Political Digest November 17, 2009

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article.

Study Faults Charities for Veterans—please read
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202657.html
Excerpt: Americans gave millions of dollars in the past year to veterans charities designed to help troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but several of the groups spent relatively little money on the wounded, according to a leading watchdog organization and federal tax filings. Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation's largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington Post analysis of tax filings showed. There are no laws regulating the amount of money charities spend on overhead, fundraising or giving. But the institute's report suggests that 20 of the 29 military charities studied were managing their resources poorly, paying high overhead costs and direct-mail fundraising fees and, in some cases, providing their leaders with six-figure salaries. The 12 charities rated as failing by the institute -- including the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, the AMVETS National Service Foundation and the Freedom Alliance -- collected at least $266 million in the past fiscal year.

Rating the vets charities
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/12/AR2007121202439.html?sid=ST2007121300732

A staggering ego, at the center of difficult issues
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304385.html?wpisrc=newsletter
If these jerks are entitled to “fair trials,” so was every Nazi soldier we captured in WWII. Who will serve on the Jury? Excerpt: When two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, Khalid Sheik Mohammed was sitting in an Internet cafe in Karachi, Pakistan, monitoring the attacks. At first, Mohammed later told CIA interrogators, he was disappointed. He said that he expected the towers to crumble immediately and that he feared they might not fall at all. After the towers came down, Mohammed returned to a hideaway flat in the city. There, according to newly disclosed details from U.S. officials, he and a number of associates, including Ramzi Binalshibh, al-Qaeda's liaison with the Sept. 11 hijackers, gathered to watch coverage on international news channels. Through the night in Pakistan, the men embraced repeatedly in celebration, marveling at their spectacular success and the humbling of the American giant. More than eight years later, Mohammed, a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will soon be transferred to federal court in Manhattan, returning to a city that officials say he visited as a tourist while a student in North Carolina in the 1980s. The man widely known as KSM will arrive in New York as the most striking symbol of the Obama administration's effort to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

U.S. troops battle both Taliban and their own rules
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/16/us-troops-battle-taliban-afghan-rules/?source=newsletter_must-read-stories-today_headlines
Excerpt: "We have to follow the Karzai 12 rules. But the Taliban has no rules," he said. "Our soldiers have to juggle all these rules and regulations and they do it without hesitation despite everything. It's not easy for anyone out here." "Karzai 12" refers to Afghanistan's newly re-elected president, Hamid Karzai, and a dozen rules set down by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the commander of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, to try to keep Afghan civilian casualties to a minimum. "It's a framework to ensure cultural sensitivity in planning and executing operations," said Capt. Thoreen. "It's a set of rules and could be characterized as part of the ROE," he said, referring to the rules of engagement.

'I will only wear pants'
Defiant 'trouser lady' continues to fight decency laws
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111304418.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Another hero in the anti-Jihad war. Excerpt: KHARTOUM, SUDAN -- A few months after she was arrested for wearing pants, Lubna Hussein was lounging around her home in a shady, upper-class neighborhood in this capital along the Nile River. It was a hot afternoon, but the 34-year-old Sudanese journalist was wearing thick jeans adorned with sequins and embroidered flowers. "Since all this happened, I will only wear pants," she said in the calmly defiant manner that led to her fleeting global celebrity as "the trouser lady," and a less-publicized backlash that has included anonymous death threats and newspaper columns calling her a prostitute. "If you have something to fight for, you can lose your life." In July, Hussein attempted to shame Sudan's Islamist ruling party by inviting reporters to view her public flogging, a punishment under Islamic law that is sometimes applied here -- by leather whip or bamboo cane of the sort used on camels -- to women deemed to have violated decency laws.

Italy: Mohammed called a paedophile in TV spat
http://www.eutimes.net/2009/11/italy-mohammed-called-a-paedophile-in-tv-spat/
She’s toast. Excerpt: Italian feminist and former far right-wing MP Daniela Santanche has sparked a controversy after calling the Prophet Mohammed a “a polygamist and paedophile” during a TV debate. Santanche appeared on a television programme aired on the commercial channel, Canale 5 with the president of Milan’s Islamic centre, Ali Abu Schwaima, on Sunday. “Mohammed was a polygamist and a paedophile because he had nine wives, one of whom was only nine years old, that is a historical fact,” said Santanche.

