Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party: June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Only Five Networked Cars For Every 1,000 Would End Traffic
Tea party groups hold ‘Derail SunRail’ protest
Tea Party Freshman: Cut Funding for Congressional Leaders Who Shirk Budget Duties
Tea Party’s Pick: Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul?
TSA ‘ignored warnings’ on cancer cluster

Only Five Networked Cars For Every 1,000 Would End Traffic

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:53 AM PDT

By Matthew Battles, Fast Company

It's safe to say, despite Nevada’s recent approval of fully automated vehicles, that we Americans are ambivalent about the prospect of networked cars. Despite the obvious safety and convenience we would glean from a fleet of autos that could negotiate traffic autonomously, avoid pedestrians and potholes, and park themselves, the myth of the independent driver is a powerful one in our culture. Fortunately, the wired automobile is not an all or nothing affair; researchers afiliated with Opel reported last week that it takes as few as five wired cars in every 1,000 to sketch an accurate picture of traffic conditions that engineers can use to respond to tie-ups and reduce congestion.

The project, called Diamant (Dynamic Information and Application for Mobility with Adaptive Networks and Telematics Infrastructure) consists of automobile-mounted, Wi-Fi-enabled sensors, which relay traffic data from car to car until they reach a roadside base station that sends the info to a control center, where engineers can monitor traffic jams, accidents, and construction zones and mount responses in the form of radio alerts and text messages. The surprising discovery is that even when such an automotive web is loosely knit and full of holes, connecting as little as .5 percent of cars on the road, the information it provides can help traffic managers ease congestion, potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs–not to mention reducing the stress and anxiety of drivers, whether their rides are Wi-Fi-enabled or not.

Tea party groups hold ‘Derail SunRail’ protest

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:40 AM PDT

by: Corinne Hanna, WDBO.com

Orlando, FL — Tea Party groups met at the Orlando City Hall on Tuesday to protest SunRail, the commuter train that would travel through the city of Orlando in addition to Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties.

Governor Rick Scott must decide the fate of SunRail no later than July 2 and members of the Tea Party and 912 Groups say we don't need it.

"SunRail is the poster child for big government spending on a public project that we don't need and that will be paid for with money we don't have," Beth Dillaha of www.vetosunrail.com said.

Sharon Calvert, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party, and Karen Jaroch, president of Tampa Engineering Associates, spoke out during the protest against the SunRail project.

"Accordingly, if the government signs this federal funding agreement, the unacceptable and exceedingly high risk of this financial burden will legally fall on all Florida tax payers," Calvert said.

Jaroch believes the commuter train would be a financial burden on taxpayers.

"To sum it up, the Central Florida SunRail project cost too much, does too little, and it is not worth the financial risk it will impose on the taxpayers across the entire state of Florida," Jaroch said.

Dwayne Coffey is the president of the Eastern Orlando Tea Party. He says Florida doesn't have sufficient funds to pay for the commuter train.

Tea Party Freshman: Cut Funding for Congressional Leaders Who Shirk Budget Duties

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 05:27 AM PDT

From FOXNews.com

A freshman Tea Partier in Congress is championing a bill that calls for removing funding for committees and party leaders who fail to produce and pass budgets.

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y. unveiled the legislation last week and says that it is mainly aimed at the Democratic-led Senate, which has not passed an annual budget in two years. But it could raise hackles among Republican and Democratic chairmen who like to stonewall for political advantage.

“This legislation provides a solution to this dereliction of duty by cutting funding for operations that cannot or refuses to comply with the law,” she said in a written statement. “It is a way to ensure that we are in compliance with the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and in our responsibility to the American people.
“Even the Libyan government, in the middle of a civil war, passed a budget on June 15.”

Not only does Buerkle’s bill prohibit any further funding for either the House or Senate Budget Committee if a budget has not been passed but it also rescinds $1 million in appropriations for the office of the majority leader of either chamber.

“Sen. Harry Reid is paid by the American people to follow the law and pass a budget,” she said. “If he can’t do that, he should give those resources back to the people and stop wasting their money.”
Reid’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The GOP-led House passed a budget in April that would cut federal deficits by $6.2 trillion over the next decade while overhauling Medicare and Medicaid. Democrats have pounced on the proposed Medicare changes — which would transform the program from one in which the government directly pays medical bills into a voucher-like system that subsidizes purchases of private insurance plans. But Republicans have fired back, seeking to cast Democrats as irresponsible for not passing their own budget in the Senate.

Tea Party’s Pick: Michele Bachmann or Ron Paul?

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:52 PM PDT

By Doug Wead, Newsmax

No one can deny the nascent phenomenon of the liberty movement in America. It is riding a populist wave against government-insider deals that are making the rich richer and the poor poorer and sacrificing individual liberty in the process.

An interesting mix of Republicans and Democrats are involved in this uprising, blurring old labels like conservative and liberal, but the real showdown is happening in the race for the GOP nomination.

While all the candidates now pay homage to the movement, the real question is this: Who can best ride this wave? Michele Bachmann, a one-term congresswoman from Minnesota? Or Ron Paul, a 12-term congressman from Texas?

Here are the pertinent points. Bachmann is a new face and is polling well, at least for now. Her best chance — indeed, her only chance — is in Iowa. A win there and she can conceivably pick up delegates in the South as well.

