Video Gambling and H.B. 5313


House Bill 5313 (H.B. 5313) is one of three bills, that I know of, that have been introduced into the Illinois House of Representatives this session to alter an originally passed law—H.B. 255. H.B. 255, which was passed last year in violation of the Illinois Constitution, allows video gambling within communities (unincorporated areas of a county) under prescribed circumstances and also allows communities (counties) to opt out or ban video gambling within the community (unincorporated areas of a county) if so desired. First, I’m posting three short items in relation to H.B. 5313 and then giving my take on this particular bill.

1) From http://www.ilcaaap.org/ (Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems)

“February 9, 2010

Gambling Action Alert

Legislation aimed at keeping communities from banning video gambling

Top mobsters have been caught on secret FBI recordings welcoming the legalization of video poker machines (Is this a surprise? Gambling in this nation has always been a revenue source for immoral individuals and criminal elements—it preys upon the vices and weaknesses of individuals. What is relatively new is that governments have joined the procession and are also trying to benefit financially from this evil. GANGSTER GOVERNMENTS!—my addition), a business they have dominated over the years, according to the Southtown Star.

The legislative intent of the Video Gaming Act (HB 255) was to allow municipalities and counties to decide for themselves if they wanted to legalize video gambling in their jurisdictions. The law included two ways for communities to ‘opt out’—by local ordinance or citizen referendum.

HB 5313 imposes a monthly surcharge on communities that ban video gambling machines to replace lost revenue. HB 5313 contains the same language as SB 2816, introduced by Sen. Mike Jacobs.

“1) Contact your State Representative and ask him/her to vote NO on HB 5313 (S.B. 2816).

2) If your community has already banned video gambling, ask your local officials to contact State Legislators to OPPOSE HB 5313 (S.B. 2816).

3) Share this alert with your faith community.

4) Forward to 10 others.”

2) A Chicago Tribune editorial contained the following information concerning H.B. 5313. [As far as I can tell, the synopsis wording for the Senate bill (S.B. 2816) is exactly the same as H.B. 5313 and so I will not post the wording for the Senate bill. The quote is actually about the Senate version but obviously also applies to the House version—my addition.]

“An even goofier bill offered by state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-Moline [The goofier part has to do with the House bill discussed previously which requires that a community (county) not receive any funds from video gambling revenue if video gambling is banned in its jurisdiction—my addition.], would force communities that opt out of video gambling to pay a monthly penalty to Springfield. Follow closely: That penalty, euphemistically called a surcharge, would equal the estimated revenue that the maximum allowable number of machines in each community would be generating for the state—if the locale hadn’t banned video gambling. Think of this one as a twist on Illinois’ heritage of pay-to-play: You would pay-for-not-playing. Saviano and Reitz are pushing a House version. Again, we find no similar smack down elsewhere in state law.

Proponents are trying to frighten communities that have opted out of video gambling into reversing their votes. At least three legislators have warned Hollie Lindgren, who chairs the Kane County Board’s legislative committee, that her county may lose state funding for capital projects unless it overrides its December vote to opt out. The scare tactic might work: The County Board will discuss a possible reversal at its Feb. 23 meeting.”

3) The H.B. 5313 synopsis:

“H.B. 5313

by Rep. Angelo Saviano - Dan Reitz

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

30 ILCS 115/2 from Ch. 85, par. 612
230 ILCS 40/72 new
30 ILCS 805/8.34 new

Amends the Video Gaming Act. Provides that, if a municipality or county prohibits video gaming pursuant to the Act, then the Board, with the cooperation of the Department of Revenue, shall impose a monthly surcharge in an amount determined by the Board that the municipality or county would have been contributing under the Act (Some bureaucrat(s) will determine how much the local jurisdiction has to pay for doing what the law allows!—my addition) had the municipality or county not prohibited video gaming, which shall be based on the maximum amount of machines that may be located within the municipality or county (According to one of our Village Board members during discuss, the estimate is that 3 machines per establishment would actually be in play rather than the five permitted. Yet, the “surcharge” would be based upon five per establishment. Talk about punitive!—my addition) Provides that, if a municipality or county fails to remit the surcharge, then the amount of the monthly surcharge shall be deducted from any amounts certified to be allocated to the municipality or county from the Local Government Distributive Fund in the next consecutive monthly allocation. Makes conforming changes in the State Revenue Sharing Act. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.”

As a reminder, the capital building program is to be funded from several sources including increased taxes on selected products and the tax on video gambling. Video gambling is suppose to provide about 30% of the funds for these projects.

Is this proposed bill a joke? Are some of our legislators so vindictive that they even conceive such nonsense? Clearly, this bill as proposed is an ex post facto law which is prohibited by the Illinois Constitution. Article I—Bill of Rights, Section 16 declares “No ex post facto law … shall be passed.” An ex post facto law is a law that restricts some entity for doing something that was legal in the past.

A tax for not doing an activity! I don’t think I have ever even heard of a similar proposal until this year. Now, we have a federal government who wants to tax people for not having health insurance. And to not be outdone, State legislators want to tax local governments for not doing something. By the way, even though it is a tax, it can’t be called a tax because one government technically is not suppose to tax another government.

What are these people smoking? More importantly, what are these people reading? It certainly isn’t any Constitution that I have read?

The original law (H.B. 255) allows communities to ban video gambling and places NO restrictions on that action. To now, after the fact, place any restriction on that action is obviously unconstitutional. OBVIOUSLY! (Well, maybe not to legislators.) Can you say LAW SUIT!!!

Video Gambling and H.B. 5438


UPDATE: According to information I have read, the Kane County Board of Supervisors is scheduled tonight (Tuesday, February 23rd) to discuss and possibly vote on repealing its ban on video gambling within the unincorporated areas of the county. I pray that it does not happen. I pray that the Board will STAND FIRM and not give in to the attempted extortion of some members of the General Assembly. I will follow this issue and report back on any action taken at the meeting.

House Bill 5438 (H.B. 5438) is one of three bills, that I know of, that have been introduced into the Illinois House of Representatives this session to alter an originally passed law—H.B. 255. H.B. 255, which was passed last year in violation of the Illinois Constitution, allows video gambling within communities (unincorporated areas of a county) under prescribed circumstances and also allows communities (counties) to opt out or ban video gambling within the community (unincorporated areas of a county) if so desired. First, I’m posting three short items in relation to H.B. 5438 and then giving my take on this particular bill.

1) From http://www.ilcaaap.org/ (Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems)

“February 9, 2010

Gambling Action Alert

Legislation aimed at keeping communities from banning video gambling

Top mobsters have been caught on secret FBI recordings welcoming the legalization of video poker machines (Is this a surprise? Gambling in this nation has always been a revenue source for immoral individuals and criminal elements—it preys upon the vices and weaknesses of individuals. What is relatively new is that governments have joined the procession and are also trying to benefit financially from this evil. GANGSTER GOVERNMENTS!—my addition), a business they have dominated over the years, according to the Southtown Star.

The legislative intent of the Video Gaming Act (HB 255) was to allow municipalities and counties to decide for themselves if they wanted to legalize video gambling in their jurisdictions. The law included two ways for communities to ‘opt out’—by local ordinance or citizen referendum. HB 5438 changes the rules and stops funding for capital construction projects in communities that ban the machines. HB 5438 forces communities to accept video gambling machines and prey upon their own residents or else. Municipalities should not be punished for exercising local control.” (I’m not sure that H.B. 5438 actually does this. I’ve included a synopsis of the bill as provided in the bill as the third item. Read it and decide what it says for yourself—my addition.)

“1) Contact your State Representative and ask him/her to vote NO on HB 5438.

2) If your community has already banned video gambling, ask your local officials to contact State Legislators to OPPOSE HB 5438.

3) Share this alert with your faith community.

4) Forward to 10 others.”

2) A Chicago Tribune editorial contained the following information concerning H.B. 5438.

