The Tea Party is a Hate Group (According to SPLC)

The Southern Poverty Law Center has issued a report in which they conclude that hate groups are on the decline.  Of course, some would say that the SPLC itself is a hate group, but that's not the point.  I'm more interested in what SPLC says is a "hate group":

Demoralized by the reelection of President Barack Obama but calmed by Washington’s failure to enact new gun control laws, hate groups are on the decline in the United States. 

That’s according to a new report out Tuesday from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which found that the number of hate groups in the U.S. declined by seven percent in 2013. After a dramatic rise following Obama’s first election and the worst of the recession, the number of anti-government “patriot” group identified by the SPLC also fell 19 percent between 2012 and 2013.

Anti-government, patriots...?

What does that mean, exactly?  Patriots are hate groups?  You're a hate group if you don't expect big-government to take care of you cradle to grave?

Advocates of the Second Amendment are apparently haters:

The author of the new report, SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok, said momentum on the far-right experienced a marked turnaround in 2013 when it became clear that congressional efforts to enact significant gun control legislation would fail. “Guns and gun control are so much at the heart of the radical right,” Potok sad. “That looked like an issue that was going to become white hot, but it essentially died and went away.”

It's as if Janet Napolitano is here again calling us all "right-wing extremists."

Naturally the SPLC defines the Tea Party as a "hate group"...

The power of hate groups is largely rooted in their ability to exist as an alternative to mainstream political debate. In recent years, as local, state and national political figures affiliated with the tea party movement have adopted some views that previously only existed outside the mainstream political system, the far-right has struggled to rally support for its organizations. Various scandals within the hierarchies of some hate groups, as well as deaths and arrests of some leaders, have also hurt organizations’ ability to recruit and build their ranks.

...because having a belief in the Constitution and in limited government interference of your daily life in matters such as education, health care, and privacy is probably not "mainstream."

Honestly, it's enough to make me dust off my Tea Party t-shirt, call C.L. Bryant for a chat, and organize a rally.

SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok suggests that if immigration becomes a hot issue in Congress that the Tea Party hate groups "will rise again."

One can only hope.

Report from the 2012 Freedom Rally in Bossier City

The takeaway message from tonight's Freedom Rally at the Bossier Civic Center was all about restoring freedom and prosperity in America.

The event kicked off about 5:30 inside the Bossier Civic Center and the crowd quickly filled two huge meeting rooms.  As host Royal Alexander began his opening remarks, event staff was busy bringing in more chairs to accommodate the crowd which was spilling out into the hallway.

Mr. Alexander quoted Thomas Jefferson in his opening remarks, reminding us all that "A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything that you have."

I was sitting next to Sharon McCullar who is a veteran, a small business owner, and a mother of two Marines; she was one of tonight's speakers.  She estimated the average age of the crowd at about 60, but I think it dropped a bit lower as people filtered in from work.  Steve estimated the crowd to be about 300 but I had it a little higher.  The enthusiasm was infectious.

One of the first speakers was U.S. Senator David Vitter who spoke about the need for a pro-growth tax rate in America to encourage business development.  He stressed the need for Republicans to take back not just the White House but also the Senate so that we can put in targeted health care reform and repeal ObamaCare.  This was met with thunderous applause.

Addressing national security and military budget cuts, Senator Vitter called for an end to "the apology tours" and quoted Reagan who said, "Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because America was too strong."  Senator Vitter says that "peace through strength" is the only way.

Another popular theme, especially here in oil rich, and Haynesville Shale country, Louisiana was Vitter's derision of "speculative green energy companies," many of which go down the tubes; we need to develop our energy resources here at home.

Senator Vitter closed his remarks by stressing that this election is "razor thin."  He said, "I DO believe the polls," rather than the conspiracy theorists who suggest that the polls are misrepresenting the actual numbers.  "Every vote counts," he said, reminding everyone of Florida.

Sharon McCullar has been a popular speaker at these events and she was warmly received.  She spoke of the socialist, entitlement mindset of this administration and encouraged everyone to engage their children in this debate because it is, after all, their future.  McCullar said we are "on the verge of a nuclear holocaust between Israel and Iran...our world in possession of 20,000 nuclear weapons!  We hope and pray humanity will have the restraint not to detonate."

She spoke of the huge debt, the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood, and of course, Benghazi.  McCullar says "these days, we are living in?  These are the days God ordered for us," because "he knew we would be willing to stand with courage."

She said that God "is not neutral in the affairs of humankind."

McCullar's remarks were filled with humor and optimism as she reached out to everyone there and of every religious persuasion, to believe and to pray for the future of our country.

Here's a segment of her speech on Benghazi and Obama's national security policy which she says, "he's gonna get us all killed!"  And, I apologize for the angle.  Sharon isn't very tall so mostly what you see is the podium.  It's the words, really, that you need to hear.  And the thumbnail is sideways but it doesn't play sideways.  Anyway, just watch it.



One of the highlights of the night was Karen Watson, author of Being Black and Republican in the Age of Obama which you can order here. What a spitfire she is!



