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From USA Today:

The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.
Federal employees making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession’s first 18 months - and that’s before overtime pay and bonuses are counted.

Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time - in pay and hiring - during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector.

The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000.

The trend to six-figure salaries is occurring throughout the federal government, in agencies big and small, high-tech and low-tech. The primary cause: substantial pay raises and new salary rules.

“There’s no way to justify this to the American people. It’s ridiculous,” says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House’s federal workforce subcommittee.

Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.

More proof of the growing fascist threat and the dire need for a seperation of everything and the State.

From Foxnews:

The Obama administration is warning Congress that if it doesn’t move to regulate greenhouse gases, the Environmental Protection Agency will take a “command-and-control” role over the process in a way that could hurt business.

The warning, from a top White House economic official who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity, came on the eve of EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s address to the international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Jackson, however, tried to strike a tone of cooperation in her address Wednesday, explaining that the EPA’s new powers to regulate greenhouse gases will be used to complement legislation pending in Congress, not replace it.

“This is not an ‘either-or’ moment. It’s a ‘both-and’ moment,” she said.

But while administration officials have long said they prefer Congress take action on climate change, the economic official who spoke with reporters Tuesday night made clear that the EPA will not wait and is prepared to act on its own.

And it won’t be pretty.

“If you don’t pass this legislation, then … the EPA is going to have to regulate in this area,” the official said. “And it is not going to be able to regulate on a market-based way, so it’s going to have to regulate in a command-and-control way, which will probably generate even more uncertainty.”

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s formal declaration Monday that greenhouse gases jeopardize public health paves the way for federal regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from refineries, chemical facilities and power plants - even if Congress rejects climate change legislation.

The EPA’s finding that carbon dioxide endangers the public also will give President Obama political ammunition when he goes before world leaders in Copenhagen next week to promise U.S. emissions cuts as part of international climate change negotiations that started Monday.

Although the EPA’s formal declaration does not directly impose new carbon dioxide caps, it establishes the framework for regulating carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.

Monday’s action satisfies a legal hurdle for the EPA to finalize the first-ever national limits on tailpipe emissions, proposed earlier this year. Industry and EPA lawyers say the vehicle emissions rule and the endangerment finding would compel the agency to regulate - under the Clean Air Act - the heat-trapping gases released from industrial operations and other stationery sources, possibly by next spring.

Do not say that Libertarians and the Freedom and Liberty movement didn’t warn you. We did- loudly.

Tyranny is about to be imposed on us and it will forever change the way our freedoms, commerce, life and our culture operate. There is no mandate for these changes, but is being advanced and imposed by a scientific dictatorship that has carefully presented and cultivated a view of life that a free humanity is the problem. A free humanity that operates under Nature’s Law and Nature’s God. A free humanity that operates in accordance with our inalienable rights. All of this is about to be stripped from us under the auspices of fighting climate change.

Please do not be surprised when they- the government- come out and say the increasing amount of regulations, fines, fees and taxes they will impose as a result of this mandate is doing nothing to combat ‘global climate change’. Please do not be surprised when those said regulations, fines, fees and taxes increase in severity and amount year after year. Please do not be surprised when the climate data they present to you shows no net improvement of our overall global climate.

It is time to get prepared now- a huge underground and secondary economy is about to spring up. The free market will never be defeated- it will just be driven underground and taken off the ‘official’ books and tax records. Barter, trade and exchange will become the new norm in the face of increasing government burden. Given what we will be facing, it only makes sense that economy and production will have to be done out of the eyes of government.

We can only hope that the act of just being born, and society’s cultural respect for it, will be able to ward off the social and economic penalties that the scientific dictatorship will seek to impose.

From WaPo, of all places:

People can, and undoubtedly will, argue for some time about whether President Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Meanwhile, though, there’s a simpler and more immediate question: Does the Constitution allow him to accept the award?

Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the Emolument Clause, clearly stipulates: “And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.”