Her critics describe her as a less cerebral version of Sarah Palin. Yep, your eyes are not deceiving you, and that means that with each success the media scrutiny or vetting will increase.

The real concern about Bachmann is her timing. Is she serious about running for president after only two years in Congress? Moreover, activists in the liberty movement decry her record. As a legislator in Minnesota she allegedly proposed $60 million in earmarks.

TSA ‘ignored warnings’ on cancer cluster

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 10:48 PM PDT

By Kate Taylor, TG Daily

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) says it’s got evidence that the Department of Homeland Security has failed to properly evaluate the level of risk from airport body scanners.

In a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the DHS, EPIC says it’s obtained documents concerning the scanners’ radiation risks, including agency emails, radiation studies, memoranda of agreement concerning radiation testing programs and the results of some radiation tests.

EPIC says that TSA staff have been concerned that a large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes and heart disease. But the documents show that the TSA’s response was simply to tell them: “Because TSA systems comply with federal regulations, the increased risk of developing radiation-induced cancer in later life is extremely small, no greater than other risks people routinely accept in their daily lives”.

“One document set reveals that even after TSA employees identified cancer clusters possibly linked to radiation exposure, the agency failed to issue employees dosimeters – safety devices that could assess the level of radiation exposure,” says EPIC.

“Another document indicates that the DHS mischaracterized the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, stating that NIST ‘affirmed the safety’ of full body scanners.”

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Meditation can cut heart attacks by as much as half
Global Warming Required to Graduate?
Who Should Pay Income Taxes?
Obama Films Campaign Ad In White House, Violating FEC Laws
Sarah Palin team reaching out to Iowa activists for meetings
Supreme Court will set rules for warrantless GPS tracking
Coming soon, the test-tube burger
Bachmann Stresses Iowa Roots As She Launches Presidential Bid

Meditation can cut heart attacks by as much as half

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:42 AM PDT

By Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph

Transcendental meditation, the relaxation technique made famous by the Beatles, can cut heart attack and stroke death rates by up to 50%, new research has found.

The practice, which involves the continual repeating of a mantra, was found to reduce high blood pressure, cholesterol and thickening of the arteries. It is also protects against diabetes.

“This is a seminal finding,” said Dr Norman Rosenthal of the American government’s National Institute of Mental Health.

“The prevention of heart attack and stroke and actual lengthening of lifespan by an alternative
treatment method is exceedingly rare, if not unprecedented.

“If Transcendental Meditation were a drug conferring so many benefits, it would be a billion-dollar blockbuster.”Stress is a major factor in heart disease and meditation experts say the technique can help control it.

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin followed 201 men and women with an average age of 59 who suffered from the narrowing of arteries in their hearts for nine years.

Half of the group were taught Transcendental Meditation along with their normal treatment while the others just received advice on how to modify their diets and exercise routines.

They found that those who regularly meditated reduced their chances of dying or having a heart attack or stroke by 47 per cent compared with those who received traditional care.

In those who were particularly enthusiastic about the meditation or unusually susceptible to stress, the results were even stronger.

They showed a two-thirds reduction in chances of dying during the trial.

Professor Theodore Kotchen, the co-author of the £2.5 million trial, said: “These findings are the strongest documented effects yet produced by a mind-body intervention on cardiovascular disease.
“The effect is as large or larger than major categories of drug treatment for cardiovascular disease.”

Global Warming Required to Graduate?

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:17 AM PDT

By Jim Angle, FOXNews.com

Maryland is the first state in the country to impose a new requirement to graduate from high school — something called environmental literacy.

But what is that? That is the question State Senator J. B. Jennings is asking.

“What kind of education is it going to be?" he asks. "Is it going to be fact-based? Or is it going to be theory-based, which is usually politically, theory driven. And you can think, it’s going to be about global warming or climate change.”

Sarah Bodor of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation supports the initiative and says there is no mandate.

“People express concern about the content but what is important to know is that this new requirement doesn’t actually mandate any content at all.”

The new rule is a regulation from the State Board of Education, not a law passed by the legislature, so it lays out no specifics. Governor Martin O’Malley offers no real details but praises it, saying it will “infuse core subjects with lessons about conservation and smart growth and the health of our natural world.”

O'Malley also said it’ll serve as a “foundation for green jobs,” though one analyst says training for those is just like it is for any other job.

Who Should Pay Income Taxes?

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:11 AM PDT

By ELAINE MAAG, Forbes.com

David Walker, a former Government Accountability Office head, thinks it's a problem that half of Americans don't pay federal income taxes. At the June 22 IRS-Tax Policy Center Research Conference, he argued that more people ought to have "skin in the game" when it comes to paying these taxes so they will be invested in our country's future. I happen to think almost all of those people he's talking about do have skin in the game—more than he or I, in fact.

For starters, most people do pay taxes. As Walker recognizes, they pay payroll taxes, excise taxes, sales taxes, state income taxes–and more. Tax reform could easily involve some of these levies, so even people who don't pay federal income taxes today could be affected by reform. And please don't forget, while today's credits and deductions do knock many low-income people off the tax rolls, those in the top brackets reap far greater benefits.

