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Michael Moore: "Using Me as Ammunition"
Those of you who saw Michael Moore's Farhenheit 9/11 might remember seeing a clip of a double amputee Iraq vet who complained about the pain while recovering at Walter Reed Hospital. It seemed as though he was not behind the war effort.
It turns out Sgt. Peter Damon wasn't complaining about the war, but was discussing a painkiller being used on him and other veterans.
And he's suing Moore for $85 million.
From the NY Post:
In "Fahrenheit 9/11," the bandaged National Guardsman is shown laying on a gurney complaining that he feels like he's "being crushed in a vise. But they [the drugs] do a lot to help it and they take a lot of the edge off it."
His image appears seconds after Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) says, "You know, they say they're not leaving any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind."
Damon - the dad of a 8-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy - doesn't come close to feeling that way.
"He couldn't have picked the worst guy to say that about," he told The Post.
"I'm the most fortunate disabled guy. I've even had a house built for me [by a nonprofit group, Home for Our Troops]."
Particularly outrageous to Damon is the fact that Moore never interviewed him or asked his permission to use the old clip.
"I was complaining about the pain I would've been having [if it weren't for the painkiller]," he said.
Get this:
Newsman Brian Williams ends the NBC clip by adding, "These men, with catastrophic wounds are . . . completely behind the war effort," according to the lawsuit.
That part, which wasn't shown in the Moore movie, is a far more accurate depiction of Damon's feelings, he said.
NBC is among those being named in the suit.
Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that Michael Moore not only used the clip without Damon's permission, but used it in such a way that it reflected Moore's view and the view he hoped moviegoers would walk away with. After all, Bowling for Columbine was riddled with out-of-context clips and interviews. Why mess with a winning formula?
Hat tip: My friend Jeanette
Posted by Pam at 01:30 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Is WND Lifting from Material from LLP?
This is a wierd "coincidence."
For the record, my post on Google was up three hours before theirs article was posted.
Posted by Aaron at 07:22 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Memorial Day in Pictures
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Stefano Paltera/Associated Press
People walk by nine coffins representing nine U.S. troops who were killed this week in Iraq at the Arlington West Iraq war memorial display on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, Calif., Saturday, May 27, 2006.
President Bush, left, stands after laying a Memorial Day wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Monday.
Jane "Zell" Pafenberg mourns her husband at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. (Melina Mara/The Post)
Michael Bloomer visits his wife's gravesite at Quantico cemetary on the 2nd anniversary of her death. He keeps up an online memorial website in part because his wife's job took her all over the county and "she had friends all over the place."
Maria Stokes visits the grave of her husband, Walter Stokes, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, at the Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly, N.J.
The Memorial Bridge leading from Washington, D.C., to Virginia is lined with a joint-service cordon as the remains of the Vietnam War Unknown are taken by motor escort to Arlington National Cemetery for interment in the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Posted by Aaron at 05:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Google Bias Strikes Again
They didn't forget Sir Aurthor Conan Doyle's Birthday:
They didn't forget Percival Lowell's Birthday:
They didnt forget Earth Day:
Nor did they forget Bastille Day:
I go to Google today, Memorial Day, and what do I find?
Very, very lame.
Lifelike Pundits want to thank all of the men and women who gave their lives for this great nation so that we can all live in freedom, security and prosperity.
We salute you.
Posted by Aaron at 03:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
More Evidence that Americans Don't Need Democrats
Part of the Dems "Plan":
Pelosi also mentioned the Democrats' "Innovation Agenda" to maintain America's leadership role in the global economy.
America lags behind other countries that have universal broadband deployment, Pelosi said; but the Democrats' agenda "guarantees" that every American will have affordable access to broadband within five years.
"We also believe that the nationwide deployment of high speed, always-on broadband and Internet and mobile communications will fuel the development of millions of new jobs in the United States," Pelosi said.
But, alas, the economy moves ahead despite the Democrats:
Middle- and working-class Americans signed up for high-speed Internet access in record numbers in the past year, apparently lured by a price war among phone companies.
Broadband adoption increased 59 percent from March last year to March 2006 among U.S. households with incomes between $30,000 and $50,000, according to a survey to be released Monday by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
It increased 40 percent in households making less than $30,000 a year. Among blacks, it increased 121 percent, according to the study.
Middle- and lower-income households still lag higher-income households when it comes to broadband adoption. Among the $30,000-$50,000 households, 43 percent now have broadband, compared to 68 percent for those making more than $75,000.
Overall, 42 percent of adult Americans, or 84 million people, have broadband, compared to 30 percent a year ago.
Posted by Aaron at 09:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!
Posted by kitty at 12:21 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Liberals Suck at both Ethics and Math
I read and commented over at the Huff Puff on this bizzare and silly article trying to separate out Democrats from the "culture of corruption." He offers a sacrifice (William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana), but then claims this:
But - does that mean that Democrats are just as mired as Republicans in wrong-doing?
No way. In the list of politicians now under investigation, the count is now: Republicans 15, Democrats 1.
No doubt which is the party of corruption.
Of course he is a liar, that is obvious, but it also shows how LAZY some of these writers are. He has no interest in looking up who else is actually under investigation, has been under investigation or who has been convicted since Bush took office. 15 to 1? BS:
1. Senator John "No Taxes" Corzine: Senator Corzine's latest scandal involves a half-million dollar loan he gave his ex-girlfriend, Carla Katz, who just happens to be the head of one of New Jersey's largest state workers unions. Eventually, according to investigators, he forgave the loan giving the impression this was a payoff to gain union support for his election campaign and, if elected, future dealings between state workers and the Governor. Should New Jersey voters elect Corzine, he gets to appoint his own Senate successor, thereby continuing the cycle of bossism and abhorrent politics for which Jersey has become infamous.