When she finished speaking there was a dash to the back of the room to pick up her booklet.  (I got one.)

Royal Alexander said, "She tells it like it is!"  and he's right.

She said, "Do not assume when you see a black person that they are a Democrat because they are not.  Do not assume when you see a Hispanic that they are Democrat.  They are not.  Do not assume when you see a woman that she is pro-abortion because she is not."  I mean, they may be all that, but it was a gentle reminder that maybe the opposition is larger than we know.

In addition to the rousing speakers, there was also great musical entertainment.  Johnny Rowland entertained the crowd between speakers and at one point did a take-off on "Midnight Special" which got these two patriots up on their feet.  It's a blurry picture because they were dancing up a storm in the aisle:

 They were having a great time!

The evening closed with "God Bless America" and a promise of a brighter future for America.

Now is the time.

Make Plans to Attend the Freedom Rally This Thursday

The Red River Tea Party is holding a long overdue Freedom Rally this week, Thursday, October 25 at the Bossier Civic Center from 5:30 - 7:30.

We've had several Tea Party rallies in Shreveport/Bossier since the first one in 2009 and each one gets better and better.  There will be live music, as always, and in the past there have been booths with groups distributing information (Fair Tax, etc.) or selling concessions.

I can't think of a better thing to do on a beautiful fall day right before the most important national election in recent history.

Scheduled speakers are conservative radio talk show host Moon Griffon, who appeared at the 2010 God and Country Rally.

Also speaking will be veteran Sharon McCullar.  Sharon is also the proud mother of two Marines and is a small business owner.  I've heard her speak at several of these rallies and she is always a highlight.  She's brought me to tears before with her moving and powerful stories.  Her speech at the 2010 Tax Day Tea Party was epic.

Also speaking will be U. S. Senator David Vitter and almost certainly the highlight of the day will be  C. L. Bryant's speech.

I've often told this story, but C. L. showed up at the first Bossier/Shreveport Tea Party in 2009 as just a spectator.  He had his little church in DeSoto Parish and his conservative views, and he came to see the Tea Party.  Organizer Royal Alexander started talking to him in the crowd and pulled him up on stage to speak;  his spontaneous speech that day launched him onto a nationwide platform that has culminated most recently into his acclaimed documentary Runaway Slave.  That documentary is now available in a number of digital download options.



Add this event to your list of things to do this week!  The weather is supposed to be grand, so come on out!

*Date corrected - Thanks Lee Ann!*

Andrew Breitbart Talks About His Legacy With CL Bryant

Recorded in May 2011:



Related Posts
A New Underground Railroad
Demand "Runaway Slave" Shows Near You
I Dare James Earl Jones to Watch "Runaway Slave"
Trading One Form of Tyranny For Another
Film Review:  Runaway Slave

A New Underground Railroad

Holy smokes.  Via Red State, "the most incredible movie trailer I've ever seen":



I'm dumbfounded at the sheer blind idolatry of it!

Instead, how about a film about freedom?  How about a film that makes you feel good about your country without being preachy?  How about a film that lifts your spirits and fills you with optimism?



When C.L. Bryant's Runaway Slave hits nationwide, it is ALL anybody is going to be talking about.  I just watched it a second time and it was more powerful the second time.  Of course, after I saw the film this weekend I have read Star Parker's book and started Deneen Borelli's book, so I brought more background to the table this time.

This time around I was really watching the imagery and technical aspects of the movie.  It not only holds up on message, but it holds up as a technical work, too.  When I reviewed the movie I wrote that it has a "gritty, urban feel" to it.  Imagery of chains, bars, and locks are flashed across the screen.  Urban graffiti.

Most prevalent was the image of the railroad; one of the themes of the film is that it's time for "a new underground railroad" to escape poverty and the tyranny of big government oppression.

We see C.L. walking down railroad tracks, running on the tracks, and standing in thought on the tracks.  In the beginning he picks up a rusty railroad spike and you see that spike from time to time through the film.  At the end, as he shouts "Run!  Run away from socialism!  Run away from progressivism! Run!"  This is when you get chills up and down your arms.  He throws that spike off a railroad trestle into the river - freedom.

The image is there verbally, too, as AlfonZo Rachel says, "I must be on the right track!"

The most beautiful image to me was CL's visit to the Jefferson Memorial.  He stands, staring up at the statue of Jefferson, a man who once owned slaves, and the sun breaks through the columns.  The message?  It's a new day; look forward.  Don't look to the past.  Look forward and where we can go, together.

It's simply a beautiful film in both message and content.

Go see it.  Because when it opens up nationwide, everyone is going to be talking about it and you will want to be part of that conversation.

Demand Runaway Slave Shows Near You!

C. L. Bryant's documentary, Runaway Slave, is set for nationwide release July 27.

You are really going to want to see this film.

Demand the Movie!

Take a look at the theaters listed for the July 27 openings for RUNAWAY SLAVE. No matter where you live, take a minute and call the theater managers at the numbers listed and let them know you want the movie to open in their theaters. 

