The Manicured Hands of D.C. and the Calloused Hands of the Forgotten Man

by Whitney Pitcher

Last weekend, Governor Palin gave a measured and thoughtful speech at the Western Conservative Summit, speaking primarily in the tone of the “forgotten man”–“the hard working middle class man who can’t catch a break”. She also used a masterful analogy of the “calloused hand that built America”. What a stark contrast between an open hand calloused from hard work and the clenched fist of socialism. What a stark contrast, too, between Governor Palin’s speech that hit a tone that resonates with middle class America and the tonedeafness and lack of self-awareness of Washington.

Take, for example, the Left’s newest pivot to the economy–raising the minimum wage. On Thursday, Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky tweeted her menu for the week of “living the wage”:

My #LiveTheWage menu for the week. pic.twitter.com/fi2BbY4ooE

— Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) July 24, 2014

For the Congresswoman who wines and dines in D.C. and represents an area seen by some as one of Ivy Leagues of the Midwest (Northwestern University is in her district), that may seem like punishment to her palate, but to many of us that looks like a normal menu.  The forgotten man eats such meals with thankfulness, not as a gimmick to raise the minimum wage because of the negative effects of liberalism on the American economy. President Obama also took to Twitter to push to “raise the wage” with these two tweets yesterday:

A lot has changed in five years—but the minimum wage has stayed the same. #TBT #LiveTheWage pic.twitter.com/TFodpGEmgr

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 24, 2014

The last time the federal minimum wage was raised was five years ago today. #TBT #LiveTheWage pic.twitter.com/WBxGM6PfgL

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 24, 2014

The price of food has indeed increased since President Obama took office, which is a testament to the destructive policies he supports. In fact, food prices in general have increased 13% since last September. This, in part, is due to a loose monetary policy supported by the president which has led to inflation. Sean Davis at The Federalist wrote a great article earlier this week taking to task even the “conservative” economists and pundits who support the actions of the Federal reserve. Davis writes in part:

Prices are rising, they’re rising faster than wages, and they’re rising for items that comprise a large chunk of the budgets of working American families. Those are facts. The question is what to do about those facts. The subtext to all of the inflation critiques from the likes of Perry, Pethokoukis, and Ponnuru is that we should leave the Federal Reserve alone. Stop blaming the Fed for inflation, you guys. Please ignore that QE, QE2, QE3, and a multi-year zero interest rate policy, etc. were all intentionally designed to increase inflation, you guys. Just ignore all the different goods for which prices are rising really rapidly, you guys. Ignore the fact that higher prices and middling wages are eroding standards of living, you guys.

Unfortunately, the constant Federal Reserve apologetics are seriously clouding these pundits’ collective judgment about an increasingly important political issue: whether America’s current political class has what it takes to make rising standards of living — rather than just rising prices — the norm for American families again. That is why families are so anxious today. They’re worried that the American dream is slipping away, and that only thing people in Washington and New York care about is protecting people in Washington and New York.

As you may recall, Governor Palin warned against quantitative easing in 2010 and predicted how inflation would have a negative impact on American families.

Furthermore, President Obama’s policies on ethanol have negatively affected farmers and all Americans, and not only because they cause an ecological mess. While ethanol subsidies may be a small boost for corn farmers, they have a  negative ripple effect for other farmers. Corn is often used in animal feed, such as for chickens and dairy cows. Ethanol subsidies increase the cost of these animal feeds which in turn increases the cost of eggs and milk for American families.

President Obama’s solution for the problems that he has perpetuated are only indicative of the economic disasters of his administration. You cannot fix a poor economy by raising the minimum wage. You fix a poor economy by maximizing employment mobility and minimizing cronyism and destructive regulation.  President Obama’s home state of Illinois has one of the highest minimum wages in the country, yet it consistently has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates and the poorest economic environments. Liberal policies keep people poor and dependent; free market principles help people become economically mobile and independent. As Governor Palin noted in her speech last week  referencing a comment on her Facebook page:

I grew up poor. My mother was a die-hard FDR Democrat. When I turned eighteen the first president I voted for was Ronald Reagan. My mother was beside herself. When she asked me why I had voted for him, I told her I didn’t plan on staying poor.

