Wednesday, January 21, 2015

New Narco Manta says CDG are active in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

Borderland Beat

Link to Borderland Beat

New Narco Manta says CDG are active in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:51 PM PST

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article by Otis B Fly-Wheel

Monterrey: the tranquility in the metropolitan zone was altered this morning because of a series of mantas with narco trafficker messages.

Various narco mantas were placed on pedestrian bridges, were signed by the Cartel del Golfo and indicate that the Monterrey plaza is theirs, that they don't want to fight the government and that the CDG are still active.

The mantas with warnings were deployed about 6:00 am in the avenue Garza Salda on the cross-roads of the avenue del Estado, another was placed in the avenue Lazaro Cardenas, and one more close to the avenue Alfonso Reyes.

According to non confirmed sources there were also mantas placed at Puente de Papa around the river Santa Catarina, in the central zone of the capital.

Minutes after being deployed, elements of the state police arrived and took them all down.


In the legible parts, the mantas said:

Happy new year 2015, to all of Nuevo Leon, this is a message to all citizens and authorities of Nuevo Leon. The Cartel del Golfo is stronger than ever, we don't want to fight with the Government, we only do whats right like the serious Cartel we are, we want to be clear, this plaza is ours, and to all those mugrosos lava-car and grasshoppers we keep on ragging those beginners, 

Atte: Cartel del Golfo Nuevo Leon plaza.

The most recent exhibition of mantas of this type occurred on 14th of November 2014, when a group of 24 people displayed messages of a political character against the state government.

The 24 people were detained because according to authorities, the incident is similar to intimidatory narco-traffickers, but the 24 people were released a few hours later.

Since the past year, the state government has registered a drop in criminal incidents in relation to years passed.

Original article in spanish at Proceso

Tamaulipas, years and years of the same old filth

Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:42 PM PST


Translated for Borderland Beat by Otis B Fly-Wheel from a Sinembargo article


Tamaulipas , years and years of the same filth.


By Sandra Rodriguez Nieto
The kidnapping of a moderator of social network , her body bloodied appeared in a photo , in her twitter account, this put Tamaulipas under the gaze of the world again. Remembering that in this place 15 years ago the Zetas formed from Military deserters. No government strategy has put the brakes on the growth of the organisation., the corruption , the violence , the insecurity , and the impunity that converts this territory into the first without Law in Mexico.
In the year 2014 , in this frontier entity , is in first place for National Statistics on Kidnapping , more than half of which end in culpable homicides, including the three young Americans , who were allegedly kidnapped by the bodyguards of a mayor.
The strategy for the security of Tamaulipas ,a spear thrust in May past, for the Federal Government, they responded by killing one of the new managers. They cleanse the police, said the Human Rights Activist the Tamaulipan Raymondo Ramos, but when are they going to cleanse the government? Governments come and governments go , but Tamaulipas stays the same , years and years of decomposition and years and years of the same filth.




Mexico City , 7th of January, The suspicion of what has been a relationship between the politicians and criminal organizationsof Matamoros , Tamaulipas , transcended at least since midway of 2013, when it was published that the candidate of PAN for Mayor of this city would be Leiticia Salazar Vazquez, had received more than 3 million dollars from an business man who has links with Cartel Del Golfo.
Despite the evidence , Salazar Vazquez became the first Municipal President of Matamoros , and the suspicious business man , Luis Alfredo Biasi , in the title of Secretary of Social Improvement of the state, its said is her right arm , and habitually accompanies her in public events.
One month after assuming the governors position , after a Sunday of battles , blockades, and kidnapping , with no less than 13 killings , the 3rd of November , the Mayor Salazar subjected a national note to ask the inhabitants of the city , not to go out into the streets because they knew that violence was due to an internal dispute of the criminal organizationand that it would probably continue.
In the following January, the tax administration service , put an embargo on a merchant for allegedly importing illegal alcohol and cigarettes , and according to local web sites of Tamaulipas , the business was owned by none other than the distinguished Municipal Functionary Luis Biasi.
It was confirmed that the business located in the place of operation where this embargo took place belongs to the Secretary of Social Development of the Municipality of Matamoros , Luis Alfredo Biasi , published on February the 1st on the Inforio.com.mx site.
But nothing occurred to the suspect functionary, so life continued in the normal manner for Matamoros , in the major part of Tamaulipas during 2014 , it was said “ in an environment of almost total impunity , corruption and violence , and the persistent reports of Terrorism , the killings , the kidnappings , the miles of stolen vehicles, the battles , the explosives , and associated crimes that have converted the state that is synonymous with un-governability in Mexico.
Report data on criminal incidences of common Jurisdiction in 2014 , between January and November , there were 528 homicides , almost 5,500 stolen vehicles , and 244 registered kidnappings , the latter offense in which the state ranks 1st Nationally.
The Violence doesn't stop


 
A recounting of the crimes with the highest impact , only those reported to the PGJE , started on the night of 13th of January , when armed men stormed the ranch of the ex mayor David Manriquez Perez , in the Municipality of Llera de Canales, to the south of Ciudad Victoria , there were shots heard on various occasions.
Later at the start of March , during a chase by Police with armed civilians , when the criminals launched a grenade into the interior of a primary school , with no consequences because classes had not yet started.