Also, as noted by my colleague Eric Toder, people don't pay income taxes either because they have no taxable income (almost all of the elderly who don't pay income tax, for instance), or because they qualify for credits that offset their tax liability. For the people in the second group, increases in tax rates could very well hit them in the wallet – either because they'll owe net taxes or they'll receive smaller refunds.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recent analysis of those who don't pay federal income taxes jibes with TPC's. The conclusion? Most are elderly, poor, or unemployed (including people who are too disabled to work). Whom, I wonder, should the tax man put on the block? And how much money is there to be gained by doing so?

The Earned Income Tax Credit keeps many off the tax roles. But it's not keeping wealthy people from paying income taxes. TPC estimates that in 2010, about 80 percent of its benefits went to households with income under $30,000.

Obama Films Campaign Ad In White House, Violating FEC Laws

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:06 AM PDT

From Real Clear Politics

NRO’s Jim Geraghty raises the question of whether Barack Obama filmed a video for his reelection campaign in the White House, which may possibly be a violation of federal election laws.

In the video, President Obama promotes a “Dinner With Barack” raffle. To participate in the contest you need to donate at least $5 to the president’s re-election campaign and your name will be raffled off to enjoy a dinner with the President, airfare and accommodations included. In a new web video, Obama announced Vice President Joe Biden will also be attending the dinner.

There is one problem, however. This campaign ad was most likely recorded in the White House, which may have violated FEC campaign finance laws.

Sarah Palin team reaching out to Iowa activists for meetings

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:02 AM PDT

By MAGGIE HABERMAN |Politico

Sarah Palin’s camp is reaching out to activists and operatives in Iowa about setting up meetings while she’s in the state Tuesday for the screening of a documentary about her — including with Chuck Laudner, a former Iowa GOP executive director and prominent conservative.

Laudner confirmed to POLITICO he’d gotten a call from a Palin backer either Friday or during the weekend asking about meeting with him while she’s in Pella for the screening of “The Undefeated.” Laudner later clarified that Palin’s team was talking about a group of people attending a post-film mingling session, and not one-on-one get-togethers. He said they reached out to tell him he was on the list for that.

“They said I was on the list” for people she wanted to get together with, said Laudner, who has ties to staunch conservative Iowa Rep. Steve King, who in Congress has formed an alliance with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Laudner sounded skeptical about whether Palin is serious, or, as he said, “dancing around.”

“I’d be interested to see if she’s serious about a run,” he said. “That’d be (question) A; and B, would it be too late? That’s what it feels like, anyway. It’s not too late now, (but if you) dance around until fall,” it will be.

Nonetheless, he said, many conservatives are waiting to see what happens with Palin and Rick Perry, he said — discounting Tim Pawlenty as a “dead stick” and Herman Cain and Rick Santorum as “cruising along.” He did not mention Newt Gingrich.

As for Bachmann, he said she’s been a big beneficiary of good timing, with the Des Moines Register poll bracketing her kickoff.

That said, he added, expectations have now been raised for her, “and you almost have to be perfect from here to the straw poll.”

Supreme Court will set rules for warrantless GPS tracking

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 09:41 AM PDT

By Declan McCullagh, cnet news

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear a lawsuit that will determine whether police need to obtain a judge’s approval before installing GPS trackers on Americans’ automobiles.

A ruling, which is expected by next year, will establish whether a warrant signed by a judge is required before law enforcement can engage in the intrusive practice of tracking a driver’s every move on the roads. The Obama administration argues that no warrant is needed.

The case that will be presented to the justices arose out of a criminal prosecution of Antoine Jones and Lawrence Maynard, two suspected cocaine dealers who ran a nightclub in Washington, D.C. Jones said the warrantless use of a GPS device to track every movement of his vehicle over the course of a month violated the Fourth Amendment, which generally says that warrantless searches are “unreasonable.”

In August 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia agreed, tossing out Jones’ conviction “because it was obtained with evidence procured in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”

“A reasonable person does not expect anyone to monitor and retain a record of every time he drives his car, including his origin, route, destination, and each place he stops and how long he stays there; rather, he expects each of those movements to remain ‘disconnected and anonymous,’” circuit judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote.

Even though police are planting GPS bugs on Americans’ vehicles thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and lower courts have split on whether a warrant should be required. Once relegated, because of their cost, to the realm of what spy agencies could afford, GPS tracking devices now are readily available to jealous spouses, private investigators and local police departments for just a few hundred dollars.

Coming soon, the test-tube burger

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 09:05 AM PDT

By SOPHIE BORLAND, DailyMail.co.uk

The first 'test-tube' hamburger is only a year away, scientists claim.

They believe the product, beef mince grown from stem cells, could pave the way for eating meat without animals being slaughtered.

The Dutch scientists predict that over the next few decades the world's population will increase so quickly that there will not be enough livestock to feed everyone.

As a result, they say, laboratory-grown beef, chicken and lamb could become normal.

The scientists are currently developing a burger which will be grown from 10,000 stem cells extracted from cattle, which are then left in the lab to multiply more than a billion times to produce muscle tissue similar to beef.

The product is called 'in vitro' meat.

Mark Post, professor of physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who is behind the project, said: 'I don't see any way you could rely on old-fashioned livestock in the coming decades.

'In vitro meat will be the only choice left.

'We are trying to prove to the world we can make a product out of this, and we need a courageous person who is willing to be the first to taste it.