	Atlanta	AMC Barrett Commons (Kennesaw)	(770) 419-5848
	Charlotte	Stonecrest at Piper Glen Stadium 22	(704) 540-7558
	Chicago	AMC River East 21	(312) 596-0333
	Cincinnati	Springdale 18 Cinema Deluxe	(513) 671-0140
	Dallas	AMC Grapevine Mills (Grapevine)	(972) 539-5909
	Indianapolis	Rave Motion Pictures Metropolis 18 (Plainfield)	(317) 839-0525
	Jacksonville	AMC Regency 24	(904) 725-0885
	Philadelphia	Regal Warrington Crossing (Warrington)	(215) 918-1667

Please take a moment to call and let theater managers know you want to see this movie!

Otherwise, people like Michael Moore will have the only voice out there about what is happening in America.  Isn't it time for a pro-America documentary, for once?!

Win Two Tickets To Runaway Slave!

Caption Contest!

Write a winning caption and win two free tickets to C.L. Bryant's Runaway Slave documentary showing this weekend at the Regal Cinema on Shed Road in Bossier City. The tickets are for the 5:05 show Saturday.  The contest will run until 5:00 Wednesday afternoon.  I'll either snail mail or email your tickets to you - your choice.

I Dare James Earl Jones to Watch "Runaway Slave"

With no evidence whatsoever, James Earl Jones has declared the Tea Party racist.

Via Memeorandum:

JAMES EARL JONES: I think I have figured out the Tea Party I think I I do understand racism because I was taught to be one by my grandmother. My grandmother was part [tribal affiliation] Indian part black, she hated everybody and she taught all of her children and grandchildren to be racist to hate white people and to distrust black people. 

DR CORNEL WEST: Who does she love then? 

JAMES EARL JONES: Nobody 

WEST: Nobody at all. 

JAMES EARL JONES: But that allowed me to figure it out for myself. And I think I know what racism is better than anyone who has ever been a racist.

Listen for yourself here.

This drivel is exactly why James Earl Jones and people who think like him need to see C. L. Bryant's  documentary Runaway Slave.

Instead of spending time watching MSNBC, James Earl Jones should use his platform and influence to help lift people out of the tyranny of the progressives who only want to enslave lower classes to a life of welfare and dependency.

Why would anyone blindly go along with that?

I won't presume to call Mr. Jones a racist; he does say that he has been able to "figure it out" for himself so we'll hope he means that he's figured out how not to be a racist despite the teachings of his grandmother.

What Mr. Jones ought to be asking while he's "thinkin' and observin'" is why Obama got 95% of the black vote when it's Obama's progressive, liberal policies that has black unemployment at about 14%.  His policies have put more people on disability than to work.  The food stamp population has jumped from 17 million people in 2000 to 46 million people today.

The Obama administration is creating a nation of dependency rather than a fostering a nation of self-reliance, pride, and hard work.  He doesn't want people to succeed, he wants them to be dependent.

All the Tea Party wants is fiscal conservatism and for people to prosper.

Is that racist?

Film Review: Runaway Slave

When Runaway Slave comes to a theater near you, drop what you're doing and go see it.

Having heard Rev. C. L. Bryant speak before, I thought I had an idea what to expect but I underestimated the power of the documentary.  It's very powerful.

Visually, the movie has a gritty, urban, edgy feel to it that contrasts with rural rolling hills and scenic neighborhoods as narrator C. L. Bryant makes his way from one city to the next, crossing America, ultimately ending up in Washington, D.C., where he movingly stands at the Jefferson Memorial reading lines from the Declaration of Independence.  I have to say, I got a tear in my eye on that one.

Bryant drives across the country asking black individuals along the way "Are we free at last?  Are you free?"  He strides purposefully across the nation and listens inquisitively at both Tea Party rallies and NAACP rallies.  He asks black Americans what they are prevented from doing today because of their skin color.

The only person who wouldn't, or couldn't, answer that was Rev. Al Sharpton who refused to speak to Bryant in the documentary.

C. L. Bryant tells of his journey from liberalism to conservatism.  He was a chapter president of the NAACP in Garland, Texas at one time, a position he lost because of his pro-life stance.  He also lost the position of pastor of his church because of his conservatism.  But Bryant has brought his message to a much larger audience now with Runaway Slave and it's a message that everyone needs to see.

The thesis of the documentary is the enslavement of black society by big government.  Bryant tries to determine why 95% of the black community votes Democrat and why the nation is still so racially divided. People like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are described in interviews as "poverty pimps" because while they claim to represent the best interests of black America they are profiting from the continued degraded social status of blacks.

To support his thesis Bryant talks to many black leaders across America such as Alveda King who spoke strongly against Planned Parenthood and cited the high abortion rate in black society.  She noted the prevalence of Planned Parenthood in black communities and suggested they "target" black women.

I was particularly impressed with Marvin Rogers, author of Silence Makes the Loudest Sound.  Watch this clip:


Author Marvin D. Rogers Discusses his Highly Anticipated Book! from Marvin D. Rogers on Vimeo.


