Thursday, May 1, 2014

WATCH: Krauthammer: ‘Mainstream Media’ Won’t Be Interested in Benghazi ‘Cover-up of a Cover-up’

WATCH: Krauthammer: ‘Mainstream Media’ Won’t Be Interested in Benghazi ‘Cover-up of a Cover-up’

Commentator Charles Krauthammer challenged the mainstream media to report on documents released this week directly tying then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s Benghazi talking points to instructions in an email from a White House official.

“The mainstream media are going to say, ‘Oh, it’s so complicated,’ and they’re not going to look into this and without it it’s going to be quite a struggle,” Krauthammer said last night on Fox’s “Special Report.”

He was referring to emails obtained through a lawsuit by Judicial Watch that reveal senior White House official Ben Rhodes instructed that Rice blame an “Internet video”—not a policy failure—for the terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that left the U.S. ambassador and three others dead.

The email Krauthammer called “the smoking document” implicating the White House is dated three days after the attack on Sept. 11, 2012.

One goal of Rice’s appearances Sept. 16 on all five Sunday morning talk shows was “To underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not a broader failure of policy,” according to Rhodes’ email.

Rice is now Obama’s national security adviser. Rhodes,  a deputy national security adviser at the time, continues on as Rice’s deputy for strategic communications and speechwriting.

Krauthammer condemned the Obama administration for shifting responsibility for the sanitized talking points to intelligence officials.

>>> Read More: New Evidence Shows White House Role in Changing Benghazi Talking Points

“Now we know from [Mike] Morrell, who testified under oath—he at the time was the deputy director at the CIA—that he never brought up the video, so it didn’t come from him. That leaves only the White House and the State Department,” Krauthammer said.

“I just don’t know if there’s going to be any interest in the mainstream media,” Krauthammer said, adding:

The fact that it was redacted when the documents were asked for [by Congress] and only revealed by a court order is telling you that this is a classic cover-up of a cover-up.”

This story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.

Check out this Heritage video about the White House and Benghazi:

Posted in Front PageInternational [slideshow_deploy]

Comments (45)

“I just don’t know if there’s going to be any interest in the mainstream media,” 

What? Well of course there's not going to be any interest. Where have you been for the last 20 years Charles?
+28
lovemydesignergenes's avatar

lovemydesignergenes· 16 hours ago

I didn't realize the full horror of Benghazi till I saw (mostly in British papers online) photos of the gutted complex. 

There was a photo also of a white man being tortured which was claimed as being a photo of the Ambassador (am not sure if it is him) 

Anyway, the elephant in the room...was that Pres. Obama's reelection came up in 2 months. 

So...Benghazi had to be quickly squashed...minimized...tamped down. 

And for the many gullible, it worked. 

Pres. O was reelected.
2 replies · active 6 hours ago
+34
Totally Disgusted's avatar

Totally Disgusted· 16 hours ago

The American lives lost in Benghazi are not important to Obama - other than to cover up that AGAIN the American People were lied to. The U.S. Government had more than ample notice of what was going to happen and ABANDONED those people.
+37
Rochelle Fugette's avatar

Rochelle Fugette· 16 hours ago

I'm not suprised that Obama knew about it & lied , he lies about everything
1 reply · active 9 hours ago
+30
Pat 's avatar

Pat· 15 hours ago

Regardless of what the media does or does not do, anyone with any common sense knew they were lying about Bengazi from the very beginning. The decision to sweep this lie, along with all the rest of his lies(too many to list), under the rug proves how desperate they were to protect the Nobel Peace Prize winning "first black president" badge of honor they love wearing on their sleeves at the expense of our patriots.
1 reply · active 12 hours ago
+19
Frank's avatar

Frank· 15 hours ago

It was obvious to me this was a cover up from the beginning. But the MSM covered for him & the sheeple voted for him. The USA is losing all credibility fast for multiple reasons.
1 reply · active 13 minutes ago
+27
Ned's avatar

Ned· 15 hours ago

Impeachment proceedings should be started for Obama and criminal proceedings should be started for Mrs. Clinton. 
Do our legislators have the guts?....
1 reply · active 14 hours ago
-1
Ted's avatar

