Chevy Volt - Federal officials say they are investigating the safety of the lithium-ion battery in General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt after a second battery fire following crash-testing of the electric car.

Homeland Security - Starting next year, jaguars will be the target of an extensive network of remote cameras (at a cost of 771 thousand dollars) placed across Southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico by Homeland Security.

Barney Frank – The Massachusetts Democrat will retire and not seek a 17^th term. The good news for Democrats is it is very unlikely this district will elect anyone but a liberal. That being said, it is becoming apparent that Democrat pollsters do not see significant House gains in the 2012 election.

Capital Punishment - A condemned inmate, Gary Haugen, who was scheduled to be executed next month in Oregon, is now slamming Gov. John Kitzhaber for giving him a reprieve, saying the governor didn't have the guts to carry out the execution. Kitzhaber does not believe in capital punishment.  

EU Debt - President Barack Obama pressed European Union officials last week to reach a definitive solution to their sovereign debt crisis which is emerging as a major 2012 U.S. election worry. How is that for hypocrisy – Obama, who is responsible for 4 trillion dollars of debt, is preaching others about debt concerns?

2012 – ABC’s Jake Tapper points out that our “unprecedented” President is making more history by “campaigning on taxpayer dime”.

Medicare – Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, doctors face a 27 percent cut in their fees for treating Medicare patients. That could undermine healthcare for millions of elderly and disabled beneficiaries. This may also force many doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients entirely.

NY Times – Thomas Edsall writes that Democrats have abandoned the white working class in favor of highly educated liberals and minorities.

Egypt – Islamists won a 65% majority in their national election with the rogue Muslim Brotherhood Party being the largest faction.

China - The Chinese Defense Ministry is upset with the U.S. for upgrading our military alliance with Australia.

Solar Energy – Was Solyndra the beginning of a solar market collapse? “Of the few hundred or so solar panel makers worldwide, just 20 to 40 are expected to remain standing in a few years’ time”, said Mark Bachman, a renewables analyst at Avian Securities.

Gallup – The polling company now ranks Obama’s approval ratings lower than any President since Eisenhower (at this juncture of their presidency).  

Fitch – The rating company has downgraded U.S. treasury bonds outlook from positive to negative, although they are still rated AAA.

National Debt Donations – Over the past 50 years the United States government has received 83 million dollars in donations to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, the contributions don’t specifically go to pay off existing debt (yes, there is a federal program which accepts donations for the national debt – but I do not see any of those wealthy liberals donating to it – you know the ones that want to be taxed more). The government deposits these funds in the Treasury Department’s general fund, in essence the government’s main checking account. “The gifts go toward funding the federal government, not to pay off the debt,” said Mckayla Braden, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of the Public Debt.

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Russia – According to the Christian Science Monitor “Russia will target US anti-missile sites in Europe, deploy advanced radars to monitor all missile launches from NATO territory, and might even withdraw from the New START arms reduction treaty that came into force this year unless Washington takes dramatic steps to allay Moscow's concerns over plans to deploy major elements of an anti-missile shield in several European countries, President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week.”

Congress - Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat and the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said this past week he will not seek an eighth term in the House of Representatives, blaming congressional gridlock for his decision.

Economy – Black Friday sales were estimated at a record 52 billion dollars (a 6.6% gain over last year). This may be a good sign for the economy.

Wildfires – A recent report cited that as many as 30 wildfires have been started by illegal aliens along the Mexican border in Arizona.

Don Berwick – The chief of Medicare has resigned. Berwick was the point man in the Obama administration for implementing ObamaCare.

Redistricting – A Texas court decided on a redistricting map, for the state of Texas, which heavily favors Democrats. Census results awarded Texas four additional congressional seats and they all could end up in the hands of Democrats with the proposed map. 

China – Obama has been preaching the U.S. should be more like China when it comes to investing in infrastructure. This past week the roof blew off terminal 3 at Beijing’s airport (the 2^nd busiest in the world).

Dow – The Dow Jones posted its worst Thanksgiving week showing since the Great Depression.

Obama Gear – It is the holiday season and the White House is in the spirit offering consumers a 10% savings when they buy any Obama Gear.

Florida Prison – Lake County Judge, Donna Miller, provides non-violent offenders a chance to get out of prison early with her “lose-a-pound, gain-a-day” plan.

Religion – The military has ordered the removal of a cross from a chapel located on a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan.

Nanny State – A 200 pound Cleveland third grader was removed from his family and put in foster care.