He really impressed me and I'm ordering his book today (there's no Kindle version).

Steve was impressed with Mason Weaver.  He wrote a book entitled It's OK to Leave the Plantation.  Watch this clip of Weaver speaking in 2009:



Bryant spoke with many other black leaders and the takeaway is that it is the Democratic party that has enslaved the black community to a life of poverty and entitlements.  You are not guaranteed success by the Constitution, you are guaranteed opportunity.  Nothing is handed to you.

Bryant also talks with well known black  leaders like Allen West, Herman Cain, and Thomas Sowell, but it was the lesser knowns like K. Carl Smith and Kevin Daniels that impressed me so much.

The movie opens July 27 in wider release; right now it's just in Bossier City.  The film website is here.  There you will find release locations and dates, all the interview participants, and video clips.

If you're anywhere close to Shreveport/Bossier, go to Regal Cinema on Shed Road and see this film.  We were pleasantly surprised to see C. L. Bryant himself striding to the front of the theater as the credits rolled.  We gave him a hearty round of applause and then he was swamped with people who wanted to shake his hand and speak with him.

The film is powerful, moving, articulate, and speaks to all of us.  It's one that I'll want to see more than once and if you get a chance to see it, drop everything you're doing and go.




Update:
Linked at The Dead Pelican - the one stop shop for ALL news Louisiana!
The film has been held over through July 19th at Regal on Shed Road in Bossier.
Buy tickets here.

Related Posts:
Andrew Breitbart Talks About His Legacy With CL Bryant
A New Underground Railroad
I Dare James Earl Jones to Watch "Runaway Slave"!
Trading One Form of Tyranny for Another

The Runaway Slave: Coming to a Theater Near You

When I attended our very first local Tea Party rally in 2009 there was a spontaneous addition to the speaker program.  A local pastor, Rev. C. L. Bryant was there and as he was speaking with organizers before the program started, Royal Alexander was so impressed that he asked Bryant to speak to the crowd.  This is Bryant's spontaneous speech that day:

I knew then that Bryant would carry his message beyond our little Bossier City Tea Party.  C. L. Bryant is a former NAACP chapter president and formerly believed in the liberal viewpoint until he realized that many of those liberal policies are enslaving the black community to the government.  He has a powerful message.

He now has a documentary which will be released here in Shreveport July 6, 7, and 8 and Regal Cinema on Shed Road.  It's called The Runaway Slave and this is the trailer:

Find the movie near you and go see it.

The Supreme Court Awakens Resolve and Determination

Romney has raised a lot of cash today.  I just made a donation.  You can too.

As of right now, the Romney campaign has raised over $1.5 million today:

Reaction to the Supreme Court opinion from around the web:

I linked to this yesterday but I want to be sure you see it.  The Supreme Court decided that ObamaCare is a "tax."  In fact, it's at least twenty new taxes.

Mitt Romney's response:



The stock market plummeted in the hour after the decision came down.  When I was blogging this morning the market was at -135.51.  It's now at -156.78.

Professor Glenn Reynolds:

I do expect a lot of re-energization among Tea Party folks who had perhaps grown a bit complacent. 

Via The Foundry, the Senate may consider repeal through reconciliation:

Now that the individual mandate has acquired the official constitutional status of a “tax”, there is no longer any doubt that the Congress, and more specifically the Senate, can repeal it pursuant to the simple majority vote threshold available under the Budget Act’s reconciliation process. Some Senate insiders were concerned that the reconciliation process would leave too much of Obamacare intact, including the individual mandate. But today’s decision, while alarming in so many other ways, dispels with that concern. 

The mandate is now a revenue provision. Therefore, it is germane and not subject to a Senate parliamentary point of order to strike it from a repeal bill. The Senate’s filibuster process that would require a supermajority of 60 Senate votes to approve repeal is now irrelevant.

The thread at Memeorandum grows.

American Power:

I'm not surprised by today's ruling. I noted previously (somewhere around here) that the Court's decision on Arizona's SB 1070 was a warning against premature football-spiking. Chief Justice John Roberts, I suspect, is being extremely careful about preserving the institutional legitimacy of the Court --- and by extension, the legacy of "the natural court" under his leadership. 

Sister Toldjah:

The fight over ObamaCare has never been just about what’s allowed under the Constitution or some spurious notion of a “right” to health care. At the core is a conflict of visions over the nature of government and the relation of citizens to that government: Is it a federal government of limited, specific powers and a freeborn citizenry with inherent rights that cannot be revoked, or is it a paternalistic State of unlimited power, with citizens reduced to wards?

In the end, ObamaCare is a political question of the purest, most basic kind: What is the nature of our polity?

Doug Powers:

Though Obama and the Democrats have won the day, given the lack of popularity of the health care law (two thirds of Americans wanted the Supreme Court to overturn at least some part of the law), in just a few months they may very well look back and view this time as the moment that was the last straw for voters and the end of the president’s re-election hopes. We’ll see. 