Bachmann Stresses Iowa Roots As She Launches Presidential Bid

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 08:58 AM PDT

By Craig Robinson, The Iowa Republican

It seemed only fitting that Michele Bachmann held her "Welcome Home" event in a historic dancehall named Electric Park. Bachmann, who officially announced her candidacy for president this morning in Waterloo, was electric last night when speaking to residents of her hometown.

Over 500 people filled the ballroom where Bachmann's parents used to dance. The facility is located on the grounds of Waterloo's National Cattle Congress, a place which Bachmann looked forward to visiting every summer as a child.

She kept her remarks focused on her time in Waterloo. As she would mention the hospital she was born in, one of the two churches her family belonged to, or the elementary school she attended, many of those in attendance could be seen nodding their heads, signifying that they shared a similar background with the now presidential candidate.

There is no sign announcing that Waterloo is the birthplace of Michele Bachmann, but after last night, there might be an effort to erect one. If any one doubted her Iowa roots, she made it abundantly clear that Iowa is her home. Even though last night's event was the first time she has visited her hometown since she began flirting with a presidential run, Bachmann drew a big crowd and connected with most of those present.

The only mention of Obamacare last night came from Jason Lewis, a conservative radio show host from Minnesota, who also has Waterloo roots. Bachmann brought up President Obama a couple of times. She said that President Bachmann would retire the presidential teleprompters, and then later asked for people's support so that President Obama will be a one term president. The crowd ate it up.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Florida’s GOP Senate candidates court tea party vote at Pinellas forum
Tea Party Plans Its Own Debt Panel
Amish clash with NY over electronic tax filing
Elderly woman asked to remove adult diaper during TSA search
Feds Plan Stealth Survey on Access to Doctors
Tea Party Presidential Debate
Bachmann tied with Romney in Iowa

Florida’s GOP Senate candidates court tea party vote at Pinellas forum

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:45 PM PDT

By David DeCamp, St. Petersburg Times

PINELLAS PARK — The route to a tea party-led political forum ultimately required turning to the right.

That posed little trouble Sunday to four U.S. Senate candidates seeking the Republican Party’s nomination to run against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson next year.

The top GOP candidates hued to conservative planks — too much federal spending, too much regulation, too much globalism — and the chance of attracting Tampa Bay area tea party activists.

With each candidate polishing his conservative appeal, it was a place where President Barack Obama-led health care changes should be repealed and where spending should be axed in some federal departments to stave off the spiraling debt crisis.

It also was where global warming caused by humans was theory, and where the United Nations’ agenda could be creeping too closely to controlling local government.

“I don’t believe in man-made global warming. I don’t buy into the alarmist mentality out there that the world is coming to an end,” said candidate Adam Hasner, a former Florida House majority leader from Boca Raton.

He chalked up climate change to an “agenda” by some to control the economy and make the country fit in with global wishes.

The applause came quickly.

Tea Party Plans Its Own Debt Panel

Posted: 26 Jun 2011 07:41 PM PDT

By KATE ZERNIKE, The New York Times

While the Tea Party movement has led the charge for cutting the national debt, its supporters have often struggled to explain how, exactly, they would do so.

Now some are out to change that, joining a Tea Party debt commission that plans to hold hearings over the summer, in the hopes of delivering recommendations to lawmakers by January.

The commission is being organized by FreedomWorks, the libertarian advocacy group that helped grow the Tea Party movement and mobilize it for the midterm elections. And its recommendations are likely to line up with the goals of that group, which in turn tend to reflect those of libertarian organizations like the Cato Institute. (FreedomWorks' motto is Lower Taxes, Less Government, More Freedom, and it has worked against environmental regulations and for increased privatization of health care.)

"If you look if you look at the landscape in Washington, D.C., there's a lot of Democrats who control two-thirds of the process who are now sitting on their hands, waiting to point fingers at Republicans who propose something, and there's too many Republicans who are afraid that the public won't understand a serious proposal to solve the budget deficit," said Matt Kibbe, the group's president.

"We think, like with the first days of the Tea Party movement, that the only way we will ever reduce the debt and balance the budget is if America beats Washington and Tea Party activists take over this process, take over the public debate and engage the American people in the hard work of making tough choices."

FreedomWorks held training for about 150 activists from 30 states at its headquarters in Washington over the weekend, with sessions dedicated to educating them about the budget proposals by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, both Republicans who strongly embrace libertarian economic principles.

The activists, along with FreedomWorks staff, came up with parameters for their budget proposals, declaring that they would have to balance the federal budget within 10 years, reduce federal spending to 18 percent of the gross domestic product, reduce the national debt to no more than 66 percent of the G.D.P., assume that revenue accounts for no more than 19 percent of the G.D.P., reduce federal spending by at least $300 billion in the first year and reduce federal spending by at least $9 trillion over 10 years.

Amish clash with NY over electronic tax filing

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:34 PM PDT

By Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal

DEPEYSTER, N.Y. — New York state rules that require business owners to file sales taxes electronically are running up against the anti-technology beliefs of some Amish communities.

Machine shop owner Enos Yoder says that because he is Amish he doesn’t use electricity, including phones and computers. He also has no Social Security number.

Yoder tells the Watertown Daily Times that he wants to pay his taxes by mail, as he has done in the past.

