The Sanchez Report

The Real Culture War Is Over Capitalism

While there has been much focus recently on culture wars like gay marriage and abortion, the real culture war is over capitalism. The Wall Street Journal's opinion page presented an excellent take on the real culture war heating up in our country. This is a must read if you care about the direction we are heading or are not sure that President Obama is offering the right solution. From the Wall Street Journal:

The government has been abetting this trend for years by exempting an increasing number of Americans from federal taxation. My colleague Adam Lerrick showed in these pages last year that the percentage of American adults who have no federal income-tax liability will rise to 49% from 40% under Mr. Obama's tax plan. Another 11% will pay less than 5% of their income in federal income taxes and less than $1,000 in total.

To put a modern twist on the old axiom, a man who is not a socialist at 20 has no heart; a man who is still a socialist at 40 either has no head, or pays no taxes. Social Democrats are working to create a society where the majority are net recipients of the "sharing economy." They are fighting a culture war of attrition with economic tools. Defenders of capitalism risk getting caught flat-footed with increasingly antiquated arguments that free enterprise is a Main Street pocketbook issue. Progressives are working relentlessly to see that it is not.

Advocates of free enterprise must learn from the growing grass-roots protests, and make the moral case for freedom and entrepreneurship. They have to declare that it is a moral issue to confiscate more income from the minority simply because the government can. It's also a moral issue to lower the rewards for entrepreneurial success, and to spend what we don't have without regard for our children's future.

Read the entire article here

How Would The Media Cover Obama If He Were A Republican?

This is a must read that will provide great entertainment. The writer, John Simpson, of Breitbart's Big Hollywood, decided to have some fun and report on the coverage by the mainstream media if President Obama had turned out to be a Republican. Enjoy!

How would the Left report the news if Obama were a Republican, i.e. an Uncle Tom, as many on the Left call now-GOP Chairman Michael Steele? Eureka! That’s it! See, it’s one thing for me to point out the obvious, as I did in my media slam yesterday. But what if we walked GOP President Obama’s media coverage through the mirror darkly, as was SOP for President Bush?

NOW we’re gonna have some fun!

Let’s start with MSNBC’s ‘Countdown’ with Keith Olbermann, on Republican President Obama’s electoral landslide victory in November, and his 96% sweeping of the black vote.

KO: “It would seem the sinister and morally bankrupt Republican ploy of taking the White House with a totally inexperienced and faux minority candidate has been the most resounding political success for the GOP since the Reichstag Fire.Could African-Americans not act more self-destructively than in their rush to the polls to elect this Republican wolf in Martin Luther King clothing?

“Do they want to go back to slavery? For this abomination and slap in the face of freedom-loving Americans everywhere, and which has condemned this nation to yet another four endless years of war and jingoistic right wing fascism, I hereby declare every African-American voter who pulled the lever for this Republican Omar Bashir as the Worst Person in the World.”

Next up? Susan Roesgen of CNN, wandering through the crowd at a Democratic Chicago Tea Party.

 

No Surprise... Obama Has Received More Airtime Than Bush And Clinton Combined

Everywhere you look it seems as though President Obama is the topic of conversation. That's because he's received more airtime on the news channels than President Bush and President Clinton combined. The nonpartisan research group The Center for Media and Public Affairs released a study that found the news networks gave President Obama more airtime and more favorable coverage  compared to his predecessors. Over 58% of all new mentions were favorable on the major networks compared to 33% for Bush and 44% for Clinton during the first 50 days of their presidencies.

Not only has Obama gotten more coverage, but that coverage has been more positive than his predecessors.On the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts, 58% of all evaluations of the president and his policies have been favorable, while 42% were unfavorable. That compares with 33% positive in the comparable period of Bush's tenure and 44% positive for Pres. Clinton.

Who gave Pres. Obama the most airtime? And where does Fox fit in? CBS led the coverage with 365 stories and 10 hours 46 minutes of airtime, followed by NBC with 327 stories and 9 hours 38 minutes, and ABC with 329 stories and 7 hours 20 minutes.

The first half hour of Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," which the study says most closely resembles the network evening newscasts, devoted 10 hours 24 minutes to the Obama administration, nearly as much airtime as CBS gave him.

But Fox News stands apart from its competitors here - only 13% of comments* were considered favorable. On ABC, 57% of the comments were favorable, compared to 58% for CBS and 61% for NBC.