And be sure to read the reaction at NRO:

The Court has failed to do its duty. Conservatives should not follow its example — which is what they would do if they now gave up the fight against Obamacare. The law, as rewritten by judges, remains incompatible with the country’s tradition of limited government, the future strength of our health-care system, and the nation’s solvency. We are not among those who are convinced that we will be stuck with it forever if the next election goes wrong: The law is also so poorly structured that we think it may well unravel even if put fully into effect. 

That's good advice.  Take heart and keep fighting.  Stronger than ever.

Check out the 2012 Senate races.  We need to take the Senate.

The sleeping giant awakes.

The ObamaCare Verdict Live-Blog

Here we go.

As we wait for the long anticipated Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare here are some links you might be interested in.

Legal Insurrection is on the story and will be updating.  Professor Jacobson's analysis is always spot on.

ScotusBlog will have the ruling immediately at their live blog site here.

Tabitha Hale outside the Supreme Court and offers this picture of the chaos outside:

Stay tuned for updates.

Update 1:  More coverage at CSPAN.

Ed Morrissey has an open thread up at Hot Air.  His prediction?

 I think there’s still a decent chance that the court might uphold it, but a slightly better chance that the whole thing will get tossed, more out of convenience than anything else, but the mandate will still be the key. 

The only prediction I'm making is that the ObamaCare ruling will be the last one.  There are other rulings to come in like the Stolen Valor case.

Update 2:  Here come the opinions.

Alvarez case:  the decision of the Ninth Circuit is affirmed.  Stolen Valor is unconstitutional but Congress may be able to do a new law.

Update 3:  Mandate is unconstitutional via Fox.

The opinion is authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Wait:  SCOTUS blog says the individual mandate survives as a tax.  Everyone is trying to figure it out.  The mandate may have been struck down in the commerce clause but struck down as a tax.

Don't panic yet.

Update 4:  It appears that the mandate survives; Chief Justice joins the left side of the court on the mandate.  The law will stand.

The law will stand.

Well, this buts Romney in a difficult position, doesn't it?  One of his campaign points is that he will repeal ObamaCare on day one.

Update 5:  Obama will speak within the hour on the decision.  I won't be watching that one.  Sorry.

Professor Jacobson has a pep talk.

Update 6:  There will be a lot of parsing to come.  I'm no legal expert by any means.  But it seems to me that what they've said is that if you don't buy insurance then the government can "tax" you.  The government can mandate that you buy insurance and if you don't, they can tax you.  Can't we repeal taxes?

You want to read the decision?  Here it is.

Let's find some more informed commentary.

Shannon Bream broadcasting from the steps of the Supreme Court, says that the Court holds that Congress cannot penalize states by taking away their Medicaid funding, under the ruling if the states refuse to accept the new influx of new Medicaid patients..

Statement from Mitch McConnell:

“Today’s decision makes one thing clear: Congress must act to repeal this misguided law. Obamacare has not only limited choices and increased health care costs for American families, it has made it harder for American businesses to hire. Today’s decision does nothing to diminish the fact that Obamacare’s mandates, tax hikes, and Medicare cuts should be repealed and replaced with common sense reforms that lower costs and that the American people actually want. It is my hope that with new leadership in the White House and Senate, we can enact these step-by-step solutions and prevent further damage from this terrible law.”  

Nothing yet from Romney.

Update 7:  On Twitter, Michelle Bachmann:

Ed Morrissey:

So what now?  Mitt Romney and Republicans can now run on repeal as a big issue in the campaign.  They should emphasize the tax argument when they do, because this tax hits everyone.  The ruling may alleviate some of the bad polling the ACA has received, but probably not by much.  It’s going to remain deeply unpopular for the next few months.  On top of that, the decision to uphold the law also means that the fight is still on over the HHS contraception mandate.  We can expect the Catholic bishops to keep up the pressure on the Obama administration’s attempt to define religious expression for the purpose of controlling and limiting it — and we can probably expect the challenge to it to reach the Supreme Court, too. 

 Eric Cantor has announced that the House will vote (again) to repeal the health care law on July 11.  For all the good that will do.  Why bother?  The Senate will laugh and throw it back.

Update 8:  As the folks at SCOTUSBlog parse the opinion, Amy Howe notes that "those subject to the individual mandate may lawfully forgo health insurance and pay higher taxes, or buy health insurance and pay lower taxes."

It seems to me now that the thing to do is to defeat Obama in the fall and take the Senate.  That's never been more important.

For the record, the stock market is currently tanking.

Update 9:  Check out this "calculator" at WaPo to see how ObamaCare will affect you.

Current Drudge screenshot:

Certainly this all becomes a political issue now.  ObamaCare is the largest tax in American history.

Via Twitter, the Romney campaign says they've raised over $100,000 since the ruling came down.

Update 10:  Juan Williams:  "We live in very partisan political times."  That's why they pay him the big bucks to comment on Fox News.

Awaiting comments now from John Boehner and Mitt Romney.  I won't be covering Obama's comments.  You can find that on your own if you're so inclined.

Via Twitter:

Exactly!

Update 11:  Lots of reaction at Memeorandum.

