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The Foundation
"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington
Government & Politics
The Scandal That Never Happened
If you have watched only network news for the last two weeks, you may not have heard about the flap over climate change data. It's the biggest scandal to rock the scientific world in quite some time.
As we noted Tuesday, servers from the UK's University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) were hacked into and some 62 megabytes of data were subsequently made public. (We're not discounting the inside whistleblower theory yet.) The data include e-mail communications between noted scientists in the field of global warming, including Phil Jones and Keith Briffa of the CRU and Michael Mann from Pennsylvania State University. The release is so damning that Jones has temporarily stepped down as CRU director, pending an investigation.
In an effort to play up Mann-made global warming, the communications discuss various ways to manipulate, suppress or even destroy data showing the earth's climate to be cooling. Still, Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), insists, "This private communication in no way damages the credibility of the AR4 findings." AR4 is the latest IPCC report.
On the contrary, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), a leading opponent of anthropogenic warming theories, said, "It appears that, in an attempt to conceal the manipulation of climate data, information disclosure laws may have been violated. I certainly don't condone the manner in which these emails were released; however, now that they are in the public domain, lawmakers have an obligation to determine the extent to which the so-called 'consensus' of global warming, formed with billions of taxpayer dollars, was contrived in the biased minds of the world's leading climate scientists." Billions of dollars only scratches the surface of the cost of fighting phantom warming.
Indeed, these revelations should be devastating to the envirofascists' cause. But their accomplices on the nightly news have done their best to ignore the story, focusing instead on a golfer who can't drive straight (roadway, not fairway) and a killer whale that ate a great white shark. (To their credit, newspapers such as The New York Times and Washington Post have devoted numerous stories to the scandal, though the Post laughably editorialized, "None of it seriously undercuts the scientific consensus on climate change.")
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs also downplayed the story, saying, "In the order of several thousand scientists have come to the conclusion that climate change is happening. I don't think that any of that is, quite frankly among most people, in dispute." Except, yes, it is.
The importance of the truth can't be overstated, especially in the world of science and particularly with the climate summit at Copenhagen set for next week. To wit, the IPCC study blaming humans for global warming will be the basis for discussions among world leaders on how best to handicap developed industrial economies. The scientists involved in writing that report are the same ones implicated by the scandalous e-mails, leading us to conclude that much of the report -- and therefore the efforts of the world's political leaders -- is based upon lies.
Not that it was ever about the climate, mind you. Political leaders are interested in one thing: power. As Pachauri declared, "Today we have reached the point where consumption and people's desire to consume has grown out of proportion." Their goal is to redistribute our money and limit our consumption.
The scandal has possibly cost Al Gore, the "Profit" of Doom, some cold cash. Gore will be attending the Copenhagen conference and was to offer a handshake and a picture for the bargain price of $1,200. But it appears the Goracle has cancelled the engagement due to "unforeseen changes" in his schedule. If he can't even predict his own schedule, why should we believe his weather forecasts?
This Week's 'Braying Jenny' Award
"You call it 'Climategate,' I call it 'E-mail-theft-gate.... Part of our looking at this will be looking at a criminal activity which could have well been coordinated." --Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
News From the Swamp: ObamaCare Follies Continue
Leftists in the White House and in Congress are so adamant about making ObamaCare a reality that they are parading bad news as good. Consider a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report this week stating that under the Obama plan individual insurance premiums will rise by as much as 13 percent more than they would if there were no plan at all. Family insurance plans would be $2,000 more expensive under ObamaCare than if Congress did nothing. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and their marching band of sycophant "journalists" reported this as evidence that the health care scheme will be a good thing for the American people.
But wait, it gets better. H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physicians Payment Rates Reform Act, which passed the House with only one Republican vote (thank you Michael Burgess, R-TX), amends the rate of pay for physicians serving Medicare patients. The CBO estimates that this bill will cost $210 billion over 10 years. Furthermore, H.R. 3962, the House version of ObamaCare, supposedly reduces the deficit by $109 billion over the same period. So, using simple math, the net 10-year deficit increase for the two bills is at least $89 billion, which apparently is acceptable to Democrats despite their oft-repeated claim that health care legislation would be deficit-neutral. Furthermore, PAYGO, the Democrat plan to supposedly offset increases in spending with corresponding tax increases or cuts in spending elsewhere, conveniently does not apply here because, according to House Democrats, any adjustment to Medicare is a reflection of existing legislation. PAYGO applies only to "new" spending. Recall also that Barack Obama has pledged not to sign a health care bill "if it adds even one dime to our deficit."
The CBO expects the government to subsidize 57 percent of all individual health insurance premiums, covering nearly two-thirds of the total cost. In addition, all individuals and families making up to 400 percent of the poverty level ($87,400) would also be subsidized. Democrats always want us to forget that when they say the government is going to pay for something, it really means that the taxpayers are paying for it. And there won't be enough "rich" people or evil insurance companies to cover the tab.
Video of the Week
New & Notable Legislation
"The broadest revamp of financial regulation in seven decades cleared a key congressional committee Wednesday and will move next week to debate on the floor of the House of Representatives," McClatchy Newspapers reports. "On a 31-27 party-line vote, the House Financial Services Committee passed the Financial Stability Improvement Act."
