Obama Responds, Sacks McChrystal
President Barack Obama sacked his loose-lipped Afghanistan commander Wednesday, a seismic shift for the military order in wartime, and chose the familiar, admired — and tightly disciplined — Gen. David Petraeus to replace him. Petraeus, architect of the Iraq war turnaround, was once again to take hands-on leadership of a troubled war effort.

Federal Spending by the Numbers 2010
The 2010 edition of “Federal Spending by the Numbers” shows spending and deficits continuing to grow at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $30,543 per household in 2010—$5,000 per household more than just two years ago. Entitlement spending has reached a record 14 percent of GDP. Discretionary spending has expanded 79 percent faster than inflation as a result of large defense and domestic spending hikes. This year’s edition updates all spending figures. It includes a new page showing that 90 percent of the rising long-term budget deficits are driven by rising spending, and just 10 percent of the rising deficits are caused by falling revenues.

Hoyer: Permanent middle class tax cuts too costly
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that tax increases will eventually be necessary to address the nation's mounting debt, raising a difficult election-year issue as Democrats fight retain control of Congress. In the shorter term, Hoyer raised the possibility that Congress will only temporarily extend middle-class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year.

Deepwater Drilling Ban Lifted by Federal Judge
A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Drilling services shares jumped on the news. Obama temporarily halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet on May 27 to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations. More than a dozen Louisiana offshore service and supply companies sued U.S. regulators to lift the ban. The U.S. said it will appeal the decision.

Krauthammer: border security “dereliction of duty”
Charles Krauthammer and A.B. Stoddard chew on the dispute between Senator Jon Kyl and President Barack Obama, and neither really believe that Obama would have “acted stupidly” enough to make the a bald statement that Kyl described about border enforcement. If Obama actually refused to enforce the border, Krauthammer is right that it would be a dereliction of duty that Congress would need to investigate.

Arizona Cops Threatened by Drug Cartel Snipers
“I believe the threats are going to continue, they’re going to become more serious, our officers are going to be targeted.”

Mexican Gangs Keep Permanent Lookout in Arizona Hills
Mexican drug cartels have set up shop on American soil, maintaining lookout bases in strategic locations in the hills of southern Arizona from which their scouts can monitor every move made by law enforcement officials, federal agents tell Fox News.

Nebraska city votes to restrict illegal immigration
This small Nebraska meatpacking town has joined Arizona at the center of a national debate about illegal immigration after voters approved a ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants, but an expected court challenge could keep the measure from ever taking effect.

Orszag to leave Obama Cabinet in July
It looks as though Rahm Emanuel won’t be the first insider to leave the Obama White House after all. Peter Orszag, Obama’s budget director, will leave in July after serving 18 months. In that time, Orszag managed to leave a substantial legacy — as in a trillion-dollar-plus deficit and a $2.2 trillion math error.

Abortion groups receive $1 billion in federal funds
Six organizations that perform or promote abortion received at least $967 million in federal funding in fiscal years 2002 through 2009, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The report, made public June 16, looked at government funding given to Advocates for Youth, the Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Population Council of the United States, and Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States.

What Happened to that Abortion Executive Order?
In a meeting with President Obama last week, House Republican Leader John Boehner asked for an update about the implementation of the president’s Executive Order (EO), which purports to block abortion funding in the federal health care bill. The EO was offered by Obama during 11th hour negotiations prior to the final vote on ObamaCare. It proved to be the carrot that convinced Democrat Rep. Bart Stupak and his cadre of pro-life Democrats to cast their crucial votes in favor of the controversial legislation.

Obama orders benefits for gay federal workers
President Barack Obama on Wednesday ordered executive-branch agencies to extend to employees' same-sex partners the same benefits provided to their opposite-sex partners, to the extent allowed by law.

Obama’s Gay Pride!
Excerpts from President Obama's Speech at Gay Pride month reception.

Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?
With vastly expanded powers of government available at the discretion of politicians and bureaucrats, private individuals and organizations can be forced into accepting the imposition of powers that were never granted to the government by the Constitution. If you believe that the end justifies the means, then you don't believe in constitutional government.

Inmates Get Homebuyer Tax Credits
Nearly 1,300 prison inmates wrongly received more than $9 million in tax credits for homebuyers despite being locked up when they claimed they bought a home, a government investigator reported

Importance of Fathers Attending Church
Statistics gathered by a federal office in Switzerland found startling evidence that if the father does not attend church and the mother is a regular church attendee, only 2 percent of their children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly. Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church.

Long Road to Adulthood Is Growing Even Longer
From the Obama administration’s new rule that allows children up to age 26 to remain on their parents’ health insurance to the large increase in the number of women older than 35 who have become first-time mothers, social scientists say young adulthood has undergone a profound shift.

Andy Warhol, Devout Christian, Who Knew?
Andy Warhol blazed his way to fame with trademark Brillo soap pad boxes and silk-screens of Campbell's Soup cans. But a new museum exhibit shows pop art was just a seven-year phase for Warhol in the 1960s, before his 1980s plunge into abstract art and Christian imagery, particularly his versions of "The Last Supper." The largest canvas has 112 portraits of Christ, recalling repeated icons in Byzantine art.