But as of this year the state Department of Taxation and Finance is requiring that sales taxes be filed electronically.

Elderly woman asked to remove adult diaper during TSA search

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:33 PM PDT

By LAUREN SAGE REINLIE, NewsHerald.com

A woman has filed a complaint with federal authorities over how her elderly mother was treated at Northwest Florida Regional Airport last weekend.

Jean Weber of Destin filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security after her 95-year-old mother was detained and extensively searched last Saturday while trying to board a plane to fly to Michigan to be with family members during the final stages of her battle with leukemia.

Her mother, who was in a wheelchair, was asked to remove an adult diaper in order to complete a pat-down search.

"It's something I couldn't imagine happening on American soil," Weber said Friday. "Here is my mother, 95 years old, 105 pounds, barely able to stand, and then this."

Sari Koshetz, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration in Miami, said she could not comment on specific cases to protect the privacy of those involved.

"The TSA works with passengers to resolve any security alarms in a respectful and sensitive manner," she said.

Weber's mother entered the airport's security checkpoint in a wheelchair because she was not stable enough to walk through, Weber said.

Wheelchairs trigger certain protocols, including pat-downs and possible swabbing for explosives, Koshetz said.

Feds Plan Stealth Survey on Access to Doctors

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:29 PM PDT

By ROBERT PEAR, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Alarmed by a shortage of primary care doctors, Obama administration officials are recruiting a team of "mystery shoppers" to pose as patients, call doctors' offices and request appointments to see how difficult it is for people to get care when they need it.

The administration says the survey will address a "critical public policy problem": the increasing shortage of primary care doctors, including specialists in internal medicine and family practice. It will also try to discover whether doctors are accepting patients with private insurance while turning away those in government health programs that pay lower reimbursement rates.

Federal officials predict that more than 30 million Americans will gain coverage under the health care law passed last year. "These newly insured Americans will need to seek out new primary care physicians, further exacerbating the already growing problem" of a shortage of physicians in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a description of the project prepared for the White House.

Plans for the survey have riled many doctors because the secret shoppers will not identify themselves as working for the government.

"I don't like the idea of the government snooping," said Dr. Raymond Scalettar, an internist in Washington. "It's a pernicious practice — Big Brother tactics, which should be opposed."

According to government documents obtained from Obama administration officials, the mystery shoppers will call medical practices and ask if doctors are accepting new patients and, if so, how long the wait would be. The government is eager to know whether doctors give different answers to callers depending on whether they have public insurance, like Medicaid, or private insurance, like Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Tea Party Presidential Debate

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:23 PM PDT

From: Las Vegas TSG Business News

More Than 100 Local Tea Party Groups Join The Tea Party Express And CNN For Republican Presidential Debate.

The Tea Party Express (www.TeaPartyExpress.org) announced today that more than 100 local tea party, 912 and conservative groups representing every state in the nation have signed on to cosponsor the groundbreaking Tea Party Presidential Debate on September 12, 2011.

The debate will take place in Tampa, Florida – a crucial state in the Republican presidential primary and the 2012 election.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Tea Party Express was teaming up with CNN to host the only national Tea Party debate, which will have a sharp focus on the core tea party issues of fiscal responsibility. Republican presidential candidates vying for the support of the tea party movement and would focus exclusively on the core tea party issues of fiscal responsibility.

Bachmann tied with Romney in Iowa

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 07:15 PM PDT

By JENNIFER JACOBS, The Des Moines Register

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann sit atop the standings in the year's first Des Moines Register Iowa Poll on the Republican presidential field.

Romney, the national front-runner and a familiar face in Iowa after his 2008 presidential run, attracts support from 23 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers. Bachmann, who will officially kick off her campaign in Iowa on Monday, nearly matches him, with 22 percent.

"She's up there as a real competitor and a real contender," said Republican pollster Randy Gutermuth, who is unaffiliated with any of the presidential candidates. "This would indicate that she's going to be a real player in Iowa."

Former Godfather's CEO Herman Cain, who has never held public office but has found a following among tea party supporters, comes in third, with 10 percent.

The other candidates tested register in single digits: former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, 7 percent each; former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, 6 percent; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, 4 percent; and former Utah Gov. and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, 2 percent.

Pawlenty has spent 26 days in Iowa during this election cycle, has hired an A-list team of Iowa campaign operatives and was the first major candidate to air television ads in Iowa.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tea party dilemma: What to do about Mitt Romney
Van Jones Returns, Launches Liberal Alternative to The Tea Party
Google to End Health Records Service After It Fails to Attract Users
DeMint Warns Republicans They May Be ‘Gone’ if They Support Debt Ceiling Increase
Texas Lawmakers AWOL For Vote On TSA Groping Bill

Tea party dilemma: What to do about Mitt Romney

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 10:08 AM PDT

By KENNETH P. VOGEL, Politico.com

The anybody-but-Mitt Romney faction developing within the tea party may pose a problem for the former Massachusetts governor's presidential ambitions, but some tea party organizers worry it could also backfire against the movement itself.

Romney, the current Republican front-runner, is viewed skeptically — at best — by many tea partiers. And disagreement over whether to actively oppose him threatens to undo the uneasy truces forged in the run-up to the 2010 midterms and undermine the fledgling movement's influence in the GOP.

