Media Bias

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

Union Operative Infiltrates Grocery Store to Organize

September 24, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It’s like some sort of spy novel gone bad where the Soviet Agents are somehow the good guys. A grocery store worker and union member that makes over $20 an hour “quits” his job and starts a job in another grocery store making only $10 an hour just so he can cajole his new workplace into joining the union from the inside, pretending to be one of them. In fact, the union “supplements” this activist’s pay while he invades the other store to agitate for unions there.

At issue is the organizing of the Fresh & Easy grocery chain in Huntington Beach, California. Fresh & Easy is a British chain that not long ago launched 83 stores in 3 states, one of them California, and ever since the United Food and Commercial Workers union has been agitating for the chain to become unionized.

The company offers health-care benefits to employees that work only 20 hours a week, but the unions want more, naturally. The chain says it stand behind its benefits and pay scale.

But here is the interesting part. The unions are not just presenting their union idea to Fresh & Easy employees for an honest and open debate about the value of the union, they are sneaking employees into the stores to act as inside agitators.

Helping organize Fresh & Easy workers in Huntington Beach is Graham Ozenbaugh.

The 19-year Vons employee started working at the store as a $10 an hour “customer assistant” in December with the specific goal of getting the workers to form a union.

Todd Conger said the use of undercover union lobbyists such as Ozenbaugh is typical in “major campaigns” waged by labor organizations.

Conger said these workers, who take a leave of absence from their union-grocery jobs, are given supplemental pay. Ozenbaugh earns $20.80 an hour as a Vons supervisor.

This underhanded, sneaky move is supposed to make people comfortable that unions are interested in fair representation? I don’t see how anyone can trust such an organization that would engage is these sorts of tactics?

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - President - Selwyn Duke - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Political Elections, Cultural Elections, and the Votes that Really Matter

September 24, 2008 by

By Selwyn Duke

To be honest, treating politics isn’t my favorite pastime. Sure, like other commentators I do it, but it’s not something I can truly sink my teeth into. I’ll explain why momentarily.

This election season, my pen has directed many slings and arrows Barack Obama’s way. I criticized John McCain, too, but that was during the primaries. Now there is what I perceive to be a clear and present danger in the person of a slick demagogue, so my sights — and my site — are trained in one particular direction. Because of this, however, I sometimes receive emails from disenchanted rightist voters. “What do you have to say about McCain?” some ask. “How is he any better than Obama?”

My feelings toward such respondents vacillate between surliness and sympathy. I understand why they feel the way they do, but they don’t understand me. I’m neither a party man nor a doctrinarian. I’m probably at least as dissatisfied with our wanting candidates as those who write me, and I can sum up my reasoning very simply:

Both candidates deserve to lose.

Only, one deserves to lose more.
Continue reading “Political Elections, Cultural Elections, and the Votes that Really Matter”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Family - Media Bias - News - Religion - Society/Culture

Emergent Church Teaches Everyone Goes to Heaven!

September 24, 2008 by

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

Emergent Church leaders’ distaste for absolute truth and their desire for embracing everyone have led many of them into the heresy of universalism—everyone will go to Heaven.

Dallas Willard, a graduate of Tennessee Temple University, and professor at University of Southern California (and a Southern Baptist) said, “I am happy for God to save anyone he wants in any way he can. It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved.” (Dallas Willard, Cutting Edge, Winter, 2001.) That is universalism! You have heard from Willard, now hear from God in Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” In bygone years, all believers would have charged Willard with heresy, but today we are much more refined, so we prefer to say that he is confused. I say he is a heretic.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Race - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

FL Paper Quotes White Woman as Racist Against Obama, SHE Says She Never Mentioned Obama

September 23, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A 60-year-old white woman from Spring Hill, Florida is quoted as saying that there is no chance a black man can win the White House. This same woman, Sandra Cichon, is quoted in a total of three St. Petersburg Times stories, the latest being from September 15. But in a follow up interview, Barbara Sowell of digitaljournal.com finds that Cichon claims she was never called by a pollster, as the paper claims, and never told any reporter that she wouldn’t vote for a black man.