Never Forget: 9/11
http://www.thebravest.com/neverforget

Act for America
http://www.actforamerica.org/
Anti-Jihadist blog.

No Muslims Founded America But Obama Thinks They Were There!
http://www.desertconservative.com/2009/11/14/no-muslims-founded-america-but-obama-thinks-they-were-there/
Excerpt: Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present. There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King Jr.. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights. Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era? Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hajib’ or for talking to a man that is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights aren’t they? Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews.

CMS: House health bill will hike costs $289B
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/67791-cms-house-health-bill-will-hike-costs-289b
Surprise! Excerpt: The House-approved healthcare overhaul would raise the costs of healthcare by $289 billion over the next 10 years, according to an analysis by the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).The CMS report is a blow to the White House and House Democrats who have vowed that healthcare reform would curb the growth of healthcare spending. CMS's analysis is not an apples-to-apples comparison to the cost estimate conducted by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) because CMS did not review tax provisions, which help offset the price tag of the Democrats' measure. However, the CMS analysis clearly states that the House bill falls short in attaining a key goal of the Democrats' effort to reform the nation's healthcare system: "With the exception of the proposed reduction in Medicare... the provisions of H.R. 3962 would not have a significant impact on future healthcare cost growth rates."

Why Tragedy Will Be Result of Dems Rush to Victory on Health Reform
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/13/douglas-holtz-eakin-paul-howard-pelosi-health-care-sink-economy/
Interesting alternative proposals. Excerpt: It’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. What do they care if they sink the economy along the way? Last Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi begged, cajoled, and threatened health care legislation to a successful vote in her chamber, albeit by a razor thin margin of 220-215. The administration and House leadership touted this as a landmark vote, which it is, but only if you ignore the fact that the bill achieves almost none of President Obama's promised health reform goals. In fact, it is very likely to explode the deficit, drive up health care costs, and inflict massive new taxes on middle-class Americans. Watching events unfold in Washington at first hand, it’s become clear that health reform has become the Democrats version of "Moby Dick," as party leaders embrace the premise that they must pass something this year and declare victory, no matter how flawed the final product is. Unfortunately, they may sink the economy along the way. If clearer heads prevailed, Congress would scrap these partisan bills and start over.

Federal oversight of subways proposed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402459.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Step by step the Federal Government grows. What next?

Friday Senate Line: Depressed Democrats?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/the-line/friday-senate-line-depressed-d.html?wprss=thefix
Excerpt: Two new Quinnipiac University polls released Thursday in Ohio and Connecticut provided sobering news for Senate Democrats. In Connecticut, Sen. Chris Dodd (D), whose numbers experienced something of a resurgence over the summer, trailed former Rep. Rob Simmons (R) by double digits in the latest Q poll. Even against virtual unknowns like former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, state Sen. Sam Caliguri and former ambassador Tom Foley, Dodd is in a statistical dead heat -- evidence that Connecticut voters are looking for any alternative to the incumbent. Need more evidence? Just 40 percent approve of the job Dodd is doing in Congress while just 39 percent say he deserves re-election next fall. Not good. At all. The data in Ohio was less daunting for Democrats but still dispiriting. Former representative Rob Portman took 39 percent to 36 percent for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) in the Q poll, a significant reversal from a September survey when the Democrat led by double digits. Since neither Portman nor Fisher is particularly well known at the moment, the turnaround is almost entirely attributable to a general decline in the Democratic brand in the state as evidenced by the majorities who disapprove of how President Obama is handling the economy and health care. (Gov. Ted Strickland is feeling the effects as well, having slipped into a dead heat with former Republican Rep. John Kasich.)