Anti-Catholic Homosexual to Produce Papal Bio
An independent British television broadcaster, has chosen radical homosexualist activist Peter Tatchell as presenter for its biography of Benedict XVI in the lead-up to the pope's visit to Britain.

Unborn Baby Jesus Poster Campaign Launched
Advertising executives from the Church of England, Methodist, United Reformed and Baptist churches have banded together to produce the campaign in time for Christmas, saying, “There is no doubt that it will capture people's attention, generate headlines and create countless conversations about the true meaning of Christmas.”

Windows Phone 7 to Ban Porn Apps
Following Apple's lead in trying to keep pornography off its iPad and iPhone products, Microsoft has announced a new set of policies for the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace that will not allow porn or sexually suggestive content.

33% of Children Have Seen Online Porn By Age 10
More than eight in 10 children aged 14 to 16 also say they regularly access hardcore photographs and footage on their home computers, while two-thirds watch it on their mobile phones.

Violent Video Games Makes More Aggressive Kids
Distinguished Professor of Psychology Craig Anderson says a new study he led, analyzing 130 research reports on more than 130,000 subjects worldwide, proves conclusively that exposure to violent video games makes more aggressive, less caring kids -- regardless of their age, sex or culture.

Student Commits Names Of 265 Popes to Memory
Eleven-year-old John Paul Fitzmaurice has completed a project so difficult that few lay men and women even attempt it. John Paul has committed the names of all 265 popes to memory. From St. Peter to Benedict XVI he can recite them, in order of their ascension to the apostolate of Peter.

Fr. Dwight Gives Toy Story 3 the Thumbs Up
"I always try to put in a film review the down things about a movie. I can't think of any. If you're going to see a movie this summer, go see Toy Story 3. For a Father's Day treat we saw it in 3-D at the local IMAX. It cost a lot, but I'd go again".

Mama and Baby Moose Play in Sprinkler
Sometimes it's just fun to watch God's creation play!

KCStar: McChrystal's ouster was overdue
It’s difficult to understand how McChrystal ever was thought to be the right leader for the job, given his role in the cover-up story surrounding the friendly fire death in Afghanistan of football star Pat Tillman as well as his alleged role in torture at a base in Iraq.

Gospel of St. Matthew 7:6,12-14

6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they may trample them under their feet, and then, turning, they may tear you apart. 12 Therefore, all things whatsoever that you wish that men would do to you, do so also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. 13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leads to perdition, and many there are who enter through it. 14 How narrow is the gate, and how straight is the way, which leads to life, and few there are who find it!

It generates few headlines, so many taxpayers are unaware that local governments continue to pump millions of dollars of tax increments -- property tax revenue usually withheld from schools and other essential services -- to fund pet projects that may not be in the public interest. This is all done under the guise of “Community Redevelopment.”

One of the most common misuses of redevelopment funds is to bribe businesses, like auto malls or big box stores, to relocate in a particular community. The result is often a bidding war between cities, each trying to outdo the others to provide the most generous subsidies and tax breaks to land a favored business. Reforms enacted in 1994 which permit tax sharing designed to address this problem have only been partially successful.

It is hard to find a taxpayer who thinks that government should be in the business of using taxpayer dollars to pick winners and losers in the private sector economy, and this is why local officials try to operate their redevelopment schemes with as little notice as possible. However, when the deals go sour, it is hard to keep these expensive failures under wraps.

The city of Downey in Southern California represents just the most recent case of redevelopment gone haywire. Downey was attempting to lure Tesla, a green car manufacturer famous for an all-electric roadster, in the hopes of adding 1200 new jobs. The city wanted to add two parcels to a redevelopment project area, and then intended to use the tax increment revenue – the amount of the new higher property tax – generated by the addition to subsidize Tesla’s rent and site improvements. Downey had pledged $14.8 million of taxpayer dollars, some of which it had no doubt already spent on city staff time to prepare the project. Further, in a nod to good fiscal accountability practices, Downey allegedly committed some of its reserve fund to support the redevelopment expansion. At a time when local governments are dealing with declining sales and static property tax revenue, this was far from a wise move. The project also ignored the main point of a redevelopment project area, which is to eliminate blight, not subsidize private industry. The city was so anxious to get its redevelopment plan passed quickly in an effort to get millions worth of federal stimulus money, that it was willing to cut corners to do it. Downey counted on a bill by Assemblyman Charles Calderon that would have eliminated the mandatory hearing that cities must have in order to add parcels to redevelopment districts, and also would prohibit citizens from filing a referendum on a redevelopment project. By supporting legislation that would have stripped people of the right to vote, especially when $14.8 million is at stake, Downey’s actions were an insult to its own citizens.

Now that Downey has sacrificed city staff time, money and its dignity, it appears that the whole plan has collapsed. Tesla has found an even better deal. They have reached agreement with Toyota to form a joint collaboration 400 miles away in the Bay Area.

The good news for taxpayers is that now that it's no longer needed to force the Downey deal down taxpayers’ throats, the Calderon legislation appears dead. The bad news for Downey taxpayers is that at a time when nearly every community is short on funds, their city has already invested resources gambling on a project, which is now defunct.

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