So who is right? Did the St. Petersburg Times merely make up racist quotes out of whole cloth and put words in the mouth of this woman or is she suddenly trying to take back what she said by claiming not to have been interviewed about Obama? Here’s the story and you can decide.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Dems Threaten Anti-Iran Rally Organizers With IRS Attack if They Let Palin Speak

September 23, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

News has emerged that the organizers of that anti-Iran rally that famously got snarled up in Senator Hillary Clinton’s ire at Governor Sarah Palin last week were threatened by New York Democrats with IRS action against their tax-exempt status if they allowed Palin to speak. CBS local NY news reported this little fact and so did NBC but most of the national news has ignored this outrageous threat to use the IRS to silence Governor Palin.

Accusing New York Democrats of using “McCarthyism” to shut Palin down, Democrat Assemblyman Dov Hikind was flabbergasted by the behind the scenes threats against the rally organizers. “It’s an absolute shame that this has happened,” CBS quoted Hikind as saying. “To threaten organizations … to threaten the Conference of Presidents that if you don’t withdraw the invitation to Gov. Palin we’re going to look into your tax exempt status … that’s McCarthyism.”

The charge was that inviting only Palin and not also Democrat VP candidate Joe Biden is somehow a violation of “equal representation of candidates” (As NBC claimed in its report). But, this is not a certainty. After all, the appearance wasn’t a campaign stop nor was it a venue to advertise Palin or engage in presidential politics. Besides, as HotAir notes, of the political speakers that were invited to speak last year, few were Republicans.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Hitting Obama for ‘Whopper’ and ‘False’ Statements on Soc. Sec.

September 23, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have been known, of course, to dedicate many of my articles to exposing liberal bias in the press. But, once in a while the liberal press gets something right and this is one of those cases. On Spetember 20, Newsweek hosted an article by FactCheck.org that exposed the outright lies contained in the claims Barack Obama made against John McCain’s record on Social Security in order to scare as many elder citizens as he can. Obama may have expected every Old Media outlet out there to cover for him, but Newsweek didn’t oblige this time. So, I thought I’d highlight this piece and give Newsweek the thumbs up for hosting the FactCheck.org article.

Over the weekend, Barack Obama appeared in the battleground state of Florida and made to scare citizens over McCain’s votes on Social Security. Obama claimed that McCain voted for a plan that would have seen the Social Security benefits of “elderly women” at risk in the stock market during the recent wildly fluctuating market. Telling his audience, “if my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would’ve had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week,” Obama tried to claim that the elderly would have lost their money because of John McCain. FactCheck.org called these claims “not true.”

Continue reading “Hitting Obama for ‘Whopper’ and ‘False’ Statements on Soc. Sec.”

00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

SEIU Formally Removes Embattled Freeman

September 23, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has made its first determinations in the Tyrone Freeman spending and influence peddling scandal that plagued a California Local. Freeman has been removed from the SEIU payrolls.

The L.A. Times launched a major investigation revealing the fraud and misuse of funds tied to Freeman and his close associates that we’ve discussed at length here on the blog. But, the SEIU report had a few new allegations, too.

Most of the union’s findings mirror The Times’ disclosures. But an SEIU report contains new allegations that Freeman spent dues-payers’ funds on his 2006 wedding and a Santa Barbara resort, and improperly drew payments from an affiliated local and a housing corporation.

The nine-page report, from union trustee John Ronches to SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, spells out seven charges accusing Freeman of violating the union’s corruption statutes.

The SEIU report alleges that Freeman’s dealings with the housing firm and worker-training charity amounted to a “misuse of the funds of these nonprofit corporations by his disregard for the specific nonprofit missions for which they were created.”

The L.A.Times reports that an unnamed union official says that more charges will be forthcoming.

What gets lost so easily in this discussion of Freeman’s corruption is that he was a protege of SEIU president Andy Stern. Freeman was the sort of man that Stern wanted as a leader. It shows the sort of person that Stern takes under his wing causing worry about his other proteges.

At least, though, this one corrupt union thug is getting his just deserts.

