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Obama’s Economists: ‘Stimulus’ Has Cost $278,000 per Job

The Weekly Standard.com

When the Obama administration releases a report on the Friday before a long weekend, it’s clearly not trying to draw attention to the report’s contents. Sure enough, the “Seventh Quarterly Report” on the economic impact of the “stimulus,” released on Friday, July 1, provides further evidence that President Obama’s economic “stimulus” did very little, if anything, to stimulate the economy, and a whole lot to stimulate the debt.

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.

In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

Furthermore, the council reports that, as of two quarters ago, the “stimulus” had added or saved just under 2.7 million jobs — or 288,000 more than it has now. In other words, over the past six months, the economy would have added or saved more jobs without the “stimulus” than it has with it. In comparison to how things would otherwise have been, the “stimulus” has been working in reverse over the past six months, causing the economy to shed jobs.

Greece officially bans flotilla ships from departing

Jerusalem Post

'Audacity of Hope' organizers say Greek authorities approach ship shortly after leaving port; unclear how moves will affect overall flotilla plans.

The Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection on Friday issued a statement saying that the Minister, C. Papoutsis, decided to prohibit the departure of ships flying either Greek or foreign flags "to the maritime area" of Gaza.

"By orders of the Hellenic Coast Guard Head Quarters to all local Hellenic Coast Guard Authorities, all appropriate measures are taken for the implementation of the said decision,"| the statement said

The statement said that the "broader maritime area of eastern Mediterranean will be continuously monitored by electronic means for tracking, where applicable, the movements of the ships allegedly participating" in the Gaza flotilla.

Citing Evidence They Call 'Contradictory' to Kagan's Confirmation Testimony, 49 Lawmakers Call for Judiciary Committee Investigation

CNS News

Forty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives--including the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and two presidential candidates--are pointing to evidence they say is "contradictory" to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's confirmation testimony and calling for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the matter.

The lawmakers also say they believe that evidence already made public shows that Kagan must recuse herself from any court cases involving the health care bill signed into law by President Barack Obama while she was serving as Obama's solicitor general.

"We respectfully call upon the House Judiciary Committee to promptly investigate the extent to which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was involved in preparing a legal defense of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) during her tenure as Solicitor General," the 49 lawmakers wrote in a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Texas), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.), the ranking member of the committee.

"Contradictory to her 2010 confirmation testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents indicate that Justice Kagan actively participated with her Obama Administration colleagues in formulating a defense of PPACA," the letter said.

The letter pointed to documents released by the Justice Department as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request that was filed by CNSNews.com on May 25, 2010 and that is now the subject of a federal court case pitting the Media Research Center--CNSNews.com's parent organization--and the U.S. Justice Department, which is asking a federal judge to block any further release of documents sought under the FOIA request.

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Twila Brase, President and Co-founder, Citizens' Council on Healthcare Freedom
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Jeffrey Conway, Former CFO, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
Bullet 333Marjorie Dannenfelser, President and Chairman of the Board, Susan B. Anthony List
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Coordinator of the Apolo, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Ron Ferner, Dean of the School of Business and Leadership, Philadelphia Biblical University
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Mike Gottfried, Founder, Team Focus
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studie, Phoenix Seminary
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Dr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers Ministries
Bullet 333Julius Kim, Westminster Seminary California
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Alex McFarland, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Bullet 333Fran McGowen, Founder and President , CarSense
Bullet 333David "Mac" Mcquiston, President/CEO, CEO Forum, Inc.
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Andrew Peterson, Reformed Theological Seminary, Virtual Campus
Bullet 333Vern Poythress, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gale Radebaugh, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ret.), Pfizer Research
Bullet 333Phil Ryken, President-Elect , Wheaton College
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res
Bullet 333David Wheaton, Author, Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host, TheChristianWorldview.com

'Hate speech' -- tool to 'silence the powerless'

OneNewsNow

A terrorism expert and critic of Islam is pleased that a Dutch politician has been exonerated for his comments about radical Islam.

A Dutch court recently acquitted Geert Wilders of supposed "hate speech" charges, saying his statements, while offensive to many Muslims, always fell within the bounds of legitimate political debate.

In his ruling, Presiding Judge Marcel van Oosten said that Wilders' saying Islam is violent by nature, and his calls for a ban on Muslim immigration and the Quran must be seen in a wider context of debate over immigration policy. Ultimately, they could not be directly linked to increased discrimination against Dutch Muslims.

Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, is concerned that the judge never really rejected the premise of the trial.

"I think that is a disquieting thing that keeps the door open for this kind of hate speech persecution in the future," he suggests. "And hate speech, of course, the very concept of it is a tool in the hands of the powerful to silence the powerless.

Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Rev. Clenard Childress, Jr., Assistant Director, Life Education and Resource Network
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333Len Deo, President, New Jersey Family Policy Council
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Jessica Echard, Executive Director, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Tim G. Echols, President/Founder, TeenPact
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Todd Friel, Radio Host, Way of the Master
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Senior Pastor, Hope Christian Church
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President, Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Don Shenk, Executive Director, The Tide
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333Timothy Watkins, Producer/Director, Renegade Productions

Shopping at Amazon.com Inc. and other major Internet stores is poised to get more expensive.

Los Angeles Times

Beginning Friday, a new state law will require large out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make on the Internet — a prospect eased only slightly by a 1-percentage-point drop in the tax that also takes effect at the same time.

Getting the taxes, which consumers typically don't pay to the state if online merchants don't charge them, is "a common-sense idea," said Gov. Jerry Brown, who signed the legislation into law Wednesday.

The new tax collection requirement — part of budget-related legislation — is expected to raise an estimated $317 million a year in new state and local government revenue.

GOP: Politics behind oil reserve release

OneNewsNow

The Obama administration is being accused of playing politics with the nation's oil reserves, while the president defended the move last week saying it was necessary because of the oil supplies lost due to Middle East turmoil.

The release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be the largest ever, amounting to half of a 60-million-barrel international infusion of oil planned for the world market over the next month.

Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas), along with other GOP leaders and business groups, accuses President Barack Obama of playing politics with the country's oil reserves, which are intended to address emergencies.

Tim Huelskamp"It's mystifying," says Huelskamp. "We don't know why he did that. It seems to be very political and a very bad decision, in my opinion. That is a resource that is to be tapped in times of severe crisis."

Anti-Semitic Apple app axed

OneNewsNow

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has agreed to the request of an Israeli official to pull an iPad app that encourages anti-Semitism.

Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Israel's minister of public diplomacy and Diaspora affairs, wrote a letter to Jobs, asking him to take action against an app that called for a "third intifada." The app, which was also compatible with iPhones, encouraged Muslims to violently attack Israel.

"Any promotion of hate or violence should always be removed," contends Gary Ratner, senior development professional for StandWithUs. "iPad users should always assist to ensure that this is the case."

The organization that created the app also launched a Facebook group earlier this year that was removed when the social networking site discovered the group's purpose.

Obama Will 'Co-Invest' Tax Dollars in Corporate-Government Partnership

CNS News

In his weekly address released Saturday, President Barack Obama called for a campaign of "nation building here at home," citing as an example of what is needed to rebuild the American economy an initiative he announed Friday to "invest" tax dollars in what he called a "partnership" between the federal government and an initial group of 11 major corporations.

The administration's corporate partners in this venture include Caterpiller, Corning, Dow Chemical, Ford, Honeywell, Intel, Johnson and Johnson, Allegheny Technologies, Stryker and Proctor and Gamble.

Obama is not seeking new legislation from Congress to authorize his government-corporate partnership program--which he is calling the "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership"--and he did not say how the corporations in the partnership had been chosen.

"The President’s plan, which leverages existing programs and proposals, will invest more than $500 million to jumpstart this effort," the White House said in a statement released Friday.

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

Iran test fires long-range missiles capable of striking Israel, U.S. bases

Reuters

Iran's Revolutionary Guards tested 14 missiles on Tuesday, the second day of war games intended a show of strength to the Islamic Republic's enemies in Israel and Washington.

The Iranian-made surface-to-surface missiles, with a maximum range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), were fired simultaneously at a single target, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division emphasized Iran's preparedness to strike Israel and U.S. interests in the event of any attack on Iran.

"The range of our missiles has been designed based on American bases in the region as well as the Zionist regime," Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh told the semi-official Fars news agency.

Conservatives’ Pledge: No Debt-Limit Hike Without Limits on Spending, Taxes

CNS News

Conservative Americans are sounding a call to “cut, cap and balance” the federal budget.

On Wednesday, leading conservatives from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives joined a broad coalition of conservative activists to unveil a pledge that commits lawmakers to oppose any increase in the debt limit unless substantial cuts in spending are made to reduce the deficit next year, enforceable spending caps are enacted to put the federal government on a path to a balanced budget, and Congress passes a constitutional balanced budget amendment that permanently limits federal spending and requires a supermajority for enacting tax increases.

It is called the “Cut, Cap and Balance” pledge.