The manicured hands of Washington craft out-of-touch, unproductive policies, but the calloused hands of the forgotten man are what make America exceptional and give her promise.

CNN’s Double Hypocrisy on Leland Yee

by Whitney Pitcher

At Breitbart, Tony Lee writes of  CNN’s hypocrisy in their refusal to cover the gun trafficking charge levied at current California state senator (and secretary of state candidate until Thursday ), Leland Yee:

CNN dismissed complaints that the network was not covering last week’s shocking arrest of Democrat Leland Yee, the California state senator who was arrested for alleged arms trafficking and bribery, and falsely asserted that it does not give attention to state senators and secretary of state races.

That standard did not apply to Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, whom CNN covered relentlessly. This was long before she even considered a gubernatorial run after filibustering a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks and make those conducted before then safer.

Viewers and readers on Friday complained that the network, just like Politico, was not reporting or discussing Yee’s scandal online, and the official and verified @CNNWriters account tweeted to one critic that ignoring Yee’s arrest was standard practice.

Lee then linked a tweet from CNNWriters’ account which notes that CNN covers state senate and secretary of state races “just about never”. As he notes, CNN covered Texas state senator Wendy Davis extensively. The comparison of Davis vs. Yee illustrates CNN’s hypocrisy quite well, but what if we looked at CNN’s coverage of Yee vs. Yee? Let us flashback to 2010, shall we?

You may recall that Governor Palin gave a speech at California State University-Stanislaus in 2010, a speech that brought in record fundraising for the university. However, this particular speech may be better known as “bendystrawgate”.  California Democrats , including then attorney general and current governor Jerry Brown, wanted to investigate the contract that the university made with Palin for her speech. That contract included such diva-like demands as bendable drinking straws. The horrors! However, Brown was not the only Democrat to request the investigation. As CNN reported in April 2010 (emphasis mine):

Attorney General Jerry Brown opened an investigation Tuesday into the finances of the California State University Stanislaus Foundation, which raises money for the university and booked Palin to headline its June event.

“We are taking this action to make sure that the money raised goes toward the intended educational purposes and not a dollar is wasted or misspent,” said Brown, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

State Sen. Leland Yee, also a Democrat, has demanded to see the speaking contract, citing the public records Act. At a Tuesday news conference, Yee said any destruction of requested documents violated the law.

CNN’s claim that they do not cover state senators is bogus, and if they were to argue that they don’t cover state senate races, it should be noted that Yee was running for re-election to the senate in 2010. In fact, the CNN story linked above came just 5 days after Yee announced his re-election.

It’s no wonder that Governor Palin noted the media’s constant need to distract from the truth and selectively cover “local” politics.

For more on this, please see Gary’s posts from Friday.

The Prescience of Palin on President Obama’s “Flexible” Leadership

by Whitney Pitcher

As Russia invaded Ukraine, Governor Palin posted the following on her Facebook page. That’s right; Prescient Palin strikes again!

Yes, I could see this one from Alaska. I’m usually not one to Told-Ya-So, but I did, despite my accurate prediction being derided as “an extremely far-fetched scenario” by the “high-brow” Foreign Policy magazine. Here’s what this “stupid” “insipid woman” predicted back in 2008: “After the Russian Army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama’s reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence, the kind of response that would only encourage Russia’s Putin to invade Ukraine next.”

http://www.jammiewf.com/2014/flashback-stupid-woman-offers-up-strange-scenario-of-russia-invading-ukraine/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/02/28/Flashback-Palin-Mocked-in-2008-for-Warning-Putin-May-Invade-Ukraine-if-Obama-Elected-President

During the 2008 election, Governor Palin was mocked for postulating that Russia may invade Ukraine if then Senator Obama was elected. As Tony Lee at Breitbart noted, during the 2008 election, some in the media called Palin’s scenario “far-fetched”. In reality, Governor Palin has proven prescient, almost clairvoyant, on many occasions from death panels to the Arab Spring to rare earth metals to quantitative easing to common core.  Just to name a few.

There’ is  a sense of vindication when a woman so mocked by the media and the establishment’s of both parties is proven right time and time again.  There is also a sense of a frustration and sadness that such a great nation lacks the leadership it needs. A Russia bold enough to invade Ukraine can only do so because of a vacuum of leadership in America. President Reagan famously won the Cold War with the USSR without firing a single shot because of his principled and strong leadership, not  “flexible” leadership that declares “happy hour” when the world is in chaos.

Palin, McCain, and the Difference between Support and Agreement

by Whitney Pitcher

Yesterday Governor Palin penned a post on her Facebook page expressing her support of Senator McCain in the face of censure by his own party in Arizona.  In many ways, it echoed the op-ed she wrote for the Arizona Central when she endorsed Senator McCain’s re-election nearly four years ago. Governor Palin’s support of Senator McCain shows far more of her character than of his merit. As Governor Palin wrote last night:

We live in a time of diminishing virtues because of societal influence towards total self-centeredness. This is unfortunate and makes raising families, conducting business, and governing that much more challenging. I know how important the virtue of loyalty is because in politics it’s pretty much nonexistent. I stand on that most important virtue and answer those asking today: “Yes, I am proud to have been asked to run with him in 2008, and he is my friend.”

If loyalty is essentially nonexistent in politics as Governor Palin notes, how would anyone know what it looks like? One needs to look no further than Governor Palin’s own character and action over the years. Governor Palin has stood by Senator McCain’s side since 2008, in spite of his often tepid support for her and his nonexistent defense of her when she was more or less accused of murdering his Arizona constituents in Tucson three years ago. Governor Palin’s loyalty has been noted by many. For example, Governor Nikki Haley noted in her book about Governor Palin’s continued support in the midst of allegations during Haley’s gubernatorial campaign that she had an affair:

When allegations from Folks first surfaced, Haley remembers having Palin in her corner after just one phone call – a contrast to the way another supporter, Romney, had handled the news.

“Sarah goes with her gut, and I love her for that,” she writes. “Mitt’s team [said] they were going to have a ‘Nikki Haley meeting’ the next morning to decide what to do next.”

Governor Palin again stood with Haley in May of 2012 when a South Carolina union leader beat a pinata with a picture of Governor Haley’s face on it. This came even after Haley’s silence when Governor Palin and the Tea Party was blamed for the Tucson shooting. Suffice it to say, Governor Palin’s loyalty is because of who she is (her character), not because of who the others are.

Support differs from complete agreement, however. Governor Palin has expressed disagreement with McCain either implicitly or explicitly multiple times. As she noted in her Facebook post,  Governor Palin parts ways with Senator McCain on ANWR and immigration. She has parted ways with him implicitly too. Her “Let Allah sort it out” approach to Syria is 180 degrees different than Senator McCain’s neocon approach to Syria. In her vintage speech to a Tea Party rally in Iowa in September 2011, Governor Palin mocked Senator McCain, although not in name, for his reference to Tea Partiers as hobbits.

To be sure, Governor Palin has her share of disagreements with Senator McCain, just as some supporters may disagree with her for supporting Senator McCain in this manner. That is the beauty of independence of thought–difference of opinion does negate support. As Governor Palin’s brother Chuck Heath Jr. noted on his Facebook page today:

If I turned my back on every friend and family member who didn’t agree with me 100% of the time, I’d have no friends or family members.

It can’t be said much better than that. We don’t have to always agree, but we all can learn a lesson in loyalty from the one political figure who personifies it.

