which is also
accused of giving stand down orders to our troops who wanted to assist
Americans in Benghazi....
http://www.libertyreview76.blogspot.com/2016/02/epiphanies-while-driving-by-tammy.html
Epiphanies While Driving
By Tammy Derouin
An American president visited a mosque which has been
identified as supporting radical Islam.
An American president is flooding our country with illegal aliens, many
of whom could be potential terrorists.
An American president is giving orders for our border patrol to stand
down, to stop protecting our borders.
I don’t know about you, but these actions alone are well
beyond eyebrow raising. They are far
beyond questioning the loyalty of the executive. It is, after all, very plain to see that he
will side with anyone or any regime over the American people. Let’s put aside, for a moment, all of the
other scandalous activity which has taken place throughout this
administration. His term in office is
full of examples.
Let’s push aside Fast and Furious, the IRS targeting
political opponents, Obamacare, Common Core, siding with criminals before facts
surface and then continuing to side with criminals, Benghazi, intentionally
running up the debt, pushing climate change, shutting down coal plants to
increase the price of electricity, stopping the Keystone Pipeline, making
nuclear deals with our enemy and bowing to their every demand, bowing to our
enemies, intentionally weakening our military, disgracing our military,
releasing terrorist prisoners from Gitmo, exchanging prisoners for a highly
questionable soldier whose loyalties are also highly questionable, and creating
a dictatorship by way of his pen.
The scandals of this administration are too numerous to
mention. I’m sure there are many more
which have yet to surface. It’s so
unfortunate that the mainstream media is no longer capable of telling the
truth. More Americans would be aware of
the crimes taking place against them if a free press still existed. Sadly, they are all warm and cozy in his
pocket. They are called upon to perform on
demand.
How do we get the attention of those who are blind to such
criminal behavior against the American people? A private individual could rent
billboards but just imagine how many that would take? Such an individual would also become a
political target as freedom of speech is slowly fading into darkness. Can you imagine the traffic accidents that
would result from epiphanies while driving?
Canada to build Muslim refugee camps on military bases complete with mosques, Korans, prayer mats | Creeping Sharia
Canada to build Muslim refugee camps on military bases complete with mosques, Korans, prayer mats | Creeping Sharia:
Canada to build Muslim refugee camps on military bases complete with mosques, Korans, prayer mats
Canada to build Muslim refugee camps on military bases complete with mosques, Korans, prayer mats
Posted on February 9, 2016 by creeping
The Canadian military has been ordered by Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to draft plans to house more than 6,000 Muslim migrants on a long-term basis at military bases, according to documents obtained exclusively by The Rebel (see below.)
Included in the Department of National Defence budgets are hundreds of thousands of dollars set aside for “religious support,” including the purchase of Muslim Korans, prayer mats and foot-washing towels.
The plans also call for the construction of mosques or “worship centres,” using taxpayers dollars.
The planning documents, in English and French, were released in response to a Rebel “Access to Information” request about religious expenditures by the Department of National Defence.
But the detailed Quebec budget plans also shed light on the sheer scale of the Trudeau government’s plans to set up refugee camp-style accommodations on seven Canadian Forces Bases across Quebec and Ontario.
The budget for Quebec alone totals more than $46 million for the first six months.
For a typical migrant family, that’s a $200,000/year subsidy — not including medicare or welfare.
It’s shocking that Canadian Armed Forces personnel will be ordered to abandon the coalition battle against ISIS and return to Canada to become waiters, chauffeurs and social workers for Muslim migrants, and that Canadian Forces Bases will be turned into squalid refugee camps.
It’s a disgrace that Canadian military personnel have been sent eviction notices to make way for foreign migrants.
But for the DND’s budget to be diverted away from military purposes and towards buying Korans and building mosques for foreign migrants, is especially outrageous.
RELATED: “A national embarrassment: U.S. Senate demands answers about Trudeau’s reckless refugee plan”
Poisoning their minds-----'White guilt' video shown to high school students irks community
'White guilt' video shown to high school students irks community | Fox News:
An animated film designed as a lesson in “racial discourse” for students at a Virginia high school has led to backlash from community members who’ve taken issue with not-so subtle references to so-called white privilege throughout the video.
“They are sitting there watching a video that is dividing them up from a racial standpoint.
An animated film designed as a lesson in “racial discourse” for students at a Virginia high school has led to backlash from community members who’ve taken issue with not-so subtle references to so-called white privilege throughout the video.