Ted· 15 hours ago

Please post the email you're referring too. Thanks.
+16
dam1953's avatar

dam1953· 15 hours ago

It's time to hang this rotten albatross around the necks of the administration and that includes Clinton.
+16
Rob's avatar

Rob· 15 hours ago

Regardless of what comes out of this hillery will come out of this unscathed. The left is in there own little world and don't care as long as they have control. This country has never been all twisted up in knots till the liberals took over, everyone fighting each other. The left is nothing but a bunch of power hungry schmucks.
+7
jeff 's avatar

jeff· 15 hours ago

sickening what these scumbags let happen they knew for months what was up arrest them please sargent at arms do your job damn it
+4
jeff 's avatar

jeff· 15 hours ago

the executive branch is in violation of rico u idiots arrest them
+8
Ron's avatar

Ron· 14 hours ago

The press seems not to realize that when this corruption comes tumbling down and our country is in ruins.....they too will have nowhere to run....lol...remember the Romans when Nero took over.
+16
J to the S's avatar

J to the S· 14 hours ago

Mark my words Obama will go down as the worst president in U.S. history and those who supported him will deny this to their graves.
+3
Doug Whaley's avatar

Doug Whaley· 14 hours ago

What difference does it make??!! Whoever the Republicans run against Hillary will be too gutless to bring this up during the campaign so what difference does it make? Romney didn't have the guts to go after Obama so what makes you think the RINO running against her won't bring this up or any of her other lies. The whole establishment part of the party doesn't have the stomach to get in the trenches and slug it out with her. The result will be another presidential loss for Republicans. I wonder why the Heritage Foundation even bothers with these RINOs. They are not conservatives even if they call themselves that before every election. THEY ARE NOT CONSERVATIVES. STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY. THEY AREN'T GOING TO CHANGE. THEY LOVE BIG GOVERNMENT!
-16
Dave Horne's avatar

Dave Horne· 14 hours ago

Let me get this correct. There were four Americans killed in an embassy attack and there were nearly 3,000 killed on 9/11. 
Bush got to invade the wrong country ... and Benghazi trumps that. Is that more or less correct?
6 replies · active 10 hours ago
+2
I.M.'s avatar

I.M.· 14 hours ago

Charles! Stop calling the Left Wing Media "mainstream". You just add credibility to their bent narrative!
-7
steep's avatar

steep· 14 hours ago

well what about the cover up for /11, cover up in Kennedy's assassination etc etc
+1
Joe Disgusted's avatar

Joe Disgusted· 13 hours ago

The whole thing is very disheartening. As Americans we are being manipulated from every direction. The Left, the Right, Big Business, the Unions, uber environmentalists, anyone with an opinion or position to protect be it political or financial. The Press used to keep them at least somewhat at bay. What has happened to our nation? It seems like there was a time when people didn't dare pull this stuff or they would get called on it. Now people die and it just gets swept under the rug. Things have come to a point where facts and reason don't carry much weight. I was shocked when I heard there were close to one hundred AR15 manufacturers at the recent NRA Show. Are we further down the road to a real blood-letting than we think?
+8
jRhodes's avatar

jRhodes· 13 hours ago

These are all coverups of the coverup. Never in my lifetime have we had such a corrupt government.
+3
Eliott's avatar

Eliott· 12 hours ago

Now that it got this close to Barry, you can be sure this idiot Rhodes will probably step down and tell the entire world the President didn't know anything about it.
+5
Jim Fuscaldo's avatar

