Friday, May 6, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Obama administration floats draft plan to tax cars by the mile

Posted: 05 May 2011 04:17 PM PDT

By: Pete Kasperowicz, TheHill.com

The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.

The plan is a part of the administration’s Transportation Opportunities Act, an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly.

The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.

"This is not an administration proposal,” White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. “This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president's senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president."

News of the draft follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.

Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.

The CBO report was requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has proposed taxing cars by the mile as a way to increase federal highway revenues.

To read more, visit:  http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/159397-obama-floats-plan-to-tax-cars-by-the-mile

Boehner “optimistic,” demands trillion-dollar cuts

Posted: 05 May 2011 04:13 PM PDT

By: Thomas Ferraro, Reuters.com

(Reuters) – U.S. House Speaker John Boehner voiced optimism on Thursday about new deficit-reduction talks led by Vice President Joe Biden, but said Republicans will not vote to raise the U.S. debt limit without trillions of dollars in spending cuts.

“I’m always optimistic that these conversations will lead somewhere,” Boehner said shortly after Biden opened the first meeting of a seven-member, bipartisan congressional group.

“I wish them well. I hope we that we can come to some agreement and as soon as possible,” said Boehner.

The speaker reaffirmed his position that he and his fellow Republicans would not agree to an increase in the U.S. debt limit without budget reforms and “real spending cuts.”

Asked to define “real spending cuts,” Boehner said, “It is time to start talking about trillions” of dollars, instead of the billions and tens of billions debated in earlier budget battles this year.

To read more, visit:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-usa-budget-boehner-idUSTRE74453D20110505

Boeing Slams Labor Board Over Union Complaint

Posted: 05 May 2011 04:09 PM PDT

By: FoxNews.com

In a scalding letter, Boeing called on the federal labor board to withdraw its complaint accusing the aerospace giant of retaliating against a local union by opening a production line at a non-union site.

The letter, obtained by FoxNews.com, accused the National Labor Relations Board of misquoting Boeing executives in the course of building its case and called on the board to correct the record.

“Through these misquotations and mischaracterizations, you have done a grave disservice to The Boeing Company,” Executive Vice President J. Michael Luttig wrote in the letter Tuesday to the NLRB general counsel.

The NLRB attorney last month filed the complaint which generated a storm of controversy, particularly in South Carolina where Boeing is slated to open its second 787 Dreamliner airplane production line.

The complaint hinged on claims that Boeing made “coercive statements” regarding union-led strikes, and then retaliated by transferring its second line to the non-union facility. As evidence, the NLRB noted that a Boeing executive said in an interview that an overriding factor in going to South Carolina — a right-to-work state where unions cannot force employees to join — was a desire to avoid disruptions.

The union in Washington state has led several strikes against Boeing since the 1970s, most recently in 2005 and 2008.

But Boeing took issue with the NLRB’s claims. First, Luttig refuted the allegation that Boeing decided to “transfer” work away from Washington state.

“No work — none at all — was ‘removed’ or ‘transferred’ from Puget Sound,” he wrote. “The second line for the 787 is a new final assembly line.”

To read more, visit:  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/04/boeing-slams-labor-board-union-complaint/

A Bin Laden Hunter on Four Legs

Posted: 05 May 2011 04:04 PM PDT

By: Gardiner Harris, The New York Times

The identities of all 80 members of the American commando team who thundered into Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden are the subject of intense speculation, but perhaps none more so than the only member with four legs.

Little is known about what may be the nation's most courageous dog. Even its breed is the subject of great interest, although it was most likely a German shepherd or a Belgian Malinois, military sources say. But its use in the raid reflects the military's growing dependence on dogs in wars in whichimprovised explosive devices have caused two-thirds of all casualties. Dogs have proved far better than people or machines at quickly finding bombs.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of United States forces in Afghanistan, said last year that the military needed more dogs. "The capability they bring to the fight cannot be replicated by man or machine," he said.

Maj. William Roberts, commander of the Defense Department's Military Working Dog Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, said the dog on the raid could have checked the compound for explosives and even sniffed door handles to see if they were booby-trapped.

And given that Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a narrow, dark hole beneath a mud shack in Iraq, the Seal team might have brought the dog in case Bin Laden had built a secret room into his compound.

"Dogs are very good at detecting people inside of a building," Major Roberts said.

Another use may have been to catch anyone escaping the compound in the first moments of the raid. A shepherd or a Malinois runs twice as fast as a human.

To read more, visit:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/science/05dog.html?_r=2&hp

US on track for most measles cases in a decade

Posted: 05 May 2011 03:44 PM PDT

By: MIKE STOBBE, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — The United States seems to be on track to have more measles cases than any year in more than a decade, with virtually all cases linked to other countries, including Europe where there’s a big outbreak.

Already there have been 89 cases reported so far. The U.S. normally sees only about 50 cases of measles in a year thanks to vaccinations.

Health officials are reluctant to make predictions, but acknowledge the pace of reports is unusually hot.

“It’s hard to say, but we’re certainly getting a lot,” said Dr. Greg Wallace, who leads the measles, mumps, rubella and polio team at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Europe, especially France, has been hit hard by measles, with more than 6,500 cases reported in 33 nations. International health officials are blaming it on the failure to vaccinate all children.