“They are sitting there watching a video that is dividing them up from a racial standpoint.
It's a White guilt kind of video,” Don Blake, whose granddaughter attended the assembly where the video was shown, told told WWBT.
“I think somebody should be held accountable for this.”
Officials at Glen Allen High School in Henrico said in a statement that the video, “The Unequal Opportunity Race,” was a presentation involving “American history and racial discourse.”
...As the video begins, four athletes take their marks at the start of a race.
Officials at Glen Allen High School in Henrico said in a statement that the video, “The Unequal Opportunity Race,” was a presentation involving “American history and racial discourse.”
...As the video begins, four athletes take their marks at the start of a race.
While two white athletes immediately take off at the sound of the starting gun, two non-white athletes must remain in the starting block while a red light blocks their path.
The non-white athletes are bombarded with words such as “slavery,” “broken treaties,” “genocide” and “segregation.”
The white athletes continually run around the track, getting older as their batons – marked with a money symbol – grow larger and larger.
Eventually they hand the baton off to a younger white athlete running beside them.
More than a minute into the animated video, the non-white athletes finally get to start the race.
But as soon as they begin running, the pair is beset by rocks, potholes, sharks and rain clouds symbolizing “standardized tests,” “discrimination” and the “school to prison pipeline.”
The white male athlete, holding a water bottle marked “Yale,” eventually wins the race without even having to run – he takes his place on a fast-moving conveyor belt as the word “privilege” follows him.
He crosses the finish line just ahead of the white female.
As the four-minute film ends a message flashes across the screen: “Affirmative action helps level the playing field.”...
As the four-minute film ends a message flashes across the screen: “Affirmative action helps level the playing field.”...
Obama Budget Chief: Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants Key to Stabilizing Social Security | TheBlaze.com
Obama Budget Chief: Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants Key to Stabilizing Social Security | TheBlaze.com:
"On Tuesday, President Barack Obama submitted to Congress the final annual budget of his presidency. That same day, his budget director dismissed any notion that Social Security is a fiscal concern, though he did add that granting legal status for illegal immigrants would pump more revenue into the program.
Obama’s final budget proposal is partially predicated on deficit reduction it projects would result from Congress passing the comprehensive immigration reform this year, a controversial piece of legislation languishing in Congress since 2013 with almost no chance of passing in a divisive election year."
"On Tuesday, President Barack Obama submitted to Congress the final annual budget of his presidency. That same day, his budget director dismissed any notion that Social Security is a fiscal concern, though he did add that granting legal status for illegal immigrants would pump more revenue into the program.
Obama’s final budget proposal is partially predicated on deficit reduction it projects would result from Congress passing the comprehensive immigration reform this year, a controversial piece of legislation languishing in Congress since 2013 with almost no chance of passing in a divisive election year."
Someone Is Shot In Chicago Every 2.8 Hours
Someone Is Shot In Chicago Every 2.8 Hours | The Daily Caller
Someone in Chicago has been shot every 2.84 hours this year for a total of 2,349 shootings during the period of January 1, 2015 to October 6, 2015, according to crime stats published by the Chicago Tribune.
This year, Chicago is expected to eclipse the 2014 milestone of a shooting every 3.38 hours in 2014 with a total victim count of 2,587.
Chicago ranks as one of the most regulated cities in the nation for gun control.
Concealed carry is almost nonexistent.
To purchase a gun or ammunition requires a Firearm Owners Identification card in the entire state of Illinois, and additionally, a Chicago Firearm Permit – which is required to possess a firearm in Chicago.
Not only are the people heavily regulated in Chicago, but guns are also heavily regulated.
Any long gun with a grip protruding from the stock or a firearm with a telescoping stock is prohibited and classified as an “assault weapon.”
Even a spring-powered pellet gun with a muzzle velocity of 700 feet-per-second is classified as a “firearm,” although it does not use gun powder, the component that puts the “fire” in “firearm.”
A stun-gun — a non-lethal device with no projectile — is considered a deadly weapon and cannot be carried for self-defense.
Chicago, for all intents and purposes, is a “gun-free zone...”
Someone in Chicago has been shot every 2.84 hours this year for a total of 2,349 shootings during the period of January 1, 2015 to October 6, 2015, according to crime stats published by the Chicago Tribune.
This year, Chicago is expected to eclipse the 2014 milestone of a shooting every 3.38 hours in 2014 with a total victim count of 2,587.
Chicago ranks as one of the most regulated cities in the nation for gun control.
Concealed carry is almost nonexistent.