Meet the “Kronies”–Brilliance in Highlighting “Crapitalism”

by Whitney Pitcher

I don’t know exactly how to characterize this, but there is a new campaign to highlight crony capitalism (or the portmanteau that I like to use–crapitalism) . This campaign–The Kronies– uses youtube clips and specially designed 80s style action figures.

Here’s the introductory video:

It hearkens me back to my childhood, but there’s no particular protagonist action figure like Heman or She-rah. Instead there are guys like “Big G”:

Whatever this campaign is, they are taking aim at both political parties, which is a good thing. I’m sure the likes of Governor Palin, Peter Schewizer and Michelle Malkin, who have focused their careers around fighting cronyism, approve.

H/T Hot Air

Obamacare: Meet the New Contractor, Same as the Old Contractor

by Whitney Pitcher

The Obama administration will not renew the contract of CGI Group Inc, the Michelle Obama tied company that oversaw the failed website.

Per Chicago Business:

CGI Group Inc., the company that built the federal Obamacare website, will be replaced next month when its contract with the U.S. government expires, a person familiar with the decision said.

The Obama administration intends to sign a contract with Accenture Plc to complete unfinished work on HealthCare.gov and run the site, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the decision isn’t public. Montreal-based CGI fell as much as 3.8 percent in New York trading.

Things can only get better, right? Well, perhaps not. The Chicago Business article continues:

The Oct. 1 debut of the insurance exchange serving 36 of the 50 U.S. states was plagued by delays, error messages and hang-ups that prevented people from completing applications. Accenture, the second-largest technology-consulting company, led construction of California’s better-performing state system.

Through November the California exchanged netted more Obamacare enrollees than the federal exchange, but such numbers are more of a testament to the failure of the federal exchange than the success of the California exchange. The Accenture built California exchange is not without its problems.

The Washington Examiner reported last month that seven in ten California doctors wanted to boycott the exchange. The California exchange website–Covered California– is listing doctors who are not part of the exchange. Also, Covered California was found to be giving out health care consumer information without consent. Per the Daily Caller:

Widespread fears that Affordable Care Act exchanges would fail to guard customer information are already coming true in California, where the state exchange is giving selected insurance agents customer contact information, resulting in unwanted calls and emails to Californians who have checked out the exchange but declined to buy insurance.

The Los Angeles Times’ Chad Terhune reports that Covered California, which Obamacare proponents have held up as a rare example of a functioning state health care exchange, provides names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of customers who did not ask to be contacted.

Furthermore, just last week Covered California extend their premium payment deadline per Tony Lee at Breitbart News:

“Covered California” announced the news as news outlets across California started reporting on residents who were unsure if they actually successfully enrolled in Obamacare or still had trouble finishing their applications because of website malfunctions. Many residents reported being “stuck” in the middle of the application process and not being able to get answers about whether their information had been successfully transmitted to insurance companies.

While the Obama administration may tout this contractor change as a means to improve their failing exchange, it is really just more of the same failure.

Governor Palin’s Message: Self-Reliance, Not Selfies

by Whitney Pitcher

In a press conference this morning to promote her upcoming show on the Sportsman Channel, Governor Palin took the opportunity to share her refreshing message of true female empowerment. As EOnline reports:

When E! News asked what Palin would like Amazing America to teach the young girls who tune in, Palin was quick to respond saying, “That they need to be, and can be, and have to power to be self-reliant. They can be independent and they too have equal opportunity to get out there and enjoy all that has been given to us here in America.”

While Governor Palin’s intention is, for the most part, to eschew politics, the show’s cultural message will be 180 degree different than the liberal message of female empowerment through governmental reliance.  Instead the show will be a modern day, American culturally-based equivalent to Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Governor Palin will highlight the true promise zones of America–her people and their achievements. As USA Today reports:

Palin, wearing black except for flag-patterned high-heeled shoes, says it’s “not going to be some kind of fake scripted reality show” but will “showcase people, places and things in order to restore, fundamentally, what makes America great,” including her own family. Red-state Americans live an organic lifestyle that’s not limited to urban “granola” fans. “Their dinner just happens to be wrapped in fur rather than cellophane. So be it that we go out and shoot our dinner first.”