The possibility of Romney winning the nomination is even reviving debate about whether activists should embrace, or even form, a third party — an idea that until recently had been dismissed as harmful to both the movement and the GOP.

"I honestly don't know whether the movement will perform well" in the presidential election, said Mark Meckler, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, a national coalition of local groups. "I don't think anybody is looking for a third-party candidate, but anybody who would count out that possibility, I just think is ignorant."

Another tea party leader, Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks, describes the presidential election as a potential "Achilles heel" for the movement, which arose in 2009 in opposition to what its activists saw as unchecked government spending and expansion under President Barack Obama.

"Our power comes from the fact that we're not dependent on anybody to be the leader," Kibbe told POLITICO, conceding the tea party's diffuse and decentralized nature may be better suited to congressional races than presidential politics.

Van Jones Returns, Launches Liberal Alternative to The Tea Party

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 10:04 AM PDT

By: Ari Melber, TheNation.com

Over one thousand liberal activists gathered in Manhattan on Thursday night, in a bid to counter the Tea Party and elevate a progressive who can tangle with the Becks and Bachmanns that dominate today's outraged populism. The event launched “Rebuild the Dream,” a MoveOn-backed effort to organize around economic issues.

The crowd that filed into Town Hall in midtown Manhattan was a mix of progressives old and young, in work clothes and casual attire. While they mingled and waited for music by The Roots, a second event was staged in a nearby press room. There reporters and bloggers heard from the would-be leader of a liberal Tea Party — the attorney, author and former Obama official Van Jones. Bowing to the lexicon of today's Left, however, it was clear that Jones was not announcing a "campaign," (despite the flashy website, social media strategy and PR campaign). He was not launching a lobbying "coalition," either, (even though the effort was backed by MoveOn, labor unions, USAction, TrueMajority and “many others to be announced”). The event promised the beginning of a movement.

According to Jones and MoveOn, the driving forces behind the launch, “Rebuild The Dream” is the Left's collective effort to use grassroots organizing and new media to challenge the rhetoric coming out of Washington and strengthen the middle class.

Jones is a natural fit to lead the effort. For many Democrats and liberals, he is viewed as a rare pol who can leverage authority, celebrity and purity. His professional and ideological credentials are in good order; he led up Green Jobs for the Obama administration, and was infamously run out of that job after a misleading and race-baiting campaign by Glenn Beck. Jones never sold out — he blew up.

"He's a great communicator," says MoveOn head Justin Ruben, "and we need more great communicators."

Ruben and Jones say they are following the Tea Party’s strategy. "The thing that we've been doing a terrible job of is telling our story," says Ruben. Highlighting how conservatives managed to unite Birthers, tax-phobes, and social conservatives under one ideological and—perhaps more importantly—rhetorical brand, Ruben said “Rebuild The Dream” could play a similar role for multi-faceted liberalism. It will be a "movement service organization," he said, with Jones as a visionary — not director — and an opportunity for activists to unite under a "common banner, both literally and figuratively." There will be “American Dream House Meetings” in mid-July, convened through MoveOn, to gather input on the effort’s goals.

Some major principles, however, have been predetermined.

Google to End Health Records Service After It Fails to Attract Users

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT

By: Steve Lohr, NYTimes.com

Google is giving up on its vision of helping people live healthier lives with online personal health records.

When Google Health was introduced in 2008, Marissa Mayer, a Google executive, said it would be a "large ongoing initiative" that the company hoped would attract millions of regular users.

But Google Health never really caught on. In a posting on the company's blog on Friday, Aaron Brown, senior product manager for Google Health, wrote that the goal was to "translate our successful consumer-centered approach from other domains to health care and have a real impact on the day-to-day health experiences of millions of our users."

Yet, after three years, Mr. Brown said, "Google Health is not having the broad impact we had hoped it would."

In the drive to apply information technology to health care, personalized health records are the element that relies most heavily on individual motivation and efforts. They are controlled by the consumer, and require individuals to put in, update and edit their health data. By contrast, the federal government has begun a five-year campaign to accelerate the adoption of electronic patient records by hospitals and doctors, with the incentive payments to physicians topping $40,000.

Personal health records, analysts say, are a new concept to most people, and early users have found them difficult to use. "Personal health records have been a technology in search of a market," said Lynne A. Dunbrack, an analyst at IDC Health Insights, a research firm.

DeMint Warns Republicans They May Be ‘Gone’ if They Support Debt Ceiling Increase

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 09:54 AM PDT

By JONATHAN KARL, ABCNews.com

Conservative firebrand Sen. Jim DeMint has a message to fellow Republicans in Congress: If you support increasing the debt ceiling without first passing a balanced budget amendment and massive across-the-board spending cuts, you’re gone — destined to be swept out of Congress by a wave of voter anger.

“Based on what I can see around the country,” DeMint, R-S.C., said in an interview for the ABC News Subway Series, “not only are those individuals gone, but I would suspect the Republican Party would be set back many years.

“It would be the most toxic vote,” DeMint said. “I can tell you if you look at the polls, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, they do not think we should increase the debt limit.”

DeMint is not just talking political analysis here. He has a significant fundraising base and has shown a willingness to use his campaign money to support or oppose fellow Republicans.