To purchase a gun or ammunition requires a Firearm Owners Identification card in the entire state of Illinois, and additionally, a Chicago Firearm Permit – which is required to possess a firearm in Chicago.
Not only are the people heavily regulated in Chicago, but guns are also heavily regulated.
Any long gun with a grip protruding from the stock or a firearm with a telescoping stock is prohibited and classified as an “assault weapon.”
Even a spring-powered pellet gun with a muzzle velocity of 700 feet-per-second is classified as a “firearm,” although it does not use gun powder, the component that puts the “fire” in “firearm.”
A stun-gun — a non-lethal device with no projectile — is considered a deadly weapon and cannot be carried for self-defense.
Chicago, for all intents and purposes, is a “gun-free zone...”
Glenn Reynolds: Washington's culture of corruption rots on
Glenn Reynolds: Washington's culture of corruption rots on:
When bureaucrats are above the law, ordinary Americans may want to follow suit.
Last week saw the passage of a grim milestone in government corruption: Pepperdine University Law Professor Paul Caron’s TaxProf blog marked the 1000th day of the scandal involving the IRS’s deliberate political targeting of conservative “Tea Party” groups.
There are some lessons in this, and they’re mostly bad news.
The first sad lesson is that the notion of an impartial, professional civil service is a fiction.
The big government designs of Democrats and the federal bureaucracy are aligned, and the bureaucracy often deploys its powers in ways calculated to frustrate Republican presidents and to protect Democratic ones.
This is an open secret in Washington, leading Bloomberg View writer Megan McArdle to comment that even if elected, a President Trump wouldn’t change much because the bureaucracy wouldn’t go along:
“Anything that gets done by Washington must be done by the civil service.
These folks are lifers.
You can’t fire them.
Because of the abovementioned legislative compromises required, you also can’t push a bill through that will let you fire them.
And they — not the president, and not the cabinet secretaries — are the folks who do most of what government does.
The president can wave his hands like Jean-Luc Picard and say, ‘Make it so.’
But if they don’t wanna, they ain’t gonna.”
This should be infuriating to anyone who actually believes in democratic governance, but on the other hand, since most political ideas are half-baked, anything that slows them down is probably a good idea.
But what happened in the IRS scandal wasn’t a case of bureaucrats slow-walking ideas they think are dumb.
It was, instead, a case of bureaucrats targeting people because of their political views.
Ohio Tea Party activist Justin Binik-Thomas noticed in 2012 that the IRS was asking Tea Party organizations if they knew him.
The IRS denied that it was targeting people based on their political views, then admitted that it was doing so but blamed low-level employees in the Cincinnati office.
Then it turned out that, as the Treasury Inspector General found, there was much more going on.
The next day, the acting IRS commissioner resigned..."
Read on and get angry!
When bureaucrats are above the law, ordinary Americans may want to follow suit.
Last week saw the passage of a grim milestone in government corruption: Pepperdine University Law Professor Paul Caron’s TaxProf blog marked the 1000th day of the scandal involving the IRS’s deliberate political targeting of conservative “Tea Party” groups.
There are some lessons in this, and they’re mostly bad news.
The first sad lesson is that the notion of an impartial, professional civil service is a fiction.
The big government designs of Democrats and the federal bureaucracy are aligned, and the bureaucracy often deploys its powers in ways calculated to frustrate Republican presidents and to protect Democratic ones.
This is an open secret in Washington, leading Bloomberg View writer Megan McArdle to comment that even if elected, a President Trump wouldn’t change much because the bureaucracy wouldn’t go along:
“Anything that gets done by Washington must be done by the civil service.
These folks are lifers.
You can’t fire them.
Because of the abovementioned legislative compromises required, you also can’t push a bill through that will let you fire them.
And they — not the president, and not the cabinet secretaries — are the folks who do most of what government does.
The president can wave his hands like Jean-Luc Picard and say, ‘Make it so.’
But if they don’t wanna, they ain’t gonna.”
This should be infuriating to anyone who actually believes in democratic governance, but on the other hand, since most political ideas are half-baked, anything that slows them down is probably a good idea.
But what happened in the IRS scandal wasn’t a case of bureaucrats slow-walking ideas they think are dumb.
It was, instead, a case of bureaucrats targeting people because of their political views.
Ohio Tea Party activist Justin Binik-Thomas noticed in 2012 that the IRS was asking Tea Party organizations if they knew him.
