Author: Eldon Kramer

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Tape reveals Michigan’s Dingell saw ObamaCare as a means to “control the people”

The president’s promise that we could keep our doctor and our health insurance, and that premiums would be lower proved to be lies.  He illegally approved changes and granted waivers to the legislation.  And we learned that a billion dollars had been spent on the website, where personal security is still in question.

Rep. John Dingell (patdollard.com)

In a 2010 interview, Michigan’s Rep. John Dingell, cited ObamaCare as a means for controlling the people. (patdollard.com)

As if we didn’t have enough early evidence that ObamaCare was destined to be a failure. The revelations of recent weeks are even more damnable.

Most recently, a 2010 tape surfaced of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) speaking of  ObamaCare on WJR’s Paul W. Smith Show in Detroit, during which he tells Smith that it takes a lot of hard work  and preparation to create a system that will “control the people.”  A big government socialist statement if I ever heard one.

Last month, Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of the health insurance plan, referred to taxpayers as being stupid and praised the lack of transparency in the current administration.  And it’s all on tape. Continue reading →

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Is Senator Feinstein today’s Frank Church?

A number of you will recall the “Church Committee.”  It was the familiar name given the Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities chaired by Sen. Frank Church (D-ID) in 1975 to look into illegal intelligence gathering by the CIA, NSA and FBI.

Frank Church (fenndaily.com)

In the mid-1970s, Sen. Frank Church chaired a committee designed to destroy the U.S. intelligence community. (fenndaily.com)

Fourteen reports on the operational activities of these intelligence agencies included alleged abuses of law they had committed along with recommendations for reform. It was said that they represented the most extensive review of intelligence activities ever made public.

“These last two months have placed American intelligence in danger … and has raised the question whether secret intelligence operations can be conducted by the United States,” testified acting CIA Director William Colby.

Determined to damage our country’s intelligence operations, Church referred to operators as “rogue elephants.”  Donald Rumsfeld, who was working for President Gerald Ford, along with diplomat Robert Ellsworth, were credited with preventing the committee from dismantling our intelligence community. Continue reading →

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And she wants to be president, Part 8

If Hillary Clinton wants to be president, you sure wouldn’t know it by listening to what she has to say at her $300 thousand-a-pop speaking engagements.

Hillary (AP)

Presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton says we should respect, understand and empathize with our enemy. (APphoto)

At Georgetown University on Wednesday, Clinton spoke on the use of every possible tool in what she terms “Smart Power,” including “showing respect for one’s enemies, trying to understand, and insofar as is psychologically possible, empathize with their perspective and point of view …”  Media supporters were quick in their attempt to provide cover for her, insisting her remark was off the cuff.  Not so. A viewing of the speech shows her referring to her script.

There’s no record of her utilizing “Smart Power” with the terrorists who, for five months, warned her of an attack on U.S. assets in Benghazi.  Nor did she meet with the Internet video maker who she insisted be jailed as the perpetrator of the attack. Continue reading →

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Alternative energy costing us billions

Typically, the average individual pays little attention when the EPA announces it’s  preparing to release new energy regulations as it did last month.  Figures on ppb (parts per billion), job equivalents, compliance costs, and the effect on gdp (gross domestic product) are lost on most of us.

I have a hunch, however, that the two accompanying headlines appearing in the past two days just might get their attention. When the cost of alternate energy production hits homeowners, they’ll begin to question the bill of goods promoted by big government.

WSJ HeadAR Head0019“Thirty years and billions of dollars later, the wind industry is still saying it needs taxpayer support,” according to the Wall Street Journal, as economic viability is still years off.  Wind energy lobbyists are seeking a renewal of the production tax credit, where taxpayers have, probably unbeknownst to them, contributed $7.3 billion over the past seven years.  I’m sure the wind power generator manufacturers and wind producers appreciate how gullible we are. Continue reading →

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The Left is in a hurry to bury Benghazi

Dead Americans

These four dedicated Americans lost their lives in the Benghazi attack. Hillary Clinton had five months of warnings and refused to provide increased security. The left wants to sweep it all under the rug.

“Benghazi debunked,” read the headline over a Washington Post editorial board piece on Saturday.  “All that wasted noise over Benghazi attack,” declared Rem Reider in Sunday’s USA Today.

