In today’s Wall Street Journal, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) identifies two justifications for his unequivocal opposition to any impending tax increases: “The first concerns the pain that tax increases threaten to inflict on our economy over the short term. The second is to stop the slide under our current leadership towards becoming a stagnant European-style welfare state with limited individual opportunity and entrepreneurship.”

We’ve written before about how President Barack Obama’s reckless spending threatens to undermine our nation’s economic vitality. Before the recession, federal spending totaled $24,000 per U.S. household. President Obama’s FY 2011 budget would hike it to $36,000 per household by 2020 — an inflation-adjusted $12,000-per-household expansion of government. But spending is just one-half of this White House’s economic plan. Massive wealth-distributing tax hikes are the other half of President Obama’s wish list, and they are just as big a threat to our nation’s economy.

Contrary to what you... http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/20/morning-bell-the-economic-toll-of-th...

With an estimated personal fortune ofB $13 billion,B George Soros is one of the most powerful men on earth. Each year, hisB Open Society Institute donates scores of millions of dollars to a host of groups thatB promote the notion that America isB institutionally an oppressive nation;B promote the election of leftist political candidates; opposeB virtually all post-9/11 national security measures enacted by the U.S. government; advocateB open borders, mass immigration, and a watering down of current immigration laws; promoteB a dramaticB expansion of social welfare programs (including programs for illegal aliens) funded by ever-escalating taxes; advocateB Americabs unilateral disarmament and/or a steep reduction inB its military spending; promoteB socialized medicine; and advance theB tenets of radical environmentalism. Today, take a closer look at this corrosive Soros network... http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=589&utm_source...

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

Governor Schwarzenegger is floating around an idea to tax services such as hair cuts, chiropractic adjustments, taxi rides, concerts, bowling - you name it. If it's a service, it could become subjected to taxation.

The governor's reasoning is that service-oriented business owners don't pay their fair share of taxes.

"... We know that the economy now is a service-oriented economy, but we really don't tax anyone that is in this new economy," the governor said in his Aug. 24 speech to the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The fact is anyone who operates a legitimate business in California is paying some of the highest taxes in the nation not to mention obeying a dizzying array of regulations, which has made California the most hostile state in which to conduct business.

The reality of taxing services is that "mom and pop" business owners would feel the pinch with the addition of one more onerous expense, driving some owners to throw in the towel and close shop. Larger companies would go around the law by outsourcing to service providers in places like Nevada and Arizona, whose state leaders regularly and deliberately woo California businesses and entrepreneurs.

Both of these scenarios share the same result: job loss. At a time when our state unemployment rate is hovering in the Depression-like rate of 13 percent, the idea to tax services would continue California's joblessness free fall.

As for the citizenry, CONTINUED »

In July 2007, seven key leaders of an Islamic charity known as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) went on trial for charges that they had: (a) provided "material support and resources" to a foreign terrorist organization (namely Hamas); (b) engaged in money laundering; and (c) breached the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which prohibits transactions that threaten American national security. Along with the seven named defendants, the U.S. government released a list of approximately 300 "unindicted co-conspirators" and "joint venturers." During the course of the HLF trial, many incriminating documents were entered into evidence. Perhaps the most significant of these was "An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America," by the Muslim Brotherhood operative Mohamed Akram.

Written sometime in... http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1235&utm_sourc...

Enlarge Photo

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MALIBU, CA - The Pepperdine University College Republicans are reaching out to the families of the victims killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks, as part of the groups third annual memorial taking place this Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 6pm at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The student-led group has once again teamed with the University, Student Activities, and other student groups to once again construct the Wave of Flags an expansive sea of American flags on the front lawn of the campus - one flag for each of the nearly 3,000 innocent people killed on that tragic day. The display, which was originally conceived of and led by the Pepperdine College Republicans, was completed today and will be open to the public for viewing through September 19.

Amid recent controversies related to events of September 11th, including a planned Koran burning in Florida that has sparked outrage worldwide, the student-led group hopes to bring a positive light to this day of remembrance. We hope that the flag display will unite Americans in a time when we reflect on the worst attack on U.S. soil in our nations history, said Chris Garcia, president emeritus of the Pepperdine University College Republicans. Our memorial will offer a chance for families to heal and mourn the loss of loved ones who were killed in the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The Pepperdine University College Republicans are extending an invitation to attend the memorial to all of the families directly impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well to as the families of soldiers killed while serving our nation in the War on Terror. The student group will sponsor one family who has lost a loved one to attend the Wave of Flags display and memorial at Pepperdine University, with all travel and lodging expenses paid. Lt. Col. Robert Buzz Patterson (USAF-Ret.), who served as the Senior Military Aide to President Clinton from 1996-1998, will be the keynote speaker at the September 11th memorial. After the event, Lt. Col. Patterson will hold a signing for his newly released book, Conduct Unbecoming (2010).

he Mexican military has discovered a major training camp run by the notorious Zetas drug cartel and stocked with an arsenal of military weapons, including 140 semi automatic assault rifles and 10,000 rounds of ammunition—all of them believed to be purchased in the United States, U.S. law enforcement officials tell Declassified. The discovery last week of the training camp in the town of Higueras, just 70 miles south of the U.S. border in the state of Nuevo León, provides fresh evidence for Mexican President Felipe Calderón—due to meet with President Obama in Washington on Wednesday – to press his case that the U.S. government is failing to crack down on a massive flow of illegal weapons into Mexico. A senior U.S. law enforcement official, asking not to be identified talking about sensitive matters, tells Declassified there’s mounting evidence that the illegal trafficking of high-powered U.S. weapons into Mexico is continuing unimpeded and may actually be increasing, despite repeated statements by Obama administration officials (including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a March visit to Mexico City) that they are forcefully addressing the issue.

One yardstick... http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/05/17/is-the-flow-of-u-s...

Photos can be seen here... http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread585949/pg1

CITY OF FILLMORE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 5:30 P.M. FILLMORE CITY HALL CENTRAL PARK PLAZA 250 CENTRAL AVENUE FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA 93015-1907

1.
Call to Order: 5:30 P.M.
2.
Pledge of Allegiance
3.
Roll Call: Councilmembers Brooks, Conaway, Hernandez, Washburn and Mayor Walker
4.
Public Comments
Pursuant to Government Code § 54954.3(a), Only Issues Listed on This Agenda Shall Be Heard During this Special Meeting.
5.
Closed Session
A.
Conference with Labor Negotiators: [Government Code Section 584957.6] Agency Designated Representatives: City Manager Yvonne Quiring, Jack Hoffman, Hoffman & Associates; Employee Organization: Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 501.
B.
Conference with CONTINUED »

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

Remember the federal "economic stimulus" bill that was supposed to curtail job losses and prevent our economy from failing? Well, despite the rosy assurances from President Obama and Congress, unemployment remains high and the economy is teetering on the verge of a double-dip recession. The only thing that appears to be "stimulated" is the national debt, which is now a jaw-dropping - and record high - $13.2 trillion.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently laid out a sobering potential future for America as part of its long-term budget outlook, in which the national debt reaches 90 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2020. Aggravated by increasingly higher interest on increasingly higher debt, that figure rises to 180 percent by 2035, leading to a fiscal crisis that destabilizes the national economy.

It should come as little surprise that in California, where the state regularly rewrites the book on fiscal irresponsibility, massive debt poses a serious threat to our financial future. In fact, every Californian owes $2,362 in state debt. Not just adults, not just taxpayers, but every man, woman and child. That's almost $10,000 for a family of four. So much for cutting up the credit cards. By comparison, the state debt burden for a Nebraskan is only $15.

Because California's perpetual budget crisis has left Wall Street skeptical of our creditworthiness, our state's bond rating has been repeatedly downgraded. As a result, we're paying more for our debt than are other governments. Debt service is consuming an ever-increasing portion of our already cash-strapped budget: $6 billion last year, and the state treasurer anticipates that number will double to $12 billion by 2016.

In advocating for CONTINUED »

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

The Legislature held a budget drill on Tuesday, voting on two proposals - one presented by the Republicans and the other by the Democrats. Both failed (Republican plan: 12-24; Democrat plan: 21-14). So, yes, California is still without a budget.

The Democrats proposal included $4 billion in tax increases and the kind of bookkeeping gimmickry that doesn't address our problems - spending beyond our means and heavy taxation and regulation, which kills jobs and stifles the economy.

The "tax reform" that the Democrats offered actually equals middle class tax hikes - and that's not our definition; that was the definition by the non-partisan Legislative Analysts' Office.

The Republican budget plan was crafted based on conservative projections of California's revenue stream. It was balanced without relying on tax increases and it created a prudent reserve of $900 million. Sure, our budget included difficult spending reductions. But it's no different than the difficult decisions families and businesses are having to make.

Floor speech on budget
One thing to remember, CONTINUED »

Aside from the wooden performance, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about President Barack Obama’s Oval Office address on Iraq last night. The President again evinced the impression that he viewed Iraq as a distraction, and he twice said he wanted to “turn the page” to other issues. As forgettable as the address was however, once placed into the broader context of foreign policy speeches and actions, a clear Obama Doctrine can now be defined, as James Carafano and Kim Holmes do in a new paper released today.

Downplaying American Sovereignty: The Administration is pursuing an ambitious agenda on international treaties. An incomplete list includes: the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia; the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOST); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS). The ideals behind many of these treaties are admirable. But in every case the onus is on the Administration to ensure that the treaty does not compromise America’s security or the rights and freedoms established in the U.S. Constitution. International institutions work best when they manage affairs between nations; they falter and become harmful when they reach into the domestic affairs of nations.

But that is exactly what the Obama administration... http://blog.heritage.org/2010/09/01/morning-bell-the-obama-doctrine/?utm...

Tonight President Barack Obama will deliver a prime-time Oval Office address on Iraq. Acting as President of the United States, the leader of a country, not a movement, tonight would be a perfect time for Obama to give due credit to those commanders who made the current progress in Iraq possible. He should thank General Ray Odierno, who implemented the counterinsurgency strategy that led to the dramatic decrease in violence in Iraq, General David Petraeus, who oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq during the surge, and President George W. Bush, who had the courage to explain the new strategy to the American people at a time when it was extremely unpopular to do so.

Unfortunately, if the Weekly Address President Obama... http://blog.heritage.org/2010/08/31/morning-bell-its-time-for-reality-no...

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

SACRAMENTO – Sen. George Runner (R-Antelope Valley) announced that he and other GOP lawmakers, and California district attorneys, police and sheriff, filed a brief Friday in U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to reverse the order of the federal three-judge court requiring early release of some 38,000 California prisoners in order to improve health care provided to inmates.

“First of all, it’s doubtful the district court has the jurisdiction to order California to release or divert convicts from prison,” said Runner, the lead Senate Republican intervenor in the case before the three-judge court.

Runner believes the three-judge panel misinterpreted the law which limits the capacity of a federal court to takeover a state prison system. Known as the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and passed by Congress in 1995, the law states that a federal court “shall enter a prisoner release order only if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that crowding is the primary cause of the violation of a federal right and no other relief will remedy the violation of the federal right.”

Runner said: “We don’t believe an ongoing violation exists and we know that the three-judge panel’s decision affirmatively threatens public safety.”

The federal three-judge court ordered the massive reduction of California’s prison population based on allegations of constitutionally deficient inmate health care. But federal documents establish that California inmates have lower mortality rates than inmates from 37 other states and even the general public.

“Inmate health care costs California taxpayers more than $14,000 per year per prisoner,” Runner said. “Most California workers wish they had this type of health care access.”

Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

Five months after President Obama signed the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," support for this legislation continues to diminish – with one recent poll revealing 60 percent of likely voters favoring full repeal.

Further waning of public support was just witnessed in Missouri earlier this month when 71 percent of voters favored an initiative to block imposition of the new health care law in Missouri. Even Congressional Democrats, who are locked in tough campaigns, have begun to shift their health care message.

Elsewhere, U.S. District Judge Hudson declined to throw out the Virginia attorney general's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law's individual mandate, allowing it to move ahead.

It seems unraveling health care "reform" is a matter of an election or two at most, or even a favorable court ruling. Furthermore, it appears the president may be incapable of resolving voter concerns before facing re-election. New Republican congressional majorities in 2011 – or even a new president in 2013 – should make repeal efforts nearly a sure thing.

However, unraveling ObamaCare will not be that simple.

Even if Republicans recapture the CONTINUED »

Let me get this straight. We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it but exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a president who also smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke.

