Thursday, January 24, California Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. Before 10 assault weapons, the Senator delineated some 150 firearms to be prohibited from sale, transfer, import and manufacture for their, ‘dangerous, military-style’ nature. The ban does provide exemptions for thousands of hunting and sporting rifles as well as guns operated manually by bolt, pump, lever and slide-action.

It also provides exemption for weapons used by government officials, law enforcement and retired law enforcement.

Senator Feinstein defended her assault on automatic and semi-automatic weapons by invoking the December 14 Elementary School massacre at Sandy Hook. “The future of the nation is at stake,” stated the Senator, magnifying the bill as a package to stop mass-murders by stemming the deadly tide of their weapons of choice.

The same day of Senator Feinstein’s presentation, the conservative Breitbart News reported at least two stories where the assault rifle AR-15 Bushmaster deterred home invasions by its supremacy over concealed arms used by would-be robbers.

The AR-15 was the weapon used by Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook to senselessly massacre small school children.

To Senator Feinstein’s credit, her bill does not seem to discriminate between concealed weapons and rifles, targeting at least 30 automatic pistols. Indeed, Senator Feinstein’s 2013 Assault Weapons Ban prohibits magazines carrying more than 10 bullets, hoping to belittle the god-complex of dangerous sociopaths that enjoy dealing death at random.

However, what will an assault weapons ban really accomplish? Besides further stigmatizing guns and those that use them, it reframes usage as a criminal activity rather than an American right.

Chicago, for example, boasts some of the strictest gun laws and saw record gun-related homicides this year upwards of 500.

Famously, Major Rudy Giuliani combated the New York crime wave by placing more guns on the street by prioritizing policing and the NYPD. He went on to be voted the second most popular Major in the history of New York.

Senator Feinstein’s home state of California faces precinct closures and record gun sales as citizens seek to comfort their nerves by replacing an active police force with a paranoid home defense. Interestingly enough, cash strapped California continues to pay top dollar to psychiatrists, hoping that preventative medicine might cope with the scourge of criminalism.

But tax funded million dollar salaries to penitentiary psychiatrists and preventative gun bans cannot hope to replace the heart and soul of a humble and dedicated armed police force facing a large armed citizenry sending gun sales nation-wide to record heights.

Gun sales rose in 48 out of 50 states in 2012, and the December statistics for background checks rose in every single state of the Union. Last December, sales numbers tell the story of a scared constituency; the top 5 states recorded 60% growth in the wake of Sandy Hook.

As the country mourned, Massachusetts alone saw a 36% rise in gun permits. Shop keepers noted that women increasingly purchase guns, accounting for a third of customers now where once they were seldom seen.

The FBI also noted the rising popularity of guns post Sandy Hook by reporting 39% rise in background checks to set a new monthly record.

Directly following the Sandy Hood tragedy, the Pew Research Center for People and Press conducted a poll where still only half the polled believed the gun control superseded the American right to bear arms.

Pew did note the 65% of respondents believed that assault weapon ownership made the nation more dangerous – not safer. The typical concealed pistol, however, now, by and large, classifies as assault due to its automatic capabilities.

So while the liberal media played shock journalism and pointed fingers at conservatives during the Presidential decree to join the residents and victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in grief, the nation continued to arm itself.

David Gregory, in a December 23 broadcast of ‘Meet the Press,’ illegally brandished an automatic magazine banned from the District of Columbia to shock his viewership into appeasing liberals who wish to criminalize guns and their culture.

Ironically, as police investigated his brazen behavior, the President of the United States paid a surprise visit to boost ratings of the flagging show and talk about his take of the Fiscal Cliff talks.

Perhaps there is a cognitive dissonance in the media.

President Obama himself, in a pre-taped discussion with Barbara Walters on ‘Nightline’, December 26, joked that he ran for President so that his daughters could hang out with ‘men with guns.’ Both the President and Chicago Major Rahm Emanuel send their children to schools with an armed guard.

And yet the liberal media cries foul when the NRA concluded its Sandy Hook silence to propose a Federal mandate to arm all schools such that the misbegotten can not so hideously waltz into institutions of learning and commit murder.

So Thurday, January 3, the Sandy Hook Elementary School reopened under armed guard. A concerned police presence identified grown-ups and insured the students that they went to the most secure school in America.

Marlboro, New Jersey followed similar protocols, posting an armed and uniformed officer at each of the eight elementary schools and middle schools.

Since 2007, the Harrods, Texas school board has allowed for teachers to carry concealed weapons to ensure a minimal level of protection in the face of a stringent budget that does not provide for an armed guard.

Spokespeople for Oklahoma, Missouri, Minnestota, South Dakota and Oregon have all stated that they will consider similar methods.

Indeed, the Fontana, California school district just bought 14 AR-15s to police itself.

President Clinton, in 2000, on the one year anniversary of the ignominious Columbine School shooting, announced $120 million in federal grants to promote his ‘COPS in Schools,’ program.

Certainly it is too soon for the rabid liberal media to admit that good-guys with guns stop bad-guys with guns.

Perhaps we will have to witness the Democratic machine stall in a contested political atmosphere before the sober minded remind the nation of the now bi-partisan wish to dedicate as much fire-power in the protection of our school children as we do to foreign wars.

Image Courtesy :  paljoakim

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Let’s talk about James Buchanan. No, not the last American president born in the 18th century. About James McGill Buchanan. Why him? He was a Nobel Prize laureate and American economist who got recognized for his study on public choice theory, and who just recently passed away (January 9, 2013).

So why is his work still relevant today? Mainly because Buchanan initiated research on how non-economic forces and politicians’ personal interests affect economic policy.

His research includes extensive writings on macroeconomics, constitutional economics, the public debt, public finance and voting – all that is very important especially now, at the time of global economic crisis.

What is even more important, looking at the entire government “struggle against the economy,” is that in his studies Buchanan rejects “any organic concept of the state as superior in wisdom, to the citizens of this state.” This is where the interesting part begins.

Thanks to his philosophical position the basis of constitutional economics can be formed. According to Buchanan, every constitution is created for the time period of at least several generations and therefore, it should be able to balance interests of the society, state and each individual.

Unfortunately we don’t see this happening all around us. There are, of course, exclusions, but in whole we see just the opposite. The rich are getting richer or at least are well off anyways. And middle class is getting the full blow of the recession.

It is interesting that Buchanan’s ideas were always seen as a challenge to John Maynard Keynes. And Keynes is recognized to be one of the most influential economists of the last century and founder of modern macroeconomics. He was among those who advocated the use of monetary and fiscal measures to reduce the negative effects of economic recessions.

Once Keynes’s ideas became widespread, they were adopted by leading economies. Even though the outburst of the global financial crisis in 2007 caused degradation in Keynesian thought, the principals of Keynesian economics are still used to give response to the crisis. Unfortunately, neither the administration of George W. Bush or Barack Obama developed new approaches.

In his works Buchanan poses a question, “What do individuals seek in politics if they do not seek to maximize their own expected net wealth?” Which seems to make perfect sense, doesn’t it?

The main point is that modern politics can be adjusted only through the change to the constitution. In this way individuals will be able to act according to the long-term interest of the community and not their own short-term interests.

James M. Buchanan says, “Until and unless we begin to take the long-term perspective in our private and in our public capacities, including the adoption of new and binding constitutional constraints on the fiscal and monetary powers of government, we are doomed to remain mired in the muck of modern politics.”

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The year 2012 is already behind us, but for many, some events will leave lasting imprints – both in the positive and negative ways. So what happened in 2012?

The world is not ending at least for now and let the new 2013 be full of more happiness, joy, and good news.

Image Courtesy : KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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There is a new kind of economic disorder in the United States taking roots in their fiscal policy. It has emerged in the system foreshadowing an economic apocalypse of the US economy, and is known as the Fiscal Cliff.

The implication of the Fiscal Cliff, if left unchecked, will be devastating in nature and highly toxic for the US and global economic stability. The term ‘Fiscal Cliff’ refers to a package of tax increases and spending cuts that may take place due to the expiration of certain laws dealing with tax code and state spending.

In other words, it refers to a stage where economic fortunes may slip down under a deep no-growth trajectory because of laws which will get activated automatically in January.

According to the BBC, on 31 December, a raft of temporary tax cuts is due to expire just as huge automatic spending cuts are introduced. Individuals and companies will be hit simultaneously with tax rises and reductions in government contracts, benefits and support.

BBC further says that some $607 billion of cuts and tax rises are planned, including reductions in the defense budget, the end of an employee tax holiday, changes to Medicare allowances and higher personal taxes.

The ideology of both Republicans and Democrats is asymmetrical when it comes to resolution of the fiscal mess: President Obama proposes a tax increase for the households that earn more than $250,000 per year, but Republicans tend to repeatedly torpedo that proposal. Republicans seem to favor a “no tax rate increase policy,” with some adjustments and corrections in spending programs.

According to Boston.com, Republican Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said “No republican will vote for higher tax rates… We will generate revenue from eliminating deductions and loopholes, but we will insist our Democratic friends reform entitlements – something we’ve never done, and that’s where the big money is at.”