Besides the half-million smackers he gave Carla Katz, according to investigators, Senator Corzine voted in favor of a "treaty between the United States and Japan that contains a provision exempting certain investors from paying capital gains taxes on their shares in a Japanese bank. The [public interest] lawyers say Corzine was among about 100 investors who benefited."
2. Senator "the Torch" Toricelli: The New Jersey senator’s legal problems began with a local police investigation of political corruption in Bergen County, his home base. The probe led prosecutors to David Chang, the Korean-American businessman who had given Torricelli tens of thousands of dollars in gifts, including cash and appliances, as well as large sums for his 1996 Senate campaign. Torricelli admitted to having traveled with Chang to South Korea on several occasions, where he lobbied the South Korean government on behalf of his campaign contributor. Chang and six other men were convicted for giving illegal contributions to Torricelli, and US Attorney Mary Jo White in New York City began a formal investigation.
3. Senator Charles "Shmuck" Schumer: Two of Schumer's staffers on the committee, including a former top researcher for David Brock's left-wing "think tank," obtained Steele's confidential credit report by using his Social Security number, which they had reportedly culled from court records.
Under federal law, it is illegal to knowingly and willfully obtain a credit report under false pretenses. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act imposes a maximum two-year prison sentence for the crime.
Democrat spinners would have you believe that the two staffers involved in the apparent fraud, Katie Barge and Lauren Weiner, were young and inexperienced workers. They're soft-pedaling the incident as an "isolated" occurrence on par with a high school prank. But Barge has been around the block, including stints as a researcher for Sen. John Edwards' failed presidential bid and as research director for Brock's Media Matters for America.
4. Representative Cynthia "Too Black for You" McKinney: McKinney allegedly hit the officer with her cell phone after he stopped her for identification at a security checkpoint. The officer, whose identity remains unknown, is likely to file assault charges against the congresswoman, two sources told The Hill, which could result in her arrest as early as next week.
Standing against a backdrop of two-dozen Georgia schoolchildren holding signs that read “God Bless Cynthia” and “Is Cynthia a Target?” McKinney told a dozen assembled TV cameras that the officer was at fault, implying that her race, gender and politics had played a role in the incident.
“Let me be clear, this whole incident was instigated by the inappropriate touching and stopping of me – a female, black, progressive congresswoman,” she said.
5. Representative Patrick "Ambien" Kennedy: On May 4, 2006, Kennedy crashed his 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into a barricade on Capitol Hill at 2:45AM. He had been operating his vehicle with the lights off in the early morning darkness. Officers at the scene said that Kennedy appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was visibly staggering, but Kennedy claimed that he was merely disoriented from prescription medications Ambien and Phenergan. A woman who works at the Hawk & Dove bar in Washington, DC said that he had been drinking there. A second report cites the capitol police have additional "witnesses" to Kennedy's drinking at the Hawk & Dove before the crash.
Kennedy also stated to officers that he was "late for a vote." However, the last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier. The standard field sobriety test was not administered. Kennedy was driven home by an officer. On May 5, 2006, Kennedy admitted he has an addiction to prescription medication and announced he would be re-admitting himself to a drug rehabilitation facility at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where he has sought treatment for prior addictions. He has stated that he has no recollection of the car crash.
6. Senator Hillary "Vast Right-wing Conspiracy" Clinton: The Justice Department is trying to secure the cooperation of an indicted businessman as it pursues Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign for possible fundraising violations, according to interviews and documents.
The FBI told a U.S. magistrate in Los Angeles two years ago that it has evidence Clinton's campaign deliberately understated its fundraising costs so it would have more money to spend on elections. Prosecutors contend that businessman Peter Paul made donations because he wanted a pardon from President Bill Clinton. [This is only the most recent ethical lapse, we all remember the others: cattle futures, whitewater, travelgate, filegate, etc.]
7. Representative Alan "Slush Fund" Mollohan: Rep. Alan Mollohan, a West Virginia Democrat, faces accusations of funneling taxpayer money to nonprofit organizations he helped create -- and which support him with campaign contributions.
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times last week published stories about Mollohan's questionable behavior; and in an editorial this week, the New York Times singled out Mollohan as something of a test case for corruption-fighting Democrats.
The New York Times noted that Mollohan, the ranking Democrat on the House ethics panel, "has emerged as the latest example of the sort of shady dealings that have sent Congress plummeting in the public's estimation."
8. Minority Leader Nancy "San Fran Nan" Pelosi: Two political action committees linked to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have been charged with attempting to circumvent to legal limits on campaign giving, the Federal Election Commission has ruled.
According to the March 2004 FEC finding, Pelosi appears to have violated the same kind of arcane campaign finance regulation that spurred the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay this week.
The San Francisco Chronicle explained at the time:
"The FEC ruled that two Pelosi political action committees created to help Democrats in the 2002 elections were related instead of being independent and therefore violated a rule against giving more than the maximum $5,000 annual contribution."
9. Representative William Jefferson (Democrat, Louisiana): In a 95-page affidavit used to obtain a warrant for the office search, investigators stated that an August 2005 search of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson's home turned up the cash sum in a freezer. The money was divided among various frozen food containers, according to the heavily redacted affidavit.
Agents told a judge the money was part of a $100,000 payment that had been delivered by an informant in the bribery probe, which already has led to guilty pleas by a Kentucky businessman and a former Jefferson aide.
The Justice Department has been investigating Jefferson's relationship to telecommunications deals in Africa and elsewhere, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation of him last week.
10. Representative James "Expelled from Congress" Traficant: A jury found flamboyant U.S. Rep. James Traficant guilty of bribery and all other charges against him Thursday [April 12, 2002] after a two-month federal racketeering and corruption trial.
