Audiotape Reveals Artists Being Asked to Support Obama's Agenda

Fox News

An official at the White House Office of Public Engagement encouraged a group of artists on a conference call with the National Endowment for the Arts to produce works that supported the Obama administration's agenda, a transcript of the call reveals.

The 44-page transcript, which was posted Monday on BigGovernment.com, details an hour-long conference call on Aug. 10 hosted by the NEA, the White House Office of Public Engagement and United We Serve, a nationwide initiative launched by President Obama to increase volunteerism.

"We're going to need your help, and we're going to come at you with some specific 'asks' here," said Buffy Wicks, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. "But we know that you guys are ready for it and eager to participate, so one we want to thank you, and two, I hope you guys are ready."

Texas congressman wants to 'End the Fed'

USA Today

"The Federal Reserve should be abolished," writes Ron Paul, "because it is immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty."

This is the thesis of Paul's End the Fed (Grand Central Publishing, $21.99, 224 pages), the Texas congressman's case against the Federal Reserve. The title was taken from a slogan that Paul heard chanted at various rallies and conventions, filling him with hope that monetary policy has become a subject worthy of popular protest.

Many people consider the Fed an "indispensable institution," but few know what the central bank actually does. For example, the Fed "can create trillions of dollars and distribute them to its cronies without congressional oversight," writes Paul, a former GOP presidential candidate.

Lawmaker's 'You lie' outburst draws House rebuke

iWon

Bitterly divided along party lines, the House formally rebuked Republican Rep. Joe Wilson Tuesday for shouting "You lie" at President Barack Obama during last week's nationally televised speech to Congress.

The rare resolution of disapproval was pushed through by Democrats insisting that Wilson, a South Carolina lawmaker, had violated basic rules of decorum and civility in his outburst. Republicans dismissed the vote as a political "witch hunt" and a waste of precious time and taxpayers' money.

Wilson had called the White House to apologize shortly after the incident, and he said at the time that the president "graciously accepted my apology and the issue is over." Republicans agreed, but several Democrats pressed the issue.

The final tally late Tuesday was 240-179, generally but not entirely along party lines. It was 233 Democrats and seven Republicans voting to chastise Wilson, 167 Republicans and 12 Democrats opposing the measure and five Democrats merely voting "present."

Suitable punishment for one telling the truth among professional liars?

Key Blagojevich adviser Christopher Kelly dead

Chicago Sun-Times

The man federal prosecutors pressured to cooperate in the corruption probe of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich died of an apparent aspirin overdose on Saturday, law enforcement sources said.

Christopher Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. An autopsy is scheduled for today, a Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office spokeswoman said.

Kelly was Blagojevich’s “go-to guy” who once was the mastermind of the ex-governor’s lucrative campaign fund.

Kelly’s death comes just four days after he pleaded guilty to a scheme involving $8.5 million in fraud at O’Hare Airport. It was the second conviction this year -- he still faced trial along with the ex-governor, in June. Kelly had been indicted three times since 2007 but refused to become a cooperating witness. When he pleaded guilty to the O’Hare scheme Tuesday, Kelly spoke of feeling intense pressure by prosecutors to abandon his loyalty to Blagojevich and cooperate with the feds.

Sen. Edward Kennedy Dies After Battle With Cancer

WSJ

Sen. Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy, a liberal icon and frequent Republican target who was one of the longest-serving and most accomplished lawmakers of the modern era, has died at age 77.

In succumbing to brain cancer at his family's home in Hyannis Port, Mass., Mr. Kennedy became the only one of four dynamic Kennedy brothers to die of natural causes, or even live long enough to see his hair turn white. President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy were assassinated in the 1960s, and their oldest brother, Joseph Kennedy Jr., died in World War II.

Mr. Kennedy's family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday. "We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," it said. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Continue reading.

Coyotes bankruptcy update: NHL wants control of Coyotes

I found this story while posting on my hockey related page. I'm sure hockey fans have been following this saga in Phoenix.

My advice to the NHL; talk with Prez Obama, he knows all about taking over private sector businesses and property. "Cash for defunct hockey teams" program can't be far away.


Examiner.com

The NHL wants control of the Phoenix Coyotes.

The National Hockey League filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court yesterday asking for control of the team. The league first asked for control of the team after owner Jerry Moyes put them into bankruptcy on May 5.

The NHL claims that Moyes gave up control last fall and they want “lawful control” of the team to prevent further financial damage.