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00Publius Contributor - Budget - Dan Scott - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Taxes

When Will The Other Shoe Drop

September 23, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Dan Scott

As I considered a recent article by Warner Todd Huston on Obama’s misquoting McCain over his position on reforming Social Security it raised the issue of when the next shoe will drop on the taxpayer. When George W Bush raised the issue of Social Security reform early on, what was the Democrats response? Here is a brief Explanation of Private Accounts idea:
In the 2004 Debates, George W Bush addressed the issue as a starting point:
In 2004, The LAT recorded the Democrat response: “He is trying to create a crisis,” Matsui said. “The problem today is a manageable problem.” In other words – Do Nothing, there is no problem.
The same response again in 2005: Democrats Blast Bush On Social Security. Of course, we in the conservative community have been discussing these issues forever and with the compromising ineffectual help of Republicans in Congress we are still only talking about it.

Wasn’t this the same response the Democrats had with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMs)? The Democrats claimed there was no problem with the FMs and thus stonewalled reform when it could have made a difference, as we see they also made the exact same claims regarding Social Security when Bush raised the issue of reform! Everyone is shocked at the $700 billion proposed bailout of toxic mortgages. It seems the Party of Change is actually the Party of the Status Quo. The receipts for Social Security are dropping every year approaching 2017, the year in which receipts equal outlays. The significance of this is not just Social Security funding but the effect on the budget deficit. This year the budget deficit is projected to be $800 billion due to the slowing economy. Does that lack of forward thinking by Democrats give you comfort in their leadership abilities? Isn’t one of the marks of leadership to be proactive instead of reactive? Based on their track record so far, I would say their leadership is reactive. At this time the Democrats are still opposed to Social Security reform:
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Vince Johnson

Ordinary Folks Are Never Welcomed Here

September 23, 2008 by

-By Vince Johnson

 
Greystone Mansion, Beverly Hills, California – Obama Fund Raising Dinner for two $57,000 – Served Tuesday, September 16, 2008

 
Beverly Wilshire Hotel – Where Barbra Streisand performed Tuesday, September 16, 2008 – $5,000 per couple

Some very wealthy people had a party on Tuesday, September 9, 2008. Ordinary folks could not attend because the event was by invitation only and the fee was set at $28,500 per person! After the gourmet dining at the Greystone Mansion was over and the final toasts were orated, Barbra Streisand sang songs at a private concert held at the Beverly Wilshire. The cost to be present during her performance was $2,500 per person.

This means the affair was $62,000 per couple which is enough to more than cover the average salary of an experienced school teacher for an entire year. The proceeds from the event ($9 million) were given to the Barack Obama’s campaign.

Candidates often ask ordinary folks like you and me to send in $25 to $50 dollars or more. We never get invited to a party at a fancy mansion and many of us cannot afford to attend a Barbra Streisand “event” no matter where it might occur. The elite media treated this story with words that are very complimentary to all involved. I wonder how they would handle it if John McCain did the same thing?

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Entertainment - Gays - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Brokeback ‘Irritation’

September 22, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The author of the famous gay cowboy story that the movie Brokeback Mountain was based on says the story is a “source of constant irritation” in her life. Apparently her porn addled fans keep sending her re-writes of the lurid tale made even more lurid with amped up porn scenes added.

To many in the gay community, Brokeback Mountain is insufficiently “gay” enough. Apparently, these people want it to be a wild tale of cowboy queens in everyone’s face infused with wild abandon. Instead of what the author wanted it to be, these people want it to be more akin to some San Francisco Gay Pride parade writ literati.

Author Annie Prouix told the Wall Street Journal that she is sick of the whole thing.

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00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - History - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

The Washington Post Slams Civil War History

September 22, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Washington Post Writer Philip Kennicott sees all the worst in America at the reopening of the famous Gettysburg Cyclorama.

Talk about a skewed look at history. On September 20, the Washington Post’s Philip Kennicott unleashed a tirade against everything Civil War in a story that was supposed to be about the re-opening of the revamped Cyclorama painting in the America’s quintessential Civil War town, Gettysburg, PA. Not only did Kennicott denigrate in every way possible the over 100-year-old painting in the round of the battle of Gettysburg — it’s a mere “relic” that doesn’t live up to its hype he says — he also attacked Americans who have an interest in the Civil War as somehow just trying to forget about slavery. Kennicott also cast stones at capitalism and basically said that the gigantic painting was not really “art.” With his final analysis he seemed to turn up his nose at every aspect of the Civil War, Gettysburg, and the Cyclorama painting. If he hated the thing so much he should have stayed home and played a video game!