Just about all U.S. outbreaks were sparked by people bringing it here from other countries. This week, international health officials posted an alert urging travelers everywhere to get the recommended two doses of vaccine before flying overseas.

To read more, visit:  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_MEASLES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-05-05-48-36

Five reasons why tonight’s GOP debate matters

Posted: 05 May 2011 03:40 PM PDT

By: Jan Crawford, CBSnews.com

GREENVILLE, S.C.– Outside this pivotal presidential primary state, there’s been one reaction to tonight’s presidential debate.

Yawn.

It was supposed to be the first major debate, the first time the top Republican contenders would square off on stage and on television before a national audience.

But as it turns out, there’s not a whole lot that’s major about it — at least if you’re looking at the contenders who are participating. Where are the big names, or at least the names you’ve heard of? Mitt Romney? Newt Gingrich? Michele Bachmann? Mike Huckabee? Sarah Palin?

For different reasons, they’re all staying away — leaving the stage to one top tier-candidate and four other names you still probably won’t be talking about a year from now.

Here in Greenville, where those five will take the stage tonight, it feels a little like high school, when the cool kids have decided they aren’t going to the party and so everyone starts trying to figure out what they’re doing instead.

Why, for example, was former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee meeting with fundraisers and operatives in Washington yesterday? Why did his former campaign manager give a power-point presentation to about 100 people — including some big-time conservative names — at one of those meetings last night? Is that all a sign Huckabee’s actually going to shake up the race and run?

And what’s that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels up to? According to CBS’s Don Lee, he said in a speech yesterday in Washington that it’s not too late to decide to run. So when is he going to decide?

To read more, visit:  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20060066-503544.html

World Food Prices Rise to Near-Record High as Inflation Speeds Up, UN Says

Posted: 05 May 2011 03:36 PM PDT

By: Rudy Ruitenberg, Bloomberg.com

World food prices rose to near a record in April as grain costs advanced, adding pressure to inflation that is accelerating from Beijing to Brasilia and spurring central banks to raise interest rates.

An index of 55 commodities rose to 232.1 points from 231 points in March, the United Nations' Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report on its website today. The gauge climbed to an all-time high of 237.2 in February before dropping 2.6 percent in March.

The cost of living in the U.S. rose at its fastest pace since December 2009 in the 12 months ended in March, the same month in which Chinese consumer prices rose by the most since 2008. The European Central Bank raised interest rates on April 7, joining China, India, Poland and Sweden in a bid to control inflation partly blamed on food costs. Costlier food also contributed to riots across northern Africa and the Middle East that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia this year.

"There seems to be some easing for a lot of commodities, but whether this is demand rationing, we have to wait and see," Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the FAO, said before the report. "If the weather is good, if plantings expand, I think we could see some relief in food prices."

Sugar prices slumped 18 percent in New York last month, while milk futures fell 1.8 percent in Chicago, U.S. wholesale beef prices dropped 3.4 percent and pork declined 2.2 percent. Wheat prices rose 5 percent in Chicago after falling the previous two months and corn jumped 9.1 percent.

Corn Planting

Corn has almost doubled in the past 12 months on speculation that more planting in the U.S., the world's largest grower, won't be sufficient to rebuild global stocks. Wheat surged 57 percent over the same period and soybeans gained 39 percent as flooding ruined crops in Canada and Australia and drought reduced harvests in Russia and Europe.

To read more, visit:  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-05/food-prices-approach-record-high-as-grain-prices-fuel-inflation-worldwide.html

In Arizona, Tea Party License Plate Draws Opposition From Its Honorees

Posted: 05 May 2011 03:32 PM PDT

By: Marc Lacey, The New York Times

SURPRISE, Ariz. — When conservative Republicans pushed a bill through the Arizona Legislature creating a "Don't Tread on Me" license plate design that would be used to raise money for Tea Party groups in the state, opposition was expected from Democrats, liberals and other assorted antagonists.

The surprise was that the biggest opposition has come from Tea Party members themselves, who say their renegade, grass-roots movement was built on suspicion of government, and they are not too keen to start playing financial footsie with the enemy.

"No, I won't buy one," said Jim Wise, a Tea Party activist from this community northwest of Phoenix, who wrote to lawmakers in a failed effort to nix the plates. "I realize the people behind this had the best of intentions, but it goes against what we stand for, which is limited government."

There has been a movement in state capitals across the country to commemorate the Tea Party on the backs of cars, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The group has tallied at least 10 other states considering such plates this year, three of which — Virginia, Texas and Mississippi — have joined Arizona in endorsing them. But opposition has been most heated in Arizona, and mostly from Tea Party backers.

Even before Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill creating the plates last week, Arizona had dozens of specialty license plates, including those honoring organ donors, discouraging abortion, lamenting child abuse, promoting the spaying and neutering of pets, and urging people to follow the golden rule.

"In Arizona, we let people express themselves on their plates as long as it's legal," said John Kavanagh, a Republican representative who supported the Tea Party plates. "And to discriminate against one group over the other would not be right."

The plates are fund-raising tools for organizations, which must come up with $32,000 for the state to produce them. In exchange, for every $25 fee taken in to issue a plate, $8 goes to the state and the other $17 to the groups.

Initially, Arizona planned to pay $32,000 for the Tea Party plate, which will feature a likeness of the historic bright yellow Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag popular in the Tea Party.

To read more, visit:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/us/05plates.html?_r=1&hp
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