Climate Change - A new study in the journal Science suggests that the global climate may be less sensitive to carbon dioxide fluctuations than predicted by the most extreme projections, and maybe slightly less than the best estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Occupy Wall Street - The Associated Press is reporting that Occupy Wall Street is planning a benefit album, the proceeds of which will help fund the movement protesting income inequality.

GQ – MSNBC host, Ed Schultz, and President Obama made GQ’s list of the 25 least influential people in 2011.

Pakistan - As if Pakistan was not already a volatile ally, the death of 24 Pakistani soliders due to what the country says was a NATO drone attack has made the country decide to temporarily close border crossings used by NATO for their work in Afghanistan.

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Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen – In a Wall Street Journal piece, the two Democratic Pollsters have been pushing hard for Obama to step aside in 2012 in favor of Hillary Clinton.

Intelligence – Hezbollah and Iran have captured 12 U.S. spies, which is obviously a huge blow to our intelligence system. Meanwhile, the U.S. and allies are hitting Iran with more sanctions (that will not work) over its nuclear program. In other news, the FBI declined to pursue a case against an "al-Qaida sympathizer" accused of plotting to bomb police stations and post offices in the New York area because they believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off.

Convicts – They are using Facebook, within prison walls, to harass victims and intimidate witnesses.

HIV – People with the HIV virus hit a record high, which is blamed partly on the fact that there are drugs to treat the ailment.

Super Committee – They announced this past week its inability to agree on a deal to cut at least $1.2 trillion dollars from the U.S. debt. This should surprise no one since the 12 members on the committee have voting records which are very partisan. Both parties are now playing the blame game (led by the President) for the committees’ failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Dale Kildee – The 18 term Michigan Democratic congressman has been accused of child sexual abuse by a relative. The crime took place 50 years ago.

School Districts – Districts strapped for cash have started to find ways to raise revenue by advertising on school buses and even on report cards.  

Mexican Border – This past week, three drug cartel tunnels were discovered between the U.S. and Mexico.  

Utah – Utah has become the latest state to face a lawsuit from the DOJ challenging its immigration law. Utah is now the third state to face DOJ lawsuits for their immigration laws (Arizona and Alabama have also been charged).

NOAA – Richard Gaines, a reporter from the Gloucester Times reports about the quid pro quo crony politics within the NOAA.  In his article he states “A $5 billion foundation that has spent tens of millions of dollars promoting the catch share commodification of New England's and other U.S. fisheries has chosen a firm with close ties to NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco to evaluate the nation's newest catch share programs.” 

Occupy Wall Street – The LA Times Reports “City officials have offered protesters a $1-a-year lease on a 10,000-square-foot office space near City Hall.”

Tony Rezko – The former Obama fundraiser received a 10 year sentence for extortion and fraud.

Economy – Third quarter GDP has been revised from 2.5% down to 2%. However, there was some good news because October housing sales rose by 1.4%.

Post Office – They will be raising prices across the board in January including a one cent increase on a letter.

American Bar Association (ABA) – The ABA has declared that many of Obama’s judicial nominees are “not qualified” to be federal judges. In fact, the ABA says Obama non-qualified candidates already outnumber the number deemed unqualified put forth during the entire Clinton and Bush administrations.

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Occupy Wall Street – They held a moment of silence for the man who shot out a window at the White House this past week. In New York, several police officers were injured during the riots, including one who was stabbed with a broken bottle.

Smallpox – The administration approved a 500 million dollar loan to Ciga, a manufacturer of the smallpox vaccine, even though the U.S. already has enough vaccines for every person in the country.

PETA – PETA started a campaign against the cartoon “Super Mario” because they believe it promotes the wearing of animal fur. PETA is also suing Sea World over what they call the “enslaving animals”.

Christmas Trees – Due to public outrage, the administration’s Department of Agriculture dropped its proposed tax on Christmas Trees.

Free Wall Street – A new movement, Free Wall Street, was started to counter the Occupy Wall Street movement. Free movement protestors want Occupy movement protestors to get a job.

Steven Chu – The Head of the Energy Department, Steven Chu, testified before the House Oversight Committee about the Solyndra debacle. Chu claims “Nothing is really our fault” about the failed 528 million dollar loan. Chu also testified that Steve Spinner had nothing to do with the Solyndra loan even though dozens of emails exist with Spinner providing input on the deal.

Balanced Budget Amendment – Legislation brought forth in the House fell 23 votes shy of its required two thirds majority to pass.

Occupy DC – The movement expanded to occupy the city’s rush hour. How exactly does disrupting hard working citizens from commuting home going to make the movement’s point they support the bottom 99%? Let’s see, I am no math genius, but this stunt will inconvenience 99 out of every 100 people the movement claims to represent. This is just plain stupidity.