Other explosions without consequences happened soon after, days later also in Ciudad Victoria on the 24th March , and a month later on the night of April 25th , a group of armed men stormed a Taqueria, also in the capital , and opened fire indiscriminately killing two people , and wounding seven others , including a child of five years of age and an old woman of 72.
10 days after , also in Ciudad Victoria , the new Director of Investigations of the State Secretary of Public Security , Colonel Salvador de Haro Munoz , was assassinated in his car, together with his two bodyguards, allegedly by elements of the State Police.
According to the investigative professor and Director of Department of Government of the University of Texas in Brownsville, Guadalupe Correa , these violent events carried on throughout the rest of 2014, in towns such as Matamoros , Reynosa , Tampico or Mante , they have what he called " a third stage in the decapitation of the structure of both Los Zetas and Cartel del Golfo , and that everything indicates that they both have internal fighting between different factions.
There is no struggle between the cartels. The violence happens in plazas that are controlled by a group. It is an internal struggle of the Gulf Cartel arising due to arrested capos, it is like a third stage of decapitations of the groups, the moment of dismantling of the structure of sicarios , that was generated for this war in which supposed bosses such as Heriberto Lazcano , Z 40 , and Mario Pelon were already arrested, said the Academic.
In this context , the 13th of May, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong went to Reynosa , and responded with an answer to the internal conflicts in the cartels, introduced a new phase of the safety strategy for Tamaulipas with the objectives of " to disrupt the composition of criminal gangs , sealing the route of illicit traffic and guaranteeing reliable institutions.
Besides reinforcing previous actions such as intensifying surveillance at ports , airports and main routes, Osorio announced new measures , such as the intensive use of intelligence to dismantle criminal organizations, receiving anonymous tips , creation of Federal groups specializing in kidnapping , deployments of elements and technology in the vehicle network among others.
Also to divide the strategy into four zones, border , coast , central and south, with each zone assigned personnel from Sedena , and the Marines ( Semar ).
For the end of July, both the Federal Governor and the Governor , the PRI's Egido Torre Cantu , they were presuming a reduction of 38 per cent in the homicides of June compared to May, an increase in anonymous tips , and the arrest of 7 of the 14 priority objectives set at the start of the strategy.

The killing of the twitterer
At left is the last photo reported from the account of Twitter@Miut2, who collaborated with Valor por Tamaulipas.

Tamaulipas however returned to surprise not only Mexico but all the world this October past, when in the social networks were broadcasting the kidnapping and later the death of the Doctor Maria del Rosario Fuentes Rubio , who was identified with the Twitter account @Miut2 , who reported risks in the region.

This information presented a dose of terror that in Mexico, almost , could only come from Tamaulipas, and before international organization complained about the case , in the account of the victim in twitter appeared photos of her laying in a pool of blood.

About three days after , the 13th of October , a mother of a family from Progreso, Texas , had reported that her three children , Erica, Alejandro and Jose Angel Alvarado Rivera, of 26 , 22 , and 21 years of age respectively, had dissapeared while in the Municipality of Matamoros , visiting their father.

From the start and with the testimony of others , the mother of the family accused elements of the Hercules group, a security detail of the Mayor Leticia Salazar , as those responsible for the kidnapping , which ended on the 29th October when the three corpses of the youngsters were found together with that of a Mexican man.

The Hercules group had been started the previous September by Salazar and De Biasi , and according to the mother of the victims had been carrying out the business of the latter when they came across the van in which the victims were traveling.

Reported by Itzli on a BB article


After a few days on the morning of Monday 3rd of November , the delegate appointed by Osorio Chong to the border of the state in the new strategy from security launched by the Federal Government , General Ricardo Cesar Villareal, was executed on the Monterrey - Neuvo Leon highway.

Tamaulipas presents actually several security problems , they are reinforced by the weakness of its institutions of administration of Justice at all levels, its very limited degree of community organisation and by absolute censorship of nearly all local media, wrote Guadalupe Correa this end of year in his report Militarization and public security in Tamaulipas , for the Woodrow Wilson Centre in the United States.

In addition , the involvement of organised crime with political power in almost all areas of public life in the region with the consequent lack of results by the authorities on the matter of public safety after more than 10 years in dispute , said Correa in an interview , the allowed the creation of an unconstitutional police force , as formed by Salazar in Matamoros , and which resulted in the murder of the four young people.

In a situation like that of Mexico , added the investigator, where the police do not carry out their duty , but adopt extra-institutional positions, where there is no accountability, there is the possibility of cases like in Iguala and the missing 43 normalistas, where the police go too far , because there is no coordination or reconstruction of the police.

All of this concludes , because of the history of the state in the last century , it is the organised criminal networks with all the rest of the aspects of public life in the state , and because Los Zetas have the military training, they expanded the concept of violence and organised crime in the country. The CDG have been provided with political power that they have enjoyed for years.

If Los Zetas and the CDG could arrive and control the state in this form, the police , who enters and leaves politics, it could be a large union. The power that you have given to the Politicians he has given to organized crime, to protect , to which all the groups have operated to strengthen this system which is controlled by criminal groups, he added.

