Thursday, July 28, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

California Taxes In Heart Of Amazon Country

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:51 PM PDT

By: Robert W. Wood, Forbes.com

Like mosquitoes, Amazon taxes are swarming in states like New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Colorado. Arizona, Hawaii, Minnesota, Mississippi and Vermont taxes are on the way. But California—often a leader when it comes to controversy—passed the newest and toughest of law. It requires many online merchants to collect California sales tax on shipments into California.

California's law—Steve Forbes has labeled California the "pickpocket state"—reaches far beyond making retailers collect tax if they have a physical presence in the Golden State. Online affiliates in the state trigger the obligation. Plus, California collects sales tax if the retailer (directly or through a subsidiary) designs or develops products sold by the retailer. As expected, Amazon cut ties with its California affiliates.

Meanwhile, California is gearing up. Jerome Horton, Chair of California's Board of Equalization tax agency announced enforcement steps:

Register. Out-of-state online retailers who meet the criteria "must" register with the Board of Equalization and collect and remit the use tax. If the out-of-state retailers refuse to comply, the state will enforce the law.

Constitutionality? The Board of Equalization doesn't have the power to declare a statute unenforceable or to refuse to enforce a statute. It can only do so if an appellate court or a referendum by the people has made a determination the statute isn't enforceable. Until then, pay up.

Key date. The Board of Equalization will have its first indication of non-compliance on October 31, 2011 when California sales and use tax returns for the third quarter of 2011 are due. At that time, the Board may begin issuing estimated billings to retailers that have failed to comply.

Heart of Darkness? Amazon argues the law is unconstitutional and wants California voters to decide whether to overturn it. A petition for a referendum has been filed with the California Attorney General which could require voters to decide on the new law. "This will likely set the stage for a potentially high-dollar ballot fight next year that would pit business against business," said Chairman Horton.

To read more, visit:  http://blogs.forbes.com/robertwood/2011/07/27/california-taxes-in-heart-of-amazon-country/

Boehner tries to tame GOP on debt ceiling plan

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:46 PM PDT

By JAKE SHERMAN & JOHN BRESNAHAN, Politico.com

A dust up among a major House conservative bloc and the prospect of tens of billions of dollars in new spending cuts has Republican leadership feeling as if it quelled an uprising on the right after struggling to line up votes for much of the week.

Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California and Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam of Illinois continued their hard sell of a two-step debt-limit package, meeting in Capitol offices to close the deal and avoid a default on the nation's $14.3 trillion debt.

In a closed-door Republican Conference meeting on Wednesday, Boehner demanded his wavering members "get your ass in line" to back his proposal, and some members obliged. Michigan Rep. Thad McCotter, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, switched from voting no to yes during the 90-minute session. Reps. Blake Farenthold of Texas, Billy Long of Missouri and Jeff Denham of California are now backing the speaker's plan, as are Reps. Darrell Issa of California, Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, Nan Hayworth of New York and Dan Lungren of California. Lungren even got up during the meeting and likened Boehner to Ronald Reagan, the conservative icon who was president during Lungren's first stint in the House. Other hard "no" voters have flipped to leaning no or even undecided.

But despite having momentum on their side, Boehner and his top lieutenants don't have a big margin for error. Few, if any, Democrats are expected to vote for the debt ceiling package, so Republicans must cobble together 217 votes on their own. They can lose just 23 lawmakers and still pass it. As of press time, at least a dozen lawmakers were whipping "no."

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence — former House Republican Conference chairman who is running for governor — has emerged as a late-game player, of sorts, in the debt debate. Pence and a dozen undecided Republicans met with McCarthy on Wednesday afternoon with a new request designed to win their support for the Boehner plan — GOP leaders must hold a vote on a "clean" balanced-budget amendment similar to that passed by the chamber in 1995. If that happens, they may throw their support to the Boehner plan, said one of the lawmakers.

Pence's position is in contrast to earlier positions of the conservative Republican Study Committee, which he once chaired. The RSC has pushed a balanced-budget amendment that requires a supermajority to raise taxes. Pence's argument is that GOP leaders should launch a "serious effort" to pass a balanced-budget amendment as part of this debt deal by putting forth a bill that could garner Democratic votes.

To read more, visit:  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/60022.html

Tea Party Wants Boehner, Obama Fired

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:43 PM PDT

By PAUL BEDARD, USNews.com

If House Speaker John Boehner or his senior leadership team thought they had the support of the Tea Party movement, they better think again. An internal poll of the largest group in the movement, the Tea Party Patriots, found that they are dissatisfied with the House leaders, Boehner in particular, and simply can’t stand President Obama.

National Director Jenny Beth Martin told Whispers bluntly: “We’re really not satisfied with any of them.” [Check out editorial cartoons about the Tea Party.]

She said that the Tea Party Patriots on Tuesday surveyed “tens of thousands” of their members in 3,500 affiliates about the current leadership and found these stunning results:

–81.5 percent are not satisfied with the House GOP leadership.

–74.1 percent, asked if they want a new House speaker, said yes or maybe.

–71.7 percent are not satisfied with the performance of the House.

–97.6 percent are not satisfied with the performance of the Senate.

–98.8 percent are not satisfied with Obama’s performance.

–Whopping majorities believe that their House representative and senators are more concerned with party politics than “what’s best for America.”

–62.8 percent trust neither party to fix the debt problem; 36.4 percent trust the GOP to fix it; less than one percent trust the Democrats.

Worse for those like Boehner and Obama trying to cut a debt ceiling increase, most do not want a deal unless it includes massive spending cuts, likely over the $4 trillion figure earlier under negotiation.