On the occasion of its re-opening Kennicott tells us that the famed 1884 painting received a $15 million restoration and has been returned as a major attraction at the recently completed Gettysburg visitors center. The way the public views the painting has also been changed to better reflect the way the creators had envisioned. A light and sound show has been added to enhance the viewing, as well. And, apparently this all does not sit very well with Kennicott.

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Media Not Reporting Failed Financial Agencies Are Big Donors to Obama

September 22, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A 2005 Video of Fannie Mae CEO Shown Affirming his Connection to Congressional Black Caucus and Barack Obama, Where is the Media?

In a 2005 video Daniel Mudd, at the time the interim CEO of the catastrophically failed mortgage lender Fannie Mae, affirmed his fealty and that of Fannie Mae to the Congressional Black Caucus. The top three campaign donation recipients were Democrats, number two of which was Barack Obama, yet the media is laying mum on these facts. One wonders what would be going on in the media if John McCain were a top recipient of campaign donations from a market crashing, government bail-out getting organization like Fannie Mae?

The three top campaign donation recipients from Fannie Mae were all Democrats. Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) got $165,000, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) was given $126,349, and failed presidential candidate Senator John Kerry (D-MA) took $111,000 from the folks at Fannie Mae. Is this information getting out there?

Most of the top Fannie executives were also Democrats each of whom worked closely with Democratic presidents and Barack Obama. Franklin Raines, Clinton White House budget director, ran Fannie Mae and pocketed $50 million. Jamie Gorelick was a Clinton Justice Department Official (famous for adding to our intelligence failures helping cause the attacks on 9/11) was paid $26 million. Jim Johnson, who most recently served on Obama’s VP search committee, was the CEO of Fannie Mae and has also made millions. These Clinton/Obama associates sat at the head of a failing financial agency all the while raking in millions and donating hundreds of thousands to top Democrats.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Family - GOP - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - News - President - Religion - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

The truth is not dishonorable

September 22, 2008 by

-By Michael M. Bates

John McCain ran an ad criticizing Barack Obama for supporting sex education for kindergartners. The reaction of Obama and his media sycophants was so vociferous that you might have thought abortion had been curtailed. The ad was described as a total fabrication, swill, truly vile, and one of the sleaziest spots in history.

McCain lied. McCain is dishonorable. McCain is running a squalid campaign of bald-faced smears. That’s what we read in the newspapers, saw on TV, and heard on the radio.

The truth is McCain’s ad is accurate. Ah, say the Obamatons, it’s false because Obama didn’t sponsor the Illinois Senate bill in question. McCain’s ad didn’t assert he did.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frank Salvato - GOP - Islam - Islamofascism - Media Bias - Military - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

McCain or Obama? How About This Referendum…

September 22, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

To say the least, there is quite an ideological and political gulf between John McCain and Barack Obama. So too, is there a great deal of difference between their running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. On just about every issue examined during this interminably long presidential election cycle the two tickets stand miles apart. From taxes to the struggle with radical Islam, energy independence to American sovereignty, McCain and Obama, Palin and Biden, stand diametrically opposed in their approaches to the issues. But one subject seems to be championed by both sides and by all the players, honesty.

To be certain, honesty, truthfulness, is a precious commodity in American politics. From the very days of our country’s creation many of those questing for political power have walked the fine line of fact and fiction in an effort to paint themselves in a better light than their opponents. With the advent of the professional “spin doctor” the line between fact and fiction blurred to an almost illegible point. Today, the process has become somewhat more simplistic, less refined and artful, almost crude in that Washington politicians have taken to simply calling each other “liars.”