Jim Fuscaldo· 12 hours ago

Wake up America! The CIA Annex was staffed by special ops who were hired to facilitate the acquisition, protection and delivery of weapons previously looted from Gadaffi's arsenals for delivery to the rebels (not the Islamists) in Syria. The weapons were delivered via Turkey. The Islamist became aware of the gun running and raided the "Embassy" to either acquire any stored weapons or end the gun running. Chris Stevens was used by the administration as a willing facilitator (sock puppet) for reasons known only to Stevens and the administration. If timely military / special op rescue help was sent, and Chris Stevens and the special ops staffing the annex survived, the dirty little Obama "Contra" like affair would have been disclosed prior to the election. Also Congress was not informed and did not authorize the operation. It would have destroyed Obama's reelection and would have been an impeachable offense. Mike Rogers Committee botched the investigation. A special prosecutor should have been appointed from day one. Too much Republican power infighting between Rogers, Issas and Boehner to get the investigation done timely and correctly with the use of a special prosecutor. One might even suggest that the Benghazi investigations were nothing more than Kabuki theater to protect certain select leaders of Congress that MAY have known about the Benghazi operation and a special prosecutor would have uncovered bipartisan knowledge and acquiescence in the unlawful gun running to the Syrian rebels. An embarrassment for the president, his administration and to certain Congressional leadership.

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No Speech can Fix This....

 

May 01, 2014

 

No Speech Can Fix This

President Obama has been on a foreign tour. How’s it going on the world stage?

Probably not so well when New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd is accusing him of “whining” and “whiffing.”

Dowd’s eviscerating assessment of Obama’s foreign policy is timely.

“It doesn’t feel like leadership,” she said yesterday. “It doesn’t feel like you’re in command of your world.”

Why does this matter right now?

>>> Read More

Did the White House Change the Benghazi Talking Points?What’s Oprah Got to Do With Opportunity? Mike Lee Knows.

Quick Hits

Joining Facebook after 60-This is Funny

 
    I can't even take pictures with my cell phone ..Join Facebook? 
(Priceless)  Read it  all the way through! It's a good laugh! AND really 
quite true!



A good laugh  for people in the over 60 group!



When I  bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran 
with  1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes 
videos,  pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter.I signed up 
under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses,  my 
13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the 
modern way.  I figured I could handle something as simple as  Twitter with 
only 140 characters of space.



My phone was  beeping every three minutes with the details of everything 
except the bowel movements of the entire next generation.  I am not  ready 
to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf  bag.



The kids  bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost 
every  now and then going over to the grocery store or library.  I keep 
that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I  am 
supposed to use when I drive.  I wore it once and was standing  in line at 
Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the  nearest 50 yards 
was glaring at me.  I had to take my hearing aid  out to use it, and I got a 
little loud.



I mean the  GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside 
that  gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long 
time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say,  "Re-calc-u-lating." 
You would think that she could be nicer. It  was like she could barely 
tolerate me.  She would let go with a  deep sigh and then tell me to make a 
U-turn at the next light.  Then if I made a right turn instead.  Well, it 
was not a good relationship...



When I get  really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the 
cross  streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, 
the  GPS lady, at least she loves me.



To be  perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how
to use the cordless phones  in our house.  We have had them for 4 years, but 
I still haven't  figured out how I lose three phones all at once and have to 
run around  digging under chair cushions, checking bathrooms, and the dirty 
laundry  baskets when the phone rings.



The world is  just getting too complex for me.
They even mess me up every  time I go to the grocery store.  You would think 
they could settle  on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or 
Plastic?" every time I  check out just knocks me for a loop.  I bought some 
of those cloth  reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never 
remember to take  them with me.



Now I toss  it back to them.  When they ask me, "Paper or plastic?"  I  just 
say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn  to 
stare at me with a blank look.  I was recently asked if I  tweet.  I 
answered, "No, but I do fart a  lot."



P.S. I know  some of you are not over 60. I sent it to you to allow you to 
forward  it to those who are. I figured your sense of humor could handle 
it.



We senior  citizens don't need any more gadgets. The TV remote and the 
garage door  remote are about all we can handle. 

OUCH!!!! THE TRUTH HURTS.

 

 




 


Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Scottish Pub Signs 4 U. ...

Good Pub Signs in Scotland...
 




Some Good Posters for You ...welcome to use them!

