Dodd's Wife served as Director of an AIG Controlled Company
No wonder Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn) went wobbly last week when asked about his February amendment ratifying hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to executives at insurance giant AIG. Dodd has been one of the company's favorite recipients of campaign contributions. But it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well. From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG.

Davos Capitalism: Adam Smith's Nightmare
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith warned, "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." The shenanigans of business leaders over the last year, which led to a serious loss of faith in markets and a call for more government intervention, sadly proves Smith's point. Unfortunately, the problem runs deeper than Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Merrill Lynch, AIG or whatever company has grabbed the headlines of the day. Smith, who published his landmark work in 1776, warned of corporate collusion, but we're experiencing something much more insidious -- not just businesses, but business and government and a host of others all meeting, and colluding, at the posh Swiss resort town of Davos. It is Adam Smith's nightmare. This isn't free market capitalism. It's Davos capitalism, a managerial capitalism run by an enlightened elite--politicians, business leaders, technology gurus, bureaucrats, academics, and celebrities--all gathered together trying to make the economic world smarter or more humane. It might even be, as Bill Gates famously said last year at Davos, a more "creative" capitalism.

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant
Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal that led to a management shake-up, huge fines and scalding condemnation of passive directors by a top federal regulator.??One of those allegedly asleep-at-the-switch board members was Chicago's Rahm Emanuel—now chief of staff to President Barack Obama—who made at least $320,000 for a 14-month stint at Freddie Mac that required little effort.

‘Investing’ Our Way to the Poor House
Obama’s massive spending explosion will do nothing to create economic growth, but it will grow our federal deficit. Again, last night, President Barack Obama claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. Finishing his opening remarks last night, Obama said: “At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led us to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.” There is no saving in Obama’s budget. Only an acceleration of the borrow and spend policies that got us where we are today.

Council uses spy plane with thermal imaging to snoop on homes wasting energy
Our movements are already tracked by CCTV, speed cameras and even spies in dustbins. Now snooping on the public has reached new heights with local authorities putting spy planes in the air to snoop on homeowners who are wasting too much energy. Thermal imaging cameras are being used to create color-coded maps which will enable council officers to identify offenders and pay them a visit to educate them about the harm to the environment and measures they can take.

Obama Uses Teleprompter at News Conference
What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference? A careful one! But it’s a first for an America President. President Barack Obama took no chances in his second prime-time news conference, reading a prepared statement in which he took both sides of the AIG bonus brouhaha and asked an anxious nation for its patience.

Poll of change: Obama’s job approval slipping to ‘50-50’
The honeymoon is over, according to a national poll out today as President Obama’s job approval stumbles to about 50 percent over the lack of improvement with the crippled economy. The sobering numbers come as the president backpedals from two prime-time gaffes - one comparing his bowling score to a Special Olympian and another awkwardly laughing about the economy, which prompted Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” to ask “are you punch-drunk?” Pollster John Zogby said his poll will show Americans split on the president’s performance. He said the score factors out to “about 50-50.”

Senate reviewing how college football picks No. 1
Everyone from President Barack Obama on down to fans has criticized how college football determines its top team. Now senators are getting off the sidelines to examine antitrust issues involving the Bowl Champion Series. The current system "leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year," the Senate Judiciary's subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights said in a statement Wednesday announcing the hearings. The Senate has no business being involved in such silliness!

Obama’s EPA Puts Thousands of Mining Jobs at Risk
Expressing “serious concerns” about the environment, President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced it was putting mountaintop mining permits on hold – a move that could kill jobs, the industry warned. Environmental activists cheered the decision, but the National Mining Association (NMA) warned that the EPA’s action may eliminate high-paying jobs in a relatively poor area of the country.

AIG Exec Who Received Six-Figure Bonus Quits, Gives Bonus to Charity
An American International Group Inc. executive who received a bonus worth more than $742,000 after taxes has resigned publicly - in an Op-Ed column in The New York Times.? ?Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president at AIG's Financial Products division, said Wednesday he's leaving the company and will donate his entire bonus to charity. The letter, addressed to AIG's CEO, Edward Liddy, criticized Liddy for, among other things, agreeing to the payments but then calling the bonuses "distateful" as he testified before disapproving members of Congress.