According to CBS News, about $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts are scheduled to take place next year, and some state-run health care programs for the elderly, such as Medicare, will be affected by a 2 percent reduction in payments.

There come questions about how to jump-start job creation and fuel economic growth while still slashing away at federal deficits. Tax hikes to annihilate deficits may plunder the economy itself; tax increase arrests spending and investment but can positively correlate with a deficit reduction scheme.

Ironically, it all depends on how much importance we attach to ballooning deficits and interest service and how we see growth. If spending is slashed through different programs, like Medicare, it will adversely affect savings among the elderly as it will wipe-out state help, leaving them to rely on whatever means they have.

On the other hand, even if Bush-Era Tax Cuts were to be extended for the next two years, will they be helpful in opening the door for faster economic growth? For the last few years Bush-era tax cuts were in place in the economy along with the low interest rate policy adopted by the US Federal Reserve, but the economy is still coughing. What is needed is to increase taxes if deficit reduction is primary for the economy.

The argument is that it might drag the economy back into a recession, but again a question arises. Are these tax-cuts helpful in getting the economy back on a stable surface?

There is no magic wand that can drain out the federal deficits and growth rate with the same pattern of spending and bush-era tax cuts in place.

Ultimately what can be done to avert the crisis, to shield the US economy falling over the cliff? The resolution is in striking a deal that limits spending (to some extent) and increasing tax rates on households earning more than $398,350. Spending on defense should be lowered dramatically; further laws with sunset provisions must be avoided.

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As the fiscal cliff approaches, the clock starts to tick louder. For those who have yet to understand: the fiscal cliff is a soup of expiring tax cuts scheduled for the end of the year.

The core of the fiscal cliff consists mainly of the cuts passed from 2001 to 2003 under then President George W. Bush. There are also across-the-board cuts: the expiration of measures delaying the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate, and the expiration of the 2 percent Social Security payroll tax cut, among others.

If the federal government allows this to happen, the effect on a still-weak economy may be drastic, perhaps even sending it back into a recession. On the other hand the fiscal cliff can significantly decrease the federal budget deficit. This brings us to the question of possible positive effects for the economy in the long run.

According to some surveys, about two-thirds of Americans do support reduction of the federal budget deficit, even if it means cutting Medicare and Social Security. Aside from this data, it is quite hard to believe that the majority will eagerly give away their money for seemingly no good reason. It is better to not take into consideration some quavering long-term improvement projections for the common citizen who is not keen on economic analysis.

Unfortunately according to the experts, if Obama and Congress do not avert these legislative changes, America may “fall over the cliff.” It will also mean that taxes will rise the most in the last 60 years or so. The Tax Policy Center reports that middle-income families will pay $2,000 or more in taxes in 2013.

In addition to this, the Congressional Budget Office predicts that about 3.4 million people will lose their jobs. The Unemployment rate of 7.9 percent in October 2012 represents a significant improvement over the October 2009 rate of 10 percent. According to research millions of jobs would be lost after the fiscal cliff. This could result in an unemployment rate of up to 9.1 percent or more.

Some say there is a bright side. The cliff would be a long-term positive, they say. Everybody understands that at some point the U.S. government should deal with the deficit. But in what way and when are the questions. The policy of kicking the can down the road may no longer be effective or will at least become so in the near future. So will the short-term disaster be worth the possible benefits? The truth is, it’s hard to tell.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2022, the budget deficit would fall to $200 billion from $1.1 trillion now, in the fiscal cliff case scenario. But that is a pretty long shot and in order to get there, the economy would have to face certain financial difficulties.

The bottom line is the cliff will certainly result in the tax rate increases. But the problem is that increasing taxes won’t necessarily increase total tax revenue. The only right way to increase tax revenue is for the economy to recover.

So the bottom line may be that the fiscal cliff doesn’t matter that much any more. The U.S. may have passed the point of no return long ago.  For everyone with average income there is only one thing that can be suggested. Use everybody’s old favorite: cash, not credit. Congress will eventually have to learn this lesson also and finally cut back on a wasteful spending.

If you want to see what your tax life will look after the cliff you can try the links for experienced tax payers or those who want to get a simple answer.

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On Friday, December 14, 20-year-old Adam Lanza opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. Reportedly 28 people were killed in total, including 20 children and the shooter himself.

Lanza had at least three guns with him: a Glock and a Sig Sauer, which he brought into the school, and a .233-caliber rifle, which he left in the back seat of his car. He had hundreds of rounds and no apparent motive. He killed many innocent people before he took his own life. When police arrived, children were led away with their eyes closed, so they could not see the horrors behind them.

The shooter said nothing as he shot students in two classrooms.

Parents rushed to pick up their students, shocked and terrified. Stephen Delgiadice, whose 8-year-old daughter attends the elementary school, said “It’s alarming, especially in Newtown, Connecticut, which we always thought was the safest place in America.”

The Newtown Bee chronicles the heroes that risked their lives to save others. A janitor ran throughout the rooms, warning everyone about what was happening and checking to make sure doors were locked from the inside. Teachers and students locked themselves in classrooms, hiding in closets and corners of the room as gunfire echoed down the halls. Principal Dawn Hochsprung, just coming out of a meeting, warned other teachers behind her to lock the door before confronting Lanza head on. She was shot moments later. Someone in the office had turned on the intercom, broadcasting the shots to the rest of the school as a final warning to protect the students. The quick thinking of these and many more saved the lives of many.

This shooting is the second worst in U.S. history, following the 33 dead in the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007. Connecticut citizens remember Columbine school as well, when 15 students were killed in 1999.

According to the Chicago Tribune, police “believed [Adam] to suffer from a personality disorder.” He lived with his mother Nancy Lanza, the first victim of his attack. He then went to the Sandy Hook, where police speculate Nancy may have worked as a substitute teacher, to open fire in the classrooms. A majority of the students were between the ages of five and nine.

A teary-eyed President Obama called for action to stop these senseless killings, adding that “[the students] had their entire lives ahead of them — birthdays, graduations, wedding, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers, men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children.” The shooting has brought the subject of gun control up for debate once more as relatives, friends and neighbors mourn their loss.

A candlelight vigil was held at St. Rose of Lima Church, where hundreds of people gathered to pray for the families of the victims.

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The historical election night is long over and the cloud hangs of numerous petitions, signed by 39 states, to secede from the United States.

In the wake of the re-election of U.S. President Barack Obama there have been quite a few objections, mainly from the voices of people residing in more conservative states. Citizens are signing petitions by the masses to be granted permission “to peacefully withdraw from the United States of America and to create their own government,” according to the White House’s We the People Petition website.

The 39 states that have signed the petition are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Virginia. While most of the states aforementioned are from the Deep South, a few of them are blue states.

“Every petition that crosses the threshold will receive a response but we don’t comment on what the substance of that response will be before it’s issued,” a White House Official told political website nextgov.com.

The petitions of Louisiana, Florida and Texas have reached beyond the threshold of 25,000 signatures. Texas, which considers itself as a “republic,” not a state, leads the pack with 82,580 and its petition was created on November 9. Louisiana, which was the first state to create a petition the day after President Obama was re-elected comes second with 31,072 signatures. Florida has 26,020 signatures and was created on November 10. All three of these petitions will receive an official response from the Obama administration.

Each petition is similar if not identical in content quoting from the 1776 Declaration of Independence, “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government…”

The backlash of the petitions came in the form of responses petitions to ‘Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile Them and to Deport Everyone That Signed A Petition To Withdraw Their State From The United States Of America’. While elected official Gov. Perry took a more objective approach, he said he “believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it. But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government.”

Petitions have a lifespan of a month if they don’t reach the threshold of 25,000 signatures and a majority of the state petitions attempting to secede from the Union may or may not make the cut but a few of the conservative Deep South states have the higher numbers and will probably receive an official response from the Obama administration.

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Barack Obama won re-election, and America lost its future. Many would call that statement a sign of sour grapes the words of a poor loser. Yet, it is neither. It is the simple conclusion for anyone who has a calculator and has done the math. The national debt for the United States is 16 trillion dollars. That’s 101% of the Gross National Product. It would be like someone making $50,000 a year owing $5,000,000 dollars. Now that Obama has been reelected, the country is projected to reach 20 trillion in debt by the time he is out of office. The only thing that could change that path is if the President were willing to cut the spending spree, something he has shown he does not want to do.

Our debt is unsustainable at its current level. Now that we are guaranteed to have Obamacare written in stone and the two to three trillion dollars it will cost, by 2016 the country will be on a path that cannot be altered: insolvency. It is simple math. It has nothing to do with being a Republican or Democrat. Issues of racism or classicism makes no difference. It is zero’s and one’s. The income either adds up or it does not.

