Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Magazine pegs NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg an 'Enemy of Freedom'
Here is how New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained the importance of his widely derided 16-ounce limit on servings of sugar-sweetened beverages after a state judge overturned it last March: "We have a responsibility as human beings to do something, to save each other, to save the lives of ourselves, our families, our friends, and all of the rest of the people that live on God's planet." Bloomberg literally thinks he is saving the world one slightly smaller serving of soda at a time.45 ENEMIES OF FREEDOM
As grandiose as that may seem, it is consistent with Bloomberg's view of government. A few years ago in a speech at the United Nations, he declared that "to halt the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases, governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option," which he described as "government’s highest duty." On Bloomberg's to-do list for government, apparently, defending us against our own unhealthy habits ranks above defending us against foreign invaders or marauding criminals.
Public health is not the only area where Bloomberg's authoritarian tendencies are apparent. There is his enthusiasm for gun control, his illegal crackdown on pot smokers, and his unflagging defense of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk program, which portrays the Fourth Amendment as a gratuitous barrier to effective policing. But his determination to halt "epidemics" of risky behavior shows him at his most arrogantly ambitious.
Bloomberg has pursued that goal not only by meddling with people's drink orders but by banning trans fats, pressuring food companies to reduce the salt content of their products, imposing heavy cigarette taxes, severely restricting the locations where people are allowed to smoke (even outdoors), mandating anti-smoking posters in stores that sell cigarettes (a policy that, like his big beverage ban, was rejected by the courts), and proposing a rule that would require merchants to hide tobacco products from people who might want to buy them.
The attitude driving Bloomberg’s crusade to "make healthy solutions the default social option" is reflected in another comment he made after his pint-sized pop prescription ran into legal trouble. "It was not a setback for me," said the billionaire with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Harvard. "In case you hadn't noticed, I watch my diet. This is not for me." No, indeed. It is for those poor, benighted souls who think it is acceptable to drink a 20-ounce soda.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Hillary Clinton Among Reason Magazine's 45 'Enemies of Freedom'
Reason Magazine celebrated its 45th anniversary by publishing a list of 45 "Enemies of Freedom." Among them is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Here's what the magazine had to say about the presumptive 2016 Democratic nominee for president:
"It takes a village," Hillary Clinton famously wrote, and we've learned since that her meaning encompassed villages in Iraq and Afghanistan to house American troops, villages of taxpayers to fund her favored programs, and villages of snoops to staff a national security state. Those villages must be prudish, too, given Clinton's longstanding fear of video-game sex. To Hillary's credit, she does advocate Internet freedom for villages overseas. Too bad she doesn't promote the same idea at home.Check out the full list online at the link below:
45 ENEMIES OF FREEDOM
Pa. conservative group organizes 'Pray-In' to oppose same-sex marriage
The following press release was issued by Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania:
The statement below: explains our position and the reasons for our actions:We urge the Register of Wills, Bruce Hanes, to stop issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples. We urge Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman to charge Bruce Hanes for his violation of state law by issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples.We urge Governor Corbett to cease his timid public responses and zealously defend Pa's marriage law.
Read more about the controversy in The Mercury.A SUCCINCT CASE FOR PA.'S MARRIAGE LAW PROTECTING MARRIAGE IS PART OF STOPPING THE WAR ON CHILDREN
Pennsylvania should continue the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman because the primary purpose of civil marriage is to unite children with their mother and father. Such an arrangement best ensures the welfare of future Americans and advances the purposes of civil government.
"Marriage Equality," which is the slogan of the "homosexual marriage" supporters, is oxymoronic, i.e. self-contradictory. "Homosexual marriage" is inherently unequal to the union of one man and one woman because homosexual relationships are incapable of producing children.
Furthermore, the drive for homosexual marriage is a continuation of the war on children. This war began by preventing the conception of children by contraception and sterilization, killing children conceived but not yet born by abortion and now intentionally denying born children a mother and a father through "same sex marriage."
Numerous recent actions by "homosexual marriage" supporters indicate that they are also willing to violate existing laws and trample on the freedom of religion, speech and assembly of other Americans to achieve their goal. Pro-life Pennsylvanians need to protect Pa's marriage law and oppose the ongoing war on children with greatly increased clarity and zeal.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Obama poll worker gets 5 years for illegal votes
Ex-Ohio poll worker gets 5 years for illegal votes
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Number of Pa. residents getting disability jumps by 50% in decade
Number of Pa. residents getting disability jumps by 50%
Monday, July 15, 2013
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Pa.'s top law enforcement officer refuses to uphold the law
Kane: I won't defend Pa. law banning gay marriage
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
2001 Pa. lawmaker pension hike far more costly than infamous 2005 pay raise
2001 lawmaker pension hike far more costly than 2005 pay raise - abc27 WHTM
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Help Available for Pennsylvannia Job-Seekers
HERSHEY, Pa., July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett, along with Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway, today announced the latest release of JobGateway.pa.gov, a website created to better connect people looking…
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Monday, July 8, 2013
Guest Column: No Tax Should Have The Power To Leave You Homeless
Labels: Pennsylvania Legislature, Property Taxes
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Will Tom Corbett be sunk by his own party?
The first-term Republican offered an ambitious reform agenda this year as he gears for a re-election bid in 2014, but the permanent political class in Harrisburg is only interested in maintaining the status quo, not making the lives of Pennsylvania residents any easier.
No pension reform, no liquor privatization, no transportation funding, no property tax reform. That's what Pennsylvania taxpayers got from their $300 million legislature, which adjourned for a three-month summer vacation without action on any of the priorities pushed by Corbett or the perennial issue of school property tax elimination.
Corbett came to the governor's mansion after two terms as Pennsylvania attorney general, but many political observers doubted Corbett's political acumen. He simply doesn't know how to wheel-and-deal with legislators and hasn't figured out that public relations is a big part of being governor. Corbett's job approval numbers have been low from the start and he has done little to improve his image with Pennsylvania voters. (Liberal media bias among the Harrisburg press corps does have something to do with Corbett's inability to get his message across, but he deserves some of the blame because there are many avenues to reach the public besides the Harrisburg press corps.)
Corbett needs to emulate his predecessor, Democrat Ed Rendell (aka "Fast Eddie"), who managed to get most of his agenda passed in the Legislature even though Republicans controlled both chambers for most of Rendel's eight years in office. Remember the legalization of casino gambling and passage of the second largest income tax hike in state history? Rendell made enough deals with Republicans to get both bills passed. Corbett doesn't want to play politics, so he's suffering for it.
Rendell was a master at PR and enjoyed high approval numbers despite a checkered record, which included leaving office with a $4 billion deficit. Rendell also had the dubious distinction of eight consecutive late budgets. On the other hand, Corbett has delivered three straight balanced budgets on time without a tax increase.
Corbett can't or won't cajole members of his own party to get his agenda moving in the legislature. He doesn't seem to grasp that legislative leaders are entrenched in gerrymandered districts and will remain in Harrisburg long after Corbett's tenure is up. They control the agenda, not the governor. He needs them. They don't need him. And time is running out for Corbett. There's already a half-dozen Democrats lining up to challenge him next year.
Read more about the governor's inability to get any major initiatives passed in the Republican-controlled state legislature at PA Independent.
Friday, July 5, 2013
'Full-time' Pa. Lawmakers On Vacation Until Sept. 23
Local Lawmakers Unhappy Pa. Legislature Won't Return Until Sept. 23 « CBS Pittsburgh
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Monday, July 1, 2013
Government workers can't spell
It's only taxpayer money that was flushed down the drain, so who cares, right?
The signs cost $2,114 to make. The repairs will cost between $800-$1,200.
PennDOT makes misnakes, two