The jury of 10 women and two men convicted the congressman on all counts against him, covering charges of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington.
11. Representative James "Baghdad Jim" McDermott: A federal appeals court ruled today that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago.
In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott violated the rights of House Majority Leader John Boehner, who was heard on the 1996 call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The court ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs.
12. Representative Nydia Velazquez: Velazquez is accused of violating House ethics guidelines by using her congressional office to endorse Judge Margarita Lopez Torres as Brooklyn Surrogate Court judge.
13. Representative John "Mock Impeachment" Conyers: Two former aides to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) have alleged that he repeatedly violated House ethics rules.
Deanna Maher, a former deputy chief of staff in Conyers’s Detroit office, and Sydney Rooks, a former legal counsel in the district office, provided evidence for the allegations by sharing numerous letters, memorandums and copies of e-mails, handwritten notes and expense reports with The Hill.
In letters sent separately by each woman to the House ethics committee, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office, they allege that Conyers demanded that aides work on several local and state campaigns and forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children. They also charge that some aides illegally used Conyers’s congressional offices to enrich themselves.
14. Former NSA Sandy "Honest Mistake" Burg(l)er: Former national security adviser Sandy Berger will plead guilty to taking classified material from the National Archives, a misdemeanor, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Berger is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Friday, said Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra.
The former Clinton administration official previously acknowledged he removed from the National Archives copies of documents about the government's anti-terror efforts and notes that he took on those documents. He said he was reviewing the materials to help determine which Clinton administration documents to provide to the independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
15. Governor James "Truckstops and Videostores" McGreevy: McGreevey's term was mired in controversy, from the credentials of several of his appointments to pay-for-play and extortion scandals involving many of his backers and key New Jersey Democratic fundraisers. On August 12, 2004, faced with reports that his former homeland security aide Golan Cipel would file a sexual harassment suit against him in Mercer County Court, McGreevey announced at a press conference that he was "a gay American," that he "engaged in an adult consensual affair with another man" (whom his aides immediately named as Cipel), and that he would resign effective November 15, 2004.
Even though McGreevey's sexual orientation was reportedly well known to some New Jersey Democratic Party bosses, this announcement made McGreevey America's first openly gay governor. The Star-Ledger won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage. After only eight months in office, Cipel resigned from his homeland security post amid persistent complaints about his lack of qualifying experience for the position. Cipel lacked any relevant prior experience that would warrant such an appointment and could not gain a security clearance from the federal government, given that he was not a U.S. citizen.
16. Representative Frank "Me and My Son" Ballance: In September 2004, a Federal Grand Jury indicted Frank Ballance and Garey Ballance. Frank Ballance was charged with diverting more than $100,000 in state funds meant for the John A. Hyman Memorial Foundation. The funds went to his son, daughter, mother, church, and law firm while he was a state senator. Frank Ballance was chairman of the foundation and also chairman of the board of deacons of Greenwood Baptist Church in Warrenton, where the Hyman offices were situated.
Garey Ballance was charged with willful failure to file a federal income tax return for the year 2000, a misdemeanor that has a maximum punishment of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. He failed to report receiving $20,000 from the foundation. He used the money as a down payment on a sports utility vehicle.
In November 2004 Frank Ballance pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. According to the terms of the plea agreement, he could receive up to five years in prison. [Funny how we never heard much about this US Representative!]
Now, that's 16 right there...and I didn't cover any of the Democrats linked to Abramoff's clients. So I am going to email this the writer of that really stupid piece of self-denial will actually admit his poor math and issue a correction.
Posted by Aaron at 02:53 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Did Matthew Cooper Perjure Himself?
I wonder if HuffPuff sprawl this title across it's headlines? Don't think so:
Walton said Time magazine must provide Libby's lawyers with drafts of first-person stories that reporter Matthew Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby because the judge said he noticed inconsistencies between them.
All of the news organizations had asked Walton to review the materials sought by Libby _ including e-mails, drafts of articles and reporters' notes _ in hopes of convincing him that they were not relevant and that the defense was on a "fishing expedition."
During that review, Walton said, he found "a slight alteration between the several drafts of the articles" Cooper wrote about his conversations with Libby and the reporter's first-person account of his testimony before a federal grand jury.
"This slight alteration between the drafts will permit the defendant to impeach Cooper, regardless of the substance of his trial testimony, because his trial testimony cannot be consistent with both versions," Walton wrote.
Matthew Cooper always appeared a little slimy to me on television (that whole melodrama about his crying son not wanting him to go to jail). He did gain notoriety from this case (I'd never heard of him before).
I've worked with Scooter for about 6 months at Dechert in DC and he and his attorneys will smoke out any liars for sure!
And, as a man of character, he has resigned his position, like DeLay, instead of holding onto power until the last possible minute like Mollohan, McKinney, Kennedy and William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana.
Posted by Aaron at 01:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Corporate Cheats Going to Jail
Remember how they tried to blame Bush for all the corporate malfeasance that lead to numerous companies' management jumping ship? The connections were too blatant to ignore:
George W. Bush supports entrepreneurship and business; Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, etc., were all businesses.
And just like al-Queda, all the planning and scamming went on during Clinton's term and blew up in Bush's face.
Funny how that worked out. All these suckers are going to jail for a long, long time. Kudos to the Bush Justice Department.
Janet Reno could not be reached for comment.
Posted by Aaron at 05:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Senator Suckers?
Could this be the plan? The Republicans are showing not only a difference between Democrats and Republicans, but between conservative Republicans and leftist Republicans?
Our biggest vunerability is losing the House and, right now, the House is positioning itself to inspire people to go to the polls for them because they have been more true to conservatism than the Senate.