The IRS denied that it was targeting people based on their political views, then admitted that it was doing so but blamed low-level employees in the Cincinnati office.
Then it turned out that, as the Treasury Inspector General found, there was much more going on.
The next day, the acting IRS commissioner resigned..."
Read on and get angry!
In Surprising Blow to Administration, Supreme Court Halts Obama’s Carbon Emissions Plan | TheBlaze.com
In Surprising Blow to Administration, Supreme Court Halts Obama’s Carbon Emissions Plan | TheBlaze.com:
"WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.
The surprising move is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents that call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.”
"WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.
The surprising move is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents that call the regulations “an unprecedented power grab.”
Chicago Cop Seeks $10M from Family of Teen He Killed, Claims He's 'Traumatized'
Chicago Cop Seeks $10M from Family of Teen He Killed, Claims He's 'Traumatized' | The Daily Sheeple:
A Chicago police officer is suing the family of a teenager he shot in December, claiming his psyche was “traumatized” by the fatal incident.
On Friday, white police officer Robert Rialmo, 27, filed a suit against the LeGrier family, whose son he killed less than two months ago, seeking $10 million in damages.
The officer claims the black 19-year-old college student attempted to hit him with a baseball bat, swinging it close to the officer’s head.
This forced him to open fire, killing two and people and wounding one other.
Early on the morning of December 26, Northern Illinois University student Quintonio LeGrier called 911 asking police officers to come to a home on Chicago’s West Side. The young man, who was reportedly mentally ill, did not give his name or many details as to why he wanted a police presence. He only said he was being threatened and that an emergency was taking place.
LeGrier and a neighbor, Bettie Jones, 55, were fatally shot by Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo minutes later. The teen’s father Antonio LeGrier was shot in the chest. but survived.
Officer Rialmo’s attorney said his client, who shot Quintonio LeGrier six times, wants to send an important message that police are “not targets for assaults” and “suffer damage like anybody else.”
“Ever since the McDonald payoff, people are treating officer-involved confrontations like a lottery ticket and they’re waiting to cash it in,” Rialmo’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, told the Tribune, referring to a recent high-profile compensation case in Chicago.
The lawsuit claims that causing death to two people will “continue to cause…extreme emotional trauma” to police officer.
LeGrier family, which filed a wrongful death lawsuit days after the shooting took place, sees the situation from a different angle.
“That’s a new low even for the Chicago Police Department,” said family attorney Basileios Foutris. “First you shoot them, then you sue them.”
“After this coward shot a teenager in the back … he has the temerity to sue him?” Foutris told the Chicago Tribune.
A Chicago police officer is suing the family of a teenager he shot in December, claiming his psyche was “traumatized” by the fatal incident.
On Friday, white police officer Robert Rialmo, 27, filed a suit against the LeGrier family, whose son he killed less than two months ago, seeking $10 million in damages.
The officer claims the black 19-year-old college student attempted to hit him with a baseball bat, swinging it close to the officer’s head.
This forced him to open fire, killing two and people and wounding one other.
Early on the morning of December 26, Northern Illinois University student Quintonio LeGrier called 911 asking police officers to come to a home on Chicago’s West Side. The young man, who was reportedly mentally ill, did not give his name or many details as to why he wanted a police presence. He only said he was being threatened and that an emergency was taking place.
LeGrier and a neighbor, Bettie Jones, 55, were fatally shot by Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo minutes later. The teen’s father Antonio LeGrier was shot in the chest. but survived.
Officer Rialmo’s attorney said his client, who shot Quintonio LeGrier six times, wants to send an important message that police are “not targets for assaults” and “suffer damage like anybody else.”
“Ever since the McDonald payoff, people are treating officer-involved confrontations like a lottery ticket and they’re waiting to cash it in,” Rialmo’s attorney, Joel Brodsky, told the Tribune, referring to a recent high-profile compensation case in Chicago.
The lawsuit claims that causing death to two people will “continue to cause…extreme emotional trauma” to police officer.
LeGrier family, which filed a wrongful death lawsuit days after the shooting took place, sees the situation from a different angle.
“That’s a new low even for the Chicago Police Department,” said family attorney Basileios Foutris. “First you shoot them, then you sue them.”
“After this coward shot a teenager in the back … he has the temerity to sue him?” Foutris told the Chicago Tribune.
The March of Trump, and the Feel of Bern
The March of Trump, and the Feel of Bern :: SteynOnline
"...But a nightmare for the GOP's Donor-Industrial Complex: Trump has the populist lane, Cruz the conservative, and both are reviled by the so-called "establishment".