Both accounts, triggered by the release of the House Intelligence Committee report on Benghazi, were designed to put to bed any attempt to place blame with the Obama administration, including then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The president’s failure to act decisively following the attack, and Clinton’s failure to provide proper security for the ambassador and other Americans prior to the  Sept. 11, 2012 assault, are still in question.

The Washington Post criticized Republicans for “advancing a series of bizarre conspiracy theories intended to besmirch the Obama administration.”

“For the past three years,” wrote Reider, “the right has worked feverishly to turn Benghazi into a major scandal, a cudgel with which to batter President Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton.” Continue reading →

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Secret Service victim of leadership vacuum

While news of White House “fence jumpers” has disappeared from the media, I thought perhaps it was about time I conveyed my thoughts on the Secret Service.

I believe two factors I have addressed numerous times in this blog – poor leadership and big government – are the causes of the degradation of one of the most highly thought of organizations, the Secret Service.

In my Oct. 1, post, It can all be traced back to President Obama, I said, “You may be shocked by the current revelations of security screw ups by the Secret Service, but you shouldn’t be surprised, because it can easily be traced back to the culture in the White House.”

Dan Emmett. (Fopxnews.com)

Former Secret Service Agent Dan Emmett points to a lack of leadership as a cause in the degradation of the once respected agency. (foxnews.com)

Prior to the fence jumping incidents, former Secret Service Agent Dan Emmett, writing in the Washington Post, recalled a well-led agency with many of its top and mid-level supervisors coming from the armed forces.  “They managed and led by the ethos of military leadership, which dictates accomplishing the mission while taking care of those entrusted to them.  They expected much from their subordinates but know that they must set the example to follow,” he wrote.

“The Secret Service today is awash in managers, not leaders.  Many supervisors have little tangible or leadership experience, yet they are designated as managers on the basis of their titles or  long lists of schools attended,” Emmett explained. Continue reading →

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Put it in writing, Mr. President

Each year, the Speaker of the House of Representatives extends an invitation to the president to present his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress.

I find it ironic that the  purpose of the presentation is to allow the president to outline his legislative agenda, for which he asks Congress’ approval.

If ever there was a time for the Speaker to ask the president to submit his January report in writing, it is now.  Speaker John Boehner should respond to President Obama’s arrogant, open rebuke of Congress, whether it is his stonewalling Congressional investigating committees or the recent go-it-alone decision on immigration.

supreme court

President Obama rudely chastised the Supreme Court for its decision on Citizens’ United during his 2010 State of the Union Address. Note Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner smiling and applauding at left. (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

And let’s not forget how the president used his 2010 address to chastise the Supreme Court over the Citizens’ United decision.  The rude statement served to spur Democrats to intimidate the IRS into targeting conservative groups seeking tax exemption.

I don’t expect this to happen.  The GOP is too skiddish.  Remember how they got blamed for the government shutdown?  Standing up for your principles these days is interpreted as being “mean-spirited.” Continue reading →

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2013 Ohio State graduates now know tyranny is no longer just around the corner

 “Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems.  They’ll warn that tyranny is just around the corner.  You should reject these voices.”

obama aat OSU (MSNBC.com)

Speaking to the 2013 graduating class of The Ohio State University, President Obama joked about those who warned that tyranny was just around the corner. (msnbc.com)

Those were the words of President Obama, speaking to the 2013 graduation class of The Ohio State University on May 5, 2013.

I was incredulous when I first heard the president give this speech. First, because it wasn’t the uplifting message to leave with graduates, but more so because he used the venue as an opportunity to answer his critics who have challenged his go-it-alone presidency.

In my long career in public affairs, I have learned that every word in a speech given by a president is carefully woven into the message the administration wants to impart on the public.  This speech was devoid of the lofty plans and hopes facing students as he sought to reject those who dislike his policies. Continue reading →

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Was the president just confused?

When the media asked the president about Jonathan Gruber’s role in the design of ObamaCare during his press conference in Brisbane, Australia, he insisted that he is well-briefed before each meeting with the press, and that Gruber was not on his staff.  Gruber, who has referred to the “stupidity” of the American people, has indicated that he met with the president in the Oval Office and the record shows he visited the White House 19 times.… read more