Energy - President Obama's United States Department of Agriculture has delayed shale gas drilling in Ohio for up to six months by cancelling a mineral lease auction for Wayne National Forest (WNF). The move was taken in deference to environmentalists, on the pretext of studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing.

EU – The U.K. Telegraph reported that Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed this past week after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

Water Plant – An Illinois water plant was hit with a cyber-attack that not only confiscated information and disabled software, but also did physical damage to the plant.

Middle East – Riots and protests have started up again in Egypt as free elections approach.  

Shepard Fairey – The man responsible for Obama’s Hope and Change poster during his 2008 campaign has redesigned it for OWS with the following phrase: “Mister President, we HOPE you’re on our side”.

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Obama – This is what Obama had to say about America when talking to CEOs in Honolulu: "But we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades." "We've kind of taken for granted (that), well, people will want to come here, and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America,"

Occupy Wall Street – According to the NY Post, the movement in New York City has cost businesses around the protests over a half million dollars. Riot police moved in to take the movement’s camps this past week in New York and Oakland. Oakland was arguably the most violent venue. Also, a New York state judge ruled against protestors and their right to camp in Zuccotti Park. Protestors are so outraged many are on tape threatening to firebomb New York City using Molotov cocktails.

Anjem Choudary – The Muslim cleric is on record saying that Christmas is the pathway to hell and Sharia law will take over America.

ObamaCare – The Supreme Court will likely begin hearing oral arguments as early as next February or March. Many want Justice Kagan to recuse herself from the case since released emails show her support of ObamaCare as Obama’s Solicitor General. In other news, states that refuse to create a healthcare exchange can block a lot of ObamaCare spending, forcing Congress' hand on the law. Obviously, this is something that the president wants to avoid. Obama’s solution is simple? Create an IRS rule that allows premium assistance for everyone, regardless of state vs. federal exchange participation.

EPA – On the agenda for the administration next year includes tracking emissions that cross state lines; setting greenhouse emissions for fossil fuel plants, petroleum refineries, and chemical plants; water discharge permits for cooling towers; new mileage standards for automotive companies; and new regulations for emissions from boilers and solid waste.

Farm Subsidies – A report by Senator Tom Coburn shows that 30 billion in farm subsidies are going to millionaires such as Ted Turner.

Fast and Furious – The Arizona Daily Star’s, Tim Stellar, is reporting the federal case file on Brian Terry’s death has gone missing.

Solyndra – The White House pressured the company to delay layoffs until after the 2010 midterm elections.

Super Committee – The debt committee basically passed on all the tough choices such as tax reform and entitlement reform.

Biden – The Vice President says “You fired the first shot!” when addressing unions in Ohio. If a conservative made this statement, the media would say they are being uncivil, partisan, and invoking violence.

National Debt – The national debt passed 15 trillion dollars this past week.

National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act – The House passed the right for every American to carry a concealed handgun this past week.

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Privacy - The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on whether the government may use GPS to monitor citizens. Police have used this technique to track a suspect without gaining a warrant.

China - China is now out-producing the United States in carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Department of Energy, "China's emissions in 2010 were 8.15 billion tonnes. The US totaled 5.49 billion tonnes in 2010."

Dover Air Force Base – The Washington Post reports that soldier remains from both the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars were cremated and the ashes dumped in a Virginia landfill – disgraceful!

Occupy Wall Street – These folks say they care about our water, food, and air. What about our health? These protestors have been living in filth and unsanitary conditions polluting our parks, water, and air with their feces and stench. In Atlanta, there has been an outbreak of tuberculosis and hair lice are rampant at several other venues.

Food Stamps – Usage of the program (in terms of dollars) has doubled in the past two years from 35 billion to over 70 billion dollars. 

Eric Holder – He claims to have apologized to the family of Border Agent, Brian Terry, for his death at the hands of guns used in operation Fast and Furious. The family claims they have yet to receive a letter or call. In other news, Holder is also asking the Supreme Court not to rule on the Arizona Immigration law; apparently he fears they will rule in favor of SB1070.

Van Jones – He has a new video, which incidentally uses children, to push his 10 point “Contract for the American Dream”. The dream of course includes higher taxes and Medicare for all.

ObamaCare – According to Gallup, the number of people on corporate health insurance plans has steadily decreased since the passing of ObamaCare. Since 2008 the number of Americans on corporate health plans has decreased from 48% to 44.5%. I suppose liberals can point to this statistic and claim ObamaCare is working exactly as they had hoped since they want everyone on a single payer government run system.