If you get the base fired up to go to the polls to keep the House, they'll probably also pull the lever for the Senate candidate as well.
Posted by Aaron at 05:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fake Robbery
For all this talk of the rolling back of civil rights that have happened under the facistic, theocon Bush administration, what exactly could gay people do during the Clinton administration that they cannot do now? If the FMA passes, what changes for gays? Nothing.
And what exactly could illegal aliens in America do during Clinton's administration that they cannot do now? If this border bill passes, what "rights" will be trampled on?
Posted by Aaron at 09:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Dire Warnings of Things that Weren't #2
Question: What happened to the "Four More Wars?"
Posted by Aaron at 07:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Amen, Boehner
More of this, please:
"Later this week, the House will consider ANWR legislation which will create American jobs by authorizing environmentally safe energy production on just 2,000 of ANWR's 20 million acres. Using 21st Century technology that is environmentally safe, we can create more than a million American jobs, strengthen American energy security, and increase our energy independence. Had President Clinton not vetoed ANWR in 1995, the U.S. could be getting nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day from the arctic - an amount equal to the daily production lost in the Gulf after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"While Republicans offer solutions, the Democrats' chronic negligence on energy solutions continues to impact working Americans every day. The Democrats have shown that their energy policy runs on nothing but hot air. They are on the wrong side of the issue of American energy independence with regards to the policy AND politics. Even their supporters in the labor movement recognize that Democrats are standing in the way of increased American energy production."
While the Senate Republicans are wandering further down the "Democrats-but-Better" whole over immigration by offering solutions that are counterintuitive, the conservatives in the House make complete sense. Thanks to Don for this gem.
Posted by Aaron at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Diversity Strikes in Wisconsin
This is just utterly ridiculous:
The University of Wisconsin System is changing its admissions policies to consider race, income and other non-academic qualities of applicants with the explicit goal of boosting student diversity.
Until now, all campuses with the exception of UW-Madison have used set academic requirements such as grade point averages and test scores to make the majority of admissions decisions. The change means no student will be guaranteed admission to the system no matter how good his or her grade point average, test scores or class rank - although these measures will continue to carry the most weight. “There will be no automatic admission, even for top students,” said Larry Rubin, the system’s assistant vice president for academic and student services.
The matter-of-fact and proud way he states that merit will no longer win a student anything in his school system shows the utter bankruptcy of modern leftwing liberalism. What an outrage. Thanks to Owen at Boots and Sabers for catching this.
Posted by Aaron at 11:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
PC Goes to the Next Level in Michigan Schools
Things are going too far:
In perhaps a well-intentioned, but pernicious example of political correctness, the Michigan Department of Education is attempting to ban the "America" and "American" from our public schools. Even though the word "America" appears in the department's own civics and government benchmarks, the department's style protocol for the Michigan Education Assessment Program requires that "America" and "Americans" be expunged from our testing and grade level expectations. Last week, the department ordered that our hard-working teachers not utter the words.
Why?
The Department of Education asserts that "Americans" includes Mexicans, Canadians and others in the Western Hemisphere, so referring to U.S. residents as Americans is inappropriate. In the department's view, "America" happens to include South, Central and North America. Accordingly, when referring to the colonial period, the state bureaucracy requires teachers to refer to "the colonies of North America" or "North Americans." After the American Revolution, the nation is called the United States (not of America).
Last I heard, Canadians would rather wither away and die before being referred to as Americans. (Heck, those who sneak over from Mexico don't even want to be Americans, even while working here and accepting free education and medical care). How about all of the other citizens from around the world who call people from the United States "Americans"? How does the Michigan school system plan to educate them regarding the appropriate term?
This is absolute garbage. Banning the terms America and Americans from usage in Michigan schools isn't educational, nor does it make a heck of a lot of sense. When people worldwide hear the word America, they don't think of Mexico, Canada, or any of the Central American or South American countries. They think of the United States of AMERICA -- where millions of people have come throughout our nearly 300-year history in search of a better life. And even if citizens from other countries don't like us, they still think of us as Americans...perhaps with the qualifier "ugly" in front of it.
But what else can one expect from a public school system that has been hijacked by PC moonbats who seem to be more concerned with nitpicky phrasing than actually improving educational standards?
And what about national pride? Oh right, I forgot. National pride is not allowed in the PC universe.
I wonder how long it will take for other school systems around the country to adopt this policy?
Crossposted to Blogmeister USA.
Posted by Pam at 10:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
SBA News
The outgoing (This is a total hit piece, much of it treating the truth as secondary):
Chapman says SBA in a shambles, from his press release...
Embattled SBA Administrator Leaves Agency in Shambles, Says American Small Business League
Wednesday May 24, 8:20 am ET
PETALUMA, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The five-year reign of outgoing SBA Administrator Hector Barreto has left the agency a gutted shell of what it was when he took office in 2001. The SBA's dismal performance under Barreto's leadership has been chronicled in ten Federal investigations and two private studies that uncovered fraud, abuse, and lack of proper oversight in virtually every major SBA program.
And, as Barreto allowed the SBA's operating budget and staff to be cut every year, a government-wide survey showed that the morale of SBA employees plummeted to the lowest level of any Federal agency.
Barreto has drawn the ire of both houses of Congress and from Republicans and Democrats alike. The small business committees in both the House and Senate have grown accustomed to the false and misleading information he delivers on SBA performance. New York Representative Nydia Velasquez was so angered by Barreto's attempts to mislead Congress that she publicly accused him of "being dishonest" in a Congressional hearing last year.