Update 12:  So much for civility in discourse.

Marco Rubio on Fox:  "You don't have to buy health insurance but if you don't you're out of compliance and you have an IRS problem."

Jeffery Lord says this could be the beginning of a political revolution:

Obama…who adamantly insisted the individual mandate was not a tax…has now been saddled by the Supreme Court as the taxer-in-chief.This in fact can be a huge potential victory for -- Mitt Romney.This is Romney's moment to lead the charge against tax increases, in this case the ultimate insult -- a tax for simply drawing a breath. A tax mandated by the Supreme Court and propagated by his opponent.

Still awaiting comments from Romney.

Update 13:  Ann Coulter tweets:

And VP contender, Bobby Jindal:

Romney in his speech now vows to repeal ObamaCare.

"What the court did today was say that the court does not violate the Constitution."   Romney says the law is bad law and raises taxes on the American people by $500 billion dollars and cuts Medicare by $500 billion dollars.  Romney says up to twenty million Americans will lose their current insurance under ObamaCare and that ObamaCare is a job killer.  "Most troubling of all is that ObamaCare puts the federal government between you and your doctor."

Romney wants to keep in place pre-existing conditions coverage.  He also vows to help lower the cost of health care and health insurance.

"This is the time for the American people to make a choice," he says.  Are you comfortable with more deficits?  Bigger government?  Or do you want to return to a time when consumers make their own choices in health care.

If we want to get rid of ObamaCare we have to get rid of Obama, he says.

"We must replace ObamaCare."

Romney took no questions.

The stock market is -135.51 right now.

I'm going to sign off here for now.  We've still got the Eric Holder contempt vote today so maybe there will be some nugget of fun today.

Do no be disheartened.  Regroup and reload.  We have the ballot box in November and like it or not, your best shot right now is Mitt Romney.  Get involved and do whatever you can to support Romney and get him elected.

Retake the Senate.

Never give up.

The White House Spin Is Making Me Dizzy

This is why so many people hate politics and/or politicians.

The spin.  The doublespeak.  The lies.

Case in point.  Consider White House chief of staff Jack Lew this morning talking with George Stephanopoulos on the contraceptive issue that has been raging; it's really the same thing that grated during the Obamacare debate.  This morning Jack Lew said (emphasis mine),

You know, George, from the very beginning, the president had two important goals here. One is to guarantee that every woman has a right to all forms of preventive health care, including contraception, secondly, that we do it in a way that respects the legitimate religious differences and the religious liberties that are so important in our country. 

On Meet the Press this morning, Lew said:

We are now in a place where we can say with certainty that women are going to have the right to health care and we can say that religious institutions, including Catholic hospitals and universities, won't have to pay for or do the administrative work to provide benefits that they find objectionable.

First of all, when exactly did health care become a "right," and two, when did contraception become a "right"?  And when did I, as a woman, not have access to health care?  Sure, women at one time were denied the right to vote, but health care?  I don't remember that one.

And on the issue of contraceptives, women have managed their contraception choices for ages without the government guaranteeing their right to it.

It's all about the doublespeak.

Now all of a sudden Republicans are apparently denying women access to contraceptives because they don't want the government dictating every aspect of our daily lives.  Bullspit.

And now, the government is attempting to force insurance companies to provide it whether they want to or not.  As Rick Santorum pointed out on Meet the Press this morning:

No one's denying them access to birth control. This is, this is outrageous. I mean, the, the bottom line is that you have the federal government now saying we're going to give you a right and then saying, by the way, we're going to tell you how to exercise that right. We're going to control you, a religious, a church-affiliated group as to, you know, what you provide to your employee. And if you don't like it, tough, because our rights, our right to tell you what to do trumps your deeply held convictions about what your dollars should be spent for. And the idea that you can have the insurance company, and by the way, many and--of--a large number of Catholic social service providers are self-insured, and so the self-insured is the insurance company, they're going to be forced to still provide.

So all that compromise business about how the Catholics won't be forced to provide contraception is baloney.

It's all smoke and mirrors.

Lew went on with his spin cycle when he said on the subject of a Senate budget:

So it, it is a challenge in the United States Senate to pass legislation when there's not that willingness to work together. Congress didn't do a great job last year. It, it, it drove right to the edge of a cliff on occasion after occasion. I actually think it's unfair to blame the United States Senate for that. A lot of that was because of the extreme, you know, conservative approach taken by House Republicans.

Hunh?  It's the fault of conservatives that Harry Reid hasn't passed a budget in the Senate in over 1000 days?   When David Gregory pointed out that the Democrats control the Senate, Lew then blamed the tea party:

Yeah, but it--the positions that ended up tying the Congress in knots came out of the House. It came out of the tea party wing in the House.

Ridiculous. 

So.  According to Jack Lew (on two different programs) today,  contraceptives are a natural born right and the conservative tea party wing is to blame because Harry Reid can't pass a budget.

I'm getting dizzy. 

No wonder people hate politicians.

The Alinksy-Obama Minions Would Have You Believe In the "Tea Party Downgrade".