NYC Mayor Says Bailed-Out Companies Shouldn’t Tell Who Received Bonuses
Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended bailed-out private companies that don't want to disclose the names of employees who receive bonuses.? ?The former CEO likened New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's battle for information about employee bonuses to "snooping around."? ?Cuomo has subpoenaed American International Group Inc. for its list. Meanwhile, a judge ordered Bank of America Corp. to disclose information about bonuses given to employees at Merrill Lynch & Co. just before the bank bought the brokerage company.? ?Bloomberg said Thursday if people work in the private sector, their salaries and bonuses generally should not be in the public domain.

Mexico: The Next Iraq or Afghanistan?
U.S. officials tell ABC News that President Obama has been told the Mexican cartels have become a criminal insurgency, threatening to turn Mexico into an Iraq or Afghanistan. The powerful drug cartels have increased their use of paramilitary terrorism with guerilla tactics, including car bombs, grenades and roadside IED's.

Obama Claims to Back Adult Stem Cell Research, But Removed Order for It
During his national press conference Tuesday night, President Barack Obama claimed to be supportive of ethical alternatives to using embryonic stem cells, namely adult stem cell research. However, he recently issued an executive order to rescind research into more ethical alternatives.

Four Cops Killed but Oakland Hails Suspect a Hero
As the city prepares for a massive public funeral for four police officers slain in the line of duty, dozens took to the streets in a show of support for the man authorities say was their killer. Organized by International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, the march Wednesday evening took participants near a police substation within sight of the two locations where Lovelle Mixon allegedly shot the veteran officers before being slain himself. Loved ones and supporters walked through the streets chanting, "OPD you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" There were no officers patrolling the march route. "I don't condone what he did, but it's bringing to light the frustrations between the community and the police," said Uhuru Movement member Kihad Deen. "This gives people a chance to speak their minds."

Sheriff: Craigslist largest source of prostitution
Just three weeks ago, an Illinois sheriff sued the Web site for facilitating prostitution, and demanded it remove its erotic services section. "Craigslist is the single largest source of prostitution in the nation," said Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart.

Pregnancy centers, not abortion clinics, best solution to financial crisis
Responding to reports that more financially troubled women are seeking abortions, pro-life leaders have criticized the "pseudo-compassion" which presents abortion as an answer to personal economic turmoil. Emphasizing that abortion signals that women’s needs are not being met, they called for more help for pregnant mothers, pregnancy centers and fathers.

Arizona AG Investigates Planned Parenthood
Following the release of undercover videos showing Arizona Planned Parenthood clinics disregarding laws that mandate the reporting of sexual abuse, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office has reportedly opened an investigation into local branches of the nation’s largest abortion provider.

Brazilian President Blames White People for Global Banking Crises
President Lula said it was completely unfair that the poorest people in the world were suffering most for the mistakes of wealthy, Western financiers. President Lula, head of Brazil’s main left-wing party, said that ‘no black man or woman, no indigenous person, no poor person’ had been in any way culpable for the global banking crisis. ‘I’m not acquainted with any black banker,’ he said. ‘The part of humanity that’s responsible should pay for the crisis.’

Obama Wants Mandatory Volunteerism
The real worry here isn’t mandatory volunteerism (oxymoron duly noted), as that provision’s been stripped out of the bill — for now — but an ever-bloating federal bureaucracy and the politicization of civic groups to partisan ends. Consider this the ultimate “What if Bush did it?” hypothetical. Exit question for lawyers and law professors: Is compulsory national service constitutional, at least during peacetime? No privacy implications in being conscripted to serve the state absent a national emergency? The Senate passed the act with Brownback and Roberts voting No. Thanks for standing up to this act Senators!

Conservative UK leader Blasts the British PM for his Socialist Policies I just found one the greatest elected officials in the world and he is a Brit! Watch the Conservative leader in the UK lambast British PM for his Socialist government! Daniel Hannan, MEP for South East England, gives a speech during Gordon Brown´s visit to the European Parliament on 24th March, 2009. Hannan is speaking the words that the US will feel under American Socialist Barack Hussein Obama.

Kansas Increases Minimum Wage – Businesses soon to cut jobs as result!
The Kansas House on Wednesday passed legislation to raise the rate to the federal level as of next year. The federal minimum is now $6.55, but is set to go to $7.25 in July. Wednesday’s House vote was 104-21. One of the opponents, Rep. Mike Kiegerl, an Olathe Republican, predicted that a higher minimum could end up eliminating the jobs of the people making that wage. “It’s lousy economics. It’s no economics at all,” Kiegerl said of mandated wage levels. “It is inflationary. It is counterproductive. It hurts those it is intended to help.” Kansas is controlled by Republican’s in both the House and Senate. So much for principle!