Greece is learning this lesson now. They spent too much on social programs, guaranteed state and country wide union wages, infrastructure built to provide “jobs” and higher taxes. The net result is a country that went running, hat in hand to the European countries for money to keep their country alive. The loans came with strings attached, as most loans do, and the string was a total restructuring of Greece’s spending. The result has been civil unrest, labor strikes, and riots. If you ask the rioters why they are doing these things, they will tell you because of the cuts to wages, and social programs. The very things that made them have to go begging for loans to stay afloat. It is like a person who buys the exotic sports car, and then gets mad at the person who comes to repossess the car, because they cannot make the car payment.

America is on that path, and has been for quite some time. Like the minor tremors that portent a large earthquake, little signs have been appearing: polls that show most people wanting those that make more than they to pay more in taxes, backlashes against any plan to slow down the spending and cost of medicare, men and women alike defending the idea that others have an obligation to pay for the birth control of women, support for fiscally dubious high speed rail projects across the country. Little by little, inch by inch, the mindset of the government spending the viewpoint of entitled thinking has been creeping into the psyche of the American populace.

Tonight’s election was the seismic event that was building. It signals that America has turned toward a social democracy like Europe. This has occurred not because of Barack Obama, but because people chose him. America’s populace chose tonight. They did not choose Romney because he was a bad candidate or ran a bad campaign. They chose Barack Obama, because they want the freebies, and they want someone else to pay for it. There are more people that embrace class warfare, than shun it. The days when President Kennedy said, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” is dead and gone.

We want the healthcare, we want the free birth control; we want the government to take care of us. The only problem is we cannot afford to do it. We cannot do it at 16 trillion in debt, and moving to 20 trillion in debt will not make things better. More debt never does.

American lost tonight, make no mistake about it. America died tonight. What the country that now occupies its space on this planet ends as is pretty clear. We become Greece on steroids, and the collapse will be televised.

Image Courtesy : WCHI News

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Within the last few months, people everywhere have been fixating on certain aspects of each candidate for the upcoming presidential election. Many will say, “How can you support that candidate? They did this or they support this!” However, the sad fact is that both candidates have several strong reasons why they should not be president. Here is a condensed version of the considerable list for each candidate, the “top five” reasons why neither candidate is ideal to even step foot into the White House.

Five Reasons Not to Vote for Barack Obama

1) “The president said he’d cut the deficit in half,” Romney said. “Unfortunately, he doubled it — trillion-dollar deficits for the last four years. The president has put in place almost as much debt held by the public as all presidents combined.”

2) Borrowing money from China is forcing America even more in debt and making China that much more powerful.

3) He makes excuses for his shortcomings, perhaps his most prominent being that Bush left this country so far in debt and destruction, so Obama has not been able to make many changes. It is clearly Bush’s fault, even though Obama knew the challenges when he campaigned for president.

4) Other than enacting Obamacare, he has done nothing he has promised within the last four years…but that is Bush’s fault, right?

5) Many connect Obama’s views and policies to socialism and communism.

Five Reasons Not to Vote for Mitt Romney

1) Romney has promised to immediately take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood, ultimately taking away vital resources to women.

2) Since Romney grew up wealthy, he will make changes to support the rich. What will happen to the middle class?

3) According to “I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists,” 203 Republicans voted to make abortion illegal for rape victims in July 2012. As a Republican, Romney punishes the victims of rape.

4) Romney has Mormon beliefs that heavily influence his policies and treatment of women.

5) He is not for gay marriage and gay rights like Obama.

These are some of the main reasons people are totally against one candidate, but what people forget or disregard is the fact that the candidate they support is not perfect. Both candidates have clear flaws and compelling reasons they should or should not be president. As voters, we should be well aware of both candidates’ flaws so we can make more of an educated, informed choice.

Image Courtesy : Center for American Progress Action Fund from Washington, DC (Barack Obama at Las Vegas Presidential Forum) [CC-BY-SA-2.0

], via Wikimedia Commons

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Hinesville, U.S.A. — Disguised as a work of fiction, the novel The White House Games accurately predicted the choice of Paul Ryan as the GOP vice-presidential candidate.

What will be even more intriguing for readers is that the same book has already revealed who will win the coming U.S. Presidential elections.

In the novel, the vice-presidential candidate character is named Paul-Mark Rubyan, a minor alteration of the actual candidate’s name.

“I made the prediction using elements of computational statistics,” said author Say Dozeman. “Specifically, I used a math technique known as the Bayesian Information Criterion. But in the final analysis, it all boils down to the propensity of human beings to choose those with whom they have the deepest affinity. Thus, all the data pointed to the fact that Paul Ryan would be the best fit as Romney’s vice-presidential pick.

“If anyone suspects that I changed the character’s name after Ryan had been selected, he or she can check my novel’s date of registration with the Library of Congress. It was registered months before Ryan was selected, when even the closest associates of Romney had no idea who would be chosen, and at a time when I suspect that even Mr. Romney himself wasn’t entirely sure.”

Dozeman continued, “The VP and presidential predictions aren’t even the biggest bombshell predictions in my novel. The biggest prediction is something way more revolutionary; something on a much grander scale; something that will be like the second coming of the Founding Fathers. The biggest prediction is of something that will change the nature and character of American politics forever.”

The first in a planned series of political novels, The White House Games tells the story of a group of ex-Navy SEALs who take matters into their own hands in order to change the direction of American politics. Taking a leaf from the Arab Spring movement of 2011, the SEALs embark on a once-in-a-lifetime mission. Combining special operations tactics with social-media power, the SEALs launch a revolution against the powers-that-be in a high-stakes game to create America 2.0.

“If I had to describe the flavor of my book, I’d say it’s like a combination of The Hunger Games, “Survivor” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” all played out in a political arena,” said Dozeman.

The novel is available through Libboo.com, a digital platform for publishing and selling books. Dr. Chris Howard and Dr. Fernando Albertorio, two of the leaders of Libboo.com have developed and patented a “buzz-and-influence” computer algorithm to incubate and hatch the next generation of major league authors. Libboo.com is home to many mega-hit books including The First Secret of Edwin Hoff by A. B. Bourne, Chocrotes and the World Without Question by Steve Berkowitz, and Kun Lun by Liisa Pasila.

Since Libboo.com picked up The White House Games, the novel has been receiving a heady dose of buzz in the media.

Dozeman has also created a game called “The White House Ops.” Freely downloadable from the Apple App Store, the game is a cartoon adaptation of The White House Games, and it features a fast-paced race combined with a fight for survival as players steer major characters from the novel through a dangerous experience in the Amazon jungle, through Hell Week at the Navy SEALs BUD/S facility in Coronado, culminating in a fight-to-the-finish mixed martial arts tournament at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Unlike the novel which tells the outcome of the elections, the app allows players to enjoy alternate outcomes.

The White House Games is now on sale at Amazon.com

The book is also on sale now at Barnes and Noble online.

Image Courtesy of  Barack Obama

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As the US election for president draws closer, dirtier the debates become. This does not only extend to President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but to the voters themselves. Since this election is so important to the United States, people who have not previously paid much attention to politics–myself included–have been roped into the huge battle for control. The battle has now been dragged into cyberspace.

Facebook has exploded with status and picture updates about the election and who individuals support, which creates tension among friends who are supporting different candidates. I know some of my friends are hardly talking to one another strictly because of fights they have had about politics.

My family and I have an agreement to not discuss politics because we support opposing candidates, and the fights would always turn ugly when the subject came up. However, the rest of the country is letting everyone know their position for the election; political conventions and rallies are happening left and right because everyone wants to get support for their candidate. In other elections, people were not as passionate about who they planned on voting for.

Sure, the election campaigns were aired on TV and everyone was subjected to the annoying phone calls sponsoring a candidate, but friends and families were not torn apart because of politics. Meanwhile, both candidates are trying to make themselves look as saintly as possible while simultaneously trying to make their opponent seem like the anti-Christ. The presidential debates have been the most public display of this goal. The debates have caused a huge stir with voters with trying to determine who “won” the debate.

Romney had better stage presence while Obama looked like he did not want to be there. Obama kept trying to play off of Bill Clinton and emphasizing how horrible George W. Bush was while not taking ownership of any of his own shortcomings. During Obama’s reign, the country’s deficit tripled and he added more debt than any other president combined.  But none of this is his fault, only Bush’s. Obama kept twisting Romney’s plan for taxes, which Romney defended and said that Obama was purposely misleading the public.

Romney continually challenged Obama, who never really defended himself fully. Since the debates, others have tried to make excuses as to why Obama did not seem to be present and involved. However, all the debates have done is created more of a gray area while the public decides which candidate is the biggest liar.

With the debates over, political commercials are always on TV. It has gotten to the point that I refuse to watch any TV until after the election craziness is over. Neither candidate is perfect, and it gets to be very depressing watching Romney have commercials saying how horrible President Obama is while Obama projects the opposite sentiment.

The election is a month away, and it is sure to get much worse before the ballots are collected and tallied. November is guaranteed to be a political bloodbath.   Image Courtesy of   new-york-city

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Los Angelos, U.S.A. – In his critically important and timely new book, George Ball brings out of the shadows the Obama administration’s ongoing destruction of this country’s DNA—the Rule of Law. And in the clear, unvarnished way he gives advice to clients he shows us the terrible economic and personal freedom price we are paying for its destruction – whether you work on the factory floor or in the front office.