GOOD POSTERS FOR YOU
 

 

 


Why Meat Prices Are Going To Continue Soaring For The Foreseeable Future



Why Meat Prices Are Going To Continue Soaring For The Foreseeable Future

Posted: 09 Apr 2014 02:39 PM PDT

Drought Monitor April 1The average price of USDA choice-grade beef has soared to $5.28 a pound, and the average price of a pound of bacon has skyrocketed to $5.46.  Unfortunately for those that like to eat meat, this is just the beginning of the price increases.  Due to an absolutely crippling drought that won’t let go of the western half of the country, the total size of the U.S. cattle herd has shrunk for seven years in a row, and it is now the smallest that is has been since 1951.  But back in 1951, we had less than half the number of mouths to feed.  And a devastating pig virus that has never been seen in the United States before has already killed up to 6 million pigs in this country and continues to spread like wildfire.  What all of this means is that the supply of meat is going to be tight for the foreseeable future even as demand for meat continues to go up.  This is going to result in much higher prices, and so food is going to put a much larger dent in American family budgets in the months and years to come.

One year ago, the average price of USDA choice-grade beef was $4.91.  Now it is up to $5.28, and the Los Angeles Times says that we should not expect prices to come down “any time soon”…

Come grilling season, expect your sirloin steak to come with a hearty side of sticker shock.

Beef prices have reached all-time highs in the U.S. and aren’t expected to come down any time soon.

Extreme weather has thinned the nation’s beef cattle herds to levels last seen in 1951, when there were about half as many mouths to feed in America.

We’ve seen strong prices before but nothing this extreme,” said Dennis Smith, a commodities broker for Archer Financial Services in Chicago. This is really new territory.

The outlook for pork is even worse.  The price of bacon is 13 percent higher than it was a year ago, and porcine epidemic diarrhea is absolutely devastating the U.S. pig population

A virus never before seen in the U.S. has killed millions of baby pigs in less than a year, and with little known about how it spreads or how to stop it, it’s threatening pork production and pushing up prices by 10 percent or more.

Scientists think porcine epidemic diarrhea, which does not infect humans or other animals, came from China, but they don’t know how it got into the country or spread to 27 states since last May.

It is estimated that up to 6 million pigs may have died already, and it is being projected that U.S. pork production could be down by 7 percent this year.  That would be the largest decline in more than 30 years.

But even if someone brought an end to this pig virus tomorrow, we would still be facing a very serious food crisis in this nation.

The reason for this is the multi-year drought which is crippling farming and ranching in much of the western half of the country.

As you can see from the latest U.S. Drought Monitor update, the drought shows no signs of letting up…

Drought Monitor April 1

Hopefully this drought will end soon.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

In fact, CBS News recently interviewed one scientist that says that the state of California could potentially be facing “a century-long megadrought“…

Scientist Lynn Ingram, author of “The West without Water: What Past Floods, Droughts, and Other Climatic Clues Tell Us about Tomorrow,” uses sediment cores inside tubes to study the history of drought in the West.

“We’ve taken this record back about 3,000 years,” Ingram says.

That record shows California is in one of its driest periods since 1580.

While a three-to-five-year drought is often thought of as being a long drought, Ingram says history shows they can be much longer.

If we go back several thousand years, we’ve seen that droughts can last over a decade, and in some cases, they can last over a century,” she says.

So what will we do if this drought just keeps going and going and going?

As the article quoted above noted, last century was far wetter than usual.  During that time, we built teeming cities in the desert and we farmed vast areas that are usually bone dry…

Scientists say their research shows the 20th century was one of the wettest centuries in the past 1,300 years. During that time, we built massive dams and rerouted rivers. We used abundant water to build major cities and create a $45 billion agriculture industry in a place that used to be a desert.

So what happens if the western half of the country returns to “normal”?

What will we do then?

Meanwhile, drought is devastating many other very important agricultural areas around the world as well.  For example, the horrible drought in Brazil could soon send the price of coffee through the roof

Coffee futures prices are up more than 75 percent this year due to a lack of appreciable rain in the coffee growing region of eastern Brazil during January and February, which are critical months for plant development, according to the International Coffee Organization, a London-based trade group.

At this point, 142 Brazilian cities are rationing water, and it wouldn’t just be coffee that would be affected by this drought.  As a recent RT article explained, Brazil is one of the leading exporters in a number of key agricultural categories…

Over 140 Brazilian cities have been pushed to ration water during the worst drought on record, according to a survey conducted by the country’s leading newspaper. Some neighborhoods only receive water once every three days.