American Flag - U. S. District Court Judge James Ware ruled on a case involving students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA, who were banned from wearing American flag t-shirts on the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo in 2010. The judge determined that the Morgan Hill Unified School District did not violate the First Amendment and said that concerns by school officials over possible violence justified censoring the pro-American message.

Oil Pipeline - The Obama administration said last week it is delaying approval of a massive oil pipeline (1700 hundred miles from Canada to Texas) until it can study new potential routes that avoid environmentally sensitive areas in the state of Nebraska, an action that likely puts off a decision until after the 2012 election and kills 100,000 jobs.  

Occupy New York – Protestors defaced the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center site.  

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Jon Corzine - Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine resigned as CEO of collapsed financial firm MF Holdings, which is accused of unlawfully using customer deposits to cover firm losses.

Super Committee - With the "Super Committee" at a stalemate over proposed reforms, House Republicans are pushing a balanced budget amendment. Republicans would need 290 votes in order to amend the Constitution. Thirty-three Senators signed a letter urging the Super Committee to balance the budget through spending cuts, without any net tax increases.

Egypt - American taxpayer money is being used to train Islamic political parties in Egypt. A State Department spokesman said the money is helping political parties in Egypt conduct polling, provide constituent services, and prepare for election season.  

Herman Cain – I certainly do not condone Cain’s behavior (if he is guilty), but why is this story bigger than Bill Clinton’s, John Edward’s, or Elliot Spitzer’s womanizing (who were all guilty)?

Second Amendment – MSNBC host Craig Melvin and Huffington Post writer Alex Wagner want to change or get rid of the second amendment.

Immigration – Bill Clinton has endorsed Rick Perry’s immigration plan which provides illegal immigrants the right to in state tuition for a college education.

Occupy America – ABC analyst Rick Klein suggests that Obama’s only hope for 2012 is to harness the anger of the Occupy Wall Street movement in his campaign.

Whistleblower Protection – Head of the House Oversight committee, Darrell Issa, introduced legislation to protect workers who report government fraud, waste, and corruption. Issa said the legislation was needed in the wake of the failed Fast and Furious operation where the ATF fired whistleblowers.

Poverty – The Census Bureau increased its count of Americans living in poverty from 46 to 49 million (16%) since September.

Occupy Wall Street – Poll after Poll is showing that the bottom 99%, supposedly represented by the protestors, is against the OWS movement by an average of 10 points.

G20 – Nickolas Sarkozy and Obama were overheard talking about their dislike for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they did not realize their microphones were still on.

Chicago – New Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, will raise 220 million dollars next year by not only increasing taxes, but also by increasing fines and fees on its residents. 

Eric Holder – He testified before the House Oversight committee about operation Fast and Furious and he blamed the “GOP House” for a lack of information on the program. Now there’s a surprise, he is blaming Republicans for his shortcomings.

Oil drilling – The Obama administration is ever so slightly easing up on its drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Alaskan coast. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, is proposing lease sales of 15 specific areas. However, the imposed rules and regulations may be enough to shun any company from making these purchases.  

Taxes – The Obama administration has proposed a 15 cent tax on Christmas trees.

Election Results – Good news for Obama, the Democrats had a pretty good day at the polls this past week (at least much better than last year). Most notably, they won a referendum that repealed the law which would limit union collective bargaining rights in Ohio. However, in Ohio, the voters also said the federal government has no right to impose mandates on its citizens to purchase healthcare insurance.

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Taxes - A bipartisan group of 100 House members will call for the deficit “super committee” to include tax hikes along with spending cuts in its recommendations, which are due later this month. 

Debit Card Fees - The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Bank of America is calling off their plan to charge customers to use their debit cards. The bank joins Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase in retreating from the fees because of negative customer feedback. The fees were imposed after Congress imposed price controls on debit card transactions. 

Fair Sentencing Act - Changes to federal laws on crack cocaine could release as many as 12,000 inmates from prison early. The Fair Sentencing Act passed by Congress in 2010 reduces the disparity for future cases dealing with crack and powder cocaine. The U.S. Sentencing Commission decided to make the Act retroactive to inmates already serving time.

Federal Budget - By a vote of 69-30, Senators approved a $182 billion spending measure funding “seven Cabinet departments and major science agencies,” Politico reports.

Homeland Security – They started monitoring twitter communications in an attempt to head off any OWS riots or violence.

Immigration Plan – Bill Clinton endorsed Rick Perry’s plan on illegal immigration which allows illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition to Texas state universities.

SAVE Act – Congress’s new Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act will force mortgage lenders to take into account housing energy savings when underwriting loans. Just what the declining housing market needs – more government intrusion and regulation!