The Rule of Law ideal has over 2000 years of history behind it and stands for the proposition that a free and prosperous society should be based on “a government of laws and not men.” Instead of nurturing our Rule of Law tradition, in this compelling and authoritative new book, George Ball finds that “President Obama, who was indoctrinated by liberal and revolutionary professors at the Harvard Law School, is trying to bend America to his will and turn it into a government of a few at the top.

And in doing so America’s seemingly intractable problems – skyrocketing debt, high unemployment, tax class-warfare, and a pitiful housing market – have either been exacerbated or caused by Obama’s trampling on the Rule of Law.

So whether you are 18 or 81, a tea party supporter, independent, traditional Republican or Democrat, you deserve to know why a second term Obama presidency will be the Rule of Law tipping point and why its destruction will take your wallet down with it.”

Although we have much work to do, George Ball concludes in Audacious Destruction “there is still hope that free enterprise founded on the Rule of Law can thrive again as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan showed us.”

George Ball grew up in Detroit and was educated at Western Michigan University and the Notre Dame Law School. He is a member of the California, Michigan and D.C. Bar Associations. In his career as counsel for General Motors and Suzuki, he took on the EPA, trial lawyers and Consumer Reportsmagazine to protect his clients’ rule of law rights. In 2008, he served on the McCain-Palin civil justice reform advisory committee.

Audacious Destruction by George Ball is now available on Amazon.

Image Courtesy of Center for American Progress Action Fund from Washington, DC (Barack Obama at Las Vegas Presidential Forum) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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The Democratic National Convention is in its last -and most important- day. President Obama will talk today at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte to his delegates and to the entire American nation. The delegates have already shown their trust in Obama by appointing him as the Democratic Candidate for this year’s coming election.

Today, it will be Obama’s turn to show he trust his supporters, by accepting the delegates nomination. Attendees and viewers at home are expecting a speech that will convince supporters as well as undecided voters that he is the man for the job and that America should send him back to the White House for another four years.

His speech will be full of promises, but perhaps not with as many as there were four years ago. Back then, the democrats believed that Obama was the person who could transform the world into a better place. It was an elections with come of the highest participation rates in American history. Democrats were so excited that the organizers even had to change the venue where Obama delivered his nomination speech during the last DNC in Denver in 2008, where 75,000 people attended.

Today, excitement has cooled down a little bit among democrats as many has been disillusioned by the failure to live up to the chants of hope and change. Obama’s only option is to convince the skeptics that a second term in office it is necessary in order to realize the “hopes” and accomplish the “changes.”

Last week during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL, Romney accused Obama for not making good on his promises. It is to be seen whether Obama will spend his time refuting Romney’s attack or explain what he is going to do during the next four years to make a successful and permanent change in the American society. Otherwise, according to last weeks’ polls, the undecided voters might go to Romney.

Even though Romney did not come up with a clear program, his attacks against this last legislature were not superficial. During the past four years, the world has seen how each of Obama´s promises have fallen into a hole: the American unemployment rate has grown into historical figures (8.2%), immigration problems have not been solved — in fact, the number of deportations keep on growing, oil dependency upon the Middle East is still an issue, there are still troops in Afghanistan, and Iran has become a bigger threat.

During Wednesday’s program at the DNC, former president Bill Clinton went through all these issues and explained that more time is needed.

But will America wait for four more years on results? Will Obama be able to get the support of this undecided voters? Will he be able to once again inspire the chants that made so many people dream of a better tomorrow four years ago? The answers to these questions might be found during tonights speech on Charlotte.

Image Courtesy of    Barack Obama

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What will America look like in 2016? Dinesh D’Souza, a former American Enterprise Fellow and noted author, ventures to answer this question through thorough inspection of our past, present and possible future under President Barack H. Obama. The results of his findings are documented in his film “2016: Obama’s America,” a film based on his noted text “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.”

Throughout the film, D’Souza attempts to trace the President’s early history aiming to arrive at a definitive conclusion explaining the rationale for his actions. Citing frequently from the president’s book titled “Dreams from my Father,” D’Souza ultimately concludes through a combination of detailed interviews  and reflective treks around the world that President Obama’s ‘anticolonial viewpoints’ serve as the basis for his domestic and international agenda.

However, while these viewpoints serve as the rationale for D’Souza to undergo his journey, do his motives prove worthwhile viewing for the film’s 1 hour+ running time?

The answer to that question largely depends on your opinions surrounding the president and his actions during his administration. Those skeptical of his methods during his period in office will appreciate the time that he spends detailing the president’s origins, and will appreciate the film’s early minutes where he spends time detailing President Obama’s roots, all while making surprising connections to his own period of growing up.

In some ways, apparently, President Obama and Dinesh D’Souza are not so different after all.

Republicans, and those with conservative leanings, will undoubtedly enjoy and appreciate this film, especially considering the strong early success and the fair amount of money that it has made since its release. They will likely smile and nod at the time spent detailing the president’s past associations with figures such as Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Edward Said. In addition, they will likely appreciate his statements ridiculing the president’s attempts to ‘equalize’ America with the rest of the world and affirm his contention that this action will cause the U.S. to lose its place as a premiere superpower.

To support these claims, D’Souza details a speech President Obama made to reduce America’s nuclear arsenal; to him, this action represents a grave misstep considering that other nations are conversely increasing their nuclear strength. D’Souza also mentions the current president’s appeared reticence in dealing with Iran as well as his decision to halt the Keystone Pipeline and siding with Palestine over Israel. In addition, D’Souza obtains secondary voices that echo his concerns, such as Paul Vitz, a NYU psychology professor and Daniel Pipes, a founder of the Middle Eastern Forum.

As for those individuals who are center or left-of-center, their mileage with D’Souza’s project may vary; although it is praiseworthy that the filmmaker spent a great deal of time and effort making this project a reality, he must also be expected to present a balanced viewpoint. It becomes clear early on that D’Souza’s only intention with this production is to tell the story that will buttress his viewpoint rather than a story that will prove factually accurate.

This is especially true during his exchange with George Obama, the president’s half-brother. D’Souza repeatedly stresses President Obama’s failure to help him as an example that he is not “looking out for his brother’s keeper.” This example, he hopes, will paint President Obama as an individual who does not keep his promises.

Interestingly, George douses D’Souza’s plans with cold water, simply responding that Barack’s responsibility is now to the world, and by looking out for that world, he is taking care of him as well.

D’Souza’s central aim to tell only ‘his’ story and not a balanced tale is even more apparent once individuals apply their own outside knowledge to his assertions; in fact, many have fact-checked the claims that he makes and have found that not every statement made in the movie holds water.

That aside, the film’s attempts to build any goodwill are promptly swept through its ignorance of any meaningful background behind President Obama’s actions. After all, it is far easier to criticize the president for wanting to reduce nuclear weapons than it is to actually look back and remember that former President Ronald Regan wanted to achieve the same objective.

In addition, the film also includes a section where the president is having trouble speaking at a rally explaining his new healthcare legislation, while ignoring the hecklers who are making it difficult for him to speak. Lastly, D’Souza opines that Obama is sympathetic to radicals, an action that Osama Bin Laden would strongly disagree with.

When you put all the pieces together, you have a project that will please conservatives, anger liberals, and cause those in the center to ask questions. The casual moviegoer will likely appreciate the extended detail that D’Souza dedicates towards explaining the President’s life, but they may also express confusion at the noted author’s interpretation of the facts. These same individuals should still take the time to see this film, if only to hear a contrasting viewpoint of the President’s life and beliefs.

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During a midnight screening of the film, ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ a mass shooting occurred at a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, located at the Town Center of the Aurora shopping mall, on July 20, 2012. Seventy people were shot, and twelve were killed. In terms of the number of people injured, the shooting is one of the worst in the contemporary United States and the deadliest in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. The sole suspect, James Eagan Holmes, was arrested outside the cinema a few minutes after the shooting.

Following the mass shooting in Aurora, another mass shooting occurred on August 5, 2012, and took place at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The 40-year-old ex-army gunman, Wade Michael Page, killed six people and wounded four others. After being shot in the stomach by an officer, Page shot himself in the head. The investigation was handed over to the FBI, and they investigated possible ties to white supremacist groups because of Page’s previous involvement with neo-Nazi groups, being a member of the Hammerskins.

The lead singer of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, recently made an accusation against President Barack Obama during the band’s live concert at Fort Canning in Singapore. The 50-year-old rocker claimed that President Obama was the mastermind behind the mass shooting in Aurora last July. According to Mustaine, Barack Obama is staging mass shootings in order to legislate gun control laws. Specifically, he suggested that President Obama had almost twenty people killed (12 in Aurora and 6 in Wisconsin).

“Back in my country, my president (makes puking sign with his finger in his mouth), he’s trying to pass a gun ban, so he’s staging all of these murders, like the ‘Fast And Furious’ thing down the border… Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there… and now the beautiful people at the Sikh temple,” he said.