Water is being rationed to nearly 6 million people living in a total of 142 cities across 11 states in Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of soybeans, coffee, orange juice, sugar and beef. Water supply companies told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that the country’s reservoirs, rivers and streams are the driest they have been in 20 years. A record heat wave could raise energy prices and damage crops.

Some neighborhoods in the city of Itu in Sao Paulo state (which accounts for one-quarter of Brazil’s population and one-third of its GDP), only receive water once every three days, for a total of 13 hours.

Most people just assume that we will always have massive quantities of cheap, affordable food in our supermarkets.

But just because that has been the case for as long as most of us can remember, that does not mean that it will always be true.

Times are changing, and food prices are already starting to move upward aggressively.

Yes, let us hope for the best, but let us also prepare for the worst

The true difference between Chicken Salad and Chicken Shit...


The true difference between Chicken
Salad and Chicken Shit
If this does not speak to the character
of the individual, then nothing ever will!

Chicken Salad
President George W. Bush's speech after the capture of 
Saddam Hussein
:
"The success of yesterday's mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq.  The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator's footprints in a vast country.  The operation was 
carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force.
 
Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people.  Their work continues, and so do the risks.  Today, on behalf of the nation,
I thank the members of our Armed Forces, and I congratulate them!"

and Chicken Shit!
Barrack Hussein Obama's speech after the killing of
Osama bin Laden:
"And so shortly after taking office,   I  directed Leon Panetta, the Director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August,  I   was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden.  It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground.   I met repeatedly with my national security team as wedeveloped more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan.  And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and I authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan."

Obama did not once acknowledge our brave men and women who fight for our country, and, that, my friends, is chicken shit!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

REYNOSA:Comandante Mono Executed, Narco Cartulina Left with Body...

Borderland Beat

Link to Borderland Beat


Posted: 28 Apr 2014 02:30 PM PDT

Borderland Beat

Manta text Translation [by 777]:

This is what was causing harm to the people and 
the government and it is further proof that the CDG 
doesn't allow extortion, kidnappings, and harming the population 
or fighting against the government. 

This person's name is Erick or El Mono. 

He was the one causing trouble. 
The Gulf Cartel is here to protect the population and finish off 
all the kidnappings, extortion, robberies, and 
killing of innocent people. 
P.O.S like these have no place in this cartel. 


People of Comanadante Metro 3 and Metro 4 
Plaza Reynosa 
Atte: Los Metros

 Source: MenyTimesBlog and posted by "777" on Forum

POLL: 2014 LOOKS WORSE FOR DEMS THAN 2010 ...


POLL: 2014 LOOKS WORSE FOR DEMS THAN 2010 
It’s never been worse for President Obama in the Washington Post/ABC News poll, which finds him at a 41 percent job approval rating, about 13 points below his standing in the poll at this time in 2010, the year when his party got creamed in midterm elections. We’ve talked about the tsunami alert for Democrats this fall, but the sirens are getting too loud even for partisans and wishful thinkers on the left to ignore. There is no common measure so predictive of a party’s performance in congressional races than the job approval rating of a president of the same party. And Obama is looking increasingly like a toxic asset for Democrats desperate to cling to a Senate majority.
 
[Matters foreign and domestic - WaPo: “Just 42 percent approve of [President Obama’s] handling of the economy, 37 percent approve of how he is handling the implementation of [ObamaCare] and 34 percent approve of his handling of the situation involving Ukraine and Russia.”]
 
Out of pocket - The Washington Post/ABC News poll was heralded by Democrats last month when it showed opposition to ObamaCare softening and the nation evenly divided on the law. That has evaporated. Support for the law dropped 5 points, while opposition remained firm. Why? Fifty-eight percent of respondents said ObamaCare is causing overall health costs in the country costs to rise, but a worse harbinger for Democrats this fall: 47 percent of respondents said the law will increase their own health costs, while just 8 percent said they would pay less because of the law. The Post has it right in describing last month’s results: “That finding was more positive for the administration than most other polls at the time. Democrats saw it as a possible leading indicator of a shift in public opinion, but that has not materialized.”
 