A 2003 Government Accountability Office investigation found that Mr. Barreto had allowed Federal small business statistics to be inflated by reporting billions of dollars in contracts to large companies as small business awards. After a subsequent Congressional hearing on the matter, the SBA was forced to remove the names of 600 large businesses from its PRO-NET database, which at that time was the main source for government procurement officers to find small business contractors.
A 2004 report commissioned by the SBA Office of Advocacy found Barreto had permitted awards to firms such as Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman to be reported as small business contracts. The same report found "vendor deception" - another word for fraud - was one reason for the illegal contracting activity. To date, Barreto has refused to take any action to address the abuses.
In 2005, the SBA's own Office of Inspector General issued four reports that documented continuing cases of fraud and abuse. Report 5-15 stated that, "One of the most important challenges facing the Small Business Administration and the entire Federal government today is that large businesses are receiving small business procurement awards and agencies are receiving credit for these awards." Still, Barreto refused to take any action to address the problems.
Report 5-14 found that during Barreto's tenure, the SBA had falsified their own small business contracting statistics by reporting millions in awards to large businesses as small business contracts. In one instance, the SBA reported a large contract to Fuhrman NV - a Dutch firm with 18,000 employees worldwide - as a small business award.
Report 5-16 found Barreto had allowed large businesses to receive millions in Federal small business contracts through "false certifications."
Report 5-20 found that under Barreto's guidance, the SBA had failed to properly monitor major federal "bundled" contracts to allow small companies a more equitable opportunity to compete for government business.
In a failed attempt to protect the SBA's dubious small business contracting statistics, Barreto directed SBA attorneys to fight Freedom of Information Act (FOLIA) requests that could prove the SBA had intentionally manipulated the numbers. The SBA lost two FOLIA cases to the American Small Business League and; in both instances, they were forced to release information that proved the agency had extensive knowledge of fraud and abuse in the system.
Barreto's refusal to implement the women's procurement program that Congress enacted in 2000 has cost women entrepreneurs well over $33 billion in lost contracting opportunities. Frustrated with his lack of action, the U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce successfully sued the SBA in order to compel Mr. Barreto to take action.
A September 12, 2005 story by the Associated Press reported that the 9/11 disaster-recovery loan program had been completely mishandled and that less than 11% of the loans approved had actually gone to firms in New York.
In 2006, the SBA Office of Inspector General issued report 6-15 that revealed the SBA has mismanaged the 8(a) contracting program to the point where it is rife with fraud and abuse. The Government Accountability Office released an additional report on abuse by Alaska Native Corporations in the 8(a) program that the SBA allowed through a significant lack of oversight.
Budget cuts and staff layoffs during Barreto's term resulted in a dramatic loss of knowledgeable and experienced staff. After the Gulf hurricanes last year, the SBA was forced to take on thousands of temporary workers to compensate for the severe lack of experienced employees.
Furthermore, the Gulf loan program has been so poorly handled that thousands of small business owners have been forced into bankruptcy because they have been unable to get timely financial help. While Barreto has frequently touted record numbers of loans approved for hurricane victims, the reality is that only a small percentage of the loans have actually been dispersed. The New Orleans Times-Picayune cited a recent study by a post- Katrina advocacy group that found only about 21% of small businesses had received any assistance.
A recent article in Inc. magazine labeled Barreto "the disappointment" in the Bush Administration. SBA insiders have acknowledged that he was forced to resign after the White House determined Barreto's handling of the SBA was a public relations nightmare and an embarrassment to President Bush. Barreto's removal as head of a Federal agency to run a small and obscure Hispanic lobbying group marks a dismal end to his troubled political career.
The incoming:
On Mr. Preston, from Fortune Small Business...
A Big-Biz Face for the SBA?
By Elizabeth Wright
WHEN PRESIDENT BUSH announced his April nomination of Steven Preston to replace Hector Barreto at the Small Business Administration, the response could have been summed up in one word: Who? Preston--who left his post as executive vice president at ServiceMaster, a $3.2-billion-a-year Chicago landscape and home-maintenance company (servicemaster.com), to pursue the nomination--has spent his career working for large companies. He is a virtual unknown in Washington, with seemingly little clout. Ken Hooten, managing partner of Concentric Equity Partners, a Chicago investment fund on whose advisory board Preston serves, says he never knew that Preston wanted to run the SBA. "I don't think he has political aspirations," says Hooten. "He just wants to make a difference."
A Sunday-school-teaching father of five, Preston, 45, likely came to Bush's attention through Claire Buchan, a former ServiceMaster vice president of communications who has served as deputy assistant to President Bush. (ServiceMaster's first corporate objective--"To honor God in all that we do"--probably did not hurt Preston's chances.) Preston is a small-government, laissez-faire conservative whose ideologies were shaped by the education he received at the University of Chicago in the mid-1980s, says Dan Kenary, a former classmate from that school's MBA program. Kenary adds that Preston nonetheless supports the SBA's loan programs, seeing them as a "pretty efficient way to create jobs." But not everyone is convinced; Lloyd Chapman, president of the American Small Business League (asbl.com), says that during Preston's tenure, ServiceMaster lobbied Congress to limit the amount of federal small-business contracts, and refers to the company as "anti-small business." (Preston declined an interview, pending the confirmation process.)
Preston's supporters shrug off his lack of small-business experience, pointing to his years at ServiceMaster--where he approved loans to franchisees--and at investment banks and funds. Karen Kerrigan, head of the conservative Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (sbsc.org), says that while she supports Preston, she worries whether he will be "in tune" with entrepreneurs' needs: "Not all small business are turnkey franchises."
Posted by Aaron at 09:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Dire Warnings of Things that Weren't #1
Question: What ever happened to that military draft the left promised us if Bush was reelected?
Posted by Aaron at 06:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Liar, Liar, Lefty Caught on Fire!