“I was talking to our promoter here tonight,” he continued. “What a great guy. I was saying, ‘I don’t know where I’m gonna live if America keeps going the way it’s going because it looks like it’s turning Nazi America.’ And he said, ‘Move down here to Singapore.’”

Mustaine also told Infowars: “Nobody can deny that there were criminal rogues within the administration, and CBS News got the memos. Congress has the information, and basically, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America, who is a highly respected person, said that if they would stage ‘Fast and Furious,’ they’d be capable of staging anything, and it was all done to blame the second amendment.”

It is not a secret that the Megadeth’s frontman was never an Obama fan. He previously questioned the President’s birth certificate and disapproved his tax policy. “I’m disgusted with this guy,” he said. “He is my President; I respect the office of the presidency, but I think as a person and the things that he says, I’ve never heard anything this offensive ever come out of the mouth of a president, and I’m 50. I’ve heard a lot of presidents talk in my life.”

Because of the ‘Fast and Furious’ operation, it is a fact that many people believe the U.S. government should not be trusted, but the accusation against Barack Obama seems unstable, since there is no proof to support it. Many of Mustaine’s fans believe that the 50-year-old singer should not mix music with politics, but of course, there are also those who think it is time for celebrities to express their opinions since they influence such a large number of people.

Image Courtesy of  Megadeth

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Washington, U.S.A. — A Romney-Ryan White House would be a dream for the richest 1 percent of Americans who are millionaires, but an economic nightmare for the vast majority of middle-class and lower-income Americans, according to Americans for Tax Fairness Action.

“A Romney-Ryan White House would be Robin Hood in reverse, and that’s not the kind of America we want to live in,” said Frank Clemente, campaign manager for Americans for Tax Fairness Action. “Both of their budget plans would lavish the richest 1 percent of Americans who make over $1 million with yearly tax breaks of at least $250,000, while raising taxes on 95 percent of Americans who make less than $200,000. Politicians stacking the deck in favor of their wealthy campaign contributors and sticking the rest of us with the tab is not right.”

“We need to overhaul the tax code so that it reflects our values, and so everyone plays by the same rules and pays their fair share,” added Clemente. “That’s why we should end tax breaks for companies like those that Bain Capital invests in that ship jobs overseas, and level the playing field for small businesses that create jobs in America. We should end tax breaks for the rich like Mitt Romney who use offshore tax shelters in places like the Cayman Islands to avoid paying the taxes they owe, so they can pay a lower tax rate than the teachers who educate our kids.”

Romney’s tax plan, which would make the Bush tax cuts permanent, including for the richest 2 percent, and cut the top income tax rate by another 20 percent, would give people making over $1 million in 2013 a net tax cut of over $250,000, according to a new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice. Romney’s tax plan would increase taxes by an average of $2,000 on families making less than $200,000 a year, according to a new report by the Tax Policy Center (see page 6 ).

Ryan authored the House budget t hat also wou ld make the Bush tax breaks permanent, including those for the richest 2 percent, and cut by 30 percent both the corporate income tax rate and the top tax rate paid by the wealthiest Americans.

It would give the richest Americans a tax break of nearly $300,000, while raising taxes on a typical household earning between $50,000 and $100,000 and filing jointly by over $1,350, according to the Joint Economic Committee. It also would end the Medicare guarantee and requires seniors to pay $6,000 more per year for fewer benefits than they get now, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Program on Medicare Policy.

Americans for Tax Fairness Action is a 501c4 organization that is separate from the Americans for Tax Fairness coalition, which is a 501c3 organization The 140 organizations that comprise the ATF membership are separate and distinct from Americans for Tax Fairness Action. Any references to ATF action should not make any association between the coalition that comprises ATF and ATF Action

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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NASA’s newest and most developed land rover, Curiosity, successfully touched down on Mars earlier today. The first image, sent seven minutes after touchdown, featured some dust and the Mars floor.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This was quickly followed by a second picture its own shadow. These are the first of many photographs and samples expected from the new rover. The mission, the latest in the line from the Mars Science Laboratory (which created Sojourner in 1997, Spirit in 2004, and Opportunity in 2004), is expected to last about two years.

The landing in itself was a small miracle, involving a supersonic parachute, a shedded heat shield, and a rocket-powered “sky crane,” but was ultimately flawless. The entire SUV-sized land rover, including all of its equipment, will be checked over by the lab scientists before beginning its journey.

The cost of the project was about $2.5 billion, $900 million over the original estimate. The project also ran 2 years late, after 14 years of planning. NASA is not truly worried about the cost. John Grotzinger, one of the project scientists, said “This whole enterprise comes out to be the cost of a movie. And that’s a movie I want to see.”

Curiosity was launched in November of last year, equipped with the technology to analyze rocks and soil samples, and take pictures, in the hope of confirming or denying whether Mars could support life forms at some point. The intention is to find the organic molecules that are necessary to create life, such as carbon that could contain fossilized life forms.

The rover will also check the air for signs of current existing life, like methane gas. The first stop for Curiosity is Gale Crater, which was once possibly a lake, and eventually, about a year from now, Mount Sharp in the center of the crater. The layers of rock in the mountain will give a lot of information about the planet’s history.

But scientists insist even this cannot determine if life existed on Mars, only that it is possible.

NASA is extremely proud of their success after previous failures, and are anxious to see what Curiosity will report. NASA administrator Charles Bolden said, “It’s just absolutely incredible, and it’s a huge day for the American people. Everybody in the morning should be sticking their chest out and saying, ‘That’s my rover on Mars,’ because it belongs to everyone.”

“The successful landing of Curiosity — the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet — marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future,” President Barack Obama commented.

US citizens eagerly await more information on Curiosity’s journey, marking the day that the exploration into our solar system was brought to a whole new level.

Image Courtesy of  Songquan Deng / Shutterstock.com

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The conflict in Syria rages on as the Battle of Aleppo enters its third week on August 2. Since March of 2011, when the first anti-government protests began in Syria, around 200,000 have been made refugees and around 20,000 people have been killed.

Aleppo, a commercial hub in Syria and the city with the largest population, is one of the most active combat locations in Syria. It is a key location since the winning of Aleppo for the rebels could mean the end of the Assad regime. BBC’s Jim Muir wrote, “The longer the situation remains unresolved, the stronger the rebels’ grip may become, as they pursue their goal of establishing a ‘liberated area’ in Aleppo and neighboring Idlib province to use as a springboard against the regime’s last stronghold, Damascus.”

Many rebels have taken hold of several districts within the city of Aleppo and Assad has sent tanks, helicopter gunships, and war planes to attack it.

On August 2 the rebel Tawheed Brigade left Tal Rifaat to give aid to the rebels in Aleppo. Also early in the morning of August 2 the rebels attacked Menagh army base with a stolen tank. Menagh is from where Assad has been launching several of his artillery and air strike attacks on Aleppo. The rebels pulled out after a short time with one rebel fighter claiming, “We hit the airport using a tank that we captured from the Assad army. We attacked the airport a few times but we have decided to retreat at this time.” However, several reports claim that the retreat may have been due to the war planes that attacked the rebels.

In Aleppo, rebels put a video online that showed them executing several prisoners; the act is being called a war crime by several organizations. The rebels also claim to have taken three police stations within the city in the last week. Also last month, Assad’s forces managed to drive most of the rebels out of Damascus and began to push an offensive on Aleppo.

Tensions between the two sides have also risen from the government activity in Damascus and the rebel activity in Aleppo. Assad, who has been in power since the death of his father in 2001, launched two attacks in Damascus on Thursday in which soldiers went door to door asking people to show their papers. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) claimed “the bodies of 43 people were recovered. Some of them had been summarily executed.”

In the last month Assad’s top four advisers, including his own brother-in-law, were killed in a bombing. Since then, Assad has been in hiding and has only issued pre-recorded statements.

On Wednesday, August 1 the mobile phone connections were cut for the city of Aleppo leading many to believe that the government would launch an attack. In fact, on Thursday the government forces attacked the Salaheddine district in Aleppo, although most were repelled by the rebels.

The problems worsen even further for the citizens of Aleppo since the city is beginning to run out of food. The World Food Program issued a statement claiming, “The humanitarian situation is deteriorating in Aleppo and food needs are growing rapidly.”

The world’s response

Many believe that outside governments should be helping the rebels although since Russia and China are in favor of keeping Assad in power, there has been little consensus. The Security Council has created three separate resolutions that have been vetoed by Russia and China as too extreme because it would cause a regime change led by an outside power, violating sovereignty.

The UN General Assembly will be voting on a resolution written by Saudi Arabia shortly that would support the Syrian rebels.

President Obama called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, July 30 to “coordinate efforts to accelerate a political transition in Syria.” Although Obama will not send direct military assistance, he does seem to want to support the rebels. The Treasury Department has recently decided that it will give a license to the Syrian Support Group that will aid the rebels financially.

Jordan, a bordering country to Syria, has been helping Syrian refugees enter their country. However, in recent days Syrian soldiers shot at Jordanian troops that were helping the refugees to cross the border.

