Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Herman Cain: Most Black People Too Poor To Tea Party

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:26 AM PDT

By Evan McMorris-Santoro, TalkingPointsMemo

Asked about his own position as the most prominent African American in the Republican party these days, Herman Cain is fond of saying he refuses to “stay on the Democratic plantation like he’s supposed to” or that he refused to drink the liberal Kool-Aid.

Asked why more African Americans haven’t joined him at tea party rallies and conservative conventions like the Faith And Family Conference in DC this weekend, the millionaire ex-CEO has a different explanation. African Americans, Cain told TPM, are too poor to tea party.

“They can’t afford to,” Cain said. “So I think the first reason is economics. If you just look at the sheer economics of it.”

“If you look at the typical income of a black family of four it’s going to be lower than a non-black or white family of four,” he explained. “Generally speaking on average, white families are much more economically prosperous than black families. So, many black families don’t have the economic flexibility to go to a CPAC conference.”

Most tea partiers, Cain said, “own their own business, or they have the type of job where they have the flexibility where they can go to the rally.”

“Or they’re retired,” he added.

That’s just not the kind of job African Americans have, he said.

To read more, visit: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/herman-cain-most-black-people-too-poor-to-tea-party.php

Five candidates sign on for Iowa tea party bus tour

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:20 AM PDT

By JENNIFER JACOBS, The Des Moines Register

Five Republican presidential hopefuls have signed on for the Iowa Tea Party Bus Tour this summer: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum.

The three-week bus tour, the first in Iowa for the tea party movement, will make stops in 20 cities starting June 13 in Council Bluffs.

The tour is meant to be an opportunity for Iowa voters to learn more about the presidential candidates and to brush up on caucus procedures, organizer Ryan Rhodes said.

It's also meant to push tea party philosophies of adherence to the Constitution, a return to the gold standard, tax reform and a balanced budget, according to the bus tour website.

To read more, visit:  http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com/2011/06/06/five-candidates-sign-on-for-iowa-tea-party-bus-tour/

No more national anthem at pacifist Indiana college

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:16 AM PDT

From wthr.com

Goshen – A small northern Indiana college has decided to stop playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at sporting events after starting to do so for the first time last year.

Goshen College’s board of directors says it will find an alternative that honors the country and the Mennonite Church-affiliated school’s pacifist traditions.

The 1,000-student college has been playing an instrumental version of the national anthem, followed by a peace prayer, before games and other events. Some were upset with the school’s decision last year because the song’s lyrics contain references to using war and military might to defend the country.

To read more, visit:  http://www.wthr.com/story/14851935/no-more-national-anthem-at-pacifist-indiana-college

30% of companies to drop health coverage because of Obamacare

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:12 AM PDT

By Russ Britt, MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Once provisions of the Affordable Care Act start to kick in during 2014, at least three of every 10 employers will probably stop offering health coverage, a survey released Monday shows.

While only 7% of employees will be forced to switch to subsidized-exchange programs, at least 30% of companies say they will "definitely or probably" stop offering employer-sponsored coverage, according to the study published in McKinsey Quarterly.

The survey of 1,300 employers says those who are keenly aware of the health-reform measure probably are more likely to consider an alternative to employer-sponsored plans, with 50% to 60% in this group expected to make a change. It also found that for some, it makes more sense to switch.

"At least 30% of employers would gain economically from dropping coverage, even if they completely compensated employees for the change through other benefit offerings or higher salaries," the study says.

It goes on to add: "Contrary to what employers assume, more than 85% of employees would remain at their jobs even if their employers stopped offering [employer-sponsored insurance], although about 60% would expect increased compensation." Read about the costly flaws in the U.S. digital health-data plan.

To read more, visit:   http://www.marketwatch.com/story/firms-halting-coverage-as-reform-starts-survey-2011-06-06

USA has record $61.6 TRILLION in unfunded obligations; $534,000 per household

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:06 AM PDT


By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

The federal government’s financial condition deteriorated rapidly last year, far beyond the $1.5 trillion in new debt taken on to finance the budget deficit, a USA TODAY analysis shows.

The government added $5.3 trillion in new financial obligations in 2010, largely for retirement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. That brings to a record $61.6 trillion the total of financial promises not paid for.

This gap between spending commitments and revenue last year equals more than one-third of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Medicare alone took on $1.8 trillion in new liabilities, more than the record deficit prompting heated debate between Congress and the White House over lifting the debt ceiling.

Social Security added $1.4 trillion in obligations, partly reflecting longer life expectancies. Federal and military retirement programs added more to the financial hole, too.

To read more, visit:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-06-06-us-owes-62-trillion-in-debt_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip

EYE SCANNERS: Airlines aim to modernize security checks

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 11:02 AM PDT

by Alex Kennedy, Associated Press

SINGAPORE (AP) — Eye scanners and futuristic security tunnels may be standard in airports soon as the airline industry seeks to maintain safety while reducing the hassles of boarding a plane that deter some people from flying.

The International Air Transport Association unveiled a mock-up Tuesday in Singapore of what it dubbed the “Checkpoint of the Future,” where passengers separated by security risk would walk through one of three high-tech, 20-foot-long (6.1-meters-long) tunnels that can quickly scan shoes and carry-on luggage and check for liquids and explosives.

“Passengers should be able to get from curb to boarding gate with dignity,” IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said. “That means without stopping, stripping or unpacking, and certainly not groping.”

Airlines are seeking ways to win back passengers put off by long and irritating airport security measures who have opted to travel instead by train, boat or car. IATA said Monday it expects the industry’s profit this year to plummet to $4 billion from $18 billion last year.

U.S. Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said he thinks IATA’s security system, which it hopes to implement within five years, is a great idea.

“It’s something that’s long overdue,” Pistole said at IATA’s annual conference. “We’re not at the checkpoint of the future yet but we’re working toward that. I think eventually we will see something similar.”

The TSA has been working for the last six months on developing a system that could differentiate passengers by security risk to cut down on needless checks, Pistole said.

To read more, visit:  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Airlines-aim-to-take-hassle-apf-3303005689.html?x=0&.v=7

GM chief pushing for higher gas taxes

Posted: 07 Jun 2011 10:57 AM PDT

By David Shepardson and Christina Rogers, The Detroit News

Detroit — General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, and he’s confident the government will soon shed its remaining 26 percent stake in the once-bankrupt automaker.

“I actually think the government will be out this year — within the next 12 months, hopefully within the next six months,” Akerson said in a two-hour interview with The Detroit News last week.

He is grateful for the government’s rescue of GM — “I have nothing but good things to say about them” — but Akerson said the time for that relationship to end is coming because it’s wearing on GM.

“It’s kind of like your in-laws: It was a nice long weekend. We didn’t say a week,” Akerson said with a laugh.

And while he is eager to say goodbye to the government as a part owner of GM, Akerson would like to see it step up to the challenge of setting a higher gas tax, as part of a comprehensive energy policy.

A government-imposed tax hike, Akerson believes, will prompt more people to buy small cars and do more good for the environment than forcing automakers to comply with higher gas-mileage standards.

“There ought to be a discussion on the cost versus the benefits,” he said. “What we are going to do is tax production here, and that will cost us jobs.”

For the years 2017-25, federal officials are considering 3 percent to 6 percent annual fuel efficiency increases, or 47 mpg to 62 mpg. That could boost the cost of vehicles by up to $3,500.

“You know what I’d rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas,” Akerson said.

“People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans.”

To read more, visit:  http://detnews.com/article/20110607/AUTO01/106070368/1148/rss25
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