DeMint will use that political muscle to oppose fellow Republicans who don’t stand firm on the debt ceiling issue. He said he will not support any candidate for Congress — incumbent or challenger — who does not sign a pledge promising not to vote for a debt limit increase without first passing a balanced budget amendment, making deep spending cuts and putting strict limits on future government spending. The same rule applies to presidential candidates.

“I don’t have many litmus tests, but this is one: Any candidate who doesn’t understand that we need to balance the budget should not be president of the United States,” DeMint said. “So, I’m looking for candidates to sign the pledge.”

Texas Lawmakers AWOL For Vote On TSA Groping Bill

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 09:44 AM PDT

By: Paul Joseph Watson, InfoWars.com

5:21PM CST UPDATE: It's now apparent that the primary culprit behind the fact that lawmakers failed to show up for the vote was none other than Republican Speaker of the House Joe Straus, who labeled the bill "nothing more than an ill-advised publicity stunt," despite the fact that it merely sought to reinforce language already present in the 4th amendment. The Texas Tribune reports that Straus approached the bill's primary sponsor Rep. David Simpson earlier this week and insisted that language pertaining to "private parts" be removed from the legislation altogether, which would have completely gutted the bill.

As Simpson has emphasized, this bill is far from symbolic, it's specific in its remit to "expand the federal definition of "official oppression" to prohibit federal employees from improperly touching a person' s private areas".

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who to his credit doesn't appear to be acting as a roadblock for the bill this time around, released a statement this afternoon saying that the Senate would try to pass the bill out of committee on Monday.

Despite a massive lobbying effort on behalf of public pressure groups that forced Governor Rick Perry to reverse his position and resurrect a bill that would ban TSA groping in Texas and place it on the special session of the Texas state legislature, lawmakers set to give the bill a hearing today bizarrely went AWOL, and the session was adjourned.

"The author of the bill that would restrict the ability of federal airport security agents from patting down the intimate body parts of travelers said Friday that he doubts the measure will pass during the current special session," reports KXAN.

"This is not going to happen," state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, said after the Texas House adjourned without acting on any legislation."

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’
Cuccinelli goes after another federal regulation
Grim images must be put on cigarette packs by fall 2012
Section 527 works to seat liberals as election overseers
Winners and Losers of Straw Poll Auction
Tea Partiers Create Their Own TV Show and Production Company

Geithner: Taxes on ‘Small Business’ Must Rise So Government Doesn’t ‘Shrink’

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:44 AM PDT

By Terence P. Jeffrey, cnsnews.com

(CNSNews.com) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday that the Obama administration believes taxes on small business must increase so the administration does not have to "shrink the overall size of government programs."

The administration's plan to raise the tax rate on small businesses is part of its plan to raise taxes on all Americans who make more than $250,000 per year—including businesses that file taxes the same way individuals and families do.

Geithner's explanation of the administration’s small-business tax plan came in an exchange with first-term Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.). Ellmers, a nurse, decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 after she became active in the grass-roots opposition to President Barack Obama's proposed health-care reform plan in 2009.

"Overwhelmingly, the businesses back home and across the country continue to tell us that regulation, lack of access to capital, taxation, fear of taxation, and just the overwhelming uncertainties that our businesses face is keeping them from hiring," Ellmers told Geithner. "They just simply cannot."

She then challenged Geithner on the administration's tax plan.

"Looking into the future, you are supporting the idea of taxation, increasing taxes on those who make $250,000 or more. Those are our business owners," said Ellmers.

Cuccinelli goes after another federal regulation

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:40 AM PDT

By Paige Winfield Cunningham, WashingtonTimes.com

Wading into another fierce ideological battle, Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II has announced plans to sue regarding new federal regulation of the Internet and has urged other states to jump on board his fight against "net neutrality."

Calling the regulations the "most egregious of all violations of federal law," Mr. Cuccinelli told The Washington Times on Thursday that he will begin in July or August to gather support from other attorneys general and private partners for a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission.

"They have no respect for the courts, no respect for the states, no respect for the Constitution, no respect for federal law," Mr. Cuccinelli, a Republican, said during an appearance on Capitol Hill at a lunch meeting of the National Italian-American Foundation.

Mr. Cuccinelli has engaged the federal government in legal battles related to other hot-button political issues, including health care and climate change. The net neutrality issue has become a cause celebre for Republicans who fear the Obama administration is attempting to control the Internet.

The regulations were approved Dec. 21 by the five-member board of the FCC over the objections of its two Republican members and are expected to go into effect this summer.

They are designed to prevent broadband providers — companies such as AT&T and Verizon, which control the infrastructure of the Internet — from interfering with how companies such as Google, Netflix or a small startup use the lines. The goal is to keep cyberspace free from interference and guarantee that consumers can reach any website they want at the prices and speeds they are used to.

Grim images must be put on cigarette packs by fall 2012

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:37 AM PDT

By Michael Felberbaum, WashingtonTimes.com

RICHMOND — Rotting teeth and gums. Diseased lungs. A sewn-up corpse of a smoker. Cigarette smoke coming out of the tracheotomy hole in a man's neck.

Cigarette packs in the U.S. will have to carry these macabre images in nine new warning labels that are part of a campaign by the Food and Drug Administration to use fear and disgust to discourage Americans from lighting up.

The labels, announced Tuesday, represent the biggest change in cigarette packs in the U.S. in 25 years.