On August 2, the UN-Arab League joint special peace envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, has announced that he will not renew his contract when it ends in August, effectively quitting his job. He claims that the Syrian people “desperately need action” but he believes that the UN Security Council is “finger pointing and name calling.”

Annan is the author of the six point peace plan that was introduced a few months ago. It called for an end to all military conflict, peaceful political negotiations, and more freedom of expression for the Syrian people. Unfortunately, neither the rebels nor the Syrian government upheld all sides of the plan and the situation quickly deteriorated.

Annan has blamed both sides in the Syrian conflict for the lack of peace but has also said that the problems were “compounded by the disunity of the international community.” He went on to state, “Syria can still be saved from the worst calamity – if the international community can show the courage and leadership necessary to compromise on their partial interests for the sake of the Syrian people – for the men, women, and children who have already suffered far too much.”

Currently it is unknown who will fill Annan’s position at the end of August, but most assuredly few are willing to take it.

Image Courtesy of   homeros / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. — National Urban League president and CEO Marc H. Morial has applauded President Barack Obama’s creation of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans, calling it “an important endeavor that will highlight the barriers and challenges to African-American educational achievement, and develop solutions to improve outcomes.”

The executive order was announced during the president’s recent speech to the National Urban League’s annual conference in New Orleans, and will coordinate efforts to harmonize programs for African-American students. The executive order will also identify evidence-based practices to improve students’ achievement in school and college and develop a national network of individuals, organizations and communities that will share and implement these practices. The initiative also will create a new President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African-Americans and a federal interagency working group on educational excellence.

“Expanding educational opportunities, and ensuring equity and excellence at scale for our students is a shared goal of the National Urban League and the new White House initiative,” Morial added. “We look forward to partnering with the Administration and Congress to expand policies that will help close the achievement gap for African-American students and prepare them for 21st century jobs.”

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics underscore the growing disparity between minority and white academic achievement, and the urgency for action. Black and Hispanic students trailed their white peers by an average of more than 20 points on the NAEP math and reading assessments at 4th and 8th grades, a difference of about two grade levels. These gaps persisted even though the score differentials between black and white students narrowed between 1992 and 2007 in 4th grade math and reading and 8th grade math (NCES, 2009, 2011).

The National Urban League, with its nationwide network of 97 affiliates in 36 states, has a long history of providing educational services to low-income, minority students from early childhood and Head Start programs, to middle and high school students through the signature program, Project Ready, an out-of-school time program that emphasizes positive youth development. An enhancement of Project Ready, Project Ready STEM, focuses on a science, technology, engineering and math curriculum and exposes youth to future STEM careers.

Image Courtesy of   spirit of america / Shutterstock.com

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Two wars are being waged in Syria. There is the physical fighting going on between the rebels and government troops but there is also a media war going on in which the results of the physical battles are being hidden or changed to misrepresent facts. One young activist, Yahya Abdulrahman, a physics student at Aleppo University claimed, “The regime is fighting the people in two ways. One is with the army. The other is with the media. There are parts of the Free Syrian Army that are fighting the regime. But there are other parts fighting the regime’s hackers.””

Smart phones have been key in the Syrian uprising – just like in the Arab Spring revolutions – because, according to the Christian Science Monitor, it is a way for the people to undermine the state media (which is controlled by Assad) and get supporters within Syria and in the rest of the world. So far the Syrian government has banned access to YouTube and Facebook, but several of the youth have found ways around these government firewalls.

Having smart phones and access to computers and internet allow the rebels to communicate with friends and family as well as talk to soldiers who want to defect to the rebel army.

Many Syrian rebels have risked their lives while fighting the media war. According to the Guardian hundreds of video activists have joined the revolution through videography; most are male, young, and technologically capable individuals. Abdulrahman, one of these activists, admits that filming is just as dangerous as fighting with a gun: “If the army sees anyone with a camera they try and kill him first.”

However, the video aspect of the revolution is just as important as the actual physical fighting. Assad controls Syria’s television stations which claim that the Free Syrian Army (the rebels) is a group of “terrorists” and “al-Qaida” while also broadcasting pro-regime propaganda. Abu Mhio, a rebel media activist claims, “When we will be free, [Syrian TV] will be dead.”

If Assad controls all of the media in the country he can prevent the successes of the rebels from being reported which lowers their support and prevents more people from getting involved. In order to ensure that the world and the Syrian people actually know what is going on in Syria they must record it for themselves, even if it is emotionally tolling and life-threatening.

Abdulrahman was arrested once for video-recording a protest on his campus. After being beaten and made to sign a piece of paper claiming he was an informant, he was released and continued filming for the rebels. He has also filmed the dead in the streets to show the toll of the fighting. “I filmed one of the children killed last week. We hadn’t eaten all day because of Ramadan. But afterwards I couldn’t touch any food.”

In previous years rebels have not had such technological access to aid them in their cause. Hafez al-Assad, the current ruler’s father, ruled Syria from 1970 and was responsible for destroying the Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama in 1982, killing at least 10,000 people. One rebel fighter explained to the Christian Science Monitor, “His father destroyed Hama in a few days, but there was no TV there and no internet to show the world. But today we have the internet, we photograph and film and have Al Jazeera, so people know. They can see what is happening.”

Few journalists have been allowed within Syria in the recent months of fighting, but those that have, have received threats. One Guardian journalist received a death threat via a tweet from a member of the regime stating, “I pray every night that you die.”

Those journalists that are allowed in the country are also not provided a lot of access. Another journalist, Alex Thomson, tweeted “Syrian government is losing the PR war” when they refused to let him interview or record the Syrian military.

Ultimately, winning the media war will be just as important as winning the physical war for both sides. The rebels have succeeded in many ways but they must take Aleppo in order to really start making changes. According to Burhan Ghalioun, a member of the Syrian National Council currently in Paris, if the rebels take Aleppo “there will be nothing more that will stand in the way of the Free Syrain Army. Hama, Homs, to the outskirts of Damascus have in large part been liberated.”

Image Courtesy of  Omar Chatriwala

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The economic proposals and critics are now the center of the presidential campaign. Both candidates are presenting their economic proposals and critics in the key states. Obama is accusing Romney on favoring the rich with tax cuts and Romney is blaming Obama for the high unemployment rate the nation is facing.

President Obama has targeted Florida, Ohio and Virginia; he won the three states in the 2008 election. His strategy continues, he assures that Romney’s tax plan would benefit the wealthy and would force the middle-income taxpayers to pay more.

Obama’s visit to Florida is crucial, the Sunshine State has an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent one of the highest in the nation, the Democrats will have to work hard if they want to continue having the State’s support. The Republicans want to regain control of Florida, so they organized their convention in Tampa. Virginia on the other hand has an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent, so the Democrats wont have that much trouble in winning this state again. In Ohio the unemployment rate is 7.3 percent, which is a little bit lower than the national average of 8.2 percent.

Mitt Romney on the other hand centers his attention onto Colorado, a state the Republicans lost in the 2008 election. He planned to make an appearance with other Republican governors, some of which are possible vice-presidential picks.

Romney visits this state after his trips where he met with different foreign dignitaries and went to the London Olympics opening; Colorado has an 8.2 percent unemployment rate which is equal to the average of the nation. He needs to emphasize that he will change the unemployment rate  in order to regain the state’s support.

Mitt Romney’s campaign team has elaborated a video with hard critics against President Obama, blaming him for Florida’s high unemployment rate. The video also accuses Obama on focusing on the Obamacare instead of jobs and says that the president is not concerned about Florida’s economy.

The economic issue will continue in the center of the political debate as the government releases on August 3, the July hiring and unemployment trends. According to several economists the number should be better than the past three months, in which 75,000 new jobs posts were created. In July they calculate 100,000 new jobs have been created. But the numbers are still low compared to the healthy 226,000 average in the first three months of the year.

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Washington D.C., U.S.A. — Survivors of Iran-backed bombings in Beirut in 1983, at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, and families who lost loved ones in these attacks praised the House and Senate for coming to agreement on an Iran sanctions bill, especially for including language that clarifies and strengthens current law governing collection of court awarded judgments against Iran for its role in the two terrorist events.

The survivors and families from across the United States said they are now closer to being able to hold Iran responsible for murdering 241 American service men in Beirut and 19 at the Khobar Towers and for maiming many others at both locations.

“This legislation is a major step in making sure that Iran understands that it will have to face responsibility for killing and injuring Americans. No legislation or legal judgment can repair the awful damage Iran did to all of our families, but at least we can all know that our country stands behind us in seeking justice forIran’s murderous rampages,” said Lynn Smith Derbyshire National Spokesperson for the Beirut Families and whose brother, Marine Captain Vincent Smith, was killed in the bombing.