All New Hampshire had to do was sort out the so-called "moderate" lane by anointing Rubio, and, in a three-way race, he'd eliminate the Trump-Cruz problem.
That was the theory.
"...But a nightmare for the GOP's Donor-Industrial Complex: Trump has the populist lane, Cruz the conservative, and both are reviled by the so-called "establishment".
All New Hampshire had to do was sort out the so-called "moderate" lane by anointing Rubio, and, in a three-way race, he'd eliminate the Trump-Cruz problem.
That was the theory.
Instead, Chris Christie's kamikaze mission took out Rubio, and killed his Iowa Rubementum stone dead.
As a result, Kasich had a solid second-place finish and Jeb had a marginally less worse than expected fourth-place finish that will keep him and his SuperPac in the game a few states longer.
And, until the mod squad consolidates behind one of these guys, the GOP establishment will be stuck with a frontrunner it despises, and a runner-up it despises even more.
As a result, Kasich had a solid second-place finish and Jeb had a marginally less worse than expected fourth-place finish that will keep him and his SuperPac in the game a few states longer.
And, until the mod squad consolidates behind one of these guys, the GOP establishment will be stuck with a frontrunner it despises, and a runner-up it despises even more.
Incidentally, Trump's performance was consistent across all demographics and all regions - 38 per cent in the poor, rural north of Coos County, 38 per cent in the prosperous, suburban south-eastern seacoast of Rockingham County.
His support was also broad ideologically - conservative, moderate, independent, evangelical. It's hard to see a RINO squish voting for Cruz or a hardcore conservative voting for Kasich, but not difficult to see either of them supporting Trump, as long as they're not repelled by his personality, which seems to be his only ceiling.
His support was also broad ideologically - conservative, moderate, independent, evangelical. It's hard to see a RINO squish voting for Cruz or a hardcore conservative voting for Kasich, but not difficult to see either of them supporting Trump, as long as they're not repelled by his personality, which seems to be his only ceiling.
...Everyone says, "Oh, that's only because the Granite State is Bernie's backyard."
That's rubbish.
No one in south-eastern New Hampshire, which is where the population is, follows Vermont politics.
Only ten per cent of the state can pick up Vermont TV stations, and only the Connecticut River Valley towns have any sort of bi-state orientation.
Bernie didn't win because he lives next door.
He won because for a big chunk of the Democrat base - not just utopian millennials and their college professors, but a lot of the same kind of demoralized blue-collar whites Trump appeals to - for a big chunk of that base the Obama-Hillary left isn't left enough..."
That's rubbish.
No one in south-eastern New Hampshire, which is where the population is, follows Vermont politics.
Only ten per cent of the state can pick up Vermont TV stations, and only the Connecticut River Valley towns have any sort of bi-state orientation.
Bernie didn't win because he lives next door.
He won because for a big chunk of the Democrat base - not just utopian millennials and their college professors, but a lot of the same kind of demoralized blue-collar whites Trump appeals to - for a big chunk of that base the Obama-Hillary left isn't left enough..."
Pro-Palestine Hackers Leak Personal Info Of 30,000 FBI & DHS Employees
Pro-Palestine Hackers Leak Personal Info Of 30,000 FBI & DHS Employees | American Military News:
"A team of hackers has leaked the personal information, including phone numbers and addresses of close to 30,000 employees at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
The hack was first reported by the online publication, Motherboard, on Sunday.
They also were able to connect with the hackers who gave insight into their operation.
According to them, the hack was simple – using a compromised email address to download 200GB of data out of a supposed 1TB, which included the contact info as well as some credit card and other information about some members of the military.
This relatively unsophisticated hack, along with the amount of data collected shows just how insecure some of our nations secrets are.
The sheer size of the data hacked could lead one to believe there is more still left to be leaked.
The leaked information includes pro-palestinian slogans and this additional national security breach is a devastating hack that once again shows the government can’t protect data"
"A team of hackers has leaked the personal information, including phone numbers and addresses of close to 30,000 employees at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
The hack was first reported by the online publication, Motherboard, on Sunday.
They also were able to connect with the hackers who gave insight into their operation.
According to them, the hack was simple – using a compromised email address to download 200GB of data out of a supposed 1TB, which included the contact info as well as some credit card and other information about some members of the military.
This relatively unsophisticated hack, along with the amount of data collected shows just how insecure some of our nations secrets are.
The sheer size of the data hacked could lead one to believe there is more still left to be leaked.