Everyone in Britain could be given a personal 'carbon allowance'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/carbon/6527970/Everyone-in-Britain-could-be-given-a-personal-carbon-allowance.html
If you kill yourself, can you pass on your allowance to your heirs? Excerpt: However, some have criticised the move as "Orwellian" and say it will have a detrimental impact on business. Ruth Lea, an economist from Arbuthnot Banking Group, told the Daily Mail: "This is all about control of the individual and you begin to wonder whether this is what the green agenda has always been about. It's Orwellian. This will be an enormous tax on business." Under the Climate Change Act, Britain is obliged to cut its emissions by 80 per cent on 1990 levels by 2050. This means annual CO2 emissions per person will have to fall from about 9 tonnes to only 2 tonnes.

What's Wrong With Socialism?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/whats_wrong_with_socialism.html
Excerpt: It eventually dawned on me that he really didn't know what was wrong with socialism. I began reciting the litany of horrors: the crimes of the Holocaust, the purges of the Soviets, the thuggery and inhuman brutality of the statist regimes of the last century. The Nazis, for crissake! How could he not know about the evil of the Nazis? He listened to all of this, nodding his understanding as he recognized some of the events I described, but I could still see a question behind his eyes. While he had been taught of the existence of these atrocities, he had not been clued into the one commonality they shared. They were all perpetrated by the adherents of various forms of socialism. Indeed, such crimes were the only outcome possible. In the late 1930s, the noted economist Friedrich Von Hayek wrote his landmark pamphlet "Road to Serfdom," laying bare the diseased skeleton of socialist/utopian thought that had permeated academia and the salons of his day. With an economy of words that showcased the significance of his conclusion, he pointed out the Achilles heel of collectivist dogma: for a planned economy to succeed, there must be central planners, who by necessity will insist on universal commitment to their plan. How do you attain total commitment to a goal from a free people? Well, you don't. Some percentage will always disagree, even if only for the sake of being contrary or out of a desire to be left alone. When considering a program as comprehensive as a government-planned economy, there are undoubtedly countless points of contention, such as how we will choose the planners, how we will order our priorities when assigning them importance within the plan, how we will allocate resources when competing interests have legitimate claims, who will make these decisions, and perhaps more pertinent to our discussion, how those decisions will be enforced. A rift forming on even one of these issues is enough to bring the gears of this progressive endeavor grinding to a halt. This fatal flaw in the collectivist design cannot be reengineered. It is an error so critical that the entire ideology must be scrapped.

What Does the Public Know?
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1378/political-news-iq-quiz
Excerpt: National Results of the quiz I published at this link:
http://pewresearch.org/politicalquiz/quiz/index.php

Thank you former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush
http://hillbuzz.org/2009/11/10/thank-you-former-president-george-w-bush-and-former-first-lady-laura-bush/
Leftwing news site thanks Bush!

Cops: Initial investigation indicates Scott shot himself
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/man-found-dead-near-merchandise-mart-downtown.html
Former Daley aide. School Board President. Who knows in Chicago?

Nice post
This was just posted as a comment on “I’m Tired,” my widely-circulated post back in February. Gives you hope for the future:

“This is probably the greatest blogpost I have ever seen! I'm 16 and I have to keep a blog for my American Studies class, so I know a bit about the blogosphere. Mr. Hall, you have voiced nearly every sentiment I hesitate to share for fear of being ostracized. I live near Chicago, so I know exactly what you're talking about with Illinois corruption. My parent's money just seems to keep going down the drain. I hope people keep reading this blog and seeing that they are not alone in their malcontent. While there are Republicans here in Illinois, it's a rather blue state. Such sentiments as you expressed are denounced as right-wing extremism. I hope this country stops its downward slide, for your granddaughter's sake and my own.”

It has come to pass
"They are not to do anything they please to provide for the general welfare.... giving a distinct and independent power to do any act they please which may be good for the Union, would render all the preceding and subsequent enumerations of power completely useless. It would reduce the whole instrument to a single phrase, that of instituting a Congress with power to do whatever would be for the good of the United States; and as they sole judges of the good or evil, it would be also a power to do whatever evil they please." --Thomas Jefferson, Founder of the Democrat Party. "The Patriot Post (www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/)"