To read more, visit:  http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2011/07/27/tea-party-wants-boehner-obama-fired

NSA Lawyer Questioned Over Cellphone Location Tracking of Americans

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:38 PM PDT

By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, WSJ.com

Is the government using cellular data to track Americans as they move around the U.S.?

According to the general counsel of the National Security Agency, it may have that authority. Matthew Olsen, who is currently at the NSA and has been nominated to lead the National Counterterrorism Center, discussed the possibility at a confirmation hearing Tuesday morning in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

"There are certain circumstances where that authority may exist," he said. His comments came after Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) asked him several times whether the government has the authority to "use cell site data to track the location of Americans inside the country."

Although Olsen acknowledged the possibility, he also said "it is a very complicated question" and that the intelligence community is working on a memo that will provide a better answer for the committee.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the committee, asked that such a memo be prepared in time for the committee's first hearing in September, after the August recess.

The questions come after Sens. Ron Wyden and Mark Udall (D., Colo.) wrote a letter to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asking whether the agencies he leads, including the NSA and the CIA, "have the authority to collect the geolocation information of American citizens for intelligence purposes."

To read more, visit:  http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/07/26/nsa-lawyer-questioned-over-cellphone-location-tracking-of-americans/?mod=google_news_blog

Long-term, universal flu shot on horizon

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 05:35 PM PDT

By Dan Vergano and Liz Szabo, USATODAY.COM

A universal flu vaccine that protects against all strains may be within reach in the next five years, replacing annual shots developed for specifics flu viruses, the chief of the National Institutes of Health predicts.

Francis Collins told USA TODAY’s Editorial Board on Tuesday that he is “guardedly optimistic” about development of a long-term shot to replace the one “you’d have to renew every year.”

About 200,000 people are hospitalized with the flu every year, and an estimated 3,000 to 49,000 die, making the flu one of the chief causes of preventable death in the USA.

Collins cited the long-term flu shot in a wide-ranging discussion of many advances coming from NIH research. Amid budget debates now underway in Washington, D.C. that could also trim NIH’s $31billion budget, he made the case for research investments that improve the nation’s health.

A universal flu vaccine “seemed completely out of reach only a few years ago,” Collins said. That’s because flu viruses mutate yearly, causing small changes in surface coatings, which make old vaccines obsolete.

Recently however, scientists have found “there are parts of the viral coat that don’t change …. If you designed a vaccine to go after the constant part of the virus, you’d be protected against all strains,” Collins said.

To read more, visit:  http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/coldflu/story/2011/07/Long-term-universal-flu-shot-on-horizon/49671698/1

‘RIGHT OUT OF ATLAS SHRUGGED’: HEAR AN EXASPERATED ALABAMA BUSINESSMAN TELL THE FEDS – ‘I’M JUST QUITTING’

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 03:22 PM PDT

Town Moves To Ban Free Speech in Private Homes, Group Meetings

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 03:18 PM PDT

McCain Blasts Tea Party for ‘Foolish’ Demands in Debt Debate

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 10:20 AM PDT


By Sunlen Miller, ABC News

As Speaker of the House John Boehner is looking for votes on his House debt bill, one Senate Republican sent a strong message to the Tea Party block in the House and Senate that are still withholding their support: get on board.

Senator John McCain's, R-AZ., message was in particular aimed at those who are withholding their support for any debt ceiling bill – Republican or Democratic –holding the Balanced Budget Amendment passage as a precondition to the debt limit increase.

"To hold out and say we won’t agree to raising the debt limit until we pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to the constitution. It's unfair, it’s bizarre," McCain railed on the Senate floor, "And maybe some people have only been in this body for six or seven months or so really believe that. Others know better.”

Many of the most conservative members of the House have said they will not vote for any debt ceiling increase that does not include a Balanced Budget Amendment and deeper spending cuts. Similarity, some conservatives Republicans in the Senate have said the same.

McCain called this "amazing," foolish" and "deceiving" that some members believe that this can happen, now with only 6 days left until the nation defaults on its debts with the August 2 deadline for action looming.

"To somehow think or tell our citizens that if we have enough debate and amendment here in the Senate in the short term in the next six days that we will pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution is unfair to our constituents," McCain said.

To read more, visit:  http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/07/mccain-blasts-tea-party-for-foolish-demands-in-debt-debate.html

Iowa Polling to Test Paul’s Move to Mainstream

Posted: 27 Jul 2011 08:22 AM PDT



By TRIP GABRIEL, The New York Times

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Representative Ron Paul has a message for the ardent followers who read his books with a highlighter and donate to his fund-raising "money bombs" on the Internet: Winning the Iowa Straw Poll next month would "rock the establishment."

Mr. Paul's libertarian views have moved from the fringe toward the mainstream of conservative thinking in the past several years, with his warnings about fiscal meltdown gaining new resonance and the 2008 financial crisis allowing him to press his longstanding critiques of the Federal Reserve.

Now, as he again seeks the Republican presidential nomination, he is hoping to show that he can translate the new attention into votes. And his first test is the straw poll next month, where he is hoping he can organize his band of followers into a political machine capable of beating some or all of his brand-name rivals.

Even if he does not win, a strong showing by Mr. Paul could dent the campaigns of other candidates, especially Tim Pawlenty and Representative Michele Bachmann.

The straw poll, to be held in Ames on Aug. 13, is, if nothing else, a closely watched test of organizing capabilities and an early rehearsal for the Iowa caucuses after the turn of the year. Particularly for candidates needing to raise their profiles, it is an opportunity to exhibit credibility and win media attention and donors.

To read more, visit:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/us/politics/27paul.html?_r=4
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