Bankruptcy, What Bankruptcy? Chrysler and UAW Reach A Tentative Deal

For the past month most of the mainstream media has reported that President Obama was pushing hard for GM and Chrysler to file for bankruptcy. Despite the headlines, it's highly unlikely that the White House and Treasury Department would turn their backs on the union supporters who helped them win the presidency. Everyone knows that a bankruptcy filing would render the union contracts void. This is the last thing the unions want, especially in a weak economy that leaves them with little recourse on the bargaining table and that is why the UAW and Chrysler reached a tentative deal that received the blessing of the White House and Treasury Department earlier today.This deal will do nothing to help the long term viability of Chrysler. This will only ensure that they will be back on Capitol Hill begging for more taxpayer bailouts before the end of the year.

From the AFP :

The settlement agreement, which was subject to ratification by UAW members at Chrysler, was announced by the union and came closely after a separate deal was struck between the automaker and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union.

The deal meets the requirement of Treasury loans to Chrysler, which is set to receive five billion dollars on top of the 13.4 billion dollars in loans already received from the US government, the UAW said.

It also includes "modifications to the union's 2007 collective bargaining agreement," the union said in a statement.

"Once again," said UAW vice president General Holiefield, "our active and retired members are being asked to make extraordinary sacrifices in order to help Chrysler return to viability."

UAW members are to vote on the plan by Wednesday, also the deadline set by the administration of President Barack Obama for Chrysler to reach a deal with Fiat or risk seeing government loans cut off.

Former CIA Director Porter Goss Calls Out The Democrats

The former Director of the CIA, Porter Goss , seems to be getting ready for a fight. He has provided a compelling case as to why the Democrats in Congress should win the Hypocrisy Award for shameless politics. I'd bet my house the radical left and the White House failed to use a little game theory in trying to predict how this interrogation drama would unfold. In a sick twisted way, perhaps a show trial on Capitol Hill would be a good thing if only to demonstrate to the American people the hand that Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues had in approving strong interrogation techniques after 9/11.

From the Washington Post

Today, I am slack-jawed to read that members claim to have not understood that the techniques on which they were briefed were to actually be employed; or that specific techniques such as “waterboarding” were never mentioned. It must be hard for most Americans of common sense to imagine how a member of Congress can forget being told about the interrogations of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed. In that case, though, perhaps it is not amnesia but political expedience.

Let me be clear. It is my recollection that:

– The chairs and the ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, known as the Gang of Four, were briefed that the CIA was holding and interrogating high-value terrorists.

– We understood what the CIA was doing.

– We gave the CIA our bipartisan support.

– We gave the CIA funding to carry out its activities.

– On a bipartisan basis, we asked if the CIA needed more support from Congress to carry out its mission against al-Qaeda.

I do not recall a single objection from my colleagues.

Majority Of Americans Believe Release Of CIA Memos Threatens National Security

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll indicates that 58% of Americans believe the Obama administration's release of CIA memos endangers the national security of the United States. Perhaps this explains the recent reversal by President Obama on pursuing a Truth Commission.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) believe the Obama administration’s recent release of CIA memos about the harsh interrogation methods used on terrorism suspects endangers the national security of the United States. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 28% believe the release of the memos helps America’s image abroad.

Sizable majorities of Republicans and unaffiliated voters say the release of the CIA memos about the interrogations hurts national security. Democrats are evenly divided on whether the release hurt national security or helped the image of the United States abroad.

Congressional Democrats Seek To Protect Al Gore

Those who believe in global warming constantly remind the non-believers that science is on their side. If that is the case, then why have the Democrats refused to allow a former Science Advisor to the UK Prime Minister an opportunity to testify next to Al Gore in an upcoming testimony? It's too bad because Lord Christopher Monckton would have provided great entertainment at the expense of the former vice president. From the Climate Depot:

UK's Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science advisor to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, claimed House Democrats have refused to allow him to appear alongside former Vice President Al Gore at a high profile global warming hearing on Friday April 24, 2009 at 10am in Washington. Monckton told Climate Depot that the Democrats rescinded his scheduled joint appearance at the House Energy and Commerce hearing on Friday. Monckton said he was informed that he would not be allowed to testify alongside Gore when his plane landed from England Thursday afternoon.