The moonbats reality manufacting is exposed once again:
I served 16 months in iraq as an army ranger had to kill alot of innocent iraqi women and children and civilians becouse my country ordered me to i come back home and my country forgets about me the va tells me i am cant get service for my ptsd so i will tell america the truth about iraq the stuff america doesent want u to know. Also, I am a pathological liar.
He lies so well, that the left wingers dedicated a site to him to tell his lies about butchering Iraqis.
Just Citizens blog reports that Army has no record of service from Jesse/Jessie MacBeth...more below...(hat tip: LGF )...12noon update: I just talked to the Army spokesman as well. Paul Boyce told me: "At a minimum, this appears to have been concocted" and "some sort of hoax." Special Ops Command and State Department have been alerted. The uniform issues of the alleged soldier were a "red flag," Boyce said. As were MacBeth's claims to have entered the Army at 16 and exit at age 20, and have been both Army Ranger and Special Ops, and have received the Purple Heart and other medals. I asked whether there would be a criminal investigation. Boyce said they would follow up on any substantial leads.
Posted by Aaron at 12:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
About that "culture of corruption"
Hat Tip: Lorie Byrd
Posted by Dodo David at 09:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
RNC Conference Call
The call was far more brief than I anticipated. I got in one question:
Please explain to me how the RNC believes that the course we are taking on immigration (like granting social security benefits to illegal aliens who gained employment through identity theft) is going to grow the republican party?
Ken Mehlman responded (paraphrased):
RNC does not take specific position on policies/issues; they are to support Republican candidates. 1986 immigration reform was the wrong approach and we must correct that with new legislation - order security first, biometric id card, economic considerations.
Very brief, but I did plug the site!
Posted by Aaron at 08:54 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Dixie Chicks Change Name to Ditzy Chicks
Well, they didn't, really, but they should:
Disappointing airplay for the first two singles from the new album by the Dixie Chicks exposes a deep -- and seemingly growing -- rift between the trio and the country radio market that helped turn the group into superstars.
"Taking the Long Way," due out May 23, is the band's first album since singer Natalie Maines sparked a major controversy in 2003 by declaring that she was ashamed to hail from the same state as fellow Texan President George W. Bush. Radio boycotts ensued, and many fans abandoned the band.
The first single, "Not Ready to Make Nice," peaked at No. 36 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart, beginning its descent after just seven weeks. The second single, "Everybody Knows," is now at No. 50, down two places in its fourth week.
"Not Ready to Make Nice" performed only slightly better at adult contemporary radio, peaking at No. 32 on the AC chart and falling off after six weeks.
Using "Not Ready to Make Nice" as the first choice for a single might have been a deliberate message, but consumers are sending one right back.
The Chicks are stinking up the country charts, and not doing much better on the AC charts. Obviously, not all country artists can make the switch to AC and pop. It seems like just desserts to me:
The two singles have had a striking lack of impact at radio, considering the band's history. Between 1997 and 2003, it notched 14 top 10 country singles, including six No. 1 hits. In addition to eight Grammy Awards, the group has won 10 Country Music Assn. Awards and eight Academy of Country Music Awards. The trio has sold 23.4 million albums in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The Dixie Chicks and reps from their label, Columbia Records, declined to participate in this story. But -- at least as far as Maines is concerned -- the drop-off at country radio was part of its plan.
Maines was quoted in late January on EW.com, before the single went to country radio, saying: "For me to be in country music to begin with was not who I was ... I would be cheating myself ... to go back to something that I don't wholeheartedly believe in. So I'm pretty much done. They've shown their true colors. I like lots of country music, but as far as the industry and everything that happened ... I couldn't want to be farther away from that."
So Maines didn't like country music to begin with...but apparently it's made her a boatload of money. It sounds like she's the one who has shown her true colors!
The entertainment business is a crap shoot. Very few entertainers, be they singers, musicians or actors, achieve lasting stardom. It sounds like the Dixie Chicks might have started that long descent into has-been status.
I say good riddance. Biting the hand that feeds you has a way of backfiring. How long will it be before they start whining about how fans should just put the past behind them because those royalties aren't pouring in?
UPDATE: Click below to see the song lyrics. Sounds like the fans could have the same beef.
DIXIE CHICKS LYRICS
"Not Ready To Make Nice"
Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I’m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I’m still waiting
I’m through with doubt
There’s nothing left for me to figure out
I’ve paid a price
And I’ll keep paying
I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should
I know you said
Can’t you just get over it
It turned my whole world around
And I kind of like it
I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don’t mind sayin’
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should
I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should
Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I’m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I’m still waiting
Posted by Pam at 10:19 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Krugman: Darling of the Netkooks
Found a fairly complete transcript of Paul Krugman's column today at a big liberal blog. It's about Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont:
Friday was a bad day for Senator Joseph Lieberman. The Connecticut Democratic Party’s nominating convention endorsed him, but that was a given for an incumbent with a lot of political chips to cash in. The real news was that Ned Lamont, an almost unknown challenger, received a third of the votes. This gave Mr. Lamont the right to run against Mr. Lieberman in a primary, and suggests that Mr. Lamont may even win.
Delusional. Krugman is letting his wishes get the better of him. Ned Lamont may be an almost unknown character among the general public, but he's very well known among the political cognoscenti. His loss by 66%-34% can only be construed as a win by those who are used to "moral victories".
What happened to Mr. Lieberman? Some news reports may lead you to believe that he is in trouble solely because of his support for the Iraq war. But there’s much more to it than that. Mr. Lieberman has consistently supported Republican talking points. This has made him a lion of the Sunday talk shows, but has put him out of touch with his constituents and with reality.
And some news reports may lead you to believe he's not in trouble at all.