Gregory Freidman – The Energy Department’s Inspector General testified before the House Oversight committee stating the administrations green agenda in the stimulus package was “unrealistic”.

OWS Demographics – From the OWS website (OccupyWallSt.org): Mostly male (61%), mostly white (81.2%), mostly employed full time (47%), mostly college educated (60.7%). Other interesting facts: the protest is largely past school-age, with 76.5% of respondents over age 25, and a third of them (30.1%) make over $50,000 a year. Only 12.3% are unemployed.

Forbes Magazine – Named Obama the most powerful man in the world for 2011 primarily for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Taxes – Colorado voted down tax hikes by a 2 to 1 landslide. It is interesting how most people do not want higher taxes for themselves, but think it is okay for the government to tax their neighbors more.

Freddie Mac – Executives of the government run organization received large bonuses despite the fact that the company is still being bailed out with taxpayer funds. In fact, both Freddie and Fannie combined to receive another 6 billion dollars in bailouts this past quarter.  

Michael Moore – He claims that there has been “no violence” or “destruction of property” during OWS protests in Oakland. He insists it is the police that are doing the rioting. I guess all those video images of the Oakland riots are just another right wing conspiracy to paint liberals as lunatics.

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Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Royalty has offered a 900,000 thousand dollar reward for the capture of any Israeli soldiers.

OWS – Many businesses around protest areas are being forced to lay off workers since they are losing business (customers do not want to enter the protest regions for fear of their safety). Occupy Oakland has been particularly violent.

Obama – In his weekly addresses to the nation, the President has been pandering to the Occupy Wall Street movement by vilifying the top 1%. Doesn’t Obama realize he is part of the top 1%?

ObamaCare – Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of the nearly 2000 waivers, offered by the administration, to void certain provisions of healthcare law because as she claims “they are going to very small companies”. In fact, most of the waivers have been granted to very large conglomerates such as McDonalds and Jack in the Box. Small companies simply do not have the lobbying power (or campaign contribution influence) as larger and more wealthy corporations to obtain these waivers.

NRA – The National Rifle Association has launched a campaign pushing for the resignation of DOJ head, Eric Holder, for his handling of operation Fast and Furious.

More Pharmaceutical Regulations - Obama signed an executive order that gives federal regulators more power to track drug shortages, quickly approve replacement manufacturing sites, and punish price gougers.

Transparency – The DOJ wants new regulations that would enable the government to falsely claim documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) do not exist and are therefore, never released to the public. The White House is already using this power to deny public access to Solyndra documents. 

PETA – The organization compared Sea World animals to slaves.   

UC Berkeley – Professor Richard Mueller issued a study last week that seemingly gave conclusive evidence that global warming is caused by CO2. However, the Daily Mail reported that a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that the research shows global warming has stopped. Later Prof Curry said, “The project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties” – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Daily Mail has obtained.

Libya – The country is flying the al-Qaida flag as it prepares to impose Sharia law. It is hard to believe, but the new Libya government may be worse than the old Gaddafi regime.

Blame Game – This past week Debbie Wasserman-Schultz blamed the rise of Hamas on George Bush, and Michelle Obama is now on the campaign stump blaming Republicans for her husband’s shortcomings.

DOJ – Eric Holder is now suing the state of South Carolina over its immigration policy. The DOJ is also suing Arizona and Alabama over its immigration laws.

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TSA - Rep. John Mica (R-FL), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, says a new report on the Transportation Security Administration will "absolutely knock your socks off". Citing high failure rates for body scanning equipment and botched pat downs, Mica argues that the "TSA’s role at airports could be undertaken in a more efficient and less costly manner by private companies".

The Economy – The economy added a meager 80,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate went down from 9.1% to 9%.

ObamaCare – Senate Democrats have made a motion to forbid the term “ObamaCare” to be used to describe Obama’s healthcare law on internal emails.

Homeless – Apparently many vagrants and homeless have been showing up to OWS protests just to receive a free meal. This freeloading is apparently catching the ire of many hard working protestors. Does anyone see the irony? The folks who want to freeload off the wealthy are not happy when people freeload off them.

Europe – They are in the process of setting up a 1.4 trillion dollar bailout fund to prevent the collapse of the euro.

Senate Democrats – The good news is they are urging the debt commission to find 3 trillion dollars in cuts over the next decade, but they also want them to increase tax revenues by 1 trillion over the next decade.

Alan Grayson – He’s back and is the gift that keeps on giving. He compared the “racist” and “homophobic” GOP to O.J. declaring them “as the real killers”.

Virginia Tea Party – They are seeking an 8000 dollar refund, from the city of Richmond, for being unfairly charged for rallies since Occupy Wall Street rallies have not been charged any fees and have been protesting in the same area for nearly 3 straight weeks.