Here We Go Again... ACLU Forces Defense Dept To Release More Photos

For some reason the ACLU wasn't happy with the damage inflicted upon the US military resulting from the Abu Ghraib photos a few years ago. So now we'll have to be subjected to another attempt by the far left to hurt our military in the name of civil liberties. On May 28th the Defense Department will release photos in order to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by the ACLU in 2003. As if we didn't hear enough about Abu Ghraib, the world will view these photos and express outrage once again. There's no doubt that the Obama administration will use this as a tool to make President Bush look bad and as a result hold themselves up as the anti-Bush administration. Meanwhile, the firestorm that these photos will ignite will only place our servicemen and women in jeopardy and cost lives. My advice to the far left Bush haters is to get over it. He's gone and it's time to move on!

The Defense Department will release a "substantial number" of photos depicting abuse of prisoners by U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, the American Civil Liberties Union said late Thursday.

The photos will be made available by May 28, the ACLU said, citing a letter dated Thursday from the Justice Department to a federal judge in New York. The photos' release is in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the ACLU in 2004 and will include images from prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan at locations other than Abu Ghraib, the ACLU said.

"These photographs provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib," Amrit Singh staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement. "Their disclosure is critical for helping the public understand the scope and scale of prisoner abuse as well as for holding senior officials accountable for authorizing or permitting such abuse."

Read article here

Bank Nationalization Back On The Table

The pieces are starting to fall into place that will allow the US government to nationalize some of the largest money center banks later this year. According to the New York Times, White House and Treasury Department officials are considering converting the outstanding TARP loans into common stock of the nineteen largest banks in the country. The federal government would then become the largest shareholder in these institutions. This is a move that many feared would happen once the government doled out billions to these institutions. The government would be able to control these banks by stacking the boards with political allies who could control compensation, credit lines to customers, credit card policies, foreclosures, mergers and every other operational activity in these private enterprises. The problem is that the goalpost has moved and several banks have been rebuffed in their attempts to repay the loans back to the Treasury Department. That's because the minute they pay back the loans, the Treasury Department will lose its leverage over these companies. The timing of this announcement is interesting because some banks are starting to report a turnaround. Unfortunately, the so-called stress test imposed by the Treasury will be used as a tool to keep these banks under government control. Nothing good can come about from having the federal government control the private sector. That's socialism folks!

From the New York Times :

In a significant shift, White House and Treasury Department officials now say they can stretch what is left of the $700 billion financial bailout fund further than they had expected a few months ago, simply by converting the government’s existing loans to the nation’s 19 biggest banks into common stock.

Converting those loans to common shares would turn the federal aid into available capital for a bank — and give the government a large ownership stake in return.

While the option appears to be a quick and easy way to avoid a confrontation with Congressional leaders wary of putting more money into the banks, some critics would consider it a back door to nationalization, since the government could become the largest shareholder in several banks.

GE Shareholders Challenge Immelt Over MSNBC Leftward Tilt

I've been following shareholder meetings for many years and I must say this is a first. The annual shareholders meeting at General Electric took place today and CEO Jeff Immelt was grilled over his performance at the helm and his decision to cut the dividend by 67% this year.  This is the first dividend cut since 1938. However, the real drama began when several shareholders complained about MSNBC and the leftward tilt that the network has taken in the past couple of years.  From THR.com:

First up was a woman asking about a reported meeting in which Immelt and NBC Uni CEO Jeff Zucker supposedly told top CNBC executives and talent to be less critical of President Obama and his policies.
Immelt acknowledged a meeting took place but said no one at CNBC was told what to say or not to say about politics.
During the woman's follow-up question, her microphone was apparently cut off. A short time later, Waters asked a question and his mic was cut, too.
"The crowd was very upset with MSNBC because of its leftward tilt," one attendee said. "Some former employees said they were embarrassed by it."
When he got the floor, Waters focused his question about MSNBC on Olbermann's interview of actress Janeane Garofalo, who likened conservatives to racists and spoke of "the limbic brain inside a right-winger."
"He (Waters) was complaining that Olbermann didn't bother to challenge her," another GE shareholder said.
Immelt told the assembled he takes a hands-off approach to what is reported on the company's news networks, which prompted a shareholder to criticize him for not managing NBC Uni more effectively.
"My biggest surprise was the open hostility to MSNBC," said Tom Borelli of the Free Enterprise Action Fund and a four-year critic of Immelt. "It was noticeable and loud. I don't remember any of this going on last year."
"Any time MSNBC was mentioned, there was a rumbling in the crowd of 400 people," he added. Borelli also asked a question pertaining to GE's stock performance since Immelt took the helm.