“A House bill sponsored by Reps. Saviano, R-Elmwood Park, Dan Reitz. D-Sparta, and Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, would ban the funding of capital projects with revenues from video gambling in locales that have opted out of it. Legislative researchers can’t tell us of any similar existing penalties—say, limiting the use of liquor revenues in locales that vote themselves dry.”

3) The H.B. 5438 synopsis:

“H.B. 5438

by Representative Dan Reitz - Angelo Saviano - Brandon W. Phelps

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

30 ILCS 105/6z-77
30 ILCS 105/6z-78

Amends the State Finance Act. Provides that, if a municipality or county prohibits video gaming pursuant to the Video Gaming Act, then (i) capital projects and the payment of debt service on bonds issued for capital projects within the municipality or county may not be funded from proceeds of video gaming that are deposited into the Capital Projects Fund and (ii) the proceeds of video gaming that are deposited into the Capital Projects Fund may not be used for the purpose of paying and discharging the principal and interest on bonded indebtedness for bonds issued for capital projects within the municipality or county. Effective immediately.”

As a reminder, the capital building program is to be funded from several sources including increased taxes on selected products and the tax on video gambling. Video gambling is suppose to provide about 30% of the funds for these projects. Thus, if I read this proposed bill correctly, the communities would not receive funds from video gambling but could receive funds from the other sources. When Morton passed the ban on video gambling the mayor specifically said that Morton should not receive any money from video gambling source income. I personally agree with that position. I don’t want to fund projects will immorally gotten revenue.

That said, the bill should not be passed as written. Clearly, this bill as proposed is an ex post facto law which is prohibited by the Illinois Constitution. Article I—Bill of Rights, Section 16 declares “No ex post facto law … shall be passed.” An ex post facto law is a law that restricts some entity for doing something that was legal in the past.

The original law (H.B. 255) allows communities to ban video gambling and places NO restrictions on that action. To now, after the fact, place any restriction on that action is obviously unconstitutional. OBVIOUSLY! (Well, maybe not to legislators.) Can you say LAW SUIT!!!

Video Gambling and the Illinois General Assembly’s addiction


Friday, I posted portions of a Chicago Tribune article dealing, in a general way, with some members of the General Assembly turning to extortion to try to limit the number of communities and counties who are sensibly rejecting video gambling within their jurisdictions. Why did some members of the General Assembly turn to extortion? They are addicted!

What is their addiction? The same addiction that seems to have permeated throughout governments throughout our nation from the federal government, to most States, to many local units of government. The State of Illinois, like many governments, is addicted to spending money!

From the Peoria Journal Star on February 17, 2010, page B3, the headline declares “Cigna owes $1.6 million to McDonough hospital.” From the article we learn that “McDonough District Hospital is owed $1.6 million by Cigna, the company that administers the Quality Health Care program for state employees. The backlog exists because the state has paid no money to the company.” The same tale is prevalent through out the State. The State is behind payments to many, if not all, its vendors, to State Universities, to public schools, to just about ever entity that deals with the State monetarily.

Why? The State has no money and is going farther and farther into debt each day. Why? The State is addicted to spending money!

From the Peoria Journal Star on February 19, 2010, page A4, the headline proclaims “Study: Illinois has most troubled pension system.” According to the news story, “States may be forced to reduce benefits, raise taxes or slash government services to address a $1 trillion funding shortfall in public sector retirement benefits, according to a new study that warns of even more debilitating costs if immediate action isn’t taken.” “Illinois was rated the most troubled pension system during the study period, with a 54 percent funding level (The State owes the fund almost as much as the fund has!—my addition) and a total liability of more than $54 billion.”

Is this amount figured into the State’s present budget deficit? No! It is a future liability. If it is a future liability, the State just seems to ignore the situation. “We’ll solve it down the road! We’ll solve it when we have more money!”

Why? The State has no money and is going farther and farther into debt each day. Why? The State is addicted to spending money!

Last year, as the State was struggling unsuccessfully to balance the State budget, a majority of each House of the General Assembly voted, in one day in the Senate and in two days in the House contrary to the Illinois Constitution, to spend $30 billion that the State did not have to finance a capital building project. About 30% of that new project was to be funded by a newly allowed video gambling program. A program that permits STATE SANCTIONED STEALING of up to 20% of all money played on each and every machine over the life of each machine.

Why? The State has no money and is going farther and farther into debt each day and therefore must create new sources of revenue no matter how immoral that source of revenue may be. Why? The State is addicted to spending money!

How do you stop an addiction? In the case of an alcoholic, the alcoholic must not consume alcohol. In case of a drug addict, the addict must not consumer the drug. In the case of a spendaholic, the money MUST BE CUT OFF!

The video gambling law MUST be repealed. Taxes MUST NOT be allowed to be raised in any form under any circumstances. And the General Assembly MUST balance the budget each year as required by law spending no more than is received. NEVER give a spending addict more money to spend! As recently elected New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has said, “Higher taxes are the road to ruin!”

If not, the State will continue to be addicted to spending money! And our current crisis will continue to worsen!

Video Gambling—Extortion anyone?


The following is from http://www.ilcaaap.org/ (Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems)

“Gambling Action Alert

Video poker extortion”

“A Chicago Tribune editorial outlines the tactics Legislators have been using to strong-arm municipalities and counties from banning video gambling machines.

For immediate action:

1) Send the article to your local officials and county board members. Ask them to ban the video gambling machines while they still can.”

2) “Share this alert with you faith community

3) Forward to 10 others”

The following is a portion of the Chicago Tribune editorial published on February 10, 2010. Click on the above links to read the entire editorial.

“Video poker extortion

The intimidating tone of state Rep. Angelo ‘Skip’ Saviano on Dec. 15 betrayed his frustration with communities that, by the scores, say they want no part of legalized video gambling. The setting was a meeting of an Illinois legislative committee and Saviano had a captive listener, Michael Fries, general counsel to the Illinois Gaming Board.”

“Thus does the bullying in favor of video gambling unwittingly warn communities that haven’t yet opted out: Act while you still can. Who knows what the proponents will dream up next.

The desperation to jam video gambling down Illinoisans’ throats is getting ugly. Saviano’s little rant to a Gaming Board staffer is just one part of a backlash by proponents of this scourge: They know video gambling could be toxic to legislators who voted for it. They’re embarrassed by the number of counties and municipalities opting out. Most of all, they and their squadrons of gambling lobbyists fear that with each new opt-out, momentum to kill legalized video gambling will grow.” (Let us hope so!—my addition)

“This unpopularity of video gambling explains why municipal councils and county boards are opting out of it—a smart decision for which the proponents now want to punish them. The law included an opt-out clause, but they want to muscle anyone shrewd enough to use it.”

“What’s your takeaway? Now’s the time to pressure your local council or county board members to stop state-sponsored video gambling. Gov. Pat Quinn, who holds a veto pen, says he opposes efforts to penalize communities that opt out. But the longer you wait, the greater the risk that the proponents will concoct some way of saying you can’t. (A very true statement! Help your community ban video gambling before the scoundrels cause even more mischief!—my addition)

As for you, state lawmakers: Admit that your constituents don’t want video gambling. Repeal it.” (A GREAT IDEA!!!—my addition)

Video Gambling—update on communities banning


The following is from http://www.ilcaaap.org/ (Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems)

Communities that banned video gambling

01) Addison (update—12/18/09)
02) Arlington Heights (update—01/02/10)
03) Batavia (update—11/23/09)
04) Beach Park
05) Bloomingdale (update—11/02/09)
06) Buffalo Grove (update—11/02/09)
07) Burbank (update—12/18/09)
08) Campton Hills (update—12/18/09)
09) Carbondale
10) Carol Stream (update—11/02/09)
11) Country Club Hills
12) Darien (update—01/02/10)
13) Downers Grove (update—12/18/09)
14) East Dundee + advisory referendum on Feb. 2, 2010 (update—11/14/09)
15) Elburn
16) Elmhurst (update—11/02/09)
17) Evanston
18) Glen Ellyn (update—11/23/09)
19) Glenview (update—11/23/09)
20) Grayslake (update—02/13/10)
21) Gurnee (update—02/13/10)
22) Hanover Park (update—11/14/09)
23) Hawthorne Wood (update—12/14/09)
24) Highland Park (update—12/14/09)
25) Hinsdale (update—01/02/10)
26) Itasca (update—11/14/09)
27) Kenilworth (update—02/13/10)
28) Kildeer (update—11/23/09)
29) La Grange (update—12/14/09)
30) Lake Bluff (update—11/23/09)
31) Lake Forrest (update—11/23/09)
32) Libertyville (update—11/02/09)
33) Lincolnshire (update—01/21/10)
34) Lincolnwood
35) Lisle (update—11/23/09)
36) Mettawa (update—11/23/09)
37) Morton (update—01/02/10)
38) Mt. Prospect
39) Naperville
40) Northbrook
41) Oak Park (update—12/14/09)
42) Oakbrook Terrace (update—12/18/09)
43) Orland Park (update—12/05/09)
44) Palos Heights (update—11/02/09)
45) Palos Park (update—01/21/10)
46) Park Ridge (update—01/02/10)
47) Rochester
48) Roselle (update—12/18/09)
49) Rosemont
50) Schiller Park (update—12/18/09)
51) South Barrington (update—01/21/10)
52) South Holland (update—11/02/09)
53) St. Charles (update—02/13/10)
54) Villa Park (update—11/02/09)
55) Wadsworth (update—02/13/10)
56) Warrenville (update—12/14/09)
57) Wayne (update—11/23/09)
58) West Chicago (update—11/23/09)
59) Westmont (update—02/13/10)
60) Wheaton (update—11/02/09)
61) Wilmette (update—12/18/09)
62) Winfield (update—12/14/09)
63) Winnetka (update—02/13/10)
64) Wood Dale (update—01/21/10)

Counties that banned video gambling

01) Cook County (update—11/02/09)
02) Du Page County
03) Kane County (update—12/14/09)
04) Lake County (update—11/02/09)
05) McHenry County (update—12/05/09)

Is your community/county listed? If so, very good. If not, why not?

Communities discussing video gambling

01) Antioch (update—11/14/09)
02) Barrington (update—11/02/09)
03) Burr Ridge (update—01/02/10)
04) Champaign (update—12/14/09)
05) Deerfield (update—11/02/09)
06) DeKalb (update—11/02/09)
07) Elgin
08) Fox Lake (update—12/05/09)
09) Homewood
10) Johnsburg (update—12/14/09)
11) Lindenhurst
12) Oswego (update—12/05/09)
13) Palos Hills
14) Schaumburg
15) Southland
16) Tinley Park (update—12/14/09)
17) Urbana (update—12/14/09)
18) West Dundee

Counties discussing video gambling

01) Champaign County
02) Effingham County (update—11/02/09)
03) Tazewell County (update—11/02/09)
04) Will County

Is your community/county listed? If so, very good. If not, why not?

Communities that WILL NOT ban video gambling

1) Homer
2) Lake in the Hills
3) Rockford
4) Rock Island
2) Wauconda

Morton Business District—my response to a news article


I had planned to begin another series on video gambling tonight. I’m changing that with a response to an article in the Peoria Journal Star on February 16, 2010, page B2. I’m posting most, but not all, of the story and then my comment which is in the form of a letter to the editor which I plan to mail to the paper today.

“Daly argues for Morton sales tax increase
But people at public hearing speak against it, drawing applause

By Steve Stein
OF THE JOURNAL STAR

Morton—On a night when Mayor Norm Durflinger unveiled a lengthy list of revenue-producing possibilities for the village, a sales tax increase for a proposed business district grabbed the spotlight.

The 0.25 percentage point increase—from 6.75 to 7 percent—is part of the village’s proposal to establish the expansive district. The estimated $400,000 generated annually by the increase would be used exclusively for business infrastructure and streetscape improvements within the district.

Several audience members spoke against the sales tax increase at the first of two public hearings for the district that will be held by the Village Board. The next hearing will be March 1, with board action scheduled for March 15.

Each comment in opposition to the increase and the use of the money was received with applause from the audience.

‘This is frivolous spending when people are hurting,’ said resident Patte Winn.

‘How can this be a major priority when you’re talking about laying off three police officers and the assistant police chief?’ asked resident Don Vance, referencing village budget-cutting suggestions made recently by village employees and department heads.

Other speakers expressed a concern about the cumulative effect of possible federal, state and local tax increases, and suggested lowering the sales tax by 0.25 percent and vigorously advertising the fact.

(Here’s the matter I’m commenting on—my addition.)

Jennifer Daly, executive director of the Morton Economic Development Council, which proposed the business district and sales tax increase, said after the meeting that she understands residents’ concerns.

She said the council could have proposed the maximum increase of 1 percentage point but kept it at 0.25 percentage points because of the economic climate.

The additional tax would add 25 cents to a $100 purchase. Automobiles, groceries and medications would be among the exempt items.

‘Nobody likes proposing a sales tax increase but this is the best way to achieve one of the major goals of the village’s comprehensive plan,’ Daly said.

‘Even if the village’s sales tax increases to 7 percent, we’d still be 1 to 3 percent lower than area communities,’ she added. ‘And not only Morton residents would be paying the extra sales tax. Everyone who buys something in Morton would pay it.’”

My letter to the editor:

After reading the article titled “Daly argues for Morton sales tax increase,” I believe some clarification is necessary.

She is quoted as saying “…the council could have proposed the maximum increase of 1 percentage point but kept it at 0.25 percentage points because of the economic climate.” What she did not say and what I found out through a Freedom of Information request is that once the Business District is established “any increase in sales tax may be accomplished via the passage of an ordinance during a public meeting of the Village Board of Trustees.” In other words, if the District is established by July 1 as planned, the Village Board may increase the percentage up to 1% at any time during the life of the District including at the next Board meeting on July 5th. Can she or anyone else guarantee that the ¼% amount will not be raised to the full 1%? No!

Furthermore, she downplays the ¼% increase as just being a quarter for every $100 of merchandise purchased. However, paraphrasing the late Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, “a quarter here, a quarter there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.” And indeed, the estimate is that this tax increase will raise $400,000 a year. $400,000 of our money that we can not spend on other goods and services or save. If it is so minimal, is she and/or the Village Board willing to pay my and others’ extra tax payments if we don’t approve of the extra tax? It is easy for government to spend other peoples’ money!

She states correctly that Morton’s sales tax is lower than other communities. She then implies that is sufficient reason to justify the increase. It is not! Why should we increase our tax just because other communities have an even higher tax? If these communities made poor governmental decisions, does that justify the Village doing the same? Hypothetically, if Pekin has a $10,000,000 deficit, does that justify Morton increasing its deficit by an extra $100,000 because it is still lower than Pekin’s?

She declares that the sales tax is paid by both Morton residents and non-residents who shop in Morton. Yet, she does not say what percentage is collected from non-residents. Is it a 50-50 spilt? Is 95% of the sales tax coming from Morton residents and only 5% coming from non-residents? Does she know?

Finally, according to another Freedom of Information request, the Village has no study or research dealing with a cost/benefit analysis of such an increase. Will the benefits be greater than the costs involved? If so, by how much? Would any of us buy a new car without knowing what we are buying? If this is such a beneficial investment, why aren’t the private businesses doing these capital improvements with their own money to increase their business profits and increase the value of their property?

Marihuana to be legalized in Illinois?


I didn’t plan to post the following tonight. However, since there is a time element involved, I’m posting now and will then begin another series on video gambling. The Illinois General Assembly is in session once again so it is time for citizens to beware. The spenders are once again in session trying to spend the State into bankruptcy. Given the problems this State has, I wonder why the House is so concerned with this issue.

From http://www.ilcaaap.org/ (Illinois Church Action on Alcohol & Addiction Problems)

“February 3, 2010

Marijuana Action Alert

Call your State Representative to oppose SB 1381

SB 1381 to legalize marijuana as medicine was passed in the Senate last year. The bill was voted out of committee in the House, but not called for a vote. Last week, SB 1381 was placed on the House floor (3rd reading), where it can be called for a vote at any time.

Please read the article Colorado teenagers and marijuana, which was written by a board-certified child/adolescent and addictions psychiatrist who conducts federally funded research on marijuana addiction in teenagers.

For immediate action:

1) Contact your State Representative and ask him/her to Vote NO on SB 1381 to legalize marijuana as medicine.

2) Write a Letter to the Editor

3) Share this alert with you faith community

4) Forward to 10 others”

As you may know, there is a federal law against selling marihuana. However, illegally, the Barack Hussein Obama Administration has decided and declared that the administration will not enforce the federal law in States that have a law allowing medical marihuana.

Before I moved to Illinois, Arizona passed an initiative to allow medical marihuana. The individual (He actually lived in California.) who led and financed the initiative openly admitted that this was the first step in totally legalizing marihuana within Arizona. Recently, I saw a list of those States who have legalized medical marihuana and Arizona was not listed. My guess is that it was repealed by a more recent initiative or referendum.

Make no mistake about it, the aim of allowing medical marihuana is the same everywhere. They intend to totally legalize marihuana in every State of the nation. The goal right now is to get their foot in the door and then to push the door wide open.

Global Warming and the Heritage Foundation


From http://www.myheritage.org/

“February 11, 2010 by Nathaniel Ward

Global Warming hysteria Strikes Again

Despite recent heavy snows in Washington that have shuttered the federal government and canceled Congressional votes, The Heritage Foundation’s experts continue to advance conservative ideas.

Writing in today’s Morning Bell, Heritage’s Conn Carroll explores the Left's latest hysterical claims about global warming:

Tomorrow, NBC (which is owned by General Electric) will begin broadcasting the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver, Canada. Only two events are scheduled for the opening day (alpine skiing and ski jumping), but even those events will be difficult to pull off. Why? There is no snow in Vancouver. (As I said on my February 11, 2010 post, “Who said GOD doesn’t have a sense of humor …?”—my addition) And International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge knows exactly what is to blame: global warming. Rogge tells AFP: ‘Global warming of course is a worry, it is a worry for the entire world.’

Considering that NBC/GE has already received billions in TARP bailout cash from the Obama administration and is actively lobbying for a global warming energy tax bill so that it can receive billions more in government green-energy subsidies on top of the millions it already receives, we are sure to hear lots from NBC announcers about how the lack of snow in Vancouver is just another reason Washington needs to act now to stop global warming.

But back in Washington, the global warming scare-monger crowd is singing a slightly different tune. Facing record snowfalls, Time is reporting: ‘Snowstorm: East Coast Blizzard Tied to Climate Change.’ But do not confuse this headline with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s column from two years ago claiming that global warming was causing ‘anemic winters’ in the Washington region.

No snow, too much snow. It does not matter to the enviroleft crowd. For them, global warming always is to blame. That is the whole reason the movement made a deliberate decision earlier this decade to stop calling it ‘global warming’ and start calling it ‘climate change.’ That way they could expand the universe of terrible things they could plausibly blame on global warming. One British citizen even maintains a comprehensive list of everything the enviroleft has tried to blame on global warming including: Atlantic ocean less salty, Atlantic ocean more salty, Earth slowing down, Earth spinning faster, fish bigger, fish shrinking, and (most importantly) beer better, beer worse. (This is one reason why I’m posting this tonight. As I’ve said before, according to the Al Gore Gang, all things that seem bad are caused by Global Warming even if they are contradictory!—my addition)

The media are not the only ones complicit in the climate fear industry. The 2007 Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (which is the most prestigious scientific body charged with determining what is and is not settled science) has also been found to be cooking the books. In just the past year, the IPCC’s 2007 report has been exposed for overstating the science on glacier loss in the Himalayas, crop loss in Africa, Amazon rain forest depletion and damage from weather catastrophes.

Here is what we do know: the cap-and-trade system in Europe is completely failing to reduce carbon emissions; the cap-and-trade system proposed here in the United States would do nothing to affect global temperatures, but would do trillions of dollars of damage to the U.S. economy.

Something to think about while you shovel out your driveway today.

You can subscribe to the Morning Bell and receive this sort of policy analysis in your inbox every weekday morning.

Other Heritage Work of Note:

Heritage's Rea Hederman and James Sherk break down the January unemployment numbers in the Daily Caller and explain what lawmakers should do now. ‘The biggest news is the revisions to the employment numbers, which show an additional 1.2 million jobs lost since the recession began, thereby bringing the total to 8.4 million. To turn the economy around, Congress should promote private-sector job creation by removing barriers to entrepreneurship. Better policy solutions such as a no-cost stimulus, tort reform to promote new investment, and the lifting of barriers to domestic energy development are the right way to get there.’

Next Monday, many schools and businesses will close to celebrate a holiday erroneously known as President’s Day. Heritage’s Matthew Spalding explains why the holiday is officially known as Washington's Birthday and why it's important we give special honors to our first president.

Nathaniel Ward is the editor of http://www.myheritage.org/—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.”

Global Warming and the Environmental Protection Agency


From Americans for Prosperity http://www.americansforprosperity.org/

“As I write to you this morning, the snow of our second blizzard-like storm of the week is piling up outside.

Ironically, President Obama picked this week to announce the formation of a new global warming bureaucracy within the Department of Commerce. The news conference announcing this new ‘climate service’ had to be canceled due to our D.C. area blizzard.

How out of touch is the radical environmental movement that, sadly, has a deep hold on the Obama Administration?

The Department of Commerce news release announcing the new ‘climate service’ actually said the following, ‘More and more Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards...’

There’s more. The release, paid for with your tax dollars, goes on to say that ‘People are searching for relevant and timely information about these changes to inform decision making about VIRTUALLY ALL ASPECTS OF THEIR LIVE.’ (emphasis added)

This kind of out-of-touch left-wing extremism inspired us here at Americans for Prosperity to create a new video I think you’ll find interesting CLICK HERE

But even worse, the Obama Administration, in pursuit of their radical environmental goals, is still pursuing a cap-and-trade agenda that will kill jobs, raise utility bills and gas prices and infringe on our freedoms.

For the last two years, we’ve fought their radical agenda tooth-and-nail with the help of folks like you. We’ve held over 80 ‘Hot Air Tour’ balloon rallies from Bozeman, Montana to Jacksonville, Florida and from Little Rock, Arkansas to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to raise awareness of the Left’s cap-and-trade energy tax and to get activists to call and email their Senators and Congressmen to vote against it. CLICK HERE

FOR MORE ON THESE RALLIES AND OUR EFFORT

Despite the fact that a Pew Foundation poll showed Americans rank ‘combating global warming’ dead last on their list of priorities, President Obama used his recent State of the Union speech to once again demand passage of his cap-and-trade legislation. They even wrote a blank line in the federal budget labeled ‘allowance for climate policy’ to keep secret how much they plan to tax and spend via cap-and-trade. So, the cap-and-trade fight is not over.

Even worse, Obama is not waiting for Congress. The president is now intent on using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to bypass Congress and move full steam ahead to enforce the Left’s global warming agenda.

Soon after President Obama’s election, this un-elected bureaucracy issued a ‘finding’ that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and welfare and therefore should be regulated by the EPA. Now, the EPA is moving to impose job-killing, freedom-encroaching regulations and mandates on American businesses—at a time when our economy is desperately struggling to create jobs and rebuild prosperity. Over 40,000 AFP activists put official comments in at the EPA on this issue. But to win, we will have to convince Congress to step in and stop the EPA.

Fortunately, there are now serious bipartisan efforts underway in both the House and Senate to do just that—block the EPA’s outrageous global warming power grab and return the power to make our country’s laws to Congress.