However, Lieberman faces a stiff challenge from within his own party. Ned Lamont has raised the banner for those disaffected with Lieberman and mounted a more serious challenge than initially expected. Lieberman has not ruled out an Independent bid for the Senate if Lamont were to win the nomination.
In that case, Lieberman would win 47% of the vote, Lamont 20%, and Streitz 17%. Those numbers are similar to our previous poll on this match-up.
Lieberman also leads Lamont by 20 percentage points in a Primary Election match-up.
What's really happening is that Jane Hamsher and Paul Krugman are together in the cone of silence (from the old Get Smart TV show). They hear each other talking about how well Neddy is doing and because of the echo effect, it seems like a lot of people are saying the same thing.
Posted by pat at 10:14 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Nagin Wins New Orleans
Nagin wins New Orleans mayoral race. Receives call from Mayor Marion Barry to congratulate him...
Posted by Aaron at 07:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Unity Government Formed and Sworn in Two Days Early
Again, this will fall on the left's deaf ears:
Despite the violence, legislators began to arrive at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone for a session of the 275-member parliament that was to approve Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki's new Cabinet.
The United States hopes the new national unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds can calm the violence and pave the way for Washington to begin withdrawing U.S. troops.
"This is a historic day for Iraq and all its people," deputy parliament speaker Khalid al-Attiyah said at a nationally televised news conference as the legislators gathered.
"It is the first time that a full-term, democratically elected government has been formed in Iraq since the fall of the ousted regime. This government represents all Iraqis," said al-Attiyah, a bearded Shiite cleric wearing a white turban.
He could accurately go further: this is the first full-term, democratically elected government in Arab history.
Posted by Aaron at 07:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Identity Theft
I am so sick and tired of this argument about illegals paying into the Social Security system, therefore the money is theirs. First, this is identity theft. Bush just proposed task force into combating identity theft, but then wants to provide amnesty to the millions of illegal immigrants that have done it. Second, the analogies thrown around by supporters of amnesty are silly. Here's a good analogy:- I steal someone's credit card.
- I go to Vegas.
- I use the card I stole to bet $1000.
- I win $1million.
- I get busted and demanded to keep the $999,000.
Posted by Aaron at 07:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Coastal State Gas Tax
It is very unrepublican of me, but after reading that coastal representatives killed a bill that would have permitted offshore drilling for natural gas, I think a coastal gas tax is in order:
The House late Thursday rejected an attempt to end the quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling that has been in effect for 85 percent of the country's coastal waters from Alaska to New England despite arguments that new supplies are needed to lower energy costs.
Lawmakers from Florida and California, who led the fight to continue the drilling moratorium, said they feared energy projects as close as three miles from shore could jeopardize multibillion-dollar tourism industries in their states.
"People don't go to visit the coasts of Florida or the coast of California to watch oil wells," Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., said.
Offshore waters are territory of the United States--not individual states--and its resources belong to all Americans. This is also why the Electoral College and the Senate are important--to keep large populations on coasts from dictating energy policy.
And anyone who has been to Long Beach at night knows that the Oil Rigs are very surreal and look like stars in the water ;-)
Posted by Aaron at 09:27 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Not Long Enough
I just found out about this story a couple of months ago and was absolutely appalled by the attempts of a Republican candidate to jam the GOTV calls on election day. Truly disgraceful and he should have received a longer sentence:
A former Republican National Committee official was sentenced Wednesday to 10 months in prison for his role in the jamming of New Hampshire Democrats' telephones on Election Day 2002.
James Tobin, the third person sent to prison in the case, was found guilty in December of harassment by telephone. Prosecutors had asked for two years behind bars.
Prosecutors said Tobin helped arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the state Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters' union for about an hour. Republican John Sununu defeated then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen for the Senate that day in what had been considered a cliffhanger.
Election fraud, like lying under oath, are SERIOUS because they rip at the fabric of our republic. It should never be tolerated by either party.
Posted by Aaron at 07:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Worked for me
All I know is that I signed up for two GOP events after seeing San Fran Nan on Meet the Press two weeks ago. You cannot run on only this, but I think it will provide some motivation to go to the polls.
Congressional Republicans have begun a media campaign to scare voters about the prospect that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) likely would become Speaker if Democrats retake the House in November.
The attacks have come from Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). Party strategists are also encouraging surrogates on K Street to suggest that a Pelosi-led Congress would try to impeach President Bush.
Boehner ripped Pelosi on Friday in a press release, asking, “When will Pelosi admit she was wrong on Medicare ‘Part D’?”
The NRCC bragged yesterday about a Newsweek poll showing that 51 percent of Americans had never heard of Pelosi. On three successive days last week, the NRCC derided her for criticizing GOP legislative ideas to attract suburban voters and ripped her view of the economy and Medicare’s prescription-drug benefit.
The Republican National Committee attacked Pelosi after she appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on May 7, saying that “Nancy Pelosi’s vision for the future is one of higher taxes on working Americans, cut and run in Iraq and a little impeachment thrown in for good measure.”
Jennifer Crider, Pelosi’s spokeswoman, retorted, “Why are Republicans threatened by a mother of five and grandmother of five? Because Leader Pelosi is effective. House Democrats are united, disciplined and working for a new direction for America — one that works for all Americans, not just the privileged few.”
That last sentence is really a joke. She is the daughter of privelege from Baltimore and represents San Francisco in all it's leftwing, lunatic splendor.
Posted by Aaron at 08:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
More Jobs Outsorcing
Yep, this economy is in the tank:
Honda Motor Co. will build new plants in Japan, the United States and Canada to boost production amid soaring demand for its vehicles, the company's president said Wednesday.