The award of the peace prize to a sitting President is not unprecedented. But Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson received the honor for their past actions: Roosevelt’s efforts to end the Russo-Japanese War and Wilson’s work in establishing establish the League of Nations. Obama’s award is different. It is intended to affect future action. As a member of the Nobel Committee explained, the Prize should encourage Obama to meet his goal of nuclear disarmament. It raises important legal questions for the second time in less than 10 months — questions not discussed, much less adequately addressed anywhere else.

The five-member Nobel commission is elected by the Storting, the Parliament of Norway. Thus the award of the peace prize is made by a body representing the legislature of a sovereign foreign state. There is no doubt that the Nobel Peace Prize is an “emolument” (”gain from employment or position,” according to Webster).

An opinion of the U.S. Attorney General advised, in 1902 that “a simple remembrance,” even “if merely a photograph, falls under the inclusion of ‘any present of any kind whatever.’ ” President Clinton’s Office of Legal Counsel, in 1993, reaffirmed the 1902 opinion, and explained that the text of the clause does not limit “its application solely to foreign governments acting as sovereigns.” This opinion went on to say that the Emolument Clause applies even when the foreign government acts through instrumentalities. Thus the Nobel Prize is an emolument, and a foreign one to boot.

From Bloomberg:

Denis M. Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, has been designated chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank’s board of directors for the remainder of 2009, bank spokesman Calvin Mitchell said in a statement.

Hughes, 59, has served as acting chairman since May, when Stephen Friedman resigned from the position to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest over his ties to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

And the president of the labor union doesn’t have conflict of interest?

Consider Denis’s recent statements on the AFL CIO Now blog:

“My job is to do whatever I can to make sure working families are considered when decisions are made.”

As the president of a labor union, yes. As the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve, no. Leading the way to market recovery is going to involve getting business’s back to profitability, something which is attacked by the concept of organized labor.

Or how the re-appointment of Ben Bailout Bernanke:

“While I have had serious differences with the Federal Reserve over the past few years, I think reappointing Chairman Bernanke is probably the right choice,” said Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, who will lead the Senate hearings.

But the announcement was not all positive, coming alongside news that the White House Budget Office is forecasting a cumulative $9 trillion budget deficit from 2010-2019, some $2 trillion more than its previous estimate in May.

Exactly as Ayn Rand warned in her polemic novel, ‘Atlas Shrugged’- when government is placing the looters in charge to run the treasury of government and industry dry. How long will it take for our hero Galt to rise up?

‘Gangster government’, thy name is The Fed.

Got this blast from the, “Citizens Committee For The Right To Keep And Bear Arms”:

Obama and the White House are looking the other way as Lautenberg seeks to ban guns from 1,000,000 US citizens on a secret FBI terrorist watch list. Obama has deliberately and repeatedly lied to America’s 90 million gun owners across the country when he insisted that he would not try to take away anyone’s firearms. Now Obama’s silence endorses Lautenberg’s latest attempt at banning guns.

Lautenberg has now introduced bill S. 1317 that would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales to people on terror watch lists. We must defeat this bill from giving extraordinary powers to limit gun sales to the Attorney General.

…

How you ask? Trial by innuendo and misinformation that has put 1,000,000 Americans and maybe even you on a terrorist watch list without your knowledge by saying: people placed on this government’s terrorist watch list can be stopped from getting on a plane or getting a visa, and will also be stopped from buying a gun.

Being skeptical of the 30-40 emails a day I get from various special interest groups I decided it would be prudent to investigate the claims of CCRKBA. What I discovered was shocking end-run around our second amendment rights to individually possess firearms, as reaffirmed by the Court in the Heller case last year.

S. 1317 would:

To increase public safety by permitting the Attorney General to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists.

On a surface level, it sound’s reasonable. Denying weapons to terrorists. Most reasonable people would agree that sounds like a good idea. The problem is that the devil is in the details and S. 1317 is amending a section of the Patriot Act that defines “terrorism”.

S. 1317 amends a section 2331 of the Patriot Act which defines terrorism as the following:

International Terrorism-  Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended-(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.