At Americans for Prosperity, we’re going to be announcing in the near future an intensive effort to combat this job killing EPA power grab. So stay tuned! In the meantime, please take a moment to click here and let your members of Congress know that if they fail to stop the EPA, you will hold them responsible for the consequences.

I hope you’re safe and sound at home if you live in the path of this storm. And you can just look out in your ‘backyard’ for the devastating ‘impacts’ of climate change (that’s what global warming is apparently called during blizzards!).

Tim Phillips

P.S. The Left is coming back in 2010 with a powerful new attempt to push through their radical environmental agenda. And they are intent to bypass Congress and do it through the EPA. Please take a moment to CLICK HERE to let your members of Congress know you understand the stakes and will hold them responsible if they let EPA get away with it.”

This is nothing new! The libertines have used the none-elected parts of government, usually the courts, to by-pass the will of the people for many, many years. It’s time to stop and reverse this nonsense!

Global Warming to be solved by new federal agency


The following newspaper article was in the Peoria Journal Star on February 10, 2010, page A2. The headline was “New federal climate change agency forming.” The article said:

“Washington, D.C. (AP)—The Obama administration on Monday proposed a new agency to study and report on the changing climate.

Also known as global warming, climate change has attracted widespread concern as temperatures around the world rise (Still using the same lies even as more and more evidence is presented, even in the mass media, to the cheating, lying, and manipulation of the data that has occurred by the Global Warming alarmists. Some reporters must not even read their newspapers’ own stories!—my addition), threatening to harm crops, increase sea levels, change storm and drought patterns and cause polar melting. (The reporter left out threatening to increase crime, increase acne, increase murders, and increase irritability among other evils blamed on Global Warming!—my addition)

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Jane Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced NOAA will set up the new Climate Service to operate in tandem with NOAA’s National Weather Service and National Ocean Service. (Just what we need—another bureau in an ever increasing federal bureaucracy!—my addition)

The new agency will initially be led by Thomas Karl, director of the current National Climatic Data Center. The Climate Service will be headquartered in Washington, D.C. and will have six regional directors across the country.” (Of course, these new agencies are free to the American people since such agencies don’t cost money. This may be part of the new job’s bill!—my addition.)

What the article didn’t say and perhaps was edited out by the local paper was that a meeting in relation to this new bureau was canceled because of the massive snow storm that has hit the Washington D.C. area. Ah, but not to worry. According to one news report, the massive snow storm in Washington D.C. was caused by Global Warming! As is all negative weather!

According to a story in the Peoria Journal Star on 2/9/10, page A5, “the region (Washington D.C. area—my addition) had nearly 3 feet of snow (3 feet = 36 inches. I know, everyone should know this but it seems if I don’t spell everything out, I’m accused of manipulating the information—my addition.) in some areas.” “Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., each need just a little more than nine inches to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.”

NOTE: I had computer problems Thursday morning and wasn’t able to post. In the mean time, the following portions of a slightly larger article as published in the Peoria Journal Star on 2/11/2010 on page A3.

“Worst winter ever? The second blizzard in less than a week buried the most populous stretch of the East coast under nearly a foot of snow Wednesday, breaking records for the snowiest winter and demoralizing millions of people still trying to dig out from the previous storm. (I heard on the radio Thursday morning that Washington D.C. is now over 54” of snow for the winter which is a new record—my addition.)

Conditions in the nation’s capital were so bad that even plows were advised to get off the roads, and forecasters were eyeing a third storm that could be brewing for next week.”

“‘I have never in my lifetime seen or heard anything quite like this,’ said D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin.”

Meanwhile, in the sports section of the Peoria Journal Star on 2/10/10, page D5, The Winter Olympic organization is flying in snow for the programs because the Vancouver, Canada area is having “the warmest January on record.” Who said God doesn’t have a sense of humor—massive snow storms in the Washington D.C. area and lack of snow for the Winter Olympic being held in the northern part of the continent?

OK. I don’t know if GOD specifically did this. I do believe this: GOD created the universe including this planet. GOD set up the system that gives us weather and climate. And GOD can and has changed it (weather and climate) when he has chosen to do so. In contrast, man does not determine weather and climate and man can’t change the climate unless GOD lets him.

This is what the Bible says about our climate: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’” Genesis 8: 20-22 (NIV)

As I’ve said before, no human can accurately predict what the weather is going to be like 50 years from today. We have difficulty predicting with 100% accuracy what the weather is going to be like seven days from now. This I do know. If GOD wants global warming as predicted by the “Al Gore gang” to occur, there is NOTHING man can do to stop it. If GOD doesn’t want global warming to occur, it won’t, no matter what man does. Of course, God could always let man proceed as they choose without HIS hand in it either way. I don’t know what will occur 50 years from now and NEITHER DOES any other human on this planet!

This I also know. If I were living a life of SIN, I’d be more concerned about what GOD will do today and tomorrow or what will happen to me after my death (none of us has a guarantee that we will live another fifty years) than what is going to occur in another 50 years!!!

Global Warming miscalculations?


From http://www.greenwatchamerica.net/

“Thursday February 4th, 2010

We would think that after last week, when the scientific process behind the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC—my addition) report was revealed as flawed, and the final product revealed as fraudulent, Dr. Rajenda Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, would show some humility over this egregious abuse of science. But rather than take responsibility for the grievous errors in the report he was in charge of, Pachauri has dug in his heels.

In an interview with the British paper The Guardian, Pachauri refused to apologize for the Himalayan falsehood. ‘You can't expect me to be personally responsible for every word in a 3,000 page report,’ he said. He also argued that the error was isolated and ‘totally out of character’ for the panel and did not undermine the ‘basic truth’ of Global Warming Theory.

First of all, yes, Mr. Pachauri; you’re the head of the panel, so when your panel publishes a 3,000 page report calling for drastic and immediate action that you hope will influence heads of state throughout the world, we can and will hold you responsible for it. Particularly when it seems you knew about the false claim well in advance and did nothing about it. That’s why not only your opponents, but your allies as well, are calling for your resignation.

Secondly, this is not an isolated error. There are other questionably sourced claims in the IPCC report, and the data seems to be selectively chosen to support Global Warming Theory, which is as unscientific as it gets.

Pachauri does admit that the error has hurt the cause of Global Warming advocates and helped that of skeptics. That’s hardly surprising though, considering the entire basis for Global Warming Theory has essentially gone up in smoke (down in ice?) since the panel’s report was issued.

Unless serious science shows otherwise, Global Warming will be remembered as ‘The Hottest Hoax in the World.’

Most Egregious Claim of the Week

NASA is warning us that Antarctica has been losing more than 100 cubic kilometers of ice every year since 2002, and that ‘[i]f all of this ice melted, it would raise global sea level by about 60 meter (197 feet).’

If the world’s sea level rose by that amount, of course, most of the people on earth would be killed. On its face, this is a terrifying possibility. Of course, like most Radical Green claims, when you look closer, there’s no truth there.

First, in the last 30 years, the level of ice has expanded, not decreased. Seven years does not a trend make.

But more importantly, at the rate of 100 cubic kilometers per year, it would take 300,000 years for all the ice to melt.

We guess we’ve got a little time to turn it around.

—Patrick Gallagher, Editor

What Do Al Gore and Osama Bin Laden Have in Common?

Radical Greens Abolish Free Parking in CA?

Obama to Senate: Don't Give Up on Climate Bill

Creator of the Hockey Stick Graph's fate is Up in the Air After Climate Email Scandal

Solar Power in Germany Not Looking so Hot

Nike Abandons Carbon Offsets

12 Glaciers that Haven't Heard the News About Global Warming”

REMEMBER: According to Barack Hussein Obama, the science is settled. And indeed it is! The Al Gore Global Warming Gang is absolutely wrong! Scientist Barack Hussein Obama is just not ready to admit it!