With this analysis agreeing with Raymundo Ramos , head of the Committee of Human Rights of Nuevo Leon , he assures that no government since Vincente Fox Quesada, have been interested in really solving the problem of insecurity and corruption that affects Tamaulipas since the start of the century.

They dont want to resolve the problems of corruption because they would have to start, by putting Thomas Yarrington in jail , the former governor identified by USA as a money launderer for two cartels , in addition to being an accomplice to murder of the former candidate Rodolfo Torre Cantu, says Ramos.

They are protecting him , because , with a deployment of armed forces , marines and army , and huge intelligence apartus , interestingly they have no idea where he is. From here on everything that the Federal Government announces is a simulation, he adds.

Like Correa , Ramos concludes that the lack of desire to get to the bottom of the problem of insecurity in Tamaulipas, like all of Mexico : its will.


"The problem is not attacked in the background , and I repeat , however , that although they have spent billions of pesos on armaments , wages , armored vehicles, this will not give results because the will is not perceived to be there, because while they purge the police , who will purge the government?".

Original article in Spanish at Sinembargo

Cato Scholars Respond to the 2015 State of the Union Address

Cato Scholars Respond to the
2015 State of the Union Address


Cato Institute scholars Alex Nowrasteh, Aaron Ross Powell, Neal McCluskey, Mark Calabria, Bill Watson, Chris Edwards, Gene Healy, Christopher Preble, Julian Sanchez, Pat Michaels and Trevor Burrus respond to President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address.
 
Video produced by Caleb O. Brown, Austin Bragg and Tess Terrible. 

WHEN WILL HOLLYWOOD MAKE: AMERICAN TRAITOR: THE JANE FONDA STORY? - One Citizen Speaking

WHEN WILL HOLLYWOOD MAKE: AMERICAN TRAITOR: THE JANE FONDA STORY? - One Citizen Speaking

TEXT OF OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH: Pathological Delusional Megliomaniac !

One Citizen Speaking...


TEXT OF OBAMA'S STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH:

Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:37 PM PST

Rather than tell the truth about State of the Union, President Obama appears to be little more than a lengthy campaign speech. The theme of Obama’s address is “Turn the Page” with an emphasis on economic proposals. It appears that the speech is little more than setting the stage for the upcoming 2016 presidential election and provoking/challenging the GOP.

obr

The speech …   

Sounds like President Obama does not know that he lost the congressional election battle by an historical margin, and has the temerity to lecture the Congress or the Country about better politics is ludicrous. Especially since the President is engaged in obstruction of justice when it comes to the various scandals swirling about the Obama Whitehouse.

In essence, as you read the speech, you will see that Obama is telling Congress that I am willing to work with you, but not on Immigration, Dodd-Frank, Iran, Keystone, Gitmo, etc.

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President Obama’s State of the Union Address 

Remarks As Prepared for Delivery

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:

We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many.

But tonight, we turn the page.

Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis. More of our kids are graduating than ever before; more of our people are insured than ever before; we are as free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.

[The unemployment books are cooked, where those who have given up looking for employment are simply not counted. As for graduating kids, the unions are ensuring that we are raising another generational of functional illiterates that pass through to graduation my dumbing down the curricula and testing. While we may not be exclusively free from the grip of foreign oil, we are seeing the Administration’s wish to increase compensatory taxes to erase any competitive or consumer advantage.]

Tonight, for the first time since 9/11, our combat mission in Afghanistan is over. Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, fewer than 15,000 remain. And we salute the courage and sacrifice of every man and woman in this 9/11 Generation who has served to keep us safe. We are humbled and grateful for your service.

[And, the Islamic terrorists are moving in to fill the vacuum.]

America, for all that we’ve endured; for all the grit and hard work required to come back; for all the tasks that lie ahead, know this:

The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.

At this moment — with a growing economy, shrinking deficits, bustling industry, and booming energy production — we have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any other nation on Earth. It’s now up to us to choose who we want to be over the next fifteen years, and for decades to come.

[Sounds great until you pay your taxes or seek healthcare.]

Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?

[Social justice and pandering to the entitlement electorate.]

Will we approach the world fearful and reactive, dragged into costly conflicts that strain our military and set back our standing? Or will we lead wisely, using all elements of our power to defeat new threats and protect our planet?

Will we allow ourselves to be sorted into factions and turned against one another — or will we recapture the sense of common purpose that has always propelled America forward?

[This is the modus operandi of the progressive socialist democrats. To segment the population into neighborhoods of victimization and to convince them that the democrats must be elected to address their grievances.]

In two weeks, I will send this Congress a budget filled with ideas that are practical, not partisan. And in the months ahead, I’ll crisscross the country making a case for those ideas.

[This is a gross lie as Obama’s budget is specifically crafted to secure a competitive advantage for his party and political agenda. And, it is not any surprise that Obama will do anything to keep from governing, preferring the adulation of selected crowds to meeting with members of Congress.]

So tonight, I want to focus less on a checklist of proposals, and focus more on the values at stake in the choices before us.

It begins with our economy.

Seven years ago, Rebekah and Ben Erler of Minneapolis were newlyweds. She waited tables. He worked construction. Their first child, Jack, was on the way.