Any Questions? - Reuters: “Sylvia Mathews Burwell, President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. health secretary, will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee on May 8 for the first of two confirmation hearings, a committee official said on Monday.”
 
Killer stat - Even as the poll shows voters agreeing with Democrats on key issues like increasing the minimum wage and even the overall subject of health care, one statistic explains why the majority party may be in even worse trouble than 2010, and it’s all about Obama: “Registered voters by 53-39% say they’d rather see the Republicans in control of Congress as a counterbalance to Obama’s policies than a Democratic-led Congress to help support him.” The main aim of voters would appear to be to block the president’s agenda, which is kind of the GOP’s whole jam these days.
 
[‘Not working as planned’ - In a new poll from the pro-ObamaCare Kaiser Family Foundation, 43 percent of respondents were able to correctly identify, when prompted, that “about 8 million” people signed up for ObamaCare. But when asked how the implementation of the law, 57 percent of voters said “it’s clear the law is not working as planned,” while 38 percent said “now the law is basically working as intended.”]

Predictive elements - Polls like this matter because they may be predictive, but are also just as important for how they can sap political parties of the ability to raise money and organize. If Democrats believe that the Senate is a lost cause, it would be much more appealing to focus on moving Hillary Clinton farther left ahead of 2016 or even funding a liberal mayor’s campaign than it would be to shove money at a red-state Democrat whose race may be a lost cause. Or consider this from the Harvard Institute of Politics survey of Millennial voters out this morning: “…less than one-in-four (23%) young Americans say they will ‘definitely be voting’ in November, a sharp drop of 11 percentage points from five months ago (34%). Among the most likely voters, the poll also finds traditional Republican constituencies showing more enthusiasm than Democratic ones for participating in the upcoming midterms, with 44 percent of 2012 Mitt Romney voters saying they will definitely be voting - a statistically significant difference compared to the 35 percent of 2012 Barack Obama voters saying the same.”

Baier Tracks: Pressure’s on… - “This far out from an election there is a tendency to over read the importance of one poll or another in the grand political mosaic that we all try to decipher every week. But… A recent spate of polls culminating with the Washington Post/ABC News poll out this morning suggests Democrats have a lot to fear in six months. As President Obama's approval hits a new low for the poll, 53 percent of the registered voters polled thought it would be a good thing if Republicans controlled all of Congress to counterbalance the administration. Only 37 percent approved of his handling of the health law and even fewer (34 percent) approve of his handle of the Ukraine crisis. As more polls show similar bad news for Democrats, we may soon see what Fox News First has been telegraphing for some time: more and more vulnerable red-state Democrats will feel compelled to make a louder stand against the administration on one thing or another. Reporters should get ready for a boatload of press releases from Democrats looking to change the subject. That’s what voters are already getting every day in the form of campaign ads.” – Bret Baier.

We must vote the progressive socialist democrats out of office – especially in the House and the Senate. We need to make the Senate bulletproof to Obama’s progressive socialist agenda and to restore the balance of power between the Legislative and Executive Branch of government. And, at some point, rein-in the activist judges who are setting policy with their decisions rather than simply determining if a law is constitutional or the courts have overstepped their authority.

One Citizen Speaking...


OBAMA LIES AGAIN: IS THE LOBBYIST HEADING THE FCC PLANNING TO SCREW CONSUMERS WHO USE THE INTERNET?

Posted: 28 Apr 2014 11:19 PM PDT

FCC

President Barack Hussein Obama, a progressive socialist democrat, has told so many lies that it is almost impossible to catalog them all …

Two of his greatest lies are well-documented on videotape.

  • “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, PERIOD!”
  • “I am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists—and won. They have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.” 

So why should anyone be surprised when they find that Thomas Wheeler, a major communications industry insider, is appointed to become the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission?

Thomas Wheeler

Tom Wheeler was sworn in as the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on November 4, 2013. Chairman Wheeler was appointed by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate.

For over three decades, Chairman Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services, experiencing the revolution in telecommunications as a policy expert, an advocate, and a businessman. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless, and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and The Wireless Hall of Fame, a fact President Obama joked made him “The Bo Jackson of Telecom.”