This is what the Bible says about our climate: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’” Genesis 8: 20-22 (NIV)

As I’ve said before, no human can accurately predict what the weather is going to be like 50 years from today. We have difficulty predicting with 100% accuracy what the weather is going to be like seven days from now. This I do know. If GOD wants global warming as predicted by the “Al Gore gang” to occur, there is NOTHING man can do to stop it. If GOD doesn’t want global warming to occur, it won’t, no matter what man does. Of course, God could always let man proceed as they choose without HIS hand in it either way. I don’t know what will occur 50 years from now and NEITHER DOES any other human on this planet!

This I also know. If I were living a life of SIN, I’d be more concerned about what GOD will do today and tomorrow or what will happen to me after my death (none of us has a guarantee that we will live another fifty years) than what is going to occur in another 50 years!!!

January’s temperature and rainfall


This January (2010) is similar to, but not as cold as, the January temperature in 2009. According to the Peoria Journal Star February 1, 2010, page B6, the average temperature departure for the month of January was -2.8°. Cold, but not as cold as the January 2009 average temperature departure of -4.0°.

In contrast to 2009, the month to date rainfall for January in Peoria was once again above average at 1.88” while the normal average rainfall is 1.5” for the month of January. Consequently, after one month the average rainfall is .38” above normal. Last year for January the average rainfall was actually below average at .72”. Of course, by the end of 2009, the average rainfall was significantly above average.

As you no doubt know, President Barack Hussein Obama declared once again in his first State of the Union speech that Global Warming as predicted by the Al Gore Gang is a scientific fact and should not be questioned although he now realizes that it is being questioned by some. In what may be a case of poetic justice, the Washington D.C. area has been covered by, in some cases, record setting snow. I heard one news report that some schools are closing for the entire week. Oh yes, and another large, but not as large, snow storm is being forecast for later this week. Obviously, all this snow is the result of Global Warming since according to the Al Gore Gang all weather occurrences are Global Warming caused!

This is what the Bible says about our climate: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’” Genesis 8: 20-22 (NIV)

As I’ve said before, no human can accurately predict what the weather is going to be like 50 years from today. We have difficulty predicting with 100% accuracy what the weather is going to be like seven days from now. This I do know. If GOD wants global warming as predicted by the “Al Gore gang” to occur, there is NOTHING man can do to stop it. If GOD doesn’t want global warming to occur, it won’t, no matter what man does. Of course, God could always let man proceed as they choose without HIS hand in it either way. I don’t know what will occur 50 years from now and NEITHER DOES any other human on this planet!

This I also know. If I were living a life of SIN, I’d be more concerned about what GOD will do today and tomorrow or what will happen to me after my death (none of us has a guarantee that we will live another fifty years) than what is going to occur in another 50 years!!!

Record high temperatures for February


On July 6th, 2007, I posted for the first time on my blog the record high temperature for Peoria, Illinois for each day of the month of July with the year the record occurred. I began the post with this paragraph:

Anyone ever ask you, “Hot enough for you?” It seems like I hear that every summer. I was at a funeral recently. I can’t remember the age of the person but I think she was around 90 years of age. One of the individuals who talked about her life mentioned that she often talked about how hot it was in 1936. 1936? But global warming is a new phenomenon! How could it be hot in 1936?

I had a post for each month from July of 2007 through June of 2008. I stopped at June because I did not have the new figures for the second half of the year. I now have the figures for January through June. Therefore, I thought I would begin the process again.

First, here are the conclusions for January:

For January:

01) The record high temperatures for January ranged from 71° to a low of 56°.
02) There were two highs in the 70’s, three in the 50’s, and twenty-six in the 60’s.
03) The most record high temperatures for a decade occurred in the 1890’s and 1950’s with 5 each.
04) The decade of the 1880’s was the only decade with no record high dates.
05) The decade of the 1930’s had 2 record high temperature dates.
06) Four dates in the 2000’s had record high temperatures.
07) The highest record high temperature of 71° occurred on January 23, 1909.
08) The lowest record high temperature of 56° occurred on January 30, 1988.

For the month of January, the 2000’s lead the 1930’s with 4 record highs for the 2000’s and only 2 record highs for the 1930’s—a 2 to 1 advantage. It must be “Al Gore’s” global warming—or not!

Here are the February record high temperatures for Peoria.

The Peoria Journal Star on December 27, 2009, page S3 published “The Weather Month by Month.” According to the Peoria Journal Star, here are the record highs for Peoria for the month of February with the year of that record high.

“February 1……. 63 ……. 1911
February 2……. 54 ……. 1920
February 3……. 63 ……. 1992
February 4……. 68 ……. 1890
February 5……. 60 ……. 1946
February 6……. 59 ……. 1904
February 7……. 63 ……. 1925
February 8……. 63 ……. 1990
February 9……. 65 ……. 1943
February 10……. 74 ……. 1932*
February 11……. 68 ……. 1999
February 12……. 69 ……. 1938*
February 13……. 65 ……. 1938*
February 14……. 67 ……. 1954
February 15……. 72 ……. 1921
February 16……. 60 ……. 1911
February 17……. 64 ……. 1890
February 18……. 63 ……. 1994
February 19……. 71 ……. 1930*
February 20……. 67 ……. 1930*
February 21……. 69 ……. 1930*
February 22……. 71 ……. 1922
February 23……. 64 ……. 1930*
February 24……. 71 ……. 1930*
February 25……. 70 ……. 2000
February 26……. 71 ……. 1996
February 27……. 72 ……. 1976
February 28……. 68 ……. 1895

For February:

01) The record high temperatures for February ranged from 74° to a low of 54°.
02) There were eight highs in the 70’s, two in the 50’s, and eighteen in the 60’s.
03) The most record high temperatures for a decade occurred in the 1930’s with 8.
04) The decades of the 1880’s, 1960’s, and 1980’s had no record high dates.
05) One date in the 2000’s had record high temperatures.
07) The highest record high temperature of 74° occurred on February 10, 1932.
08) The lowest record high temperature of 54° occurred on February 2, 1920.
09) The year of 1930 had five of six straight days with record high temperatures.

The 2000’s lead over the 1930’s of 2 to 1 has been reversed. The 1930’s from January through February now has 10 record high temperatures. The 2000’s now has five. The 1930’s now has a 2 to 1 advantage over the 2000’s. The reversal occurred in one month. It must be “Al Gore’s” global warming—or not!

This is what the Bible says about our climate: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’” Genesis 8: 20-22 (NIV)

As I’ve said before, no human can accurately predict what the weather is going to be like 50 years from today. We have difficulty predicting with 100% accuracy what the weather is going to be like seven days from now. This I do know. If GOD wants global warming as predicted by the “Al Gore gang” to occur, there is NOTHING man can do to stop it. If GOD doesn’t want global warming to occur, it won’t, no matter what man does. Of course, God could always let man proceed as they choose without HIS hand in it either way. I don’t know what will occur 50 years from now and NEITHER DOES any other human on this planet!

This I also know. If I were living a life of SIN, I’d be more concerned about what GOD will do today and tomorrow or what will happen to me after my death (none of us has a guarantee that we will live another fifty years) than what is going to occur in another 50 years!!!

Barack Hussein Obama—a Good 1 Term President


The political cartoon below was published in the Peoria Journal Star on 2/5/2010, page A4. The cartoon, I believe, is a depiction of a TV broadcast of an interview with President Barack Hussein Obama. I did not watch the program but have heard about the comment being characterized.

The President declared “I’d rather be a really good one-term President than a mediocre two-term President.” Does he even understand what he is really saying? Can he identify one instance in our history that a really good President was defeated when running for re-election?

The following Presidents were elected to the Presidency, served a complete first term and then were defeated running for a second term:

1) John Adams: elected in 1796 by 3 Electoral College votes over Thomas Jefferson and defeated in 1800 by Thomas Jefferson by 8 Electoral College votes.

2) John Quincy Adams: elected by the House of Representatives in 1824 (actually early 1825) after coming in second to Andrew Jackson in the Electoral College vote since neither received a majority of the vote as required by the Constitution. He lost to Andrew Jackson in the 1828 election by a 178 to 83 vote in the Electoral College.