Solar Energy Zones – The President is pushing for dozens of solar projects on public lands in six Western states. Can you imagine the outrage if Bush decided to open up oil drilling on public lands?

Kermit Gosnell – The Philadelphia abortion doctor pleaded guilty to the murder of seven babies and one mother when performing full term abortions in grotesque conditions.

Occupy Phoenix – The OWS movement in Phoenix has handed out pamphlets explaining justifiable cases where citizens can gun down police officers. Of course the OWS movement blamed the Tea Party for these pamphlets.  

Fast and Furious – Eric Holder will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the failed operation.

Marijuana – The city of Chicago is considering passing legislation to decriminalize the use of marijuana.

MSNBC – Commentator Karen Finney suggests that the only reason conservatives like Herman Cain is because he “knows his place”. What?

Bill Clinton – “No successful country in the world thinks government is the problem”. Interesting, since there are not many “successful” countries right now – most are loaded with debt and the prospect of default. So I guess Clinton means government is the problem when countries are unsuccessful. 

Lobbyists – Kudos to the NY Times for breaking a story that uncovers how much money that Obama and Democrats not only received from Wall Street, but from lobbyists. Remember, Obama campaigned that he and the DNC not would accept ANY money from lobbyists.

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Occupy Wall Street – The movement claims to represent the 99% of the people who do not earn more than one million dollars annually. In actuality, the threshold income for the top 1% (CNN Money Report) of earners in the U.S. is 344 thousand dollars annually (down from 424 thousand in 2007). In fact, only 14% of Wall Street workers are part of the top 1% of all earners. Medical professionals make up 16% and executives from other industries make up 30% of the top 1% of earners. And let’s not forget those lawyers who make up 8% of the top 1% of all earners. Besides, people like Alec Baldwin and Michael Moore are on record claiming they are not part of the top 1% even though they earn more than 10 million dollars per year. And if that is not enough hypocrisy, the Occupy Wall Street finance committee claims to have 1 million dollars in funding in the bank. OWS now has the backing of heavily funded organizations such as unions and ACORN and they are pouring money into the movement. Yes, OWS is backed by the same greed that they claim to be against. Protests in Oakland CA, this past week, were particularly violent with dozens of arrests.

Michelle Obama – Michelle is writing a book on how the White House garden inspires Americans. Sounds like a thriller!

Obama Job Grade – In a recent interview Obama gave himself a job grade of “incomplete” because “the work we started is not complete yet”. If this is Obama’s way to ask for four more years – it is not very convincing. Obama also initiated his new campaign slogan “We Can’t Wait!”. Yes, I agree, “we can’t wait” for Obama to leave the Oval Office.

Joe Biden – The Vice President’s office is seeking an investigation into Jason Mattera. Mattera was the journalist who had the nerve to question Biden’s fear mongering remarks about “rape” when Biden was campaigning on behalf of the Obama jobs plan. 

Obama – “We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things to build the Golden Gate Bridge”. He is right, this is exactly what a welfare and nanny state fosters – a lazy nation happy with mediocrity.

Obama Memoirs – The State Department has spent 70,000 dollars of taxpayer money to fill our nations’ libraries with Obama’s memoirs. The White House also plans on using many copies of Obama’s memoirs, he purchased using tax payer dollars, as Christmas presents.

DOJ – They have imprisoned a border agent for being too “rough” when handcuffing a 15 year old drug trafficker.

OWS – The movement has announced that Rush Limbaugh is a bigger threat to America than Al-Qaida. Maybe Obama should put a bounty on Limbaugh’s head and forget about murdering the likes of Bin Laden and Al Alwaki.

Handguns – According the latest Gallup Poll a record number of Americans are in favor (73%) of citizens, other than the police and authorized people, carrying handguns.

Fast and Furious – Janet Napolitano testified in front of the House Oversight committee last week but still claimed that she, Holder, and Obama knew nothing about the program that is blamed for the death of boarder agents Brian Terry and Jamie Zapata.

Elizabeth Warren - Former Obama administration consumer advocate turned Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren believes she laid much of the "intellectual foundation" for the Occupy Wall Street protests. “I created much of the intellectual foundation for what they do,” the Harvard Law School professor told Samuel P. Jacobs of The Daily Beast. “I support what they do.”

Obama Approval Ratings - Rasmussen reports President Obama's "strongly approve" rating has dropped to its lowest ever mark. Their poll shows that 18 percent of the nation's voters strongly approve of his job as President. Forty percent strongly disapprove.