Naturally, to deal with financial firms that are considered "too big to fail," the regulatory overhaul calls for a government that's too big to fail -- at crushing liberty, anyway. The bill, crafted by alleged financial genius Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would create "resolution authority" so that the government could dismantle large firms that are "near collapse" (such as the banks forced by the government into receivership this year.) It was unable to do so with Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) succeeded -- after 25 years of trying -- to pass an amendment requiring an audit of the Federal Reserve. It remains to be seen if that amendment will survive.
Just in time for the holidays, the Associated Press reports, "The House voted Thursday to extend indefinitely a 45 percent inheritance tax on estates larger than $3.5 million, canceling a one-year repeal of the tax set to begin next month." The vote was 225-200 with all Republicans opposed. According to the AP, "Under the House bill, estates smaller than $3.5 million would continue to be exempt from the tax. Married couples, with a little estate planning, could exempt a total of $7 million. That leaves less than 1 percent of all estates subject to the tax." Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) summed up Democrats' view of taxes, saying, "This bill gives our nation's wealthiest families the ability to know exactly what their obligation to the nation that fostered their wealth will be, and it is fair and it is just."
Bernanke's Re-Nomination Hearing
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faced his Senate re-nomination hearing this week, though it's little more than a formality. Still, Bernanke has his detractors, not the least of which is The Wall Street Journal. The Journal editorialized that "the country needs a new Fed chief."
It isn't necessarily Bernanke's response to the panic of '08 that disqualifies him, but the policies that led to that panic. According to the Journal, the released 2003 Federal Open Market Committee transcripts "show that Mr. Bernanke was the intellectual architect of the decision to keep monetary policy exceptionally easy for far too long as the economy grew rapidly from 2003-2005. He imagined a 'deflation' that never occurred, ignored the asset bubbles in commodities and housing, dismissed concerns about dollar weakness, and in the process stoked the credit mania that led to the financial panic." Yet Bernanke still blames the "global savings glut" instead of acknowledging the Fed's role. In this respect, Bernanke is a good fit for an administration whose primal instinct is to blame others when something goes wrong.
New! Cumberland Christmas Yule Log
Fluffy Nougat with Rich Creamy Caramel Covered in Fresh Pecans. This Jumbo Pecan Log is Packaged in a festive box. Made in the great state of Tennessee. Get some of these delicious Yule Logs as neighbor, teacher and co-worker gifts! Great for stocking stuffers too!
Not Just on TV Too Much, But Mount Rushmore?
Polls which become news are nothing new in our 24/7 news cycle, but a recent "60 Minutes"/Vanity Fair poll question may have jumped the shark when it comes to inanity. As part of a poll billed to determine "the pulse of America," respondents were asked to choose which president they would place as the fifth face on Mount Rushmore. In chronological order of holding office, the choices were Andrew Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. While Kennedy won and Reagan was second, 16 percent picked Obama -- good for fourth on the list -- leading one of the on-screen personalities to note, "it could be a little premature though, maybe like that Nobel Prize." Ya think?
It's enough for a once-respected morning show and network to devote time to have such a poll featured as "news," but placing Obama in the company of several of his predecessors who actually demonstrated leadership and devotion to country shows why people are turning off network news in droves. Besides, any accurate depiction of Obama would require the carving of teleprompters into adjacent peaks.
Honduras Elections a Success
The struggle for Honduran Rule of Law closed yet another victorious chapter on Monday when the people elected their new president, conservative businessman Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo. On Wednesday, the Honduran Congress voted to deny reinstatement to Manuel Zelaya, whose term was set to end in January.
Former president Manuel Zelaya was removed from office in June after he attempted to call a popular referendum to cancel the elections and extend his term, which is a violation of the Honduran constitution. Upon a search of Zelaya's residence after the ouster, law enforcement discovered computers preloaded with votes in favor of Zelaya. In addition, Zelaya had refused to transfer funds to the electoral council necessary for its preparation ahead of the election -- another violation of Honduran law.
Clearly, Zelaya had expected his power grab to be successful. According to one Honduran official, Zelaya had invited the leaders of the Bolivarian Alternatives for the Americas (ALBA) to visit his country the night of the attempted referendum. ALBA is the socialist brainchild of Hugo Chavez, whose membership also includes Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Under Zelaya, whose close ties to Chavez are well known, Honduras had joined the organization. The official also revealed that Zelaya had ordered food for 10,000 -- fitting for a celebration of the hijacking of his country, which others in the region, including Chavez, have already done.
Not surprisingly, the Obama administration originally favored the corrupt and constitution-trampling Zelaya and spent months exerting intense economic and diplomatic pressure on Honduras. In fact, the State Department issued a blanket denial of U.S. visas to Hondurans and threatened not to recognize the presidential election. After the elections, however, the State Department issued a statement praising Hondurans for "peacefully exercising their democratic right to select their leaders." The statement should have gone on to say "in the face of despicable bullying from nations around the world, including ours."
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