Team Obama and the media minions seem to be all aboard the Alinsky Train; what else could explain the daily vitriol against the Tea Party during and since the debt ceiling debate.  Nearly every day something about the vicious Tea Party and their plan to ruin America has been at the top of Memeorandum. 

The more the media lambasts the Tea Party, the more likely the public will be to turn against them, or so the Alinsky model goes.

Here's David Axelrod explaining how the downgrade is the fault of the Tea Party:

Axelrod said S&P’s decision was “largely a political analysis.” “And that's what we should focus on because what they were saying is they want to see the political system work. They want to see a sense of compromise. They want to see the kind of solution that the president has been fighting for, a large solution that will deal with the problem, that will be balanced, that will include revenues.” 

Instead, said Axelrod, conservative, Tea Party-influenced Republicans “played brinksmanship with the full faith and credit of the United States. And this was the result of that.”

Excuse me, Mr. Axelrod, but what was Obama's plan?  Did he have one?  No, I didn't think so. Axelrod wants you to think it's the Tea Party's fault we got downgraded rather than Obama's lack of a plan or the over the top spending of the Democrats.

Steve Benen ponders a whole litany of wrongs by Republicans before he finally lights on the debt ceiling debate as "the worst thing the Republicans have ever done":

I still think there’s something unique about the Republicans holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage, threatening to impose a catastrophe on all of us, on purpose, to achieve a specific (and unnecessary) policy goal. 

Again, never mind the fact that Obamacare is about to add millions to Medicaid forcing a rationing situation onto our medical professionals; never mind the explosion of cost and bureaucracy that will result from Obamacare because holding the line for fiscal conservatism is so much worse than that (as lame as that line was).

Howard Dean calls the downgrade "a tea party problem":

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean took a stronger tone on CBS, suggesting the tea party has been “smoking some of that tea, not just drinking it” and said of the entire default and downgrade morass, “this is a tea party problem."

Joe Biden even called the Tea Party terrorists (although he now denies it).

And so it goes...it's all aboard the Alinksy Train to attack the Tea Party, to marginalize them, to make them seem anti-American, even.  "Why, it's all the Tea Party's fault that your interest rates have gone up!"

Truth is, as Professor Jacobson pointed out:

Barack Obama never put forth a debt reduction plan.  Ever.

All Obama did was talk in generalities about what he might be willing to consider as part of a “grand bargain,” but it always was vague, the equivalent of voting present.  But when Republicans put forth actual plans to deal with entitlements (the Ryan plan) and to take dramatic action as to spending (Cut, Cap and Balance) the White House went along with Democratic demagoguing of the issue.

So now it's all the Tea Party's fault.

Do not be led down the dark, smoky path of the Alinsky-ite Obama minions.  The Tea Party faction held the line as best they could.  Even John McCain has gone from calling the Tea Party "hobbits" to defending their mandate:

“We could have reached an agreement a lot earlier, but the members of the House of Representatives had a mandate last November, and it was jobs and the economy and it was spending. And for them to then agree to tax increases and spending increases was obviously a repudiation of the mandate they felt they had from last November,” McCain said.

Call them names.  Alienate them.  Turn people against them.  Defeat them.  The Alinsky way.

Don't be snookered.  Obama owns the downgrade and whatever aftermath is to come -- not the Tea Party.

Hey Tea Party: Joe Biden Says You're a Terrorist!

I expect this sort of thing from Politico.

I don't expect a whole hell of a LOT from Joe Biden, but coming from the Vice President of the United States, this is just irresponsible.  It's an outrage:

Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: “They have acted like terrorists,” according to several sources in the room.

Biden’s office declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session.  Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have “guns to their heads” in trying to negotiate deals.

Let me remind Mr. Biden what the definition of a "terrorist" is:

ter·ror·ist /ˈtɛrərɪst/ Show Spelled[ter-er-ist] 

–noun

1.

a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.

2.

a person who terrorizes  or frightens others.

3.

(formerly) a member of a political group in russia aiming at the demoralization of the government by terror. 

Mr. Biden, THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

And THIS is terrorism:

This is NOT terrorism:

These people, Mr. Biden, are patriots.  Get used to them.

(H/T:  Memeorandum) 

Update:  Thanks Don Surber for the link!

Tea Party Terrorists and Civil Discourse (Upated with Remarks from House Debate)

Politico has gone over the edge.  In the new era of "civility in discourse" Politico is now calling the Tea Party a terrorist group.

It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.” But they have now become full-blown terrorists.

They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm on innocent victims to achieve their political goals. A strong America has always stood firm in the face of terrorism. That tradition is in jeopardy, as Congress and President Barack careen toward an uncertain outcome in the tea party- manufactured debt crisis.

And a little deeper in:

Terrorism is a tough term, but, unfortunately, it describes tea party tactics precisely. Their first step was to vow not to vote to raise the debt ceiling.

Be sure to see Pirate's Cove for a complete fisking of the piece.

How quickly we forget.  It was January 2011 when Obama, after the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, said "only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation."

How are Obama's minions following his advice?