Housing Prices - Housing prices have fallen again. Bloomberg news reports, "Sales of previously owned homes fell 3 percent in September from the prior month." Experts predict that home prices could continue to fall due to the high unemployment rate and limited opportunities for mortgage financing. 

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Steve Jobs - In an authorized posthumous biography, Steve Jobs told President Obama he was "heading towards a one-term presidency." Jobs believed the U.S. was fostering an anti-business environment and an ineffective education system, putting America at a competitive disadvantage with China. 

TSA - The TSA is no longer responsible for just airport pat-downs. "Agents are hitting the interstates to fight terrorism with Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR)," Nashville’s WTVF-TV reports.

American Jobs Act - President Obama's jobs bill has been dealt another setback by the Senate. Liberals fell 10 short of the 60 votes needed to advance a $35 billion portion of the bill. Two Democrats and one independent joined with all 47 Republicans in sustaining a bipartisan filibuster.

Obama’s Approval Ratings – According to Gallup, Obama’s approval ratings for this past quarter (his 11^th since being office), were the 2^nd lowest all time. Only Jimmy Carter had a lower approval rating (Gallup has been conducting presidential approval numbers since Eisenhower was president).

New Education Bill – The Elementary and Secondary Education Reauthorization Act has been sent to the Senate for deliberation. The bill will eliminate the need for teacher accountability by removing mandatory evaluations. This bill is on the heels of a decision made by Obama and Education Secretary head, Arne Duncan, which waived student reading and math proficiency accountability provisions from No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Campaign Tour – This past week, Obama took his taxpayer funded campaign tour out west – to Las Vegas and California. In Las Vegas the President spoke about a new initiative he is pursuing to enable home owners to refinance their mortgages – even if they are already underwater. The President is looking for ways to circumvent Congress to approve new regulations on refinancing mortgages and student loan reform.

Tunisia – The good news is that the nation held it first ever democratic “free” election. The bad news is that an exiled Islamic party won a majority of the seats. Time will tell if the new party will roll back the clock on woman’s rights and infringe on other progressive gains over archaic Islamic beliefs.  

Syria – The US Ambassador has left the country following death threats as the country continues to go through political unrest.

Wikileaks – The organization has stopped releasing documents because a funding boycott has left the organization crippled. 

New York City – Violent crime has spiked by 154% because police are preoccupied with handling the Occupy Wall Street movement. In fact, OWS protests in NY have gotten so violent because protestors are fighting each other.

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Obama – In an interview with ABC’s Jake Tapper Obama said “All the decisions we’ve made have been the right ones”.

Harry Reid – “The private sector jobs market is doing just fine”.

2012 Election – Democrats in swing states are already distancing themselves from Obama and his polices. During his bus tour through North Carolina and Virginia, North Carolina Governor Bev Purdue and Virginia Senate hopeful Tim Kaine snubbed Obama.

Housing Market – Since February, the cost of homes over 1 million dollars has appreciated by 0.7% whereas home values under 1 million dollars has decreased by 1.5% - Reported by the Associated Press.

Risky Investments – JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs have increased their holdings in mortgage backed security derivatives by 11% to 240 trillion dollars this past year. Yes, these are the same investments that led to the financial collapse in 2008.

White House Website – The administration has launched a new website to petition new ideas or changes in government policy. The top two requests are to legalize marijuana and to improve communications with aliens.

Maureen Dowd – “By any standard, Mormonism is more ridiculous than any other religion”. That is saying a lot, especially if Dowd and the New York Times considered the race baiting and conspiracy theorist church run by Jeremiah Wright.

Debt – By the end of October the U.S. federal debt will officially pass our GDP.

Dennis Cardoza – The 5 term Democratic congressman from California will not seek reelection in 2012. Cardoza is a self-proclaimed Blue Dog Democrat, and his retirement opens up another opportunity for a moderate Republican.

Medical Marijuana – Workers in the medical marijuana business are looking into unionizing.

Muammar Qaddafi – It cost the U.S. taxpayers 1.2 billion dollars to kill the genocidal leader. Time will tell if the Libyan coup will produce a democracy or another rogue Islamic government.

Fisker – Two years ago the electric car startup company, Fisker, received 529 million in stimulus funding. The only problem is that the company has since moved it’s manufacturing facility to Finland - creating jobs for their economy.

Economy – The “Misery Index” hit a 28 year high and the standard of living in the United States is falling at its highest rate in history.

Wall Street Contributions - President Obama has managed to raise far more money this year from the financial and banking sector than Mitt Romney or any other Republican presidential candidate.

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The Buffet Rule – Senator John Thune introduced legislation that will allow taxpayers to pay more taxes than they owe – since many rich folks are asking to be taxed more.