And Democrats never mention this:
The U.S. plant will cost an estimated $400 million and will employ 1,500 workers, Fukui said. That plant would boost the company's North American production capacity from 1.4 million to 1.6 million vehicles per year.
The U.S. plant is Tokyo-based Honda's sixth in a region that accounts for about half the company's annual global sales.
Honda sold 1.65 million units in North America last year, including Mexico and Canada, and forecasts sales to rise to 1.72 million units in the current year. Honda's current 1.4 million unit production capacity
Posted by Aaron at 08:25 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
It could have been a lot worse
The president's presentation was a little meek in delivery, but it was well presented.
I think the point that struck me the most and might have swayed me a little is how he pegged the temporary worker program (along with tamperproof ID) as a disincentive to illegal immigration. I think he might be right.
Employers will then have no excuse--no claims of ignorance when hiring illegals.
But the enforcement is a must.
What will work in the president's favor is that he did not slam the House bill as demanded by Democrats and how the Amnesty liberals will smear him still and ask for immediate citizenship.
Posted by Aaron at 08:47 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Free Speech Threatened in Boulder
Here's hoping Matt Parker and Trey Stone give this one the treatment it deserves on South Park:
Tuesday, the Boulder City Council will take up the matter of allocating public funding for a "hate hotline," which would give residents an opportunity to report incidents in which Boulderites use tactless language.
The ACLU is concerned, of course. But not for the reason you might think.
"Our concern - and there are many - is that there is no confidentiality, no legal confidentiality," explains Judd Golden, chairman of the Boulder American Civil Liberties Union, which has not yet taken an official position on the hate-line. "So it's potentially chilling if people think they are providing this information in confidence and then that information were provided to the government or the government sought access to it. That would chill free speech."
He's worried about the government getting access to the information being called in? What about the fact that the information is being called in at all? Apparently there's no intent for the hate line to forward the complaints to the police or the city council any time soon, but frankly, I have no faith in that. Simply instituting the line is the first step. I can just hear the hate line folks voicing their concerns and sooner than you can make that racial slur, the cops will be beating down your door.
So what the heck is this phone line supposed to do? Will it make the callers feel good knowing they can complain to someone about some dumb blonde joke someone told by the office coffee pot?
Unbelievable.
Crossposted to Blogmeister USA
Posted by Pam at 07:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Is Best of the Web Today Reading Lifelike Pundits?
I don't think they lifted from my piece earlier, but it feels good to know the professionals are on the same page:
Then there are the polls. The lead story in USA Today is headlined "Poll: 51% Oppose NSA Database." The paper's Susan Page reports:
A majority of Americans disapprove of a massive Pentagon database containing the records of billions of phone calls made by ordinary citizens, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. About two-thirds are concerned that the program may signal other, not-yet-disclosed efforts to gather information on the general public.
But the poll results tell a more complicated story. The first question is, "Do you think the Bush administration has gone too far, has been about right, or has not gone far enough in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight terrorism?" Results: Too far 41%, about right 34%, not far enough 19%.
So Page could have written her lead paragraph as follows:
A majority of Americans do not think the administration has gone too far in restricting people's civil liberties in order to fight terrorism. Thirty-four percent say the balance it has struck is "about right," while 19% say it doesn't go far enough.
The paper, that is, could have written a pro-administration story or an anti-administration story based on this poll, and it opted for the latter.
That sounds like my piece below that I wrote this morning!
Posted by Aaron at 06:53 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
USA Today Slight of Hand
You have to love how USA Today likes to title its headlines:
That's great! Now read the entirety of the results--and pay close attention to the little nugget burried at the end of the survey. Here are questions that could lead to different headlines:
1. Do you think the Bush administration has gone too far, has been about right, or has not gone far enough in restricting people’s civil liberties in order to fight terrorism]?
Too far 41
About right 34
Not far enough 19
No opinion 6
Headline: Most Americans (53%) believe the Bush administration has not gone too far in restricting people's civil liberties.
11. Do you think the news media should -- or should not -- report information it obtains about the secret methods the government is using to fight terrorism?
Yes, should 47
No, should not 49
No opinion 3
Headline: Most Americans (49%) believe that the media should keep its yapper shut when it gets a hold of secret information helping the country fight terrorism.
Posted by Aaron at 07:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
That Silly Little Thing Called Law
If you read the breathless hysteria on the liberal blogs and the $50 billion lawsuit filed by idiot lawyers, you would think that NSA broke the law by compiling lists of phone numbers. But a basic leftwing principle is to never let the law get in the way of good ol' feelings that give way to more Bush Bashing:
U.S. Supreme Court
SMITH v. MARYLAND,
442 U.S. 735 (1979)
No. 78-5374.
Argued March 28, 1979.
Decided June 20, 1979.
The telephone company, at police request, installed at its central offices a pen register to record the numbers dialed from the telephone at petitioner's home.
Held: The installation and use of the pen register was not a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, and hence no warrant was required. Pp. 739-746.
Note: Newsbuster's has become a GREAT site on media bias. Check it out regularly.
Posted by Aaron at 07:49 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack
Happy Blogversary, Mrs. Media Matters!
Blogging, like a lot of other things, are those things everyone starts, but few keep at it. Mrs. Media Matters celebrates her one year blogversary! Congratulations.
Posted by Aaron at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Racist Candidate for Alabama Atty General
A Democrat, true to democratic roots, is running for Attorney General of Alabama...and denying the holocaust occured.
This is part of an overall pattern:
2. They support Palestinian terrorism.
3. They share their talking points with the terrorist leader of Iran.
4. Their European "allies" bash Jews as Zionists.
5. Support with Oscar nominations, movies based on Jew-self-hatred.
Posted by Aaron at 06:37 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack