Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party |
- Give me liberty, and give me my light bulbs, some Americans say
- Judge rules use of GPS to track a cheating spouse is not an invasion of privacy
- GOP ties job numbers to anti-tax stance in debt talks
- Tea Party leader DeMint says new book is “recruitment tool”
- Jobs Data Dim Recovery Hopes
- TSA luggage screener accused of stealing passengers’ electronics
| Give me liberty, and give me my light bulbs, some Americans say Posted: 08 Jul 2011 11:13 AM PDT By ANNIE GREENBERG, The Kansas City Star James Hartley sees liberty in his light bulbs. He's been stockpiling traditional incandescent bulbs for almost two years. So far he's collected more than 300. He said he'll keep buying them until new federal standards start phasing them out next year in favor of more energy-efficient compact fluorescent and LED bulbs. For Hartley, a Wyoming truck driver originally from Vulcan, Mo., it's about consumer choice. "If it was given as an option to save energy, that's fine," he said. "But we've got a choice to still drive a gas-guzzling vehicle or buy a brand new, government-subsidized Chevy Volt. … If someone prefers something, they should have the right to buy it." Like it or not, the symbol of U.S. ingenuity is changing. A USA Today/Gallup poll in February asked Americans if the phase-out legislation was a "good" or a "bad" law. While 61 percent said it was good and only 31 percent said it was bad, that 31 percent still represents millions of upset Americans. Opponents of the legislation say it's a threat to the free market and personal liberty, and alternative bulbs are too expensive. They've taken their complaints to the blogosphere. Like Hartley, some are buying incandescent bulbs in bulk and say the phase-out will lead to bootlegging from China. They contend that the mercury content in compact fluorescents, which require special disposal methods, cancel out any environmental benefits. To read more, visit: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/07/3001033/give-me-liberty-and-give-me-my.html |
| Judge rules use of GPS to track a cheating spouse is not an invasion of privacy Posted: 08 Jul 2011 11:07 AM PDT By MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger GLOUCESTER COUNTY — Beware, all you cheating husbands and wives. The use of a GPS device to track your whereabouts is not an invasion of privacy in New Jersey, a state appellate court panel ruled today. Based on the battle of a divorcing Gloucester County couple, the decision helps clarify the rules governing a technology increasingly employed by suspicious spouses — many of whom hire private investigators. "For the appellate division to say that it's not an invasion of privacy is a wonderful thing for the private investigation business," said Lisa Reed, owner of LSR Investigations in Flemington. "It's been something we've been haggling over for some period of time." No state law governs the use of GPS tracking devices, and the ruling, which does not affect police officers, is the first to address the issue, said Jimmie Mesis, past president of the New Jersey Licensed Private Investigators Association. "We only use it when we are sure we have the appropriate conditions,'' Reed said, noting that investigators make sure GPS devises are installed in cars on public streets and not private areas, and that the spouse must have some legal or financial connection to the car. The court ruled in the case of Kenneth Villanova, a Gloucester County sheriff's officer who sued private investigator Richard Leonard of Innovative Investigations Inc., hired by Villanova's now ex-wife in 2007. After Villanova evaded Leonard, who was following him, on several occassions, he recommended that Villanova's wife buy a GPS tracking device. She put it in the glove compartment of the GMC Yukon-Denali, which they both owned but was primarily driven by Villanova, the court papers said. It was in place, undetected, from July 14 to Aug. 24, 2007. To read more, visit: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/judge_rules_use_of_gps_to_trac.html |
| GOP ties job numbers to anti-tax stance in debt talks Posted: 08 Jul 2011 09:27 AM PDT By Alan Silverleib, CNN Washington (CNN) — Top congressional Republicans on Friday used the new dismal jobs report to blast Democrats’ push for more tax revenue in the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, arguing that such a move would derail an already shaky economic recovery. Federal officials reported Friday that the economy added only 18,000 jobs in June — far below the number predicted by most economists. Unemployment inched up another tenth of a point to 9.2%. “Today’s report is more evidence that the misguided ‘stimulus’ spending binge, excessive regulations, and an overwhelming national debt continue to hold back private-sector job creation in our country,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. “A debt limit increase that raises taxes or fails to make serious spending cuts won’t pass the House.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, said the jobs figures “serve as a warning that as we address the debt limit increase we shouldn’t do so in a way that raises taxes and impedes the ability of small businesses to create jobs and get people back to work. … Let me be clear: Republicans will not agree to tax increases. Period.” To read more, visit: |