What the heck could possibly go wrong?

Company Overview: This is a page dedicated to keep up with the important details to get AMERICA BACK to the FREE REPRESENTED REPUBLIC our Fore Fathers envisioned and wanted us to be, and to restore freedom from tyranny back to the United States of America. And to up-hold and defend the CONSTITUTION of The United States of America. This page will make every nondefender of our Constitution famous. Please Join us in our fight to restore honor, decency, and morals back to our government. Go Patriots!

http://www.patriotsinexile.us
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PIEetts/132500396789281

Written By Maggie Gallagher

This week, two things happened in the gay marriage wars:

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay overruling U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's decision to permit gay marriages to take place immediately, before higher courts have a chance to review his unprecedented ruling.

And a new poll released by Public Policy Polling shows that Americans continue to oppose gay marriage by an almost 2-to-1 margin.

Normally, when a lower court... http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/08/18/chuck_cooper_strike...

The latest Democracy Corps poll, performed by Democratic pollsters Stan Greenberg, James Carville and Bob Shrum, shows that by a 64% - 29% margin, the American people believe that things in this country "have gotten pretty seriously off on the wrong track." But nobody seems to have bothered to tell President Barack Obama who, on the second-to-last leg of a $4 million fundraising trip for Democrats, told a group of supporters in Columbus, Ohio: "Slowly but surely, we are moving in the right direction. We're on the right track." And that wasn't the most completely divorced-from-reality statement that the President made yesterday. Responding to a question about Social Security, the President insisted: "So here’s the thing. Social Security is not in crisis." Oh yes it is.

The debate about whether... http://blog.heritage.org/2010/08/19/morning-bell-the-age-of-entitlements...

Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.

That is the bizarre — and scary — rule that now... http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2013150,00.html?iid=tsmod...

City of Fillmore

CITY OF FILLMORE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010 6:30 P.M. FILLMORE CITY HALL CENTRAL PARK PLAZA 250 CENTRAL AVENUE FILLMORE, CALIFORNIA 93015-1907

WELCOME TO THE CITY OF FILLMORE CITY COUNCIL MEETING! Your participation at this public meeting is valued and appreciated. Please note the City Council and Redevelopment Agency convene concurrently.
Agenda/Packet: The Agenda/Packet is available for review at Fillmore City Hall and online at www.fillmoreca.com/cityhall/agendas 72 hours before the scheduled meeting (but generally available the Thursday prior to the scheduled Tuesday meeting). Materials related to an item on this agenda submitted to the City Council/RDA after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s Office during regular business hours and on the City’s website subject to staff’s ability to post the documents before the meeting.

Americans with Disabilities Act: In compliance with the ADA, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting or other services in conjunction with this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 534-3701. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title II)
Audible Devices: Please ensure all audible devices (pagers, telephones, etc.) are off or otherwise not audible when the City Council/RDA is in session. Thank you.

Challenging City CONTINUED »

SACRAMENTO, CA. - The National Federation of Independent Business/California SAFE Trust today announced its endorsement of Jeff Gorell in California Assembly District 37. Today’s endorsement comes from NFIB’s California Save America’s Free Enterprise Trust, the organization’s political action committee, and is based on voting records and positions on key small business issues to evaluate the candidates’ views on legislative issues affecting small business.

“NFIB is pleased to support Jeff Gorell in his election to the Assembly,” said John Kabateck, NFIB/CA
Executive Director. “As a small business owner, Jeff will fight to make sure that the voice of small
business is heard while focusing on job creation and regulatory and budget reform.”

The political clout of small business is more influential than most people know:

• In April, the Pew Research Center released a study on the negative and positive views people hold on various American institutions. Small business came out first, 39 percentage points higher than labor unions, 46 points higher than large corporations, and 49 points higher than banks and financial institutions.
• Small business owners comprise 15 percent of all registered voters in the U.S., by comparison union voters make up 11.9 percent. When small business employees are added, the small business voting bloc swells to 43 percent.
• The most common public affairs and political activities in which small employers engage, according to the NFIB Research Foundation, include initiating discussions with employees regarding the impact of a policy issue on the firm.
• Voters prefer candidates supported by small business by a margin of 3 to 1 over those supported by organized labor, according to the Winston Group.