They were young and in love in America, and it doesn’t get much better than that.

“If only we had known,” Rebekah wrote to me last spring, “what was about to happen to the housing and construction market.”

As the crisis worsened, Ben’s business dried up, so he took what jobs he could find, even if they kept him on the road for long stretches of time. Rebekah took out student loans, enrolled in community college, and retrained for a new career. They sacrificed for each other. And slowly, it paid off. They bought their first home. They had a second son, Henry. Rebekah got a better job, and then a raise. Ben is back in construction — and home for dinner every night.

“It is amazing,” Rebekah wrote, “what you can bounce back from when you have to…we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.”

We are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.

America, Rebekah and Ben’s story is our story. They represent the millions who have worked hard, and scrimped, and sacrificed, and retooled. You are the reason I ran for this office. You’re the people I was thinking of six years ago today, in the darkest months of the crisis, when I stood on the steps of this Capitol and promised we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation. And it’s been your effort and resilience that has made it possible for our country to emerge stronger.

We believed we could reverse the tide of outsourcing, and draw new jobs to our shores. And over the past five years, our businesses have created more than 11 million new jobs.

[You cannot reverse the tide of outsourcing unless taxes are reduced, regulation is reduced, and government intervention into every sector of the economy is reduced.]

We believed we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and protect our planet. And today, America is number one in oil and gas. America is number one in wind power. Every three weeks, we bring online as much solar power as we did in all of 2008. And thanks to lower gas prices and higher fuel standards, the typical family this year should save $750 at the pump.

[Thanks to modern production techniques such as fracking – the very same production method abhorred by the environmentalists and progressive socialist democrats.]

We believed we could prepare our kids for a more competitive world. And today, our younger students have earned the highest math and reading scores on record. Our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high. And more Americans finish college than ever before.

 [Today’s kids can’t compete with their neighbor across the street let alone in a competitive world. Not to mention the reduced test criteria.] 

We believed that sensible regulations could prevent another crisis, shield families from ruin, and encourage fair competition. Today, we have new tools to stop taxpayer-funded bailouts, and a new consumer watchdog to protect us from predatory lending and abusive credit card practices. And in the past year alone, about ten million uninsured Americans finally gained the security of health coverage.

[Another lie. Government is becoming more intrusive than ever before. Government contracts, grants, subsidies, and loan guarantees still amount to corporate welfare for the politically well-connected. Does anyone realize that the new consumer watchdog (CFPB) is collecting personally identifiable financial data on every human in the guise of research?]

At every step, we were told our goals were misguided or too ambitious; that we would crush jobs and explode deficits. Instead, we’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years.

[Deficits are not the national debt which Obama refuses to address. Healthcare inflation is also a cooked number.]

So the verdict is clear. Middle-class economics works. Expanding opportunity works. And these policies will continue to work, as long as politics don’t get in the way. We can’t slow down businesses or put our economy at risk with government shutdowns or fiscal showdowns. We can’t put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance, or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street, or refighting past battles on immigration when we’ve got a system to fix. And if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, it will earn my veto. 

[Smacking the GOP!]

Today, thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives. Wages are finally starting to rise again. We know that more small business owners plan to raise their employees’ pay than at any time since 2007. But here’s the thing — those of us here tonight, we need to set our sights higher than just making sure government doesn’t halt the progress we’re making. We need to do more than just do no harm. Tonight, together, let’s do more to restore the link between hard work and growing opportunity for every American.

[Can you say forced raises in the minimum wage – to allow entry level positions to become careers that can support a family of four? Resulting in higher prices, fewer employees, and increased bankruptcies.]

Because families like Rebekah’s still need our help. She and Ben are working as hard as ever, but have to forego vacations and a new car so they can pay off student loans and save for retirement. Basic childcare for Jack and Henry costs more than their mortgage, and almost as much as a year at the University of Minnesota. Like millions of hardworking Americans, Rebekah isn’t asking for a handout, but she is asking that we look for more ways to help families get ahead.

In fact, at every moment of economic change throughout our history, this country has taken bold action to adapt to new circumstances, and to make sure everyone gets a fair shot. We set up worker protections, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to protect ourselves from the harshest adversity. We gave our citizens schools and colleges, infrastructure and the internet — tools they needed to go as far as their effort will take them.

That’s what middle-class economics is — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. We don’t just want everyone to share in America’s success — we want everyone to contribute to our success.

[Social justice with fairness determined and mandated by the government. So why did Obama remove the “work to get welfare” requirement?]

So what does middle-class economics require in our time?

First — middle-class economics means helping working families feel more secure in a world of constant change. That means helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement — and my budget will address each of these issues, lowering the taxes of working families and putting thousands of dollars back into their pockets each year. 

[Except for the hidden taxes in energy and other government-controlled areas that do not appear on your tax return.] 

Here’s one example. During World War II, when men like my grandfather went off to war, having women like my grandmother in the workforce was a national security priority — so this country provided universal childcare. In today’s economy, when having both parents in the workforce is an economic necessity for many families, we need affordable, high-quality childcare more than ever. It’s not a nice-to-have — it’s a must-have. It’s time we stop treating childcare as a side issue, or a women’s issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is for all of us. And that’s why my plan will make quality childcare more available, and more affordable, for every middle-class and low-income family with young children in America — by creating more slots and a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per child, per year. 