Domestic Terrorism-  involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended-(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Domestic terrorism then, as defined by the government, is intimidation or coercion to affect the conduct of large groups of people. The problem is that the government is not limiting it’s labeling of people as ’terrorists’ to just those who would, “affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping”.

There is legitimate concern that abuse of the ‘No-Fly’ list would greatly accelerate once public acceptance of the extremely secretive list becomes main steam. As it stands today, protesters are terrorists. Constitutionalists are terrorists. Ron Paul supporters, anti-abortion activists, anti-New World Order and North American Union people are all ‘domestic terrorists’. 

In fact, most mainstream opposition to the administration of President Barack Obama can find some aspect of their political beliefs labeled as ‘domestic terrorism’ according the DHS ‘Rightwing Extremism’ and MIAC ‘Modern Militia’ reports. There is no evidence that the government is actively putting the targets of the DHS and MIAC reports on the ‘No-Fly’ list. However, it is clear; President Barack Obama is using the full power of the Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to chill free speech.

For more coverage of the DHS ‘Rightwing Extremism’ and MIAC ‘Modern Militia’ reports click here. 

The real motive of S. 1317 may be a genuine desire to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists, but given the DHS and MIAC reports one has to wonder if this bill is really some fully loaded punch-back with some major issues of constitutional authority and permissibility.

With today’s political environment it is clear, we do not have the luxury of finding out the real motivation of S. 1317, write your Senators and Representatives today. Tell them to send S. 1317 packing.

Do you feel like we are on the wrong track as a nation? Do you feel that, “gangster government” has taken over in D.C.? Do you feel that Congress is exceeding it’s constitutional mandate and limitations in nearly every bill that comes out of Washington?

Attend a town hall meeting for the Continential Congress 2009 and learn what is being done to restore our republic and reclaim the Constitution.

10:30 am -1:30 pm at the Meridian Public Library

1326 W Cherry Ln. Meridian, ID

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More information can also be found on cc2009.info and cc2009.us

Like the Continential Congress of 1774, this Continential Congress seeks to find a path back to our Constitution, as it currently is. Be prepared, you will find others who demand a full adherance to the Constitution!

I’m wading into this party late, but what the hell I am sure I am already on a red-list somewhere.

On a hat tip from Redstate:

HR 3200, Section 102:

Private, non-government carriers will not be able to write new applications after Obamacare goes into effect (Sec a, 1, A).

Private carriers will be unable to alter the policies after Obamacare goes into effect (Sec a, 2).

Private carriers will be unable to change the premium after Obamacare goes into effect (Sec a, 3).

Private group plans will only be authorized for five years after the passage of Obamacare (Sec b, 1, A).

After the passage of Obamacare, only private “Exchange-participating” plans will be allowed (Sec c, 1, a).

Do you see what is happening? Yes, what Obama is saying is technically correct, you will be able to keep your existing coverage. However, after Obamacare passes your current carrier will be unable to alter the policy in any way, slowly starving it off will be inflation, lawsuits, new coverage needs and the Exchange-plans themselves.

You will be forced onto Obamacare, given time. Your current carrier will not be able to write new customers and after the passage of Obamacare, only “Exchange” authorized plans (i.e. government insurance) will be permitted to be sold. Even employer-sponsored health plans will only be given five years to continue their operation before they will be required to seek “Exchange” authorization status.

I leave today will two definitions:

Socialism- 1837 1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods 2a- system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Tyranny- 14th century 1: oppressive power <every form of tyranny over the mind of man — Thomas Jefferson>; especially : oppressive power exerted by government <the tyranny of a police state>  2 a : a government in which absolute power is vested in a single ruler; especially : one characteristic of an ancient Greek city-state b: the office, authority, and administration of a tyrant 3: a rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force

Don’t let the media back you down. This bill IS as bad as feared. Go to the Town Halls, protest, make Congress listen to the American people. Don’t let your doctor’s office become another post office, Department of Motor Vehicles or the IRS. We can stop this..

While your at it, don’t forget to check out the Campaign For Liberty and it’s Stop Obamacare petition!