As for Governor Palin’s additional message to young women, she also noted:

“I think this world would be better off having more young women holding a fish in a picture than holding their camera in front of a bathroom mirror, talking a selfie.” The 2008 Vice Presidential candidate announced to a room full of reporters at the Television Critics Association Friday morning.

I tend to agree. Choose snapper over Snapchat and crappie over cropping.

In Illinois, More Concealed Carry Applications on First Day than Obamacare Enrollees in First Two Months

by Whitney Pitcher

Fox Chicago reports that more than 11,000 people have signed up for concealed carry permits in the first day of the online application process:

 Illinois officials say they’ve received more than 11,000 applications for concealed carry permits.

The online application system to apply for permits was officially launched in Illinois on Sunday. On Monday, Illinois State Police said they had received 4,525 applications for concealed carry permits were received within 24 hours. The other 6,500 applications came from firearms instructors who the state let apply early for permits to help test the functionality of the online application system.

By comparison, in the first two months of Obamacare exchange online availability, only 7,000 Illinoisans had enrolled in the exchange.

After becoming the last state in the country to allow concealed carry, citizens of Illinois are ready to exercise their second amendment rights.

Jesus: A GPS for a Lost World

by Whitney Pitcher

Yesterday I read an article at CNET, excerpted below, that noted some churches were putting GPS devices in the “baby Jesus-es” they use in their nativity scenes to help find him if he was stolen:

It’s Christmas.

The time of year when we all love our fellow human a little more. The time of year when we consider the spiritual aspects of our lives (or their lack).

And the time of year when people steal baby Jesus figurines from nativity scenes in churches.

As MyFoxDC reports, a security company has leaped to the rescue of churches frustrated that their Jesus, Mary, or Joseph are taken by the unscrupulous.

Brickhouse Security is giving free GPS trackers to all qualifying churches in order to prevent such an unholy occurrence.

My initial thought was that this was just another means of defense churches and Christians are using in the proverbial “war on Christmas”, and in some ways it is. But, I think it provides another message for us as well. These churches are placing GPS devices in “Jesus” so that in case He gets stolen or lost, He can be found. It is almost the opposite message Christ brought to earth. In reality, Jesus will never be the one lost, but we are. He is the one who finds us, when we earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

The world will celebrate the birth of Jesus on Wednesday. We don’t know the exact date Jesus was born, although it likely was not December 25th. We do know, however, why He came–divine, yet choosing humanity– to seek and save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). Churches are now resorting to technology to “find Jesus” if he is lost, but the truth is that He always had a GPS purpose to fulfill, not because He gets lost, but because He came to save us who are lost.

Hello Freedom Man

By C.A. Bamford:

With our country at one of the lowest points in our history, and once again struggling as it did during the Carter Administration, it is important to remember that we came back from disastrous management once, and we can do it again. In fact, President Ronald Reagan left us a blueprint for success. It begins with “We the People”.

In his farewell address to the nation on January 11, 1989 President Reagan spoke of the resurgence of freedom in America and how we had once more become a country that was respected in the world and looked to for leadership; an America that once again stood for freedom. He told the story of a sailor on the carrier Midway on patrol in the South China Sea, who spied a leaky little boat filled with “boat people” refugees from Indochina trying desperately to make it to America. The Midway sent a launch to bring them safely to the ship. Through the choppy seas, one of the refugees spotted the sailor on deck. He stood up and yelled out to the sailor, “Hello American sailor. Hello Freedom man!”

President Reagan talked about what world economic leaders called “The American Miracle”, an economic recovery that had allowed American businesses to create 19 million new jobs and brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history. Under Reagan’s economic program real family income was up, taxes and the poverty rate were down, entrepreneurship was booming and there was an explosion in research and new technology. US industry became more competitive in trade with other nations.