[Expanding unionized pre-school education and babysitting – thank you SEIU for supporting the progressive socialist democrats.]

Here’s another example. Today, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. Forty-three million. Think about that. And that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home. So I’ll be taking new action to help states adopt paid leave laws of their own. And since paid sick leave won where it was on the ballot last November, let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington. Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do. 

[This is not Europe. These are competitive perks, not government-mandated rights.] 

Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. That’s why this Congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work. Really. It’s 2015. It’s time. We still need to make sure employees get the overtime they’ve earned. And to everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than $15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.

These ideas won’t make everybody rich, or relieve every hardship. That’s not the job of government. To give working families a fair shot, we’ll still need more employers to see beyond next quarter’s earnings and recognize that investing in their workforce is in their company’s long-term interest. We still need laws that strengthen rather than weaken unions, and give American workers a voice. But things like child care and sick leave and equal pay; things like lower mortgage premiums and a higher minimum wage — these ideas will make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of families. That is a fact. And that’s what all of us — Republicans and Democrats alike — were sent here to do.

[The unions have destroyed our industrial economy. The unions have destroyed out educational system. And, the unions have jeopardized every municipality, county, and state with their outrageous contracts and workrules. Leaving billions in unfunded pension liabilities – computed on a crooked non-actuarial system – that threaten to bankrupt us all.]

Second, to make sure folks keep earning higher wages down the road, we have to do more to help Americans upgrade their skills.

America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free, sent a generation of GIs to college, and trained the best workforce in the world. But in a 21st century economy that rewards knowledge like never before, we need to do more.

By the end of this decade, two in three job openings will require some higher education. Two in three. And yet, we still live in a country where too many bright, striving Americans are priced out of the education they need. It’s not fair to them, and it’s not smart for our future.

That’s why I am sending this Congress a bold new plan to lower the cost of community college — to zero.

Forty percent of our college students choose community college. Some are young and starting out. Some are older and looking for a better job. Some are veterans and single parents trying to transition back into the job market. Whoever you are, this plan is your chance to graduate ready for the new economy, without a load of debt. Understand, you’ve got to earn it — you’ve got to keep your grades up and graduate on time. Tennessee, a state with Republican leadership, and Chicago, a city with Democratic leadership, are showing that free community college is possible. I want to spread that idea all across America, so that two years of college becomes as free and universal in America as high school is today. And I want to work with this Congress, to make sure Americans already burdened with student loans can reduce their monthly payments, so that student debt doesn’t derail anyone’s dreams.

[Community colleges, with few entrance requirements are some of the least productive educational institutions in America while they expand their building costs, educational footprint, and personnel costs.] 

Thanks to Vice President Biden’s great work to update our job training system, we’re connecting community colleges with local employers to train workers to fill high-paying jobs like coding, and nursing, and robotics. Tonight, I’m also asking more businesses to follow the lead of companies like CVS and UPS, and offer more educational benefits and paid apprenticeships — opportunities that give workers the chance to earn higher-paying jobs even if they don’t have a higher education.

And as a new generation of veterans comes home, we owe them every opportunity to live the American Dream they helped defend. Already, we’ve made strides towards ensuring that every veteran has access to the highest quality care. We’re slashing the backlog that had too many veterans waiting years to get the benefits they need, and we’re making it easier for vets to translate their training and experience into civilian jobs. Joining Forces, the national campaign launched by Michelle and Jill Biden, has helped nearly 700,000 veterans and military spouses get new jobs. So to every CEO in America, let me repeat: If you want somebody who’s going to get the job done, hire a veteran.

Finally, as we better train our workers, we need the new economy to keep churning out high-wage jobs for our workers to fill.

Since 2010, America has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and all advanced economies combined. Our manufacturers have added almost 800,000 new jobs. Some of our bedrock sectors, like our auto industry, are booming. But there are also millions of Americans who work in jobs that didn’t even exist ten or twenty years ago — jobs at companies like Google, and eBay, and Tesla.

So no one knows for certain which industries will generate the jobs of the future. But we do know we want them here in America. That’s why the third part of middle-class economics is about building the most competitive economy anywhere, the place where businesses want to locate and hire.

21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure — modern ports, stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest internet. Democrats and Republicans used to agree on this. So let’s set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let’s pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than thirty times as many jobs per year, and make this country stronger for decades to come.

21st century businesses, including small businesses, need to sell more American products overseas. Today, our businesses export more than ever, and exporters tend to pay their workers higher wages. But as we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region. That would put our workers and businesses at a disadvantage. Why would we let that happen? We should write those rules. We should level the playing field. That’s why I’m asking both parties to give me trade promotion authority to protect American workers, with strong new trade deals from Asia to Europe that aren’t just free, but fair.

Look, I’m the first one to admit that past trade deals haven’t always lived up to the hype, and that’s why we’ve gone after countries that break the rules at our expense. But ninety-five percent of the world’s customers live outside our borders, and we can’t close ourselves off from those opportunities. More than half of manufacturing executives have said they’re actively looking at bringing jobs back from China. Let’s give them one more reason to get it done.