According to the Hamilton Spectator, the NHL said, “These cases [Moyes, Balsillie] were not filed in good faith to stave off an impending financial crisis or to affect a reorganization for the good of the creditors. Rather, they are part of a self-serving scheme to advance the interests of just two parties.”

Read the rest of this article.

Aug 21st

Sen Grassley's Letter to FCC Chair- Questions Media Should Ask About FCC 'Chief Diversity Officer'

NewsBusters

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley has publicly released a letter he penned to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski regarding the July 29th announced appointment of new FCC Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer Mark Lloyd.

In the press release accompanying the missive, the Senator said he was "concerned with the appointment due to Lloyd’s writings on political talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine."

As the Senator's letter goes on to detail, there is very much more to fear from Lloyd than merely his views on the so-called "Fairness" Doctrine. Lloyd's intentions on the enforcement of the FCC regulations known as "media diversity" and "localism" are no picnic either.

Read more.

Thanks to Boortz for this tasty morsel.

Thomas Sowell: Whose Medical Decisions?

Townhall.com

There was a time when rushing a thousand-page bill through Congress so fast that no one has time to read it would have provoked public outrage. But now, this has been attempted twice in the first 6 months of a new administration.

The fact that they got away with it before, with the "stimulus" bill, may have led them to believe that they could get away with it again.

But the first bill simply spent hundreds of billions of dollars. The current "health care" bill threatens to take life-and-death decisions out of the hands of individuals and their doctors, transferring those decisions to Washington bureaucrats.

Read more of this essay by Thomas Sowell.

Wanted: American Intellectuals Thinkers

American Thinker

Helen [Mom]: "Everyone's special, Dash."

Dash [Son]: [muttering] "Which is another way of saying no one is."
- from the Pixar movie, The Incredibles

One of the tragedies, and paradoxes, of our post modernist age is the dominance of the sympathetic "intellectual" as opposed to the hardheaded "thinker" in Western culture. Everyone is a kindly intellectual and almost no one is an objective thinker. (I will explain the difference between the two in a moment.)

Our present situation is not good for the Republic. By selling feel good snake oil intellectualism, we have polarized America into unwavering ideological camps, each camp filled with phony sophisticates. How we got ourselves into this pickle is an interesting story.

Read more.

'Clunker' sales borrow from 2010 market

Detroit News

The unexpected success of the government's "cash for clunkers" program is boosting sales dramatically -- but is probably pulling forward some purchases that would have taken place next year.

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight has increased its U.S. auto sales estimate for this year because of the robust response to the government-funded plan. But it is paring its 2010 forecast.

George Magliano, director of North American auto industry research at IHS, said the annualized selling rate this month has spiked above 12 million cars and light trucks, after languishing below 10 million for most of the year.

Although Magliano expects the selling pace to fall back after the funds for the incentives run out, IHS has raised its full-year sales forecast to 10.3 million light vehicles from 9.8 million previously.

But IHS is shaving its 2010 sales forecast to 11.1 million from 11.3 million, reflecting the anticipated "payback" from the incentives-fueled boom.

Read more.

Surely this can come as no surprise to anyone that hasn't smoked crack. Our government routinely mortgages current entitlement programs on the backs of future victims. Why wouldn't they fashion a device intended to trick the American people into believing one of their "economic recovery" programs actually worked? Listen to the early reports prior to extending the program and dumping more money into this giveaway.
Looks as though they can't claim total victory however. The union and the American auto industry wasn't the greatest benefactor of the new car incentive. What's the politically correct phrase? Oh yeah, unintended consequences.

The Economics of "Cash For Clunkers"

Hat Tip: Consent Of The Governed.

Projection vs. Power

Gus Van Horn

Left-wing radio commentator Ed Schultze -- whose voice and delivery, at least in the linked clip, bear a bizarre resemblance to Rush Limbaugh's -- claims he "sometimes think[s]" that conservative pundits "would love to see Obama taken out," because they "fear socialism [and] Marxism."

Another link at RealClear Politics claims that Schultze himself had once "Wishe[d] Death On Dick Cheney."

For this post, I will leave aside the lowness of this insult on Schultze's part. He is basically attempting to dehumanize his opponents by claiming that we have no regard for human life, and cannot see our political opponents as human beings. I am sorry, but this is still a civilized country. I want Obama to go down in flames, politically, but I have no desire to see him murdered.

That said, I will address a few other aspects of Schultze's remarks...

Read this entire essay.