Indicted BPU official found dead from apparent suicide
Marc Conklin, a high-ranking administrator at the Board of Public Utilities, has been found dead from an apparent suicide, according to a BPU spokesman. His death comes five months after he was charged with stealing nearly $400,000 from the Kansas City, Kan., utility. Although police have yet to complete their investigation, BPU spokesman David Mehlhaff said this afternoon that “all indications are it’s a suicide.”

Thefts of electricity and natural gas from utilities are increasing
They’re stealing in several ways, including tampering with meters or hooking up to neighbors’ lines. In January and February, KCP&L saw a 15 to 20 percent jump in thefts over the same period last year. In Philadelphia, published reports show that 30 percent of the customers who had their electricity cut off early last year were illegally using it at the end of the year. And in Memphis, Tenn., media reports show a utility experienced a 56 percent surge in thefts over the past several months.

KC police grapple with $10 million in budget cuts
Kansas City police might need to ground their helicopters, lose 54 officer positions and force week-long unpaid furloughs to deal with looming budget cuts, Chief Jim Corwin said Tuesday. Police also are considering freezing civilian hiring, which would leave 41 positions vacant. And they could eliminate $1 million in overtime pay — equal to losing work conducted by 36 patrol officers over the course of a year, police said. Those cuts, plus some benefits cuts and other belt-tightening, would close $10.5 million of the funding gap police face.

Kansas House trims $680 by cutting state agencies by 10 percent
Shuttered correctional facilities, reductions to universities and state agencies, and small cuts to schools are under consideration as Kansas lawmakers seek to erase a $680 million budget deficit. The Kansas House on Monday endorsed a $13.4 billion budget plan that uses nearly $400 million in federal stimulus money to avoid bigger reductions. Lawmakers warned that the state’s fiscal condition necessitated slashing of spending.

Kansans to vote on amendment for right to own guns
Kansans will have the chance to vote on a constitutional amendment that would guarantee individuals the right to own firearms. The House passed a resolution to place the issue on the ballot in the 2010 general election. The vote was 116-9, far more than the two-thirds majority needed. Senate Concurrent Resolution 1611 would change the state Constitution to read: "a person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and state, for lawful hunting and recreational use, and for any other lawful purpose." Currently, the state guarantees those rights for "the people." A 1905 Kansas Supreme Court decision said it's a collective, not an individual, right. The proposed amendment would give the right to each person.

Kansans Love Coal Plants!
The Kansas Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday turned up the political heat for a bill to allow the construction of two 700-megawatt coal-burning power plants with the release of a poll that indicates significant support for the proposal. “In all categories you see the support outweighs the opposition to the coal plant,” said Amy Blankenbiller, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber. Coal is the least expensive and most efficient form of energy to produce.

Parkinson wants even more Porkulous Money
Kansas will receive approximately $1.8 billion under the federal stimulus package, but state officials Wednesday said they hope to get more. “There is significantly more potential in the area of competitive funds,” Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson said. “We want to make sure that we are actively and aggressively pursuing every opportunity out there,” he said during a meeting of a state advisory group working on stimulus funding.

Tornado ravaged Chapman to spend $80,000 per student to rebuild schools?
All three of Chapman’s public schools were heavily damaged by the storm. The USD 473 School Board voted 5 to 1 at their Feb 2009 meeting for a bond issue of about $8.2 million to rebuild all three schools, but the $8.2 million was only a small part of the total expenditures. Some say tax dollars will be wasted with the current proposed bond referendum since the full price tag is about $75 million for three schools with a total enrollment of less than 800 now. Some claim the tornado damage is being used as an excuse to promote new school construction projects that may be among the most expensive schools in the U.S. on a per student basis. New Chapman schools may cost taxpayers as much as $80,000 to $95,000 per student.

Congresswomen Jenkins Lambasts Liberals in Congress
Kansas Second District Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins spoke to a crowd of more than 150 at AFP-Kansas' 2009 AFP Day at the Capitol.