21st century businesses will rely on American science, technology, research and development. I want the country that eliminated polio and mapped the human genome to lead a new era of medicine — one that delivers the right treatment at the right time. In some patients with cystic fibrosis, this approach has reversed a disease once thought unstoppable. Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes — and to give all of us access to the personalized information we need to keep ourselves and our families healthier.

I intend to protect a free and open internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks, so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.

[Providing we cede control to the government – eventually bringing the Internet under political control where FEC (Federal Elections Commission) dictates political speech requirements.]

I want Americans to win the race for the kinds of discoveries that unleash new jobs — converting sunlight into liquid fuel; creating revolutionary prosthetics, so that a veteran who gave his arms for his country can play catch with his kid; pushing out into the Solar System not just to visit, but to stay. Last month, we launched a new spacecraft as part of a re-energized space program that will send American astronauts to Mars. In two months, to prepare us for those missions, Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in space. Good luck, Captain — and make sure to Instagram it.

[This is crazy – we are paying the Russians hundreds of millions to fly our astronauts to the International Space Station – and Obama is talking about Mars.]

Now, the truth is, when it comes to issues like infrastructure and basic research, I know there’s bipartisan support in this chamber. Members of both parties have told me so. Where we too often run onto the rocks is how to pay for these investments. As Americans, we don’t mind paying our fair share of taxes, as long as everybody else does, too. But for far too long, lobbyists have rigged the tax code with loopholes that let some corporations pay nothing while others pay full freight. They’ve riddled it with giveaways the superrich don’t need, denying a break to middle class families who do.

[Another big lie – Obama’s Administration is riddled with lobbyists and they set the agenda. Witness the Affordable Care Act, created with foundations and lobbyists – but no Republican.]

This year, we have an opportunity to change that. Let’s close loopholes so we stop rewarding companies that keep profits abroad, and reward those that invest in America. Let’s use those savings to rebuild our infrastructure and make it more attractive for companies to bring jobs home. Let’s simplify the system and let a small business owner file based on her actual bank statement, instead of the number of accountants she can afford. And let’s close the loopholes that lead to inequality by allowing the top one percent to avoid paying taxes on their accumulated wealth. We can use that money to help more families pay for childcare and send their kids to college. We need a tax code that truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy, and we can achieve that together. 

[Socialist class warfare!]

Helping hardworking families make ends meet. Giving them the tools they need for good-paying jobs in this new economy. Maintaining the conditions for growth and competitiveness. This is where America needs to go. I believe it’s where the American people want to go. It will make our economy stronger a year from now, fifteen years from now, and deep into the century ahead.

Of course, if there’s one thing this new century has taught us, it’s that we cannot separate our work at home from challenges beyond our shores.

My first duty as Commander-in-Chief is to defend the United States of America. In doing so, the question is not whether America leads in the world, but how. When we make rash decisions, reacting to the headlines instead of using our heads; when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military — then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts, and neglect the broader strategy we need for a safer, more prosperous world. That’s what our enemies want us to do.

I believe in a smarter kind of American leadership. We lead best when we combine military power with strong diplomacy; when we leverage our power with coalition building; when we don’t let our fears blind us to the opportunities that this new century presents. That’s exactly what we’re doing right now — and around the globe, it is making a difference.

[Yeah! It hasn’t worked and America is more despised and reviled than when Obama took office. And, it is working wonderfully with Iran who refused to give up their nuclear ambitions.]

First, we stand united with people around the world who’ve been targeted by terrorists — from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris. We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks, and we reserve the right to act unilaterally, as we’ve done relentlessly since I took office to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to us and our allies.

At the same time, we’ve learned some costly lessons over the last thirteen years.

Instead of Americans patrolling the valleys of Afghanistan, we’ve trained their security forces, who’ve now taken the lead, and we’ve honored our troops’ sacrifice by supporting that country’s first democratic transition. Instead of sending large ground forces overseas, we’re partnering with nations from South Asia to North Africa to deny safe haven to terrorists who threaten America. In Iraq and Syria, American leadership — including our military power — is stopping ISIL’s advance. Instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. We’re also supporting a moderate opposition in Syria that can help us in this effort, and assisting people everywhere who stand up to the bankrupt ideology of violent extremism. This effort will take time. It will require focus. But we will succeed. And tonight, I call on this Congress to show the world that we are united in this mission by passing a resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.

[Obama can’t bring himself to say Islamic terrorism, nor will he acknowledge a Sunni-Shia religious war that has nothing to do with the United States and everything to do with ethnic cleansing.]

Second, we are demonstrating the power of American strength and diplomacy. We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small — by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy, and reassuring our NATO allies. Last year, as we were doing the hard work of imposing sanctions along with our allies, some suggested that Mr. Putin’s aggression was a masterful display of strategy and strength. Well, today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters.

That’s how America leads — not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.

In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new. Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo. As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said, diplomacy is the work of “small steps.” These small steps have added up to new hope for the future in Cuba. And after years in prison, we’re overjoyed that Alan Gross is back where he belongs. Welcome home, Alan.