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have taken issue with each other’s campaign ads, calling into question the validity of statements, requesting apologies and retaliating in kind. Statistics get cherry-picked and legislative attributions get skewed. Obama surrogate Jimmy Carter – father of the West’s modern day conflict with radical Islam – even went as far as to say that John McCain was unfairly playing up his stay at the luxurious Hanoi Hilton. And where McCain’s responses to Obama’s less than fully-truthful allegations may begin with his trademark salutation “my friends,” Obama’s mouthpieces respond to any less-than-thoroughly-accurate contention with a good amount of indignance, arrogance and caustic vitriol. Obama’s surrogates are even worse.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Religion - Warner Todd Huston

WaPo Cartoon Features Cursing God, Ridicules Palin’s Religion

September 21, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, leave it to Pat Oliphant, political cartoonist of the Washington Post, to make fun of both God and Sarah Palin at the same time, eh? Back on September 9, with his Tuesday comic, Oliphant featured a God that curses and portrays Sarah Palin speaking in gibberish as if she were “speaking in tongues” because she is supposedly a crazy Pentecostal. Oliphant apparently isn’t aware she left the Pentecostal Church six years ago? I’m sorry missed this one back on the 9th, but it is no less outrageous now than it was then.

Take a gander at this disgusting display of anti-religious blather:

Imagine having the gall to put curse words in God’s mouth? Not to mention the bigoted way he attacks Palin’s religion!

My guess, you’ll search in vain to find an Oliphant cartoon making fun of Obama’s religion.

This is why they call him Soiliphant… OK, this is why I call him Soiliphant!

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Why Is Media Allowing Joe Biden to Lie About Drunk Driver Killing His First Wife?

September 21, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Along with the claim that Joe Biden had a “blue-collar” upbringing — he had a decidedly upper class (though not “rich”) childhood — Joe Biden has for years claimed that his first wife and his daughter were killed by a “drunk driver” in 1972. However, closer examination of the records proves that the man driving the truck that slammed into the Biden family car was never charged with drunken driving. So, why has the media allowed this perception that Biden lost his wife to a drunk driver to persist?

As late as 2007 Biden said that the man who was involved in the fatal crash that killed his wife and daughter was a “guy who allegedly … drank his lunch” before he got behind the wheel of his truck and in 2001 the TV show Inside Edition aired a tape of Biden saying the truck driver “stopped to drink instead of drive.” Additionally, several media outlets have included the drunk driver claim in their bios of the Senator from Delaware.

This drunk driving accusation, though, is simply a Biden creation and every time this claim is uttered it pains the family of the poor, maligned man involved in the tragic accident with Biden’s family, truck driver Curtis C. Dunn. Gannett owned DelewareOnline reports the anguish that Biden’s continued lie causes the man’s family every time it is uttered.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Science - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Climate Change in Europe? Always Been No Big Deal

September 21, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

An AFP story from September 5 headlined “Melting Swiss glacier yields Neolithic trove, climate secrets” was quite interesting. In fact, it was down right educational. It was all about how new human artifacts from up to 6,500 years ago have been found ion the melting ice fields of the Swiss Alps and these new finds say something important about so-called “anthropomorphic global warming.”

The story about the artifacts was really fun to read. With the ice fields melting, scientists and enthusiasts have found things like a birch bark quiver filled with arrows, leather clothing, and tools appearing literally out of 6,500 years ago to today as if by time warp. The speculation is that many of these items were from a single traveler that accidentally lost his life those thousands of years ago as he traveled alone across the mountains.

These findings are being touted as a way to pinpoint when humans were more easily able to travel by foot across the Alps. Of course, now a’days it is difficult to take a stroll across the Alps without freezing to death, you see.

“We know that people were only able to walk on this site when it was relatively warm,” said Martin Grosjean, executive director of a national network called Swiss Climate Research. “When it was too cold, the glacier advanced and it was not a passable route.”

Scientists have long known there were periods of warmer weather in the region but the artefacts allowed them to identify the exact years, when the site would have been passable on foot.

According to Grosjean, such data could help sharpen forecasts for the future by taking into account patterns of natural temperature fluctuation.

So, let’s take a minute to think about this. The Alps was once a temperate zone where men could casually walk across the mountains to visit other, far-flung villages. Then global cooling came and the Alps froze up. Now, the area just might be returning to a more temperate climate.

Now here is the thing:

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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

AFSCME Spends $5.5 Mil on Anti-Republican Ads

September 21, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) donated nearly $5.5 million to three non-profit, leftist political groups to beat Republican politicians in Florida, Michigan and Ohio this year. AFSCME gave to Campaign Money Watch, Patriot Majority and Patriot Majority Midwest.

AFSCME’s role, however, was not well known until now. Detractors say that this shadowy financial support violates the spirit of campaign finance reform and open government.