Occupy Denver – I watched some of the live footage of about 2000 protestors in Denver. The city of Denver had to employ full body guard riot police to stop the protestors from unlawfully blocking downtown traffic and there were several dozen arrests. This small group has certainly gotten more media coverage than Tea Party protests in Denver because of their rowdy disposition and lack of respect for authority and other citizens. I simply have a hard time taking this movement seriously – they hate greed, but they expect government handouts – this is hypocrisy at its best. Besides, as I have said before, I do not support people that protest in a disrespectful manner.

Iraq – All U.S. troops will be removed from Iraq by the end of the year. Time will tell if this decision is a good one.

Nazi Party of America – They issued a statement endorsing the Occupy Wall Street movement along with the Communist Party and the Counsel on American Islamic Relations.

Obama – He claimed Martin Luther King (a man of reason and peace) would have supported the Occupy Wall Street movement, a movement of indecision and thousands of arrests.

Wasserman Shultz – The DNC head is at it again claiming Republicans want to block Obama’s policies so he fails to correct the economy before the 2012 election.

Sean Penn – He called the Tea Party the “get the n%$#@* out of the White House Party” and they want to lynch Obama. How is this for reasonable thought, rationale, and problem solving skills?

Campaigning – Where was our Commander-in-Chief this past week? He was campaigning in the swing states of North Carolina and Virginia. The White House claimed the trip was not a campaign tour so taxpayers can pay for the trip instead of Obama using his campaign contributions. Obama had this to say about Republicans:“And then you got their plan, which is, let's have dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance.”

Elizabeth Warren – Warren is running against Scott Brown next year for Kennedy’s old Senate Seat in Massachusetts. During one stop Warren had this to say: “I’m going for the hick vote here, I just want you to know. Maybe we could start wearing stickers that say ‘Hicks for Elizabeth’ – could we do that?”

Carolyn Kirk – The Democratic Mayor of Gloucester Massachusetts has pleaded with Obama to stop the regulations that are driving small businesses out of business.

Gender Change - A lesbian couple in California is giving hormone blockers to their 11-year-old son Tommy, who wants to be a girl named Tammy. The parents argue that Tommy has identified as a girl since the age of 3 and want to give the child more time to decide if he wants to change his gender.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Post Office – The House oversight committee has released a video detailing how the taxpayers will continue to bailout the failing government entity.  

Palestine – A survey by Palestine Center for Public Opinion found that only 30% of Arabs living in East Jerusalem want the city to be controlled by a Palestine State instead of Israel.

Wasserman-Schultz – In an interview on Fox, the DNC chair claims “Americans didn’t elect Democrats to create jobs”.  

Bill Clinton – In an address Clinton said that now is not the time (during a recession) to raise taxes on any Americans.

Green Companies – Investigators are looking into 5 billion dollars in loans to a plethora of green companies from the Energy Department this past week. After all, government subsidies cannot create a market where one does not exist. A few million or billion dollars cannot create demand and lower costs significantly.  

Trade Deals – Democrats have finally gotten on board to end a decade of partisanship over trade agreements. Congress has passed trade deals with Panama, Columbia, and South Korea. Finally, this is some actual federal policy that may work to create jobs instead of killing jobs.  

Bill Maher – The offensive liberal talk show host has made the suggestion that the Occupy Wall Street movement should start to use violence.

Iranian Plot – Some are suggesting that the Iranian plot to kill the Saudi Arabia Ambassador to the U.S. was fabricated by the DOJ to deflect attention from Fast and Furious.

Traitors – Senators Lieberman and Brown introduced legislation to strip traitors of their U.S. citizenship in the wake of the al-Awlaki assignation.   

Pelosi – The House minority leader claims that Republicans “Want women to die on the floor” if they do not agree to federal abortion funding.

Fast and Furious – Apparently, president Obama knew about the operation before Holder – how is that possible? This is more proof that Holder perjured himself.

Federal Budget – It has been 900 days since the Senate passed a fiscal budget.

Uganda – President Obama has ordered about 100 US troops to the African hotspot to train citizens to fight the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). I personally do not have a problem with this, but White House policy towards global genocide is inconsistent at best.

Friday Dump – This is some of the unflattering information dumped by the White House last Friday – They killed a long-term care insurance program, which was part of ObamaCare due to financial solvency concerns; the government finished the fiscal year 1.3 trillion dollars in debt (2^nd worse all-time, only Obama’s 1.4 trillion dollar debt in 2009 was worse); George Kaiser, a billionaire that backed Obama and Solyndra paid no taxes last year; and off course sending ground troops into Uganda.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)