The breakdown of December’s extremely misleading job report

     Four days after Wall Street and the business media went gaga over the better-than-expected 292,000 new jobs created in December, let me tell you the non-adjusted truth: There were just 11,000 new jobs created last month.      That's not my estimate or the guess of some on-the-fringe Obama administration critic. That comes directly from the Labor Department Web site. Here's how to find it.
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IG let Veterans Affairs officials alter report to absolve agency in Phoenix deaths

Crucial language that the Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general could not “conclusively” prove that delays in care caused patient deaths at a Phoenix hospital was added to its final report after a draft version was sent to agency administrators for comment, the Washington Examiner has learned. ✧ The single most compelling sentence in the inspector general’s 143-page final report on fraudulent scheduling practices at the Phoenix veterans’ hospital did not appear in the draft version, according to a staff analysis by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Read more at the Washington Examiner Read More......

Legislative Sessions Report from Sen. Betsy Close

Sen. Betsy Close has written a summary of key votes from the 2013 Regular Session and all votes from the September Special Session. Let's help Sen. Close circulate this document. Please share with any person or group you think would be interested. Thank you!

Sen. Close: 2013 Regular and Special Sessions Report Read More......

Top MIT scientist: Newest UN climate report is ‘hilariously’ flawed

“I think that the latest IPCC report has truly sunk to level of hilarious incoherence,” Dr. Richard Lindzen told Climate Depot, a global warming skeptic news site. “They are proclaiming increased confidence in their models as the discrepancies between their models and observations increase.” Read more at the Daily Caller...

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From Marc Morano at Climate Depot via Australia
Even if the IPCC predictions were 100% correct... why should anyone trust them? ✧ The AGW advocates delight in making shrill claims about sceptics being funded by “Big Oil”, which the advocates believe is a perfectly good reason to dismiss much, if not all, of what they say as compromised. But what’s the difference with the IPCC? It is an organisation that is funded by “Big Green”, comprised of governments desperate to appear politically correct, vested interests from academia and business, and environmental activist groups. What goes for one, goes for the other. By analogy, anything the IPCC says must be regarded as equally compromised. ✧ The only differences, as far as I can see, are that:

Big Green funds the AGW advocates a thousand dollars for every one dollar funding sceptics;
the IPCC shies away from transparency and open debate, whereas sceptics encourage it.

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WSJ: Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors

Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors: You probably couldn't have found a more polite crowd at the opera. - Pundits will debate whether the crowd at Glenn Beck's Saturday rally in Washington was the largest in recent political history, but it was certainly among the most impressive. ∴ Mr. Beck is a television host and radio broadcaster with a checkered past and a penchant for incendiary remarks. But if he's judged by the quality of people of all colors that he attracted to the Lincoln Memorial, his stock can't help but rise. Read more at WSJ...

Note: I didn't attend Glenn Beck's 8/28 'Restoring Honor' rally but I did watch every minute of the live-stream on Facebook. I was reluctant to publish any of the news reports that followed the event. They didn't seem to get it, including Fox News. This may seem late but James Freeman, writing for WSJ's Opinion Journal, did get it... according Beck. --bc Read More......

FBI Reports Huge Decrease in Murders as Firearms Sales Soar

NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT, Vol. 16, No. 51, 12/30/09 (Via email) - FBI Reports Huge Decrease In Murders As Firearm, Ammunition And "Large" Magazine Sales Soar ∴ Last week, the FBI issued its preliminary 2009 crime report, showing that the number of murders in the first half of 2009 decreased 10 percent compared to the first half of 2008. If the trend holds for the remainder of 2009, it will be the single greatest one-year decrease in the number of murders since at least 1960, the earliest year for which national data are available through the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Also, the per capita murder rate for 2009 will be 51 percent lower than the all-time high recorded in 1991, and it will be the lowest rate since 1963 - a 46-year low. Final figures for 2009 will be released by the FBI next year. Read more at NRA-ILA...

"According to gun control supporter dogma - 'more guns means more crime'..." Nope! --bc Read More......

Extremism: Here's the Data for Right vs. Left

VERUM SERUM (Blog), 4/19/2009 by Morgen - An Op-Ed in the NY Times on Friday [4/17] commented that conservatives reacted to the DHS report “by throwing a knee-jerk hissy fit” when in fact the report was “true”, and that “nearly all hate groups do indeed follow far-right ideology”. Variations on this theme have been reported throughout the mainstream media the past few days. ∴ This is a clever parsing of words as the most significant left-wing extremist groups are environmental and animal rights groups…which I suppose are guilty only of loving Mother Nature and polar bears just a little too much. ∴ In fact, in a nation-wide law enforcement survey conducted in 2008 by an academic research summit sponsored by the DHS, extreme environmental and animal rights groups ranked 2nd only to Islamic Jihadists as the greatest perceived threats at a national level. Read more and see the related chart at Verum Serum... Read More......