Allowing non-profits to raise and spend unlimited union or corporate funds violates the spirit of laws aimed at curbing special interests in elections, said Meredith McGehee of the non-partisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center. “These groups can play the role of a hit man in a campaign and do it in a way that’s not very transparent,” she said.

Labor groups are hiding “behind shadowlike front groups to prop up their candidates of choice,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. This week the group asked the FEC to investigate Patriot Majority, saying it should not operate as a non-profit.

And here is the main problem. Unions reaching out far past their role for the mere reasons of personal power.

In any case, it should be remembered that these sorts of reporting agencies and laws that brought such union funding for politics to light are the sorts of agencies that Barack Obama has promised his union pals that he will revisit in order to eviscerate them giving unions a freer hand to meddle in politics unseen and unknown by the public.

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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Elections - Family - Lee Culpepper - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture

A Trojan Horse Made of Charter-School Money

September 21, 2008 by

-By Lee Culpepper

Finally, Obama’s Greek pillars in Denver seem to make sense. In Greek Mythology, Odysseus sought to gain entrance into Troy, so he cleverly had a huge wooden horse built in which he and Greek soldiers could hide. Tricked into believing the horse was safe and would bring them good luck, the Trojans dragged the horse into Troy –ignoring the protests of Cassandra, the Trojan princess.

Imagining himself as a modern day Odysseus, Obama is plotting to smuggle the National Education Association (NEA) into charter schools. But since charter school supporters would almost certainly not fall for a big wooden horse today, Obama has concocted a beguiling vow to double the amount of funding for charter schools. What better way to conceal NEA marauders and meddlesome bureaucrats than to stuff them inside deceptive government handouts?

Should charter-school advocates ignore the mythology lesson and jubilantly drag the proposed cash inside their schools, they will surely awaken wishing that reality were only a drunken stupor. In the aftermath, they will realize too late that the NEA and bureaucrats have already toppled them. By then, administrators and the NEA will have charter schools mired in the same muck of central control, worthless regulations, and bureaucratic red tape that plagues so many traditional schools.
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00Publius Contributor - Business - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Unions - Warner Todd Huston

CA House to Investigate SEIU Spending Scandal

September 20, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

To head off claims by California Republicans that California State House Democrats are covering up for the fraud involved in a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) spending and influence peddling scandal, it was announced that a criminal investigation is going forward against the union.

One wonders just how hard the Democrat controlled House will pursue the matter, though?

The Education and Labor Committee’s top-ranked Republican, Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), suggested last week that the congressional examination of an SEIU local in Los Angeles had stalled because the union is a key ally of the Democratic Party.

The committee chairman responsible for the investigation is a recipient of $10,000 in campaign donations from the SEIU. George Miller (D- Martinez) said that the investigation was going forward but that his panel would “avoid interfering with the efforts of federal law enforcement officials.”

The emergence of this spending and influence peddling scandal has already forced several SEIU leaders to step down in the face of pressure. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of union funds were spent on lavish diners and gifts as well as for “services” performed by companies owned by union leader’s family members.

This scandal threatens to taint SEIU leaders in Washington D.C., as well as California and has also reached into Michigan already. SEIU president Andy Stern was a close associate and backer of Tyrone Freeman, the California Local leader that had to step down as a result of these troubles.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Anti-Intellectual Zombies Chicago Attack Radio Host

September 20, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A few weeks ago we wrote about the undue and disingenuous attack led by Barack Obama’s Chicago HQ perpetrated against Chicago radio host Dr. Milt Rosenberg. Well, last week they did it again, raising their legions to attack the host and his radio station (WGN) and trying to have the unassuming radio host thrown off the air. And what was his “crime”? Rosenberg had the gall to actually interview two conservative writers who were investigating the life and history of the Obamessiah.

I live in Chicago and have listened to Milt Rosenberg many times. His show is one of the most intelligent radio shows in the country, filled with high concepts and serious guests. I also heard both radio shows being protested by Obama’s radio brownshirts and there wasn’t a thing wrong with either of the shows. On the first, conservative writer Stanley Kurtz was invited on to speak about his investigation into the ties Obama has with American domestic terrorist William Ayers. In this case, Rosenberg offered airtime to the Obama campaign and it refused the offer. With the second program, Rosenberg had on David Freddoso, author of the recent New York Times best selling book “The Case Against barack Obama.” In the later case, Rosenberg even had a lefty Obama apologist on air with Fredoso, there to counter his every anti-Obama comment.