The American victims of Iranian terrorism groups commended Congress for taking a strong stand in an array of sanctions areas. They said they were particularly grateful to the Senate Banking Committee, especially Senators Robert Menendez (D-NY) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL); the House Foreign Affairs Committee; especially the Chair, Representative Ileana Ross-Lehtinen (R-FL); the House Financial Services Committee and Chair, Spencer Bachus; the House Judiciary Committee and Chair, Lamar Smith(R-TX); and Representative Robert Turner (R-NY) as well as the tireless efforts of House and Senate staffers for their collective efforts in assuring that provisions that will make it easier to make Iran pay for its terrorism were included in the omnibus bill.

The groups urged expeditious passage of a final bill and expressed hopes that President Obama will sign it into law promptly.

Image Courtesy of    Official U.S. Air Force

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Washington, U.S.A. — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, which requires all health insurance plans to cover contraceptives, abortion-causing drugs including Plan B and Ella, and sterilization takes effect on August 1. Organizations that refuse to comply could be fined enormous amounts of money, as much as $100 per day per employee.

Institutions that meet “safe haven” qualifications (including being a religious non-profit and not having offered any form of contraception) insultingly are given a “grace” period of one year, in which time they are supposed to rectify how they shall violate their conscience to fit President Obama’s demands.

Family Research Council Action (FRC Action) Senior Vice President Tom McClusky had the following comment:

“With the irony not noted, July, 31 marked the release of the U.S. Department of State’s annual report, ‘International Religious Freedom Report for 2011.’ In its opening paragraph the report notes: ‘To think, believe, or doubt. To speak or pray; to gather or stand apart. Such are the movements of the mind and heart, infinitives that take us beyond the finite.

Freedom of religion, like all freedoms of thought and expression, are inherent. Our beliefs help define who we are and serve as a foundation for what we contribute to our societies. However, as the 2011 International Religious Freedom Report documents, too many people live under governments that abuse or restrict freedom of religion.’

“August 1st, marks the day the United States should officially be listed as one of the nations in that report.”

“President Obama has made clear, in his legislation, public remarks and his lawsuits, that he believes religion and conscience should take a back seat to his pro-abortion, -sterilization and -contraception agenda. The President might think that violating one’s conscience ‘is not a big deal’ but to many Americans it is impossible. If the courts or Congress will not address this grave injustice, civil disobedience will be inevitable.”

Image Courtesy of    Intel Photos

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New York, U.S.A. – AJC praised President Barack Obama for imposing additional sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking sectors.

Two Executive Orders signed this week will further restrict access to Iran’s energy and petrochemical sectors, as well as impose sanctions on China’s Bank of Kowlun and Iraq’s Elaf Islamic Bank.

“Today’s action makes it clear that we will expose any financial institution, no matter where they are located, that allows the increasingly desperate Iranian regime to retain access to the international financial system,” the White House said in an earlier statement.

The new sanctions follow measures taken earlier this year against any institution that deals with Iran’s Central Bank. They also are the latest round in increasingly punitive measures targeting companies worldwide that do business with Iran’s oil and energy businesses.

“This is no time to relent,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “New U.S. sanctions are essential in the global effort to convince the Iranian regime of our resolve to end its quest for nuclear-weapons capability.”

The Obama Administration’s move follows the failed P5+1 talks with Iran in Moscow, which came after similarly fruitless negotiations in Baghdad and Istanbul. No date has been set for more high-level talks between Iran and the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany. At the same time, Tehrancontinues defiantly to proclaim progress in its nuclear program.

“The Iranian regime’s rejection of UN appeals to stop its nuclear weapons program, and fully open its existing facilities to IAEA inspectors, leaves concerned governments no choice but to impose ever-tighter sanctions,” said Harris.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress, with strong bipartisan support, is expected to approve this week another round of sanctions.

“The onus is on Iran to abide by its international obligations,” said Obama. “If the Iranian government continues its defiance, there should be no doubt that the United States and our partners will continue to hold Iran accountable.”

Image Courtesy of   spirit of america / Shutterstock.com

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Ann Arbor, U.S.A. – The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) released a policy paper that shows how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014 will streamline eligibility categories and may also help between 400,000 and 500,000 citizens to become newly eligible for Medicaid coverage. Currently, there are at least 40 different ways — each with varying eligibility requirements—to qualify for Medicaid in Michigan.

Whether or not Michigan decides to expand coverage for Medicaid, the paper shows that enrolling in Medicaid and maintaining that coverage should become easier for Michigan residents starting in 2014, when the ACA requires states to eliminate asset tests — a review of an individual’s assets to ensure they do not exceed certain limits—and consolidate existing eligibility categories.

“Many changes were included in the ACA that go beyond the Medicaid expansion. These changes were designed to make enrollment policies and processes simpler for those who have existing Medicaid coverage, and enable those newly eligible to go through an easier enrollment process than exists today. These enrollment changes alone should help ensure that more people have access to the affordable care when they need it,” says Marianne Udow-Phillips, CHRT’s director.

Under current federal rules, the Medicaid program provides coverage to those at or below a certain income level who also fit within certain categories, and states can opt to expand Medicaid eligibility.

In 2014, all existing eligibility categories—mandated or optional—will be simplified and consolidated into three categories:

• Parents and caretaker relatives of dependent children under 19.
• Pregnant women.
• Infants and children under age 19.

Additionally, those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or qualify as “medically needy” will remain Medicaid eligible to avoid gaps in coverage.

For states that opt to expand Medicaid, all non-elderly citizens and eligible resident immigrants with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level will become Medicaid eligible, even if they are not categorically eligible.

While the Medicaid expansion is optional for states, streamlining eligibility criteria and simplifying enrollment processes is still required.

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“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that we announce the sudden and untimely death of the President of the Republic of Ghana- His Excellency, Professor John Evans Atta Mills,” reads the first paragraph of the press statement that announced the death of the 68-year-old president of Ghana.

President Mills studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and received a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He also earned another PhD in Law from London University’s School of Oriental and Africa Studies (SOAS), for successfully completing a thesis about economic development.

President Mills had ruled the country since 2009. Vice-President John Dramani Mahama has taken his place. This sudden and sad death will not affect the December elections, and Ghana’s election commission assured citizens that elections would go as planned.

Mills ran three times for president before winning in the December 2008 elections, barely winning against the candidate from the governing party. He was also planning to run for reelection in the December elections.

The Chief of Staff of the country gave no details about the cause of his death, but it was well known that President Mills suffered from throat cancer. He had recently returned to Ghana after being in the United States for medical purposes.

Ghana in recent years has become one of Africa’s newest oil producers; President Mills won international praise as the leader of a stable democracy in Africa. President Obama even referred to President Mills and his country as a “good-news story” in Africa when Mills visited the White House in March.

During this visit, Obama also stated that ”Ghana has become a wonderful success story economically on the continent.” President Obama added it was “in part because of the initiatives of President Mills, you’ve seen high growth rates over the last several years. Food productivity and food security is up. There’s been strong foreign investment.”

Ghana’s officials have already have already sworn in the new president, who’s first order was that flags should be flown at half mast for a week.

The New Patriotic Party, the opposition party, has expressed its condolences for President Mills death in an official statement which states:  “We join the nation in mourning this sad loss to Ghana and extend to his wife and family, our deepest condolences.”

Alfred Sanniez, news editor from Ghana, who works at Toonari Post, referred to President Mills as a leader of peace. Sanniez added that John Atta Mills had great plans for the nation but his health condition didn’t allow him to fulfill all of them because he frequently went to medical check ups. Sanniez explained that although President Mills was frequently criticized by the opposition, today everyone is very sad, both supporters and critics have shown great concern for the tragic loss.

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New York, U.S.A. – ”President Obama’s endorsement of an Olympic games moment of silence in honor of slain Israelis is a welcome boost to the global campaign,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has rejected public commemoration of the 11 Israeli Olympians murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. In 1972 members of the Israeli Olympic team were kidnapped and then killed by the Palestinian group, the Black September. The Palestinians demanded that 234 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails be released and that all the members of Germany’s Red Army Faction be put into prison. The Palestinians killed eleven Israeli victims including coaches and athletes. Five of the eight Palestinians were killed when they tried to flee after the killings and the other three were captured.

However, West German officials released the three and Israel launched ‘Operation Wrath of God’ in order to track down all of those associated with the killings and kill them. The operation was successful but also resulted in the death of an innocent Norwegian man and four bystanders.

“We (the Obama administration) absolutely support the campaign for a minute of silence at the Olympics to honor the Israeli athletes killed in Munich,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News by email.

Obama joins the growing outcry for IOC President Jacques Rogge to reconsider its longstanding opposition to the memorial before the London Olympic Games open on July 27. The Canadian and Australian parliaments, the U.S. Senate, the German Bundestag, and others have passed resolutions urging the IOC to hold a moment of silence. In addition,140 members of the Italian parliament expressed their support for the global campaign.

“The 11 victims in 1972 were Israeli, but the Palestinian terror attack in Munich was an assault on all who came to participate peacefully in the spirit of the Summer Olympics,” Harris added. “Is a minute of silence too much to ask, given the tragedy that befell the Israeli contingent and, indeed, the entire Olympic movement?”