Prior to joining the FCC, Chairman Wheeler was Managing Director at Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm investing in early stage Internet Protocol (IP)-based companies. He served as President and CEO of Shiloh Group, LLC, a strategy development and private investment company specializing in telecommunications services and co-founded SmartBrief, the internet’s largest electronic information service for vertical markets. From 1976 to 1984, Chairman Wheeler was associated with the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), where he was President and CEO from 1979 to 1984. Following NCTA, Chairman Wheeler was CEO of several high tech companies, including the first company to offer high speed delivery of data to home computers and the first digital video satellite service. From 1992 to 2004, Chairman Wheeler served as President and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA). <Source:FCC>

Not only is Wheeler a wealthy insider/lobbyist/entrepreneur, he also apparently has no problem lying like his boss, Barack Obama …

FEBRUARY 19, 2014 -- STATEMENT BY FCC CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER ON THE FCC’S OPEN INTERNET RULES

In its Verizon v. FCC decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit invited the Commission to act to preserve a free and open Internet. I intend to accept that invitation by proposing rules that will meet the court’s test for preventing improper blocking of and discrimination among Internet traffic, ensuring genuine transparency in how Internet Service Providers manage traffic, and enhancing competition. Preserving the Internet as an open platform for innovation and expression while providing certainty and predictability in the marketplace is an important responsibility of this agency.

The D.C. Circuit ruled that the FCC has the legal authority to issue enforceable rules of the road to preserve Internet freedom and openness. It affirmed that Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 gives the FCC authority to encourage broadband deployment by, among other things, removing barriers to infrastructure deployment, encouraging innovation, and promoting competition. The court recognized the importance of ensuring that so-called “edge providers,” those that use the network to deliver goods and services, can reach people who use the Internet. And it upheld the Commission's judgment that Internet freedom encourages broadband investment and that its absence could ultimately inhibit broadband deployment. <Source: FCC>

The progressive socialist democrats: lying liars that lie --- disadvantaging consumers who purchase internet services …

Network neutrality is the concept that all files consist of the same type of digital bits, no matter if the file is text, audio, video, data, or anything else to be transmitted digitally. And, that since all of these files are comprised of the same digital bits, they should not be surcharged by content type, nor see any delay in transmission. So while the internet service providers can charge you for additional bandwidth and/or upload./download speeds, they cannot charge you for faster delivery of your digital content at the expense of delaying other digital content.

But, that is not the type of network neutrality envisioned by the industry trying to turn a commodity, the transmission of bits over their network, into a profit-making scheme as complex and convoluted as that used by the telephone and cellular carriers who have different tiers, packages, and schemes – even though they transmit the very same type of information.

So Wheeler’s proposed rules look something like …

The proposed rules would allow pay-for-priority access fees

By contrast, according to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC's new "proposal would […] allow providers to give preferential treatment to traffic from some content providers, as long as such arrangements are available on 'commercially reasonable' terms for all interested content companiesWhether the terms are commercially reasonable would be decided by the FCC on a case-by-case basis."

This is a clear reversal of the Open Internet Order's policies towards access fees, as Public Knowledge haspointed out, p. 21.

"[T]he issue is not that broadband ISPs are charging commercially unreasonable rates to edge providers when they should be charging them commercially reasonable ones; the issue is that any charges or differential treatment between a broadband ISP and a pure edge provider (as opposed to an interconnecting network) are unreasonable. A 'commercial reasonableness' rule would change this norm by giving formal FCC blessing to the very kinds of arrangements the open internet rules sought to prohibit."

2. Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act requires the FCC to allow access fees

Many were surprised by yesterday's announcement. After all, in a statement in February, the Chairman had said that he is committed to protecting the Open Internet and that he intends to do so under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act, and many observers had taken comfort in that statement.

First, to be upheld under Section 706, any new network neutrality rules need to provide sufficient room for individualized discrimination and negotiation. After all, Verizon v. FCC struck down the Open Internet Order's no-blocking and non-discrimination rule because they violated the Communications Act's ban on imposing common carrier obligations on entities like Internet service providers that the FCC has not classified as telecommunications service providers or common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act.