The leaked information includes pro-palestinian slogans and this additional national security breach is a devastating hack that once again shows the government can’t protect data"
BREAKING: 26 States Make Huge Move to Strip Obama's Power Inside Their Borders
BREAKING: 26 States Make Huge Move to Strip Obama's Power Inside Their Borders:
"More than half the states have requested relief from an Environmental Protection Agency order requiring them to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent.
The states have asked the Supreme Court to stay the requirement pending the outcome of a lawsuit against it, saying that it would do “irreparable harm” to them."
"More than half the states have requested relief from an Environmental Protection Agency order requiring them to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent.
The states have asked the Supreme Court to stay the requirement pending the outcome of a lawsuit against it, saying that it would do “irreparable harm” to them."
Sports Stadium Deals Consistently Strike Out
Sports Stadium Deals Consistently Strike Out [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has proposed legislation that would force sports teams who relocate to a new city to pay back public subsidies received from their former state or town.
This legislation is likely influenced by the St. Louis Rams’ recent decision to move to Los Angeles (Sen. McCaskill hails from Missouri).
This is a solid idea, especially given what the economic research says about stadium subsidies and given the inability of cities to protect taxpayers from being left in the lurch on these stadium deals.
The Rams were lured from Los Angeles to St. Louis in 1995 by a new, publicly financed stadium, the Edward Jones Dome.
The city borrowed nearly $500 million (inflation-adjusted) to construct the stadium and still owes approximately $100 million.
This debt service will cost city taxpayers $5 million per year until 2021.
The Rams also get to keep the revenue from the naming rights for the stadium, which is worth just under $4 million per year.
Sen. McCaskill’s proposal would require the Rams to pay back the $100 million the city still owes.
But what’s lost in this debate is that it shouldn’t require federal law to prevent pro sports teams from abusing their publicly financed stadium deals.
Unfortunately, most of the time, cities negotiate terrible agreements with franchises, leaving taxpayers in a vulnerable position.
For instance, St. Louis agreed to a “state-of-the-art” clause in the Ram’s lease with the city.
This required the Edward Jones Dome to be in the top 25 percent of NFL stadiums as measured by various stadium characteristics.
If the Dome fell out of the top 25 percent, the Rams were free to break the lease and move.
Given the large amount of new stadium construction in the NFL, the Edward Jones Dome quickly fell out of the top 25 percent, and the team claimed that the stadium would need $700 million in renovations to make it a top-tier stadium again.
The city didn’t have $700 million to spare (which city does?) and, as a consequence, arbitrators in 2013 ruled that the city was in violation of the lease and the Rams were free to move.
But St. Louis is not alone..."
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill has proposed legislation that would force sports teams who relocate to a new city to pay back public subsidies received from their former state or town.
This legislation is likely influenced by the St. Louis Rams’ recent decision to move to Los Angeles (Sen. McCaskill hails from Missouri).
This is a solid idea, especially given what the economic research says about stadium subsidies and given the inability of cities to protect taxpayers from being left in the lurch on these stadium deals.
The Rams were lured from Los Angeles to St. Louis in 1995 by a new, publicly financed stadium, the Edward Jones Dome.
The city borrowed nearly $500 million (inflation-adjusted) to construct the stadium and still owes approximately $100 million.
This debt service will cost city taxpayers $5 million per year until 2021.
The Rams also get to keep the revenue from the naming rights for the stadium, which is worth just under $4 million per year.
Sen. McCaskill’s proposal would require the Rams to pay back the $100 million the city still owes.
But what’s lost in this debate is that it shouldn’t require federal law to prevent pro sports teams from abusing their publicly financed stadium deals.
Unfortunately, most of the time, cities negotiate terrible agreements with franchises, leaving taxpayers in a vulnerable position.
For instance, St. Louis agreed to a “state-of-the-art” clause in the Ram’s lease with the city.
This required the Edward Jones Dome to be in the top 25 percent of NFL stadiums as measured by various stadium characteristics.
If the Dome fell out of the top 25 percent, the Rams were free to break the lease and move.
Given the large amount of new stadium construction in the NFL, the Edward Jones Dome quickly fell out of the top 25 percent, and the team claimed that the stadium would need $700 million in renovations to make it a top-tier stadium again.
The city didn’t have $700 million to spare (which city does?) and, as a consequence, arbitrators in 2013 ruled that the city was in violation of the lease and the Rams were free to move.
But St. Louis is not alone..."
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