30. September 2009 by admin.

The White House is open for business and as such the first lady, Michelle, has hired roughly 25 staff members that report directly to her. This is a break from the previous two first ladies’; Hillary Clinton managed three employees, while Laura Bush had just one employee.

The magnitude of the first lady’s staff comes at a staggering taxpayer cost of $1.75 million per year. This number doesn’t include federal benefits, this cost is undisclosed.

The salaries rage from $172,200 at the high end to $36,000 on the low end. While most Americans suffer from the global-sized recession, the White House doesn’t seem to be too frugal with its spending practices. Keep reading

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30. September 2009 by admin.

Score one for the good guys. Not only did the public option in the
health care bill fail in the Senate Finance Committee, but it failed
twice. It finally appears the lawmakers are listening to what Americans
have been saying loud and clear- no government-run option.

Looking
to give President Obama a bill to sign by the end of the year, Chairman
Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, will have to include a few less pages.

The victory is not the Republicans, but the American people. The August town halls and relentless emailing has finally paid off.

The
hope now is Washington takes a deep breath, and begins to put together
some real reform efforts in small doses. Now is the time to build upon
consensus and listen to what the collective voters are saying- not the
far right or the far left.

Once Washington counted the votes in
the Finance Committee and the public-option failed for a second time,
Baucus announced it was his job to garner 60 votes in the Senate to
present the White House with health care legislation worthy of a
signature.

“No one shows me how to get 60 votes with a public
option,” says Baucus. With a couple of Democrats voting against the
public option in committee it became a reality that the 100-member
Senate cannot withstand a filibuster by the Republicans.

In the
end, the Republican argument regarding a Trojan horse leading to a
single-payer system prevailed as three Democrats abandoned their public
option amendments.

Leading Democratic, centrist, Kent Conrad-ND,
criticized the public option and said, “The devil is in the details.”
He also pointed out that a government run plan would cause every major
hospital to go bankrupt.

“I can’t possibly support any amendment that does that,” Conrad explained.

It
remains to be seen if any meaningful health care reform will pass
anytime soon. However, Americans can expect much more dissent in both
houses in the coming weeks because the trouble-making tea party
movement and they show no signs of letting up.

For more stories;www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

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29. September 2009 by admin.

California State Senator Gilbert Cedillo-D put forth a resolution that passed in the California Senate condemning specified policies and practices of federal agencies regarding the enforcement of immigration laws. Furthermore Cedillo’s resolution urges Congress and President Obama to declare an immediate moratorium on immigration policies and practices until a comprehensive reform of immigration is enacted.

Although a Joint Senate Resolution does not have the force of law, it is voted on in both California Houses. This resolution has passed in a partisan Democrat vote. The resolution is not typically sent to the Governors desk. Most would consider the document more of a hopeful resolution.

The first paragraph of the resolution reads, “The State of California values all of its residents, whether they be citizens, legal residents, or undocumented immigrants, and strives to enable all residents to work and live free from discrimination, exploitation, and repressive federal immigration enforcement.”

However Congressman Brian Bilbray-R Calif. reminds Sen. Cedillo that this resolution breaks the laws of the Constitution. “He should look up the separation of powers section and this resolution is nothing more than political posturing.”

According to Sen. Cedillo’s Press Secretary Xochitl Arellano, Senator Cedillo who campaigned with  President Obama has now officially put the President on notice. “The electronic raids have to stop.”

There are hundreds of undocumented workers losing their jobs on a moments notice, Arellano points out. “The Obama Administration must stop E-Verify, period.” Keep reading

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28. September 2009 by admin.

Immigration legislation in the form of amnesty is setting up to be a battle the White House will tackle in 2010.

The Obama Administration was hoping to reward the Latino voters with amnesty for getting him into the White House; however, the raging battles over health care have pushed that issue into Obama’s second year.

News of the short respite was welcome to those who are gearing up for a prime-time showdown.

Groups like Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) will most likely spend their time educating all Americans of the social and economic consequences for a blanket amnesty.

They will not be alone in the fight against amnesty. Numbers USA has also ramped up their rhetoric and plans to “fight every little legislative favor or loophole for illegal aliens.”

Earlier this summer President Obama committed to giving amnesty to those in the U.S. illegally. He said, “Am I going to be able to snap my fingers and get this done? No. This is going to be difficult.”  Keep reading

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27. September 2009 by admin.

It’s just been a few weeks since the unjust release of the only terrorist convicted of the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing and a few hours after Muammar el-Qaddafi scathing 90-minute speech to the United Nations calling the U.N. Security Council a ‘terror council’ and now taxpayers are supposed to fork over $400,000.

The payment comes as another insult to American taxpayer when they are losing their homes and jobs.

However, there is a bi-partisan effort to stop payment of the funds in Congress. Rep. Mark Kirk-R, ILL and John Adler-D NJ are among the two dozen lawmakers looking to President Obama’s Administration to do the right thing.

The bi-partisan group believes the State Department will be sending the wrong message to the families of the Lockerbie bombing victims if they send the substantial chuck of money to Qaddafi’s children so-called ‘charity’ organizations.

“Just weeks after the Qaddafi family celebrated the return of a terrorist responsible for the murders of 189 Americans, the U.S. taxpayer should not be asked to reward them with $400,000,” says Kirk in a statement to the press.

However, the Qaddafi’s see things a little differently and claim this money will help the West’s standing inside Libya.