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333David Bossie, President, Citizens United
Bullet 333Dan Celia, Host, "Financial Issues Live" Radio Program
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Ward Connerly, Author/Founder and Chairman, American Civil Rights Institute
Bullet 333Tom DeLay, Former House Majority Leader, United States House of Representatives
Bullet 333William Devlin, National President, Redeem The Vote
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333James Edwards, Cofounder, Olive, Edwards, & Cooper, LLC
Bullet 333Steve Elliott, President, Grassfire.org
Bullet 333Joseph Farah, CEO, Founder, WorldNetDaily
Bullet 333Frank Gaffney, Founder and President , Center for Security Policy
Bullet 333James Gelfand, Senior Manager of Health Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Rick Green, President, Torch of Freedom Foundation
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Lowman Henry, Chairman & CEO, Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.
Bullet 333Larry Hunter, President, The Social Security Institute
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Cliff Kincaid, President, America's Survival, Inc.
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Gary Marx, Executive Director, Judicial Confirmation Network
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR)
Bullet 333Phyllis Schlafly, President and Founder, Eagle Forum
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333Tony Strickland, Taxpayer Advocate
Bullet 333Lorianne Updike, President & Executive Director, The Constitutional Sources Project
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res

Liberal Activists to Protest Job-Creating Pipeline Project

CNS News

Actor Danny Glover, a perennial protester, plans to march with other liberal activists outside the White House in the summer heat to protest a proposed oil pipeline that would bring crude oil from Canada to U.S. refineries in Texas, creating tens of thousands of jobs in the process.

TransCanada says its proposed Keystone XL pipeline will give the U.S. a consistent and reliable supply of oil -- supplying roughly half the amount of oil the U.S. currently imports from the Middle East and Venezuela -- once it's completed.

Because the proposed pipeline would cross the international border near Morgan, Montana, a presidential permit issued by the U.S. State Department is required for the project to proceed. Glover and his fellow celebrity-environmentalist protesters want the Obama administration to deny TransCanada a permit.

CBO sees government benefits swamping U.S. economy

Reuters

The United States will find little relief from its bleak long-term fiscal outlook so long as growing federal healthcare and retirement programs gobble up more and more of the country's resources, said a new economic report issued on Wednesday.

The findings by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office came as the Obama administration and Congress were struggling to find ways to make ends meet amid $1.5 trillion annual budget deficits and a national debt that, at $14.3 trillion, is seen as posing a danger to the nation.

"The aging of the population and the rising cost of health care would cause spending on the major mandatory healthcare programs and Social Security to grow from roughly 10 percent of GDP today to about 15 percent of GDP 25 years from now," CBO said in an annual report.

McKinsey stands by employer health insurance survey

Reuters

Consultant McKinsey & Co on Monday defended the methodology behind its survey gauging employers' views on providing health insurance to workers, a report that drew criticism from U.S. health reform supporters.

The survey found 30 percent of respondents whose companies offered health insurance said they would "definitely" or "probably" drop coverage in the years following 2014, when the Affordable Care Act takes effect.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, last week sent a letter to McKinsey calling on the company to release the methodology behind the survey, published earlier this month.

McKinsey, in a posting on its website, said the opinion survey of U.S. private sector employers was designed to measure their attitudes about healthcare reform and was not intended to be a predictive economic analysis of the impact of the Affordable Care Act.

"We stand by the integrity and methodology of the survey," McKinsey said.

Baucus said the survey results differed sharply from other research on the impact of health reform on employer-sponsored health insurance.

Obama warns of new US tactical spats with Israel

Breitbart

President Barack Obama warned that new "tactical" disagreements loomed between Israel and Washington, but vowed to leverage his administration's "creative powers" in the cause of peace.

Obama, who has had a testy relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke at length on the stalled peace process at a fundraiser for his 2012 reelection campaign grouping Democratic friends of Israel.

He said that as a difficult, challenging time loomed in the Middle East over the next few years, one inviolable principle was that the bond between the United States and Israel "isn't breakable."

"What is also going to be true is that both the United States and Israel are going to have to look at this new landscape with fresh eyes," Obama said, arguing the Arab Spring had changed the context of regional diplomacy.

NBC Apologizes for Omitting ‘Under God,’ 'Indivisible’ in Pledge

Associated Press

An omission in the Pledge of Allegiance had NBC issuing an on-air apology Sunday during the U.S. Open.

The network opened its broadcast with a montage that included children reciting the pledge, but the words "under God" and "indivisible" were omitted – not once, but twice.

The backlash on social media was quick and harsh, with some tweets calling for a boycott of NBC.

"We began our coverage of this final round just about three hours ago, and when we did it was our intent to begin the coverage of this U.S. Open championship with a feature that captured the patriotism of our national championship being held in our nation's capital for the third time," announcer Dan Hicks told viewers. "Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone, and we'd like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it."

States look to Internet taxes to close budget gaps

Associated Press

State governments across the country are laying off teachers, closing public libraries and parks, and reducing health care services, but there is one place they could get $23 billion a year if they could only agree how to do it: Internet retailers such as Amazon.com.

That's enough to pay for the salaries of more than 46,000 teachers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In California, the amount of uncollected taxes from Amazon sales alone is roughly the same amount cut from child welfare services in the current state budget.

But collecting those taxes from major online retailers is difficult.