Yet, the Obama campaign still tried to destroy Milt Rosenberg’s career by mounting an email attack campaign as well as urging calls to the station.
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00Publius Contributor - Congress - Crime - Dan Scott - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Birds Of A Feather Flock Together

September 20, 2008 by 12 Comments

-By Dan Scott

Give credit where credit is due, blame the Democrats for their equality of outcome incompetence. A blind person could see more than the Democrat cronies who were running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMs) up to now. There is none so blind as those who refuse to see. The Democrat’s ideological blinder was the Equality of Outcome policy they implemented to push home ownership to people who simply weren’t capable of being homeowners. In 2003, the Bush Administration tried to head off the problem with the FMs but Democrats would have none of it, the NYT recorded their excuses for posterity. Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Judges - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

ProPublica Forgets to Mention Federal Judge Being Impeached was Clinton Appointee

September 19, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A Federal judge from Louisiana is under a cloud of impeachment and if he’s convicted it’ll be the first Federal judge impeached in almost 20 years. The story was covered by the new wire service named ProPublica, a service that claims to be non-partisan. Yet in two stories on this judge there is not one mention of the fact that he was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, nor that his corruption was known by the Department of Justice when Clinton made the appointment. I wonder why ProPublica didn’t find that relevant, don’t you?

A while back, I wrote of a new wire service that was starting up to be called ProPublica. This new service claimed that it was going to be a non-partisan service but the fact that it was being funded by left-wing billionaires made me wonder about the veracity of that claim. I have to admit that I haven’t paid much attention to ProPublica since my first look into it, but this judge story piqued my interest. So, I gave ProPublica a look see.

I found at least two stories about this corrupt judge on ProPublica, both written by Christina Jewett. One from September 16 and one from the next day.

Both of Jewett’s stories have all the requisite facts about Judge Thomas Porteous’ questionable actions. Both stories tell of the envelopes of cash the judge took from attorneys and representatives involved in cases before him, the free rooms in Vegas he accepted, the wild gambling there, the fact that he filed his own bankruptcy papers under an assumed name, that he didn’t report these gifts on his taxes, etc., etc. We even get a paragraph informing us that authorities suspected this misconduct before he was named to the Federal bench.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Obama Tells Supporters to Confront Unbelievers, ‘Get in Their Face’ He Says

September 19, 2008 by 3 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, so much for the kinder, gentler Obamessiah we all kept hearing about. Now he is telling his supporters to belligerently impose their views on anyone not falling under The One’s spell.

In a Nevada campaign stop as he was on his way to the adulation that Hollyweird was to bestow upon him later that night, Obama told his supporters to “get in the face” of people who doubt his word from on high.

“I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face.”

Wow. That is pretty aggressive and mean, isn’t it? Obama just told his automatons to almost physically attack people who don’t agree with him. After all, that’s what “get in their face” means. It is a loud, petulant action, a forceful, aggressive tactic. It is usually done by one who is overly emotional, filled with hate, pushy, and unhinged.

Screaming gay activists, anti-war outcasts, and half sentient loons engage in this sort of behavior. Is this the new “face” of the Obama campaign? Is this that “new tone” we keep hearing about?

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - History - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Vince Johnson

The First Rule of True Journalism

September 19, 2008 by

-By Vince Johnson

There was some minor media attention given to Ferraro’s qualifications when Walter Mondale selected her for his running mate in the 1984 Presidential Race. The Reagan/Bush ad campaigns treated her candidacy with caution based on a common sense strategy to avoid offending America’s women voters as well as an obvious need to avoid any mainstream backlash that might be generated by smear tactics.

Geraldine Ferraro – quick resume 
BA in English at 21  
Passed NY State Bar at 26  
Queen County DA staff at 39  
U.S. House of Representatives at 43  
Democratic Nominee for VP at 49  
Inducted into the National Of National Women’s Hall of Fame at 59

Back in 1984 there was ample opportunity to sling a lot of mud. During her campaign for VP, it was discovered that Ferarro’s husband, *John Zaccaro, was involved with some Income Tax issues. The media covered this news in a far more reasonable and professional manner than we see today.