3) Martin Van Buren: elected by 97 Electoral College votes in the election of 1836 and defeated by William H. Harrison, who lost to him in the 1836 election, by 174 Electoral College votes in 1840.

[NOTE 1: William H. Harrison died in office in 1841 and was succeeded by Vice President John Tyler who did not seek reelection in 1844.]

[NOTE 2: James Polk was elected in 1844 and did not seek reelection in 1848.]

[NOTE 3: Zachery Taylor was elected in 1848 and died in office in 1850. He was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore who did not seek reelection in 1852.]

[NOTE 4: Franklin Pierce was elected in 1852 by 212 Electoral College votes and did not seek reelection in 1856.]

[NOTE 5: James Buchanan was elected in 1856 by 60 Electoral College votes and did not seek reelection in 1860.]

[NOTE 6: Abraham Lincoln died in office in 1865 and was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson who did not seek reelection in 1868.]

[NOTE 7: Rutherford Hayes was elected in 1876 by 1 Electoral College vote although losing in the popular vote and did not seek reelection in 1880.]

[NOTE 8: James Garfield was elected in 1880 and died in office in 1881. He was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur who did not seek reelection in 1884.]

4) Grover Cleveland: elected by 37 Electoral College votes in the election of 1884 and defeated by Benjamin Harrison [although Benjamin Harrison lost in the popular vote] by 65 Electoral College votes in 1888.

5) Benjamin Harrison: defeated Grover Cleveland by 65 Electoral College votes in 1888 and then was defeated by Grover Cleveland by 132 Electoral College votes in 1892. Grover Cleveland did not seek reelection in 1896. Grover Cleveland is the only President in history to win the Presidency, lose the Presidency, and then win the Presidency once again.

[NOTE 9: William McKinley was elected in 1896 and reelected in 1900 but died in office in 1901. He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt who was elected in 1904 but did not seek reelection in 1908.]

6) William Taft: elected by 159 Electoral College votes in 1908 and defeated by Woodrow Wilson by 427 Electoral College votes in 1912. [Note: Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third party candidate in 1912 and came in second in relation to Electoral College votes.]

[NOTE 10: Warren Harding was elected in 1920 and died in office in 1923. He was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge who was elected in 1924 but did not seek reelection in 1928.]

7) Herbert Hoover: elected by 357 Electoral College votes in 1928 and defeated by Franklin Roosevelt by 413 Electoral College votes in 1932.

[NOTE 11: Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1944 to a fourth term and then died in office in 1945. He was succeeded by Vice President Harry Truman who was elected in 1948 but did not seek reelection in 1952.]

[NOTE 12: John Kennedy was elected in 1960 and died in office in 1963. He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon Johnson who was elected in 1964 but did not seek reelection in 1968.]

[NOTE 13: Richard Nixon was reelected in 1972 and resigned in 1974. He was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford who was defeated in the election of 1976.]

8) Jimmy Carter: elected by 57 Electoral College votes in 1976 and defeated by Ronald Reagan by 440 Electoral College votes in 1980.

9) George H. W. Bush: elected by 315 Electoral College votes in 1988 and defeated by Bill Clinton by 202 Electoral College votes in 1992.

Why did I go through all this Presidential history? To show that a one term President isn’t that unusual. We have had 44 different Presidents in our history with Barack Hussein Obama being the 44th. (Grover Cleveland is counted twice—as the 22nd and the 24th Presidents.) 9 of the 44 Presidents won their first election and then lost when seeking reelection. That’s just over 20% of all Presidents. Another President was elevated to the Presidency—Gerald Ford—and then lost the first time he ran for the Presidency. 4 more Presidents were elected to their first term of office and then, for whatever reason, decided not to seek reelection. Another 8 Presidents were elevated to the Presidency by first being the Vice President and then taking over for the elected President who died in office. All of them at one point could have run for another term of office and decided not to do so. Consequently, fully one half (22) of all Presidents (9 + 1 + 4 + 8) were either defeated in a reelection bid or decided not to run for office when they could have.

Here’s an interesting question. Do you thing all those previous Presidents were “really good Presidents” who were either defeated by an unknowing voting public or who did not choose to serve for another term although the public would have gratefully returned them to office?

Why does President Barack Hussein Obama seem to believe that he is more likely to be defeated for a second term if he is a really good President than if he is only a mediocre President? Is that what he is saying when he declares “I’d rather be a really good one-term President than a mediocre two-term President?” Does he have that low of an opinion of the voting public?

Well, come to think of it. It’s the same voting public who voted him into office in the first place. As President Lincoln is credited as saying, “You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time; but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”

Do you think that Barack Hussein Obama is realizing he is losing his pied piper charm? Thus, he intends to cram down the throats of the American people as much of his obscene policies as possible during his first term, realizing now that he may not have a second term. Then he can declare: “I was a really good President for one term! Then those ingrates voted me out of office!” How often has that happened in our history? I guess Barack Hussein Obama thinks he will be a President of many firsts.

Goal 1: Return some sanity to government by ending the Democratic Party’s majority control of the House and Senate.

Goal 2: Make Barack Hussein Obama the tenth one term elected President!

Goal 3: Return this nation to the Judeo-Christian values of the Founding Fathers.

Boycott all PepsiCo products—http://www.boycottpepsico.com/

Homosexuals in the military, part 2


From Illinois Family Institute http://www.illinoisfamily.org/

“IFI E-Alert: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Under Assault
by David E. Smith, Executive Director—Illinois Family Institute

Let your members of Congress know that allowing open homosexuality in the United States military is bad public policy.

On January 27th, President Barack Obama delivered his first State of the Union address. Conservative pundits were hoping that the President would signal a move toward a more centrist platform. That hope was not realized.

Instead of a reconciler who could govern from the center, he seemed to insist on radical Leftist ideology. Obama’s pledge to overturn the Military Eligibility Law of 1993—known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’—(a policy that governs homosexuals in the military) is desperately irresponsible. It would place the military in the strange position of actively recruiting personnel who intend to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice (which prohibits certain forms of immoral sexual behavior).

The Washington Times reported on a poll conducted by the Military Officers Association of America in which it found support for the current ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ policy (16 percent) or an even stronger law excluding homosexuals from the military (52 percent). The same combined percentage, 68 percent, expressed the belief that repeal of the 1993 law would have a very negative effect (48 percent) or a moderately negative effect (20 percent) on troop morale and military readiness.

Take ACTION: Click HERE now to send an email to President Obama and our Illinois U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators, and ask them to NOT allow open homosexuality in the military.

Please forward this email to all of your friends.

Thank you for taking action.

Help expand our reach by forwarding this email to like-minded family and friends.

Click HERE to make a donation to the Illinois Family Institute.”

From Americans For Truth

“‘This anti-military, left-wing policy misadventure must be stopped in its tracks by the American people standing up and shouting a collective ‘NO!’ to the
Democratic/Obama plan to homosexualize the military.’

TAKE ACTION: Oppose President Obama’s goal of homosexualizing and politicizing our American Armed Forces. One homosexual lobby group plans to spend $2 million to pressure Congress on ‘gays in the military.’ Contact your Congressman and Senators by phone [(202) 224-3121; (202) 225-3121; http://www.congress.org/] AND in writing (preferably in a regularly mailed letter or a fax as opposed to e-mail) and urge them to OPPOSE H.R. 1283—which we’re calling ‘Homosexualize Our Military Act.’ The act, mischievously titled the “Military Readiness Enhancement Act,” would impose a pro-homosexuality ‘non-discrimination’ policy on our Armed Forces. Also, tell your representatives to resist President Obama’s reckless plan to homosexualize the military non-legislatively—as the release below describes. President Obama does not have the right to an end-run around Congress and undermine U.S. law on military conduct!

BACKGROUND NOTE: Did you know that ‘Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell’ is NOT the law of the land? Here’s the truth on ‘Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell’ and the law from Center for Military Readiness.