Internet retailers are required to collect sales tax only when they sell to customers living in a state where they have a physical presence, such as a store or office. When consumers order from out-of-state retailers, they are required under state law to pay the tax. But it's difficult to enforce and rarely happens.

Senate Backs Repeal of Ethanol Tax Credit

Wall Street Journal

The Senate voted Thursday to repeal a $6 billion tax credit for ethanol producers, a move that could signal the end of some federal subsidies as part of an eventual budget and debt-ceiling compromise.

Most Democrats and a number of Republicans supported an end to the subsidy, in a 73-27 vote. The subsidy gives refiners a 45-cent-a-gallon tax credit for blending ethanol into gasoline and has been a factor behind higher corn prices in recent years. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), a longtime supporter of the credit, objected to the measure that would end the subsidy.

The U.S. ethanol industry is protected by a tariff of 54 cents a gallon on imported ethanol and that, too, would end under the Senate measure.

Senate to Vote on Repealing Ethanol Tax Credits

Associated Press

With lawmakers desperately working to shave federal budget deficits, the Senate is debating a measure to eliminate ethanol tax credits that pay the oil industry $5 billion a year. The biggest defenders of the subsidies, however, include farm belt conservatives leading the charge for less government.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is forcing a vote on a measure Tuesday that would repeal the credits. Coburn says they are wasteful subsidies for an industry that no longer needs them.

"The days of placing spending programs in the tax code and giving them holy status are over," Coburn said. "Ethanol is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy."

Coburn's measure is supported by conservative groups such as the Club for Growth and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club.

Ethics complaint filed against Boehner

The Hill.com

A watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint against Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for allegedly violating federal law and House rules when he designated an outside counsel to defend cases involving the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) on Tuesday, writing that Boehner violated the Antideficiency Act by retaining the services of Bancroft PLLC to continue defending at least 10 legal cases.

The 12-page complaint also states that by breaking the federal law Boehner allegedly violated House rules by failing to “uphold the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations of the United States and all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.”

Bullet 333Barry Asmus, Senior Economist, National Center for Policy Analysis
Bullet 333Michael Barry, Director of Pastoral Care, Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phila.
Bullet 333Phil Clements, Managing Director, Center for Christian Business Ethics Today, LLC.
Bullet 333Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
Bullet 333Jeffrey Conway, Former CFO, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse
Bullet 333Chuck Donovan, Senior Research Fellow-DeVos Center for Religion a, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Coordinator of the Apolo, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Ron Ferner, Dean of the School of Business and Leadership, Philadelphia Biblical University
Bullet 333Lou Giuliano, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer (r, ITT Corporation
Bullet 333Mike Gottfried, Founder, Team Focus
Bullet 333Wayne Grudem, Research Professor of Theology and Biblical Studie, Phoenix Seminary
Bullet 333Colin Hanna, Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring USA
Bullet 333Dr. Janice Hollis, Bishop, Progressive Believers Ministries
Bullet 333Julius Kim, Westminster Seminary California
Bullet 333Phillip Kim, Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resour, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business
Bullet 333Peter Lillback, President, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Jennifer Marshall, Director of Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Alex McFarland, President, Southern Evangelical Seminary
Bullet 333Fran McGowen, Founder and President , CarSense
Bullet 333David "Mac" Mcquiston, President/CEO, CEO Forum, Inc.
Bullet 333Ryan Messmore, William E. Simon fellow in Religion and a Free Soc, The Heritage Foundation
Bullet 333Joe Murray, Columnist, The Bulletin
Bullet 333Jeff Myers, Incoming President, Summit Ministries
Bullet 333K. Scott Oliphint, Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Andrew Peterson, Reformed Theological Seminary, Virtual Campus
Bullet 333Vern Poythress, Westminster Theological Seminary
Bullet 333Gale Radebaugh, Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Ret.), Pfizer Research
Bullet 333Phil Ryken, President-Elect , Wheaton College
Bullet 333Chuck Stetson, Co-founder and Managing Director, PEI Funds
Bullet 333John Weiser, Board Member, Westminster Theological Seminary , In Medias Res
Bullet 333David Wheaton, Author, Speaker, Radio Talk Show Host, TheChristianWorldview.com

Sarkozy warns of soaring commodity prices

Breitbart

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Tuesday for tighter controls on the speculators he blames for soaring food and energy prices threatening global growth.

Saying the world had "worked extremely hard" to revive growth in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, Sarkozy said "one of the main threats to growth is the rising cost of commodities."

The president has said he plans to use France's chairmanship of the Group of 20 top economies to push for regulations to curb speculative trade in the commodities markets but this has met strong resistance from suppliers such as Brazil and Argentina who have benefited from high prices.

Sarkozy, speaking at the invitation of European Commission president Jose-Manuel Barroso, said "the G20 nations are the first concerned by this issue and it is up to them to install conditions for sustainable growth."

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