Harry Reid this morning accused Republicans of taking America "hostage":

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid vowed today the Senate will act on his plan to raise the nation's debt limit, saying the economy should not be held hostage by recalcitrant House Republicans.

(He also complained:  "What's being done in the House is not a compromise," he said. "It is being jammed through."  He would know all about jamming legislation through, wouldn't he?)

The New York Daily News:

They will emerge victorious from this fight not because they are necessarily right or Americans support their cuts-only approach (they don't), but rather because they are willing to nihilistically sabotage the US economy.

I'm sorry, but who was it exactly that ignored the debt commission report?

Rep. John Larson (D-CT):

“Eighteen times the debt ceiling was raised for Ronald Reagan, eight times for George Bush, because they would never stand in this body to see a default on the full faith and credit of the United States”: Larson said. “We need not go through this ideological hostage situation. Why are we holding the American people hostage? Let's put America back to work. We’re a better nation; we’re a better body than that.”

According to Pelosi, the world must be saved from Republicans:

"What we're trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We're trying to save life on this planet as we know it today."

Hey, at least the Republicans passed a budget.

Steny Hoyer:

"The Republicans are holding hostage the credit of the United States of America."

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT):

Welch charged, “This is the first time a party has used a debt ceiling vote to hold hostage the American economy.”

And on and on. They all got that "hostage" talking point memo, didn't they.

It goes both ways.  Republicans throw their fair share of heated rhetoric as well, but it seems to me there is enough blame to go around for this crisis and the Democrats are unwilling to accept any.  As I mentioned, they saw this coming months ago.  Obama walked away from his own debt commission report.  His position has always been his way or no way.  Compromise isn't a word he has used until lately.

As for the Tea Party, those Tea Party members are the only ones doing what they were sent to Washington to do.  They can't be bought off with earmarks or vague promises.  It isn't their fault that Obama helped create this crisis by ignoring the debt commission and continuing on his job killing, economy crushing, regulation heavy, massive spending policies.

Politico's piece is just fanning the flames and that is what is irresponsible, not the Tea Party.

Update:  Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VT) complaining on the House floor right now about the Boehner bill being "slapped together behind closed doors" in the dark of night.   He calls this all a "manufactured crisis."  By Obama, I might add.

Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC)  calls the bill the worst evah!  "We have NO time left in the debate on our side to debate whether we will pass an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that literally holds a gun to the economy of America!"

No terroristic language there.

Update 2:  Barney Frank:  "Speaker Boehner should take as his theme song, 'It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To.'"   He calls it "a flawed bill" brought by "a weakened Speaker."

Well, that was mature.

Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD):  "The Republican majority should be embarrassed for the American people."  They are "reckless" she says.  The bill was "hurriedly drafted today just to please the far right elements of the Tea Party."  She says the Republican party is putting "our entire future" at risk "for this garbage."

Garbage in, garbage out.

Update 3:  Rep.  Gerald Connelly says the Republicans are "turning our Founding Fathers into deadbeat dads."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) echos the appeasing the "far right" theme.  Corporate jets!  Close tax loopholes!  Tax the rich!  Eliminate oil company subsidies!

Sheila Jackson Lee:  "This is the worst bill that any American could imagine in the history of this nation!"  Hyperbole.  "We actually have the authority...under the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling."    She says the BBA is "not by majority" and will stop Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.  Hyperbole.  She urges people to call in and say "Stop the madness!"

Update 4:  I see kids in the chamber.  Such rhetoric for such young ears!

Update 5:  Rep. Marcy Kaptur suggests this bill is like pulling the IV tubes out of an ill patient and "shoving them down the elevator chute."

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)  "This Congress is in chaos!"  True dat.  "We must stop this Republican Roulette and get back to a plan that is realistic."  She calls for a clean vote on the debt ceiling and if not then invoke the 14th Amendment.

Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) refers to it as the Republican Default Bill.  "The full faith and credit of the United States will be held hostage..."  There's that word again.  Some applause from the floor when he finishes speaking.

The children behind the podium are waving to the camera.

Update 6:  Rep David Scott (D-GA)  lamenting "drastic cuts" to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  About $1000 per person, he says.

Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)  "our nation's first ever default is at hand."

Rep.Markey says the Republicans "don't want compromise, they want capitulation."  He says this bill will change the Constitution "forEVER!" 

Nancy Pelosi says "the clock is ticking" - most overused phrase of the day.  "As we continue this debate today, one thing is very clear to me.  If our goal were to find deficit reduction in a balanced bipartisan way, we could certainly do that...we could find a path to serious deficit reduction."  "That is not the goal of the Republicans of the House of Representatives."   Now she's blathering about clean air standards and food safety.  Clean water.  "We can't do that for ourselves!"

Tax subsidies to big oil!  "You're going to pay more for your college loans so we can give tax breaks to people at the other end."   "This bill is going nowhere.  It is a total waste of time," she says.

The Speaker and the Republicans walked away from the table and the stock market dropped 483 points, she says.  I don't think you can totally blame the Republicans for that, Nancy.