| Tea Party leader DeMint says new book is “recruitment tool” Posted: 08 Jul 2011 09:09 AM PDT By Harriet McLeod, Reuters Tea party kingmaker Senator Jim DeMint said he will use a new book about his lonely campaign to cut government spending and reduce the size of government as a tool to recruit more Americans to his cause. “The Great American Awakening: Two Years That Changed America, Washington, and Me,” is an effort to show Americans that they can make a difference in Washington, DeMint said in a telephone interview with Reuters on Thursday. The Tea Party and the freshmen Republicans it swept into office last fall have changed the Republican Party by forcing a showdown over raising the national debt ceiling, said DeMint, a Republican from South Carolina. In his book, published July 4, DeMint slams his own party for overspending and for compromising with Democrats. He writes that he woke up on the morning after to the election of (president) Barack Obama “ready to do battle — not with Democrats, but with Republicans.” He recalls that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told him, “Jim, you can’t change the Senate.” “Now if you look at what’s going on in the Senate,” DeMint said on Thursday, “the leaders of those who are pushing for a balanced budget amendment and caps on spending, they’re Pat Toomey and Mike Lee and Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson. These are folks that the Senate Conservatives Fund, my PAC, helped raise money for and get elected.” Freshmen senators Toomey from Pennsylvania, Lee from Utah, Paul from Kentucky, Rubio from Florida and Johnson from Wisconsin were swept into office by the Republican victory in the 2010 midterm elections. DeMint said his “Senate Conservative Fund” hopes to raise $15 million to help elect five to 10 more strong conservatives to the Senate. “Even when you had a Republican president and a Republican majority, the old Senate club has kept us from doing anything.” To read more, visit: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/us-demint-idUSTRE76746H20110708 |
| Posted: 08 Jul 2011 08:20 AM PDT By LUCA DI LEO And JEFF BATER, The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy barely added jobs for the second month in a row in June and the unemployment rate rose to the highest level this year, adding to concerns the labor market will take years to recover. Nonfarm payrolls rose 18,000 last month, far fewer than expected, as small gains in the private sector were just enough to outweigh continued government-job losses, the Labor Department said Friday in its survey of employers. Payrolls data for the previous two months were revised down by a total 44,000 to show increases of only 25,000 jobs in May and 217,000 in April. The jobless rate, which is obtained from a separate household survey, increased for the third straight month to 9.2% in June from 9.1% in May. It was the highest level since December 2010. There are 14.1 million Americans who would like to work but can’t get a job. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast payrolls would rise by 125,000 and the jobless rate would remain steady at 9.1%. The choppy two-year-old recovery is proving to be one of the worst since the 1930s. It has been too slow to make up for all the jobs lost after the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. With little scope left for policy to help, President Barack Obama is likely to confront the highest unemployment rate of any postwar incumbent when he seeks re-election in the fall of 2012. To read more, visit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303544604576433541086114816.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories |
| TSA luggage screener accused of stealing passengers’ electronics Posted: 08 Jul 2011 07:27 AM PDT By Sofia Santana and Ken Kaye, Sun Sentinel A Transportation Security Administration employee may have had a keen eye for screening luggage, but authorities say he also had sticky fingers. Nelson Santiago, 30, of Hollywood, was arrested Monday on two counts of grand theft after a Continental Airlines employee at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport accused Santiago of stealing an iPad electronic tablet out of someone’s luggage and stuffing it in his pants. During questioning, Santiago told Broward Sheriff’s detectives he stole electronics from plane passengers’ luggage to sell online — often posting the items for sale and cashing in on them during the same shift, officials said. Detectives say such thefts went on for six months, and the losses totaled $50,000. The TSA hired him in January 2009; on Thursday agency spokeswoman Sari Koshetz said Santiago was no longer employed there. She declined to elaborate. To read more, visit: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-tsa-employee-thefts-20110707,0,6910129.story |
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