<Source: The FCC changed course on network neutrality. Here is why you should care. | Center for Internet and Society>

Since there is no notice of advanced proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, we turn to Tom Wheeler’s blog for a preview …

Setting the Record Straight on the FCC’s Open Internet Rules by: Tom Wheeler, FCC Chairman - April 24, 2014

To be clear, this is what the Notice will propose:

  1. That all ISPs must transparently disclose to their subscribers and users all relevant information as to the policies that govern their network;
  2. That no legal content may be blocked; and
  3. That ISPs may not act in a commercially unreasonable manner to harm the Internet, including favoring the traffic from an affiliated entity.

<Source: Official FCC Blog>

  • Consider item one … all of the rates, fees, and schemes of the complex telephone tariff and taxation rules are open source documents that can be read by anyone with the time, patience, and knowledge of what they are looking at. So transparent disclosure has the same weight an advantage that Obama claimed when he said, ““This is the most transparent administration in history.”
  • Consider item two … No “legal” content may be blocked. The United Nations and other international bodies are now considering the criminalization of so-called “hate speech” that disparages Muslims and other such groups. Should an international tribunal rule that speech which is protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment is illegal, there is a possibility that Obama – the internationalist – would follow suit and claim it is a treaty obligation; possibly ratified by a corrupt Senate under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. This is SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) which makes the government the agent to criminalize, investigate and prosecute previous civil copyright infringement again! Something that demands deep packet mining and demanding that packets not be encrypted beyond what the government could crack.

Detecting and then Criminalizing “Hate Speech”

If two Democratic lawmakers have their way, Barack Obama’s Justice Department will submit a report for action against any Internet sites, broadcast, cable television or radio shows determined to be advocating or encouraging “violent acts.”

The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 “would create an updated comprehensive report examining the role of the Internet and other telecommunications in encouraging hate crimes based on gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation and create recommendations to address such crimes <Source: www.wnd.com/2014/04/big-chill-feds-want-to-scour-net-media-for-hate-speech/>

  • Consider item three … Pretty much this excludes self-dealing, but says absolutely nothing about an ISP surcharging a video based upon its rental cost or on any other so-called “reasonable” basis. In the world of FCC-speak, reasonableness is often determined by having the same terms and conditions apply to all parties – the consumers be damned. Allowing the “reasonableness” to be determined by the FCC on a case-by-case basis, would open the process up to corrupt lobbying – with no party speaking for the citizen/taxpayer/consumer.

The end game …

Chairman Wheeler is claiming that he has no choice but to allow these access fees if the internet service providers are not regulated common carriers.

Of course, if internet service providers became common carriers, the the Executive Branch of the federal government could exert even more control over both the transmission and possibly the content. Allowing for the surcharging of content that may be deemed detrimental to society, such as pornography. And, possibly even butting heads with the First Amendment with respect to political advertising and support statements carried within a period of time preceding an election. I you say it cannot happen, one must consider exactly how lawless President Obama and his cadre of progressive socialist democrats are and how they have circumvented Congress to impose unconstitutional rules and regulation by executive fiat.

Bottom line …

There is no doubt that Tom Wheeler is representing the interests of industry rather than the consumer; and that he will return to the industry as soon as he passes through the revolving door. Personally, I am tired of the game being played by providers, especially paying for internet speeds that are not achievable on a sustained and consistent basis.

So, in essence, the FCC is offering you a false and misleading choice – both of which are damaging to the citizen/taxpayer/consumer. Choose one: network neutrality and increased government tyranny or no network neutrality and increased internet costs. I am sure that the Obamacons are hoping that you will select network neutrality and empower the government to, once again, screw citizens, taxpayers, and consumers.

We must vote the progressive socialist democrats out of office – especially in the House and the Senate. We need to make the Senate bulletproof to Obama’s progressive socialist agenda and to restore the balance of power between the Legislative and Executive Branch of government. And, at some point, rein-in the activist judges who are setting policy with their decisions rather than simply determining if a law is constitutional or the courts have overstepped their authority.

-- steve

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