At a time when the drop in the nation's smoking rate has come to a standstill, the government is hoping the in-your-face labels will go further than the current surgeon general warnings toward curbing tobacco use, which is responsible for about 443,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

"These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

The FDA estimates the labels will cut the number of smokers by 213,000 in 2013, with smaller additional reductions through 2031.

Section 527 works to seat liberals as election overseers

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:33 AM PDT

By Chuck Neubauer, WashingtonTimes.com

A small tax-exempt political group with ties to wealthy liberals like billionaire financier George Soros has quietly helped elect 11 reform-minded progressive Democrats as secretaries of state to oversee the election process in battleground states and keep Republican "political operatives from deciding who can vote and how those votes are counted."

Known as the Secretary of State Project (SOSP), the organization was formed by liberal activists in 2006 to put Democrats in charge of state election offices, where key decisions often are made in close races on which ballots are counted and which are not.

The group's website said it wants to stop Republicans from "manipulating" election results.

"Any serious commitment to wresting control of the country from the Republican Party must include removing their political operatives from deciding who can vote and whose votes will count," the group said on its website, accusing some Republican secretaries of state of making "partisan decisions."

SOSP has sought donations by describing the contributions as a "modest political investment" to elect "clean candidates" to the secretary of state posts.

Named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, so-called 527 political groups — such as SOSP — have no upper limit on contributions and no restrictions on who may contribute in seeking to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat of candidates to federal, state or local public office. They generally are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), creating a soft-money loophole.

Winners and Losers of Straw Poll Auction

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:30 AM PDT

By Craig Robinson, TheIowaRepublican.com

All of the fireworks at the Republican Party of Iowa's Straw Poll Auction made for an interesting list of winners and losers. Below is my take on how campaigns faired.

Winners

Rick Perry: It should be impossible for a non-candidate to make this list, let alone come away as the biggest winner of the Iowa Straw Poll auction. That's exactly what happened when the current crop of campaigns at the meeting freaked out and threatened to walkout of the straw poll auction when a well-known Republican attorney showed up at the meeting to bid for an anonymous soon-to-be candidate.

It was eventually disclosed that the attorney who was there was representing the eventual campaign of Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter. Still, the absolute meltdown of the perceived Iowa frontrunners should send a clear message to the Governor's mansion in Austin that nobody feels comfortable with where their campaigns are at in Iowa at this point.

Thaddeus McCotter: So let me get this straight. McCotter didn't want to disclose that he was bidding on a lot because he didn't want it to overshadow his planned trip to Iowa and his eventual announcement that is sure to follow. It might have not gone as planned, but McCotter got huge buzz from sending a mystery woman to the meeting. I guess one could say that he has already rocked the Straw Poll.

It's also fitting that McCotter grabbed, what I believe, is the second best available lot. McCotter has the same location that Mike Huckabee had four years ago. Maybe there is an unwritten rule that the candidate who purchases that space has to be able to play the guitar. Talk about making a splash.

Ron Paul: The Ron Paul Revolution will take center stage at the Iowa Straw Poll now that Paul has purchased the same lot that has hosted the previous two winners of the event, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush. Paul had to pay a hefty price, $31,000, but the space is the closest of any other to the voting locations. The elevated walkways that will surround the Paul compound make it an ideal spot for the media to use as a backdrop.

Tea Partiers Create Their Own TV Show and Production Company

Posted: 24 Jun 2011 10:25 AM PDT

By: Paul Bond, Hollywoodreporter.com

Hollywood tends to “depict conservatives and traditionalists and people of faith as halfwits,” says founder of Colony Bay, which will debut its first project, a drama set in Colonial America, at a premiere on Sunday.

Those who belong to the conservative movement known as the Tea Party are acutely aware of the power of popular culture, so they have been cautiously delving into the creation of entertainment that promotes their values. It usually manifests itself in snippets of online political parody. Coming Sunday, though, is perhaps the most ambitious effort yet: A "TV show" created by a couple of Tea Partiers who have formed their own production company.

The one-hour drama is called Courage, New Hampshire, and it premiers Sunday at a movie theater in Monrovia, Calif. Co-hosting the red carpet activities are Saturday Night Live alumna Victoria Jackson and radio personality Tony Katz, both of whom regularly speak at Tea Party rallies.

Courage has the pacing and feel of a soap opera, though its set in Colonial America. While its creators are making it as a TV show, there's no distribution partner, so it's going straight to DVD after the premiere. The company, Colony Bay, is also trying to strike deals with conservative online TV outlets, like Glenn Beck's GBTV and Kelsey Grammer's Right Network, and are seeking a television VOD partner.

Colony Bay was founded by James Patrick Riley and Jonathan Wilson, who started in Hollywood as an assistant in ICM's motion picture literary department and became director of development for Peter Hyams, working on films like End of Days with Arnold Schwarzenegger. They met when Wilson was forming the Pasadena chapter of Tea Partiers and he recruited Riley, an experienced Patrick Henry impersonator, to perform at an event.

Riley, the wealthy owner of Riley's American Heritage Farm, a 760-acre apple and pear farm in Oak Glen, Calif. financed the first episode of Courage for $120,000. His money and that of other backers will fund future episodes. The first episode was filmed on the farm, where Riley has dedicated 55 acres to "living-history" educational tourism.

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Monday, June 27, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

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