On the other hand, anything that might indicate Sara Palin (nee Sarah Louise Heath) is not qualified to be VP gets intense examination. Example: In a recent interview on ABC News, Charles Gibson asked Palin if she had an opinion about “The Bush Doctrine” and she asked, “In what respect Charlie?” He acted like a bored teacher with a stupid student when he recited his definition of the “Bush Doctrine.” I will not embarrass Mr. Gibson by quoting the brief definition he recited. Instead, I will cite internet’s Wikipedia: “Jacob Weisberg, a political journalist, identifies six successive ‘Bush Doctrines’ in his book The Bush Tragedy, while former Bush staffer Peter D. Feaver has counted seven.” I am astounded that in posing this question, Mr. Gibson did not observe the first rule of journalism: CHECK THE SOUCE! Please note that in this case, the unchecked source is an intellectually pretentious assumption fabricated by Charles Gibson himself.
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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - President - Race - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

CNN’s Cafferty: Not Voting Obama? You’re a Racist!

September 18, 2008 by 2 Comments

-By Warner Todd Huston

To show the empty “logic” that Jack Cafferty of CNN employs in his political commentary all one need do is check out his September 16 Political Ticker blog post on why the race for the White House is so tight in the polls. Reason: the country is filled with racists. Yes, folks, if you are voting against Obama (and no matter who or what you are actually supporting and why) it must be because you are a racist. It isn’t because you stand against what Obama stands for, it has to be because you are a racist.

This delusional, preconceived notion is becoming the excuse du jour with Democrat supporters that have lately seen a dawning hint that McCain may just win this election. And, that is really all it is, too. An excuse. An excuse that ignores all the warts and obvious problems with Barack Obama, his record, and the fantasy stage show that is his campaign.

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00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Old Media Helps Obama Push False Rush Limbaugh Immigration Quotes

September 18, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe reported that the Obama campaign was releasing some new Spanish language campaign ads on TV in Florida and other markets that feature Rush Limbaugh making what appears to be anti-Mexican comments. The ads then link Limbaugh to McCain on immigration attempting to smear them both in the minds of voters. The Limbaugh quotes, however, are so out of context that their use constitutes a lie. Unfortunately, too many media outlets are allowing these lies to stand unchallenged.

As O’Keefe reported on September 17, the ads feature quotes from Rush that display a shocking anti-Mexican immigrant feel. Titled “dos caras” — or “two faces” — Rush is quoted as calling Mexicans names and telling them to “shut up and get out.”

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00Publius Contributor - Abortion - Democrats/Leftists - Family - Google - Inernet - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Google Folds, Will Allow Anti-Abortion Ads on Service — But a Victory for Anti-Abortion?

September 18, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Google has had a bit of its arrogance forced from it today. In the face of a costly lawsuit the on-line giant has made a reversal of its standing rule saying that it now will allow anti-abortion ads to run in its advertisement services.

Until now, Google has imposed its own political agenda by disallowing any ad to be taken out by anti-abortion advocates while allowing all ads for abortion pushers to go through without question. Google has, however, reversed that decision in the face of a legal challenge that its policy breached the Equalities Act of 2006 in the USA.

Google spokesmen said that they reconsidered this policy to create “a level playing field” and to enable “religious associations to place ads on abortion in a factual way.”

But, let me warn that this is not a victory signed, sealed and delivered for free political speech just yet. Google did not outline what this new policy of determining what presenting abortion “in a factual way” would mean. We will have to wait and find out to see how Google will use this new tactic to silence abortion advocates, if they indeed do so.

At this point, Google could easily continue to reject anti-abortion ads using this ill defined claim that the ads would somehow violate this new policy of “factuality.”

However, even this admission from the Internet giant that they were being grossly unfair is a hopeful sign that the moral position against abortion will get a fair hearing from among the advertisement viewing public. Abortion agencies have had a monopoly on readers on Google until now, but this new policy might do what Google is claiming they are suddenly interested in, “leveling the playing field.”

Let’s all hope that Google is being truthful and not just looking for a new sly way to continue to push its own political agenda on an unsuspecting public.

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