George Tiller Testifies, Says State Medical Board OKd Him Doing Illegal Abortions
Taking the stand in his own defense, embattled late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller defended himself on state charges of 19 counts of doing illegal late-term abortions. Tiller said during the trial that the head of the state medical board authorized him to use a second physician who worked for him.

Police shoot, kill man who reportedly pointed a gun at officers
Kansas City police shot and killed a man early this morning after he allegedly pointed a handgun at officers as he exited a wrecked vehicle. The fatal shooting occurred about 12:45 a.m. today at East 31st and Charlotte streets. Officers first saw the man at East 31st and Troost Avenue driving erratically at high speeds. The driver almost struck the officers, according to police.

Shots fired into Overland Park house
Shots were fired into a house in the area early Thursday morning near 157th and Conser streets in Overland Park. According to Overland Park police, none of the house’s occupants were injured, and no suspects have been identified. The investigation is under way.

Three students shot outside Lawrence bar
Police are looking for two people involved in a drive-by shooting that injured three male students outside a Lawrence bar around closing time early this morning. Two students — a 22-year-old man attending University of Kansas and his 21-year-old friend from the University of Chicago — suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to a hospital. The third victim, a 19-year-old KU student, was grazed by a bullet and was treated at the scene, according to Lawrence Police Sgt. Susan Hadl. The shootings occurred about outside The Hawk in the 1300 block of Ohio Street, Hadl said.

Two Clay County deputies indicted on assault charges involving inmate
A Clay County grand jury has indicted two sheriff’s deputies on allegations they repeatedly punched an inmate and squirted him with pepper spray. Eric M. Bottorff, 27, of Cameron, Mo., was charged earlier this month with one count of second-degree assault, a felony. A second deputy, Dusty Hancock, 24, of Grandview was indicted for third-degree misdemeanor assault. Both deputies were assigned to the Clay County Detention Center, where the incident allegedly occurred Dec. 22. Bottorff was placed on administrative during an internal affairs investigation and was terminated Jan. 23, said Lt. Steve Wright, a spokesman with the Sheriff’s Department.

“Catholics who voted for President Barack Obama engaged in “a form of cooperation” with evil because of Obama’s pro-abortion policies.”

– Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura for the Holy See

From Proverbs 16:1
“Man may make plans in his heart, but what the tongue utters is from the LORD.”

Gospel according to John 5:31-47

31 If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true;
32 there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true.
33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.
34 Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved.
35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen;
38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.
39 You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me;
40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
41 I do not receive glory from men.
42 But I know that you have not the love of God within you.
43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope.
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

American Brownshirts

The Connecticut Working Families Party last weekend organized a bus tour that made stops in protests outside the homes of AIG executives. Imagine in your job if a busload of nuts picketing right in front of your home was the reality. Many of these executives feared for their lives and rightfully so.

At the same time our liberal controlled Congress passed laws to tax the executives specifically. This is a retroactive tax on economic activity and a violation of the Constitution's Ex Post Facto clause and what is called, Bills of Attainder. (A bill of attainder is an act of the legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial. Bills of attainder are forbidden by Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the United States.) But it passed anyway. Imagine your pay, approved by contract, was taxed punitively after the fact. It’s a dangerous scenario for us all. You may not like the AIG payouts, but that is a separate issue.

But let us turn our attention to the bus tour and the connections this group has to President Obama. The Washington Times reports that the president wants ACORN to "partner with the Census in counting the number of Americans in the country." In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the top Republican Party official in that state accused President Obama of "trying to inject politics" into the 2010 count. Remember Obama, was the ACORN legal council for many years. So these groups are active and all over!

Democrats have now given billions of dollars to ACORN by deviously including certain words and phrases in a bill under the guise of, “neighborhood stabilization activities.” The bill provides $4 billion which can be handed out to “states, units of general local government, and nonprofit entities or consortia of nonprofit entities.” As has been reported, these nonprofit entities include ACORN. It is outrageous that our taxpayer dollars could flow to such an entity.

The Connecticut Working Families Party is an offshoot of ACORN as well as aligned with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The following is from the group’s own website:

“Our issues at ct-workingfamilies.org are affordable health care, living wage jobs, and fair taxes. According to the site, the party advocates an Earned Income Tax credit on the Connecticut state taxes and residents paying income taxes by percentage not “disproportionately big businesses and the very wealthy.” Our party’s joint founder Is Joe Dinkin of ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).

You think I’ve gone too far in the connection? I guess then history never repeats itself!