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Obama won the black vote in 2008 by a landslide with 95% of their votes. However, voter turnout was also higher in 2008 than it is expected to be this year. In 2008 two million more African-Americans showed up to the polls than in 2004, but those numbers could be much lower for 2012. In 2008 there was a turnout of 87% from the black community as opposed to 76% who claim that they will be going this year according to a Gallup Poll.

“He’s got to worry about turnout. [Obama] doesn’t have to worry about losing votes to Mitt Romney. He has to worry about African-Americans not showing up in the record numbers that showed up in 2008,” claims Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

Currently the Democrats are counting on the black vote to help tip the scales on several swing states in the election. These swing states include Virginia (with 20% of the voting population African-American), Florida (13%), Ohio (11%), and North Carolina (23%). In 2008 the black vote was key in Obama winning North Carolina and Virginia.

“In 2008, he [Obama] won North Carolina by about 14,000 votes,” Bill Randall, a black Republican and former Congressman stated. However he also claims that “support is waning… policies are not doing things that are going to spur economic growth.” And economic growth is important.

Currently 14.4% of African-Americans are unemployed versus the about 8% unemployment nationwide. This gap will significantly harm the President’s chances of garnering more voter turnout and support from the black community. Some have also claimed that the President is taking the black vote for granted, citing his absence at the NAACP conference as evidence. Frederick Harris, a professor of Political Science at Columbia University, stated that Obama “can afford to take the black voters for granted.”

Obama did send a pre-taped video addressing the NAACP stating “I stand on your shoulders” acknowledging their support and work. However this video did not prevent Romney from including a dig at Obama’s absence. “We have to make our case to every voter. We don’t count anybody out, and we sure don’t make a habit of presuming anyone’s support. Support is asked for and earned, and that’s why I’m here today.”

Benjamin Todd Jealous, President of the NAACP said that “if [Romney is] going to pick up more support in the black community he has to send a message that he’s prepared to lead on issues that we care about.”

One of these issues is voting rights. Jealous claims, “we are living through the greatest wave of legislative assaults on voting rights in more than a century. In the past year, more states have passed more laws pushing more voters out of the ballot box than at any time since the rise of Jim Crow.”

Romney has already previously announced his support for voter ID cards and other stricter voting laws. “I support efforts to say, look, we want people to come in and make sure they’re a citizen of the United States and that they haven’t voted multiple times and they’re not voting for someone who’s passed away.”

The Houston NAACP Conference that Romney attended was organized to discuss voter disenfranchisement including the new law in Texas that is expected to remove 600,000 people from being able to vote, most of them from minorities. According to USA Today the Texas law would also allow concealed handgun licenses to be used as a form of identification but not Student ID cards. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has been working to fight many of these new restrictive laws, claims that 25% of black voters do not have an ID card as opposed to only 8% of whites.

Pennsylvania has also introduced stricter voter ID laws that block 9% of the state’s residents from voting. More than 18% of registered voters in Philadelphia do not have an ID and the majority of African-Americans in Philadelphia also lack identification.

Hilary Shelton, Senior Vice President of the NAACP, has stated, “when proponents of these measures say this is a tool to prevent voter fraud, they’re missing the point. Most of the corruption that occurs is by polling officials – those who are put in place to protect and administer process. It’s not people pretending to be someone they are not.”

According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law Voter Fraud by individuals is exceptionally rare. Instead, most voter fraud issues are conducted by those running the polling places.

Image Courtesy of   Walter G Arce / Shutterstock.com

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On Wednesday, July 11 Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney was booed at the NAACP conference when he stated that, if elected, he would repeal Obamacare. Romney’s statement was “I’m going to eliminate every non-essential, expensive program I can find, that includes Obamacare, and I’m going to work to reform and save.”

According to CNN Romney has currently garnered only 5% of the black vote as opposed to 87% that President Obama holds.

Romney’s attendance at the conference was somewhat of a surprise since Obama is expected to take well over 90% of the black vote in November. Romney stated, “with 90 percent of African Americans voting for Democrats, some of you may wonder why a Republican would bother to campaign in the African-American community, and to address the NAACP. Of course, one reason is that I hope to represent all Americans, of every race, creed or sexual orientation, from the poorest to the richest and everyone in between.” However, the New York Times has also speculated that visiting the NAACP will make Romney look more moderate to independents and undecided whites.

Romney’s speech was followed the next day by Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. Although the President was originally scheduled for the event he was unable to attend because of a ‘scheduling conflict.’

Biden’s message, according to Politico, was that Obama needs the help of the black community to win the election and the Romney and the Congressional Republicans will and have been only harmful. Biden reminded the crowd about the NAACP and the voter ID laws that have arisen across several states. “Remember what this at its core was all about, why this organization at its core was all about. It was about the franchise. It was about the right to vote. Because when you have the right to vote, you have the right to change things.”

Biden also discussed Attorney General Eric Holder being held in contempt by the GOP-controlled House after he refused to turn over several documents related to Operation Fast and Furious. Holder has been a strong proponent of protecting voter rights and has stated, “in our efforts to protect voting rights and to prevent voting fraud, we will be vigilant and strong. But let me be clear: We will not allow political pretexts to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious right.”

Biden also reminded the members at the conference about the lack of cooperation from the Republicans in recent years. “Almost never since he’s taken office did the Republican Congress reach across the aisle to help… The Republicans’ plan [was] not to get us out of this recession, not to promote jobs, not to do the things that needed to be done, but to make Barrack Obama a one-term president.” Toward the end of his speech the Vice President admitted that he was “preaching to the choir.”

Image Courtesy of  Gage Skidmore

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Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has called for an apology from the Obama campaign after several attack ads were released questioning Mitt Romney’s role in Bain Capital after 1999. Romney claims that he left the company he co-founded in 1984 in February 1999, in order to run the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

The Obama camp’s main charge comes from the fact that Romney’s name as the CEO and President remained on several documents from the company until 2002.

Romney stated, “I had no role whatsoever in the management of Bain Capital after 1999.” However, files given to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clearly show that Romney was listed as the “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president” until 2001.

If Romney truly had remained at Bain Capital it would mean that Romney had knowingly misfiled his official campaign disclosure forms which – according to Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter – is a federal crime. Additionally, between 1999 and 2001 Bain closed down several American companies and helped others to send jobs overseas.

The Boston Globe reported that Mitt Romney earned at least $100,000 as a Bain executive in 2001 and 2002 besides the investments that he earned as sole shareholder. During 2000 and 2001 Romney listed his “principal occupation” as “Managing Director” at Bain. Additionally Massachusetts disclosure form from when Romney filed in 2003 says that he still owned 100% of the company in 2002.

Recently Romney has also been slammed by the Obama campaign because he refuses to produce more than two years of tax returns.

President Obama has claimed that if Romney is going to run on his business leadership at Bain then he should be taking responsibility of it, according to The Huffington Post. Obama stated, “Ultimately, I think Mr. Romney is going to have to answer those questions because if he aspires to being president, one of the things you learn is you’re ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations.”

Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago and President Obama’s former Chief of Staff, has said that Romney needs to “stop whining.” Emanuel also stated, “you can’t say to the SEC, ‘I was the CEO, chairman and president, but I’m not responsible. I’m not accountable.’”

However several sources have verified Romney’s story that although he was still a part of the business on paper he was not actually involved in the daily operation of the company. FactCheck.org, a non-partisan website, says that there is no evidence that Romney had an active role at the company. Dan Primack, senior editor at Fortune Magazine, said that the documents given to potential investors in 2000 and 2001 did not include Romney’s name as an executive. Primack stated, “the contemporaneous Bain documents show that Romney was indeed telling the truth about no longer having operational input at Bain.”

Bain Capital issued a statement claiming: “due to the sudden nature of Mr. Romney’s departure, he remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999. Accordingly, Mr. Romney was reported in various capacities on SEC filings during this period.” Ed Gillespie, the Senior Adviser to Mitt Romney also claimed, “he took a leave of absence and, in fact, he ended up not going back at all and retired retroactively to February of 1999 as a result.”

Although the claims that Romney was involved in the operations of Bain Capital during his time at the Olympics seem unjustified, there is still evidence that Romney was involved in outsourcing before he left to join the Olympic Committee.

The Washington Post claims that during the fifteen years that Romney was actively involved at Bain, the company owned other companies that spearheaded outsourcing; some of which include CSI and Modus Media.

Bain was involved in outsourcing as early as 1993 when Romney was still President of the company. In 1993 Bain was involved with Coporate Software Inc (CSI) and Stream International Inc that both specialized in helping companies find cheaper manufacturing for technology. Shortly after Romney left Bain in 1999 Bain became a majority shareholder in Stream.

Modus Media, whose majority shareholder was Bain Capital, helped outsource manufacturing for companies as well – before Romney left in 1999. In a press release from Modus Media in 1997 the company says that it expanded its outsourcing business with help from Bain stating, “working closely with Bain on strategic expansion.”

Therefore, although the Obama campaign claims that Romney was involved in Bain during his period at the Olympics seem unsubstantiated there appears to be evidence to show that Romney was still involved in out-sourcing.

Image Courtesy of   Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com

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