News Release: see http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/7965812944.html

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality http://www.aftah.org/

February 3, 2010
Contact: Peter LaBarbera: 630-717-7631

AFTAH Condemns Secretary Gates’ and Admiral Mullen’s Capitulation to Obama’s Radical Plan to Homosexualize the Military

Americans For Truth About Homosexuality President Peter LaBarbera issued the following statement in response to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen’s testimony yesterday in favor of President Obama’s plan to allow open homosexuals in the military:

‘At a time of recession and a potentially long-lasting jobs crisis—and the ongoing national security crisis presented by worldwide Islamic terrorism—most Americans do not view homosexualizing our military as a top priority. And yet that is the course that President Barack Obama, and apparently some of his sycophantic military advisers, have chosen.

With Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ pledge to draw up plans to implement President Obama’s pro-homosexual military objective—and to remove a key means of identifying violating homosexual service members (third-party reports on illegal same-sex behavior)—America now faces the spectacle of another grinding, unnecessary, Left-driven policy debate.

The problem for Obama—and Gates—is that the American people have a say in stopping this latest ‘gay’ capitulation. Implementing a pro-homosexual plan in the military will:

1) devastate morale and unit cohesion in our Armed Forces;

2) lead to a drop in enlistment and retention of good soldiers—and discourage religious men and women of high moral character from seeking military service;

3) violate the privacy concerns of normal (straight) service members: will new ‘Gays-Only’ showers be constructed at all U.S. bases?;

4) ultimately subject millions of small-town, traditionally-minded recruits to pro-homosexual ‘diversity’ training (propagandized indoctrination—my addition) that undermines historic Judeo-Christian teachings;

5) further alienate the United States from a Muslim world that already regards us as a decadent nation.

[6) intimidate lower ranking members of the military to follow or acquiesce to their immoral behavior resulting in sexual harassment (Wait! Is it sexual harassment if done by a homosexual activist?) as never before—my addition]

This anti-military, left-wing policy misadventure must be stopped in its tracks by the American people standing up and shouting a collective ‘NO!’ to the Democratic/Obama plan to homosexualize the military.

If Secretary Gates (who also served as President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense) and Admiral Mike Mullen—the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who strongly backed Obama’s plan—were men of courage and principle, they would resign rather than consent to this misguided sexual experiment that will weaken our military. Instead, they have become complicit in the escalating degradation of the homosexual exclusion law under President Obama, who is beholden to his homosexual activist allies.”

“Related Articles on http://www.americansfortruth.org/:

BREAKING: Defense Secretary Gates Endorses Homosexuals in the Military: http://americansfortruth.com/news/breaking-defense-secretary-gates-endorses-homosexuals-in-the-military.html”

“Gay Military Porn Bust Reminds Us of Some Inconvenient Truths Regarding Homosexuality and the Military: http://americansfortruth.com/news/gay-military-porn-bust-reminds-us-of-some-inconvenient-truths-regarding-homosexuality-and-the-military.html

Donnelly Scores Obama’s Goal of Open Homosexuals in the Military: http://americansfortruth.com/news/donnelly-scores-obamas-goal-of-open-homosexuals-in-the-military.html”

“DONATE TO AFTAH at www.americansfortruth.com/donate”

Barack Hussein Obama—his proposed budget


3,800,000,000,000!

1,560,000,000,000!

Recognize the numbers? The proposed budget for the federal government for the 2011 fiscal year is 3 trillion, 800 billion dollars! The projected deficit for the budget for the federal government for the 2011 fiscal year is 1 trillion, 560 billion dollars! Last year’s deficit for the budget for the federal government for the 2009 fiscal year was 1 trillion, 420 billion dollars—the largest in the history of the nation in dollar terms! (Of course, since we are presently in the 2010 fiscal year, we don’t yet know what the deficit will be for this year. The 2010 budget deficit may be greater than the 2009 deficit.) That is until it is broken by the 2011 fiscal year budget! If it happens, the budget deficit from 2009 to the proposed 2011 budget deficit will be an increase of almost 10%! An almost 10% increase in the DEFICIT!

But wait! 41+% of every dollar spent in the proposed federal 2011 budget will be a borrowed dollar! Over 40% of the budget is based upon borrowed money! A balanced 2011 budget according to the proposal would spend 2,240,000,000,000 dollars. The interest on the proposed 1,560,000,000,000 dollar deficit for 2011 at 3% would be about 46.8 billion dollars! No wonder the federal government wants interest rates to be so low! But hey! It’s only money!

But wait! The President only proposes the federal budget. It is Congress which disposes of the federal budget—passes the laws necessary to determine the actual collection of income and spending expenses. So, all is not lost! Congress can lower the deficit!

But wait! The Congress is controlled by Democrats. Democrats don’t tend to lower spending. If anything, they increase spending. Therefore, it is quite possible that, by the end of the 2011 fiscal year, the deficit might actually be higher than the projected deficit.

But wait! President Barack Hussein Obama has said we must limit spending in later years. However, he has said the same before and it has not happened—look at the proposed 2011 budget.

But wait! President Barack Hussein Obama has said that his spending program has saved the United States economy from a major depression. How do we know that to be true? Barack Hussein Obama has said that it is true!

But wait! We aren’t quite saved yet and therefore we must have another massive spending program to save the United States economy from falling back into recession and to “create” jobs. So, if spending more than collected is so very good for the economy, why is he talking about limiting spending in future years?

But wait! As Congressman Joe Wilson so eloquently said in response to Barack Hussein Obama’s comments before Congress, “YOU LIE!” Can you wait for the 2012 Presidential election!

Homosexuals in the military—a petition against


I received the following e-mail recently dealing with a petition to Congress but have been having computer problems and only checked out the website Tuesday morning. I am posting it tonight instead of my planned post. I hope to have more to say on this issue later but it will probably not be until after April the 15th.

However, I will say this tonight. I am disgusted with the portion of military leadership who know this is a terrible concept but are willing to at least publically support it to advance their military careers. They should be booted out of the military along with practicing homosexuals. Tonight’s post includes not only the original e-mail but also the petition that is on the website.

From Family Research Council http://www.frc.org/ and http://www.frcaction.org/ (FRC Action is the political arm of Family Research Council)

“Sign the petition urging members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to uphold the 1993 law on military eligibility and oppose President Obama's effort to allow homosexuals to serve in the military.

Help Prevent the Sexualization of our Armed Forces
January 27, 2010 Share with Friends

Dear Donald,

Last night in his State of the Union Address, President Obama repeated his call for Congress to repeal the military eligibility law that was passed in 1993, and to allow homosexual conduct within the ranks of the armed forces.

This would put our military in the strange position of actively recruiting personnel who have an expressed intention to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice (which still prohibits certain forms of sexual conduct, including homosexuality). Forcing soldiers to cohabit with people who view them as sexual objects would inevitably lead to increased sexual tension, sexual harassment, and even sexual assault. America’s military exists to fight and win wars—not to engage in radical social engineering.

Sign the petition to tell Congress to keep the law that says homosexuality is incompatible with military service, and oppose efforts to use our armed forces to advance a sexual agenda.

Sign the petition urging members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to uphold the 1993 law on military eligibility and oppose President Obama's effort to allow homosexuals to serve in the military.

Sincerely,

Tony PerkinsPresident
P.S. Please forward this email to at least one friend.”

The content of the petition:

“Prevent the sexualization of our Armed Forces

To Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees:

In 1993, after extensive public debate, Congress adopted and President Clinton signed a law (Public Law 103-160) which declared that ‘The presence in the armed forces of persons who demonstrate a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.’

Nothing has changed since that time regarding the needs of the military or the nature of human sexuality that would justify any change in that conclusion. Therefore we, the undersigned, strongly urge you to oppose any legislative efforts to repeal, or administrative efforts to evade, the military personnel eligibility provisions of that law.

Do not let our military be used to advance a radical sexual agenda.”