Obama's Tax Increases

GRASSFIRE.ORG - Obama Budget Tax Increases: $1.6 Trillion and Counting (revised 2/26/09)

'Change' has come to America's top income earners. Read More......

Official: Pentagon report says Gitmo humane

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says the Guantanamo Bay prison meets the standard for humane treatment laid out in the Geneva Conventions, according to a report for President Barack Obama, who has ordered the terrorist detention center closed within a year. Read more at Breitbart News...

Obama backs Bush: No rights for Bagram prisoners
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama sided with the Bush administration Friday, saying detainees in Afghanistan have no constitutional rights. Read More......

Report: Reorganization of the Oregon Republican Party

January 10, 2008 Oregon Republican Party Reorganization Meeting
(Lake Oswego, Oregon - Crowne Plaza Hotel)
By Jeff Limón, BCRCC Chair

This is not intended to be a comprehensive summary, just some high points of the day, as I remember them.

Brief summary - Bob Tiernan is our new Chair. Russ Walker remains as Vice Chair, Darlien France is our new Secretary, and Dennis Morgan is our new Treasurer.

The meeting began at approximately 10:30, with 114 delegates from 30 counties present. From Benton County, Jeff Limón, John Detweiler, and Charles Nelson were present.

To begin, Russ Walker had a few things to say about the Republican message, our organization, and how these pertain to fundraising. As a party, the first orders of the day are to establish a set of unifying Republican principles around which constituents can rally. These might include no government bailout, no government involvement in the banking industry, the need for a balanced budget, the right to life, free enterprise, LEGAL immigration, criminals in jail, good government means less government, and so forth. These are values that many, many Oregonians hold. Unfortunately, when Oregonians look at the Republican Party, they do not see those values reflected in us. It is unfortunate that we have not spoken up and reasserted our principles. If Oregonians do not see their values reflected in us, they will not send their dollars in our direction. We must firmly ground ourselves in conservative principles, and make sure that when others look at us, they see us as stewards of those principles.

When it comes to legislation in the Oregon Legislature, we need to ask "Does this legislation reward or punish innovation?" And, "Does this legislation spur private employment?" If the answer is no to one or both of these questions, then perhaps this is not good legislation. In short, the faster we can encourage businesses to grow in Oregon, the faster our state will recover.

When it came to the elections for Chair, both Bob Tiernan and Lynn Snodgrass were strong, strong candidates, and either would make a very fine Chair. Lynn Snodgrass quoted from Ronald Reagan, saying "How can we expect to meet the challenges of a divided world, if we, as Republicans, are divided ourselves", thus expressing the need to reunify the party.

I believe that Bob Tiernan may have presented a clearer picture on how his success would be measured. Basically, if we have succeeded, we have seen to it that Republicans have been elected. There is no other measure of success. He also spoke about the need to communicate among the counties so that best practices can be shared.

I'm not sure of the precise numbers, but I believe Bob Tiernan garnered 70 plus votes, while Lynn garnered 36, or thereabouts. However, both candidates were very, very strong.

When it came to the elections for Vice Chair, both Russ Walker and Bob Avery, were strong candidates. Russ told the story of his arduous trip to Utah over Christmas, and how what is normally a 9-10 hour drive from Salem to Salt Lake, turned into a three day slog through snowy passes and flat tires. I believe his message was that when the going gets tough, the tough don't turn around and go home, they press on.

Bob Avery presented a strong case for Vice Chair, reiterating his success in creating an organization in Lane County where one had not existed before. This was very impressive. I do not know the exact numbers, but the election for Vice Chair was much closer than the election for the Chair.

Darlien France from Wasco County won in an unopposed race as secretary. She will do a fine job.

For treasurer, Dennis Morgan and Jan Williamson were both strong candidates. Dennis won by a fairly wide margin, calling attention to his experience starting businesses, taking them out of bankruptcy, selling them, and of course, making a profit. I believe he will be a good asset to the State organization.

Solomon Yue, our national committeeperson, gave a report on the Republican national committee’s Constitutional Renaissance effort. In short, you must stand for your principles. When you do not stand for your principles, you lose. We must serve notice to all Republican elected candidates when they do not act in accordance with basic Republican principles. As happened during the failed Comprehensive Immigration Reform, when 30 million conservatives flooded the Capitol switchboard in opposition, elected officials took notice.

The mood in general was one of great optimism. The glass is not half empty, it is half full and getting more full as every day goes on. This is a good time to be Republican, as we redefine ourselves, our principles, and ready ourselves for the hand-to-hand combat that will be upon us in the coming months and years.

Thank you

Jeff Limón
Chair - Benton County [Republican Central Committee]
Grand NEW Party Read More......