[Let’s welcome a communist nation 90-miles off our coast into our bosom – to serve as another entry point for our enemies who wish to destroy America.]

Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran, where, for the first time in a decade, we’ve halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material. Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies — including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails — alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.

[Obama is being played by Iran – almost as if he hates Israel as much as any other Muslim.]

Third, we’re looking beyond the issues that have consumed us in the past to shape the coming century.

No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families, especially our kids. We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism. And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe.

[Allegedly the NSA had infiltrated North Korea and saw the Sony attack happen – yet they did nothing to stop it. Obama wants to push Hollywood’s agenda of criminalizing and federalizing content theft – shifting the costs of peeking into packets and prosecuting those who share content to the taxpayer.]

In West Africa, our troops, our scientists, our doctors, our nurses and healthcare workers are rolling back Ebola — saving countless lives and stopping the spread of disease. I couldn’t be prouder of them, and I thank this Congress for your bipartisan support of their efforts. But the job is not yet done — and the world needs to use this lesson to build a more effective global effort to prevent the spread of future pandemics, invest in smart development, and eradicate extreme poverty.

In the Asia Pacific, we are modernizing alliances while making sure that other nations play by the rules — in how they trade, how they resolve maritime disputes, and how they participate in meeting common international challenges like nonproliferation and disaster relief. And no challenge — no challenge — poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.

 2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does — 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century. 

I’ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they’re not scientists; that we don’t have enough information to act. Well, I’m not a scientist, either. But you know what — I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and at our major universities. The best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions that can trigger greater migration, conflict, and hunger around the globe. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security. We should act like it.

[This is a lie … first extreme weather events result from oscillations and natural cycles. Is it any wonder that all of the people advancing global warming scenarios are government-controlled or government funded?]

That’s why, over the past six years, we’ve done more than ever before to combat climate change, from the way we produce energy, to the way we use it. That’s why we’ve set aside more public lands and waters than any administration in history. And that’s why I will not let this Congress endanger the health of our children by turning back the clock on our efforts. I am determined to make sure American leadership drives international action. In Beijing, we made an historic announcement — the United States will double the pace at which we cut carbon pollution, and China committed, for the first time, to limiting their emissions. And because the world’s two largest economies came together, other nations are now stepping up, and offering hope that, this year, the world will finally reach an agreement to protect the one planet we’ve got.

[Got it – stand in the Country that is one of the worst polluters in the world and repeat their lies about curtailing their faltering economy to please a bunch of self-satisfied rich progressive socialist democrats in Hollywood.]

There’s one last pillar to our leadership — and that’s the example of our values.

As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained. It’s why we speak out against the deplorable anti-Semitism that has resurfaced in certain parts of the world. It’s why we continue to reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims — the vast majority of whom share our commitment to peace. That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.

[Notice the moral equivalence between the Jews and the Muslims. There is no offensive stereotype of Muslims in Muslim countries. Muslims are responsible for almost all of terrorism in the world and it is not a stereotype.]

As Americans, we have a profound commitment to justice — so it makes no sense to spend three million dollars per prisoner to keep open a prison that the world condemns and terrorists use to recruit. Since I’ve been President, we’ve worked responsibly to cut the population of GITMO in half. Now it’s time to finish the job. And I will not relent in my determination to shut it down. It’s not who we are.

[Prisoners of war or enemy combatants are not like ordinary criminals and do not have the rights of an American citizen. Will the President make us all less safe by closing GITMO – possibly returning the land to Cuba, the bastion of communism in the world.]

As Americans, we cherish our civil liberties — and we need to uphold that commitment if we want maximum cooperation from other countries and industry in our fight against terrorist networks. So while some have moved on from the debates over our surveillance programs, I haven’t. As promised, our intelligence agencies have worked hard, with the recommendations of privacy advocates, to increase transparency and build more safeguards against potential abuse. And next month, we’ll issue a report on how we’re keeping our promise to keep our country safe while strengthening privacy.

Looking to the future instead of the past. Making sure we match our power with diplomacy, and use force wisely. Building coalitions to meet new challenges and opportunities. Leading — always — with the example of our values. That’s what makes us exceptional. That’s what keeps us strong. And that’s why we must keep striving to hold ourselves to the highest of standards — our own.

[Our enemies do not respect anything other than strength and the will to use it. They laugh at Obama and his so-called diplomacy. Obama leads from behind – and if you recall Benghazi, he was nowhere to be found.]

You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a speech in Boston where I said there wasn’t a liberal America, or a conservative America; a black America or a white America — but a United States of America. I said this because I had seen it in my own life, in a nation that gave someone like me a chance; because I grew up in Hawaii, a melting pot of races and customs; because I made Illinois my home — a state of small towns, rich farmland, and one of the world’s great cities; a microcosm of the country where Democrats and Republicans and Independents, good people of every ethnicity and every faith, share certain bedrock values.

[Illinois the home of political corruption and some of the most dangerous inner city areas in the nation! A state governed by democrats that has strict gun control and significant gun violence. A state where money flows to the 1% and trickles down to those for whom it was intended.]

Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision. How ironic, they say, that our politics seems more divided than ever. It’s held up as proof not just of my own flaws — of which there are many — but also as proof that the vision itself is misguided, and naïve, and that there are too many people in this town who actually benefit from partisanship and gridlock for us to ever do anything about it.

I know how tempting such cynicism may be. But I still think the cynics are wrong.

I still believe that we are one people. I still believe that together, we can do great things, even when the odds are long. I believe this because over and over in my six years in office, I have seen America at its best. I’ve seen the hopeful faces of young graduates from New York to California; and our newest officers at West Point, Annapolis, Colorado Springs, and New London. I’ve mourned with grieving families in Tucson and Newtown; in Boston, West, Texas, and West Virginia. I’ve watched Americans beat back adversity from the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains; from Midwest assembly lines to the Mid-Atlantic seaboard. I’ve seen something like gay marriage go from a wedge issue used to drive us apart to a story of freedom across our country, a civil right now legal in states that seven in ten Americans call home.

So I know the good, and optimistic, and big-hearted generosity of the American people who, every day, live the idea that we are our brother’s keeper, and our sister’s keeper. And I know they expect those of us who serve here to set a better example.

[A euphemism for wealth redistribution via government formula?]

So the question for those of us here tonight is how we, all of us, can better reflect America’s hopes. I’ve served in Congress with many of you. I know many of you well. There are a lot of good people here, on both sides of the aisle. And many of you have told me that this isn’t what you signed up for — arguing past each other on cable shows, the constant fundraising, always looking over your shoulder at how the base will react to every decision.

Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different.

Understand — a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine.

A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears.

[Whoa! A man steeped in corrupt progressive socialist democrat politics is lecturing Congress and the American people about tired old patterns of politics. Obama is a hypocrite – read this speech and see Obama play to our fears with his global warming rhetoric – all based on an unproven hypothesis and supported by those who are beholden to the government for their jobs and funding.]

A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other; where we talk issues, and values, and principles, and facts, rather than “gotcha” moments, or trivial gaffes, or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives.

A better politics is one where we spend less time drowning in dark money for ads that pull us into the gutter, and spend more time lifting young people up, with a sense of purpose and possibility, and asking them to join in the great mission of building America.

If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.

We still may not agree on a woman’s right to choose, but surely we can agree it’s a good thing that teen pregnancies and abortions are nearing all-time lows, and that every woman should have access to the health care she needs.

Yes, passions still fly on immigration, but surely we can all see something of ourselves in the striving young student, and agree that no one benefits when a hardworking mom is taken from her child, and that it’s possible to shape a law that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

We may go at it in campaign season, but surely we can agree that the right to vote is sacred; that it’s being denied to too many; and that, on this 50th anniversary of the great march from Selma to Montgomery and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we can come together, Democrats and Republicans, to make voting easier for every single American.

We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift. Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all.

[Obama’s catch and release programs.]

That’s a better politics. That’s how we start rebuilding trust. That’s how we move this country forward. That’s what the American people want. That’s what they deserve.

I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda for the next two years is the same as the one I’ve had since the day I swore an oath on the steps of this Capitol — to do what I believe is best for America. If you share the broad vision I outlined tonight, join me in the work at hand. If you disagree with parts of it, I hope you’ll at least work with me where you do agree. And I commit to every Republican here tonight that I will not only seek out your ideas, I will seek to work with you to make this country stronger.

[To pursue the progressive socialist agenda, empower the unions, and reduce the strength of the American military.]

Because I want this chamber, this city, to reflect the truth — that for all our blind spots and shortcomings, we are a people with the strength and generosity of spirit to bridge divides, to unite in common effort, and help our neighbors, whether down the street or on the other side of the world.

I want our actions to tell every child, in every neighborhood: your life matters, and we are as committed to improving your life chances as we are for our own kids.

I want future generations to know that we are a people who see our differences as a great gift, that we are a people who value the dignity and worth of every citizen — man and woman, young and old, black and white, Latino and Asian, immigrant and Native American, gay and straight, Americans with mental illness or physical disability.

[He couldn’t stop at saying all Americans, but had to list the progressive socialist democrat’s coalition partners.]

I want them to grow up in a country that shows the world what we still know to be true: that we are still more than a collection of red states and blue states; that we are the United States of America.

I want them to grow up in a country where a young mom like Rebekah can sit down and write a letter to her President with a story to sum up these past six years:

“It is amazing what you can bounce back from when you have to…we are a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.”

My fellow Americans, we too are a strong, tight-knit family. We, too, have made it through some hard times. Fifteen years into this new century, we have picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and begun again the work of remaking America. We’ve laid a new foundation. A brighter future is ours to write. Let’s begin this new chapter — together — and let’s start the work right now.

[Not if you ask the people in Ferguson, or those marching on Wall Street.]

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless this country we love.

Bottom line …

There is little or no doubt that Obama can give a speech, reading the words written by others with feigned sincerity. But, President Obama’s actions do not correspond to his soaring rhetoric. He is a liar – a man who will stand before the American public and lie. Lie to the faces of Americans.

Read the speech in context and consider what this man is advocating and how much he has lied about what he has done and what he plans to do.

-- steve

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