“When I arrived at the airport with Mr. Megrahi (convicted terrorist), there was not a single government official present,” says Qaddafi’s son Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi. “Contrary to reports in the Western press, there was no ‘hero’s welcome’ for Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi when he returned to Libya.”

Apparently his father, Muammar the Libyan dictator, is not part of the government, as he was among the thousands that greeted the convicted terrorist at the Libyan airport.

According to the State Department, they also plan to give Libya $2.5 million to support U.S. government agencies inside Libya.

In a letter, 18 Republicans and 8 Democrats asked President Obama to consider withdrawing the Administration request to give Qaddafi’s children $400,000 for their foundations.

For more stories;www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

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26. September 2009 by admin.

A group of 30 protesters stood outside a San Diego ACORN office, alerting passerby’s to their discontent with the community organization groups venture into criminal activity.

Since the BigGovernment.com tapes were released a week ago, San Diego Association of Community Organization Reform Now (ACORN) office has been targeted by the County Board of Supervisors, Governor Schwarzenegger and now county taxpayers.

“We have to continue to keep the pressure on this government and stop the corruption before it’s too late,” said protest organizer Lindy Reedy.

The peaceful protest was not welcome by all. Employees of ACORN called the police. “Yeah, four cop cars showed up, asked us if we were going to stay on the sidewalk and not cause any trouble and we said, yes,” Reedy said. “I think they were on our side. They were super nice and let us carry on with our protest.”

The group of concerned taxpayers also decided to make up their own chant about ACORN, playing off the Obama sing along the school children in New Jersey sang.

“Mmm-mmm-mmm, ACORN really sucks, mmm-mmm-mmm they’re stealing all our bucks, mmm-mmm-mmm, Acorn’s committing crime, mmm-mmm-mmm not on our dime,” is how the little ditty played.

The group declared the afternoon protest a success as 60 percent of the cars honked and they only got the finger once. “A good day indeed,” Reedy smiled.

For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner

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24. September 2009 by admin.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department was rocked with controversy for placing military Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRADs) at August town halls discussing health care. The device targeted Congresswoman Susan Davis-D and Congressman Darrell Issa-R, neither had any comment regarding the deadly LRAD misuse.

Now we know why Issa was silent – he has endorsed Sheriff Bill Gore who is in a dog fight with three other candidates to keep his job.

At a recent debate, all three candidates called Sheriff Gore on the carpet for placing military equipment used to repel terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan in the parking lot where U.S. citizens were invited by their elected representatives to engage in a discussion about health care.
That being said, Sheriff Candidate Jim Duffy explained he was present at the sales pitch for the LRAD and could not believe this military sonic weapon was on site. “I question why the LRAD would be at the event at all.”
After learning the LRAD military device required a fair amount of training and according to the manufacturer shouldn’t be operated within 75 meters of people because the weapon could cause permanent hearing loss or death, a Freedom of Information Act was filed with the Sheriff Department.

Once the training manuals and logs were requested, this reporter received some interesting documents via email from Sheriff Gore’s office. First, a four-page purchase order from a local San Diego company that sold the LRAD device for American Technologies seemed normal. Keep reading

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23. September 2009 by admin.

California lawmaker Mark Leno-D of San Francisco authored SB 572 honoring California’s first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk. The bill has passed both the House and Senate in the state and will now head to Governor Schwarzenegger’s desk.

“I’m pleased my colleagues in the Assembly recognize and honor Harvey Milk’s contribution to our state,” said Leno.

The fact this bill has reached the Governor’s desk doesn’t guarantee a signature from California’s moderate Governor.

“Although he vetoed a similar bill last year with the message that Harvey Milk should be recognized only at the local level, I am confident Governor Schwarzenegger now understands the historic and international nature of Harvey’s legacy,” Leno claims. Keep reading

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23. September 2009 by admin.

Not waiting for President Obama’s signature on any legislation, the San Diego Board of Supervisors announced a joint investigation into Association of Community Organization of Reform Now (ACORN).

This investigation will center on voter registration fraud and why the state of California has failed to acknowledge San Diego’s Voter registrar request to look into 76 allegedly fraudulent voter cards.

Nearly a year ago, Deborah Seiler, San Diego’s Voter Registrar sent the California’s Secretary of State a request regarding possible voter fraud. That request has gone un-noticed by Secretary of State, Debra Bowen in Sacramento.

Since the release of video tapes by BigGovernment.com of ACORN employees in San Diego being complicit with illegal activity including smuggling 13-year-old girls into California to set up a brothel, County Supervisor Bill Horn demanded some answers. “We need to make sure they (ACORN) aren’t trying to skirt the law,” he said. Keep reading

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22. September 2009 by admin.

For those seeking to reach the promise land, the trek is rife with many perils, including a Rape Tree on the U.S.-side of the border near Campo, California. In the dead of summer, the throngs of illegal border crossers face heat exhaustion, long distances without hydration and a Rape Tree.

The U.S./Mexico border fence is only a 15-minutes away.  It is here where females face the wrath of their coyote (smuggling) guides. The trail that leads to the Rape Tree is littered with plastic water bottles and female undergarments.

This is just another symptom of illegal immigration. Many think the majority of the illegals coming across the Southern border are simply here to seek a better life. Some are, but as the Rape Tree demonstrates, many are also in the U.S. committing crimes. Keep reading

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