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The Real Life of Julia

By on May 3, 2012 in Features

The Obama campaign recently released the interactive story of “Julia” on their campaign website. The description reads, “Take a look at how President Obama’s policies help one woman over her lifetime—and how Mitt Romney would change her story.” The story takes us through the life of “Julia” from ages 3 to 67,  and demonstrates how big government makes her life more enjoyable and overall better. It also exposes the mean things Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are trying to do – like giving “tax breaks to millionaires,” repealing Obamacare, preventing women from having equal pay, forcing women to pay for their own birth control, and of course and cutting funding for public schools. The horrors!

Yes, that evil conniving Mitt Romney, the mormon, out for nothing but money. Nevermind the fact that mormons are probably the nicest, hardest working, most respectful, best looking, and most freakishly genuine people on the face of the planet, despite whatever weird religious quirks they have. But we are merely peasants and aren’t capable of understanding what the state knows. After all, Uncle Joe knows best.

This campaign propaganda is so over the top and filled with errors that I have chosen to volunteer my time  to write an alternative version of Julia’s life with things the Obama campaign left out.

Alternative version of Julia’s life:

Age 3 under President Obama: Julia goes to a terrible public school because taxes  and regulations are so high that her parents can’t afford to live in a nicer area or send Julia to a private school. Julia’s mother has been struggling to support the family since her father was laid off due to over-the-top regulations at the private sector energy company he worked at. What’s more, Julia’s parents are concerned because the private sector company Julia’s mother works for may not be able to guarantee health coverage and there’s a good chance Julia’s mother will be laid off in the near future as well.

Age 17 under President Obama: Despite all the odds, Julia succeeds due to her stable home environment and her parents efforts to instill an appreciation for hard work. Julia works her way through a crappy public school system and spent most of her high school career volunteering for those less fortunate than her through her church group. Julia’s hard work pays off when she is accepted to Yale.

Age 18 under President Obama: Because Julia’s parent’s aren’t in a position for pay $200,000 for a degree, Julia is forced to take out enormous loans, like millions of other students her age. Due to poorly thought out programs like the Pell Grants, tuition has continued to skyrocket at prestigious universities. Unfortunately, President Obama’s failure to incentivize universities to drop their tuition prices has ended up costing Julia and her family money, not the “millionaires” he claimed were paying their “fair share.” Julia is forced to depend on the nanny state – just as President Obama wanted.

Age 22 under President Obama: During college, Julia is breaks her collar bone in an intramural soccer match. As it is a very severe break, she will need surgery and fortunately is covered by her parents insurance. However, the wait is so long to see a qualified surgeon that her collarbone heals the wrong way, leaving her in chronic pain for the rest of her life.

Age 23 under President Obama: Julia survives her injuries despite her chronic pain and graduates with honors from Yale. She then starts a job search but after 8 months is still unsuccessful because no companies can afford to hire a journalist, despite her skills and internships. Julia is forced to return to her parents home and live in their basement.

Age 25 under President Obama: Julia has finally found a job while living in her parents basement. She now bartends at the local pub. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to make payments on her loans. Julia’s credit is completely destroyed as she continually misses payments. She and thousands of others are in the same boat.

Age 27 under President Obama: Julia is still working at the bar and occasionally writes for her online blog. Although she is receiving welfare checks, she has become increasingly depressed due to her terrible financial situation and her psychiatrist, paid for by Obamacare, loads her up with anti-depressants. Julia reacts to her misfortunes by drinking heavily and sleeping around. Fortunately for Julia, she doesn’t have to worry about getting pregnant because birth control is free.

Age 31 under President Obama: Oops. Even with birth control accidents sometimes happen. Julia winds up pregnant. Julia opts to have an abortion even though she can’t afford it herself. Fortunately, the government has given so much aid to Planned Parenthood they can help her out so she can focus on her “career.”

Age 37 under President Obama: Oops again! Mistakes from poorly trained doctors result in terrible complications from the abortion. Julia is hospitalized for months as she fights an infection that could have been avoided with better quality medical care.

Age 42 under President Obama: Julia is still dependent on welfare, living in her parents basement, and has lost any motivation she had to establish a successful career for herself. After all, why should she when everything she needs is taken care of by the state? By this age, Julia has defaulted on her student loans and files for bankruptcy. Julia is still unable to get a job because most companies in her area can’t fire anyone because they no longer pay based on merit thanks to the unions. Non-union jobs also aren’t available because of the outrageous minimum wage, even the bar can’t afford to hire her. Small businesses can’t hire Julia because of the taxes and regulations imposed on anyone who wants to start a business in the state.

Age 65 under President Obama: Julia’s parents pass away and she receives a small inheritance from their efforts to scrimp and save. She also receives the home they already have two mortgages on. Unfortunately, the death tax (estate tax) is so high she really doesn’t prosper that much and cannot make the mortgage payments. Julia faces foreclosure on her parents home. But don’t worry! Julia is impoverished and qualifies for government subsidized housing now! She also gets to start using Medicare!

Age 67 under President Obama: Julia cashes in her little social security from when she was a bartender. Unfortunately, the social security program is bankrupt by the time Julia is 67 and she gets nothing but a pink slip. Not long after that, Julia suffers from a form of skin cancer that could have been avoided earlier but incompetent doctors failed to notice it. Julia dies.

Poor Julia. When Patrick Henry stated, “Give me liberty or give me death,” I doubt he ever imagined Obamacare.

…Okay, so it’s a bit dramatic, but you get the point. The Obama campaign’s efforts in this ridiculous interactive web page imply that Obama’s policies = good, while Mitt Romney’s (and shoot throw Paul Ryan in there too) = evil. They completely ignore the realistic implications (especially financial) of healthcare overhaul and a cradle to grave government. This effort by the campaign is just another indication that Barack Obama lacks fundamental understanding of what makes America great. Individual liberty.

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On the “Irvine 11″ and Civil Debate on Campus

By on September 27, 2011 in Features

The “Irvine 11,” a group of UC Irvine students, members of the Muslim Student Union, convicted of two misdemeanor charges in Orange County last Friday for conspiracy to disrupt a speech by Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren and for the disruption of said speech in February of 2010, got what they deserved.

Their systematic disruption of the 2010 speech is part of a widespread trend among college students, usually on the left and commonly on the Islamist left, to shout down speakers with whom they disagree. The chilling effect  caused by such aggressive protests on campuses across the country has prompted prominent non-leftist, non-Islamist speakers to bring private security to speaking events, and campuses to require that student organizers arrange for campus security personnel to be present.

Efforts by student groups to silence the opinions of campus political minorities are an open assault  on the civil society colleges and universities should be fostering on their campuses.

I was surprised yesterday when I read an article by John Hrabe opposing last Friday’s conviction. Hrabe compares the case of the Irvine 11 to a scene from “Dead Poets Society”:

“The school’s headmaster Mr. Nolan warns, ‘One more outburst from you or anybody else, and you’re out of this school.” Ten students are undeterred. They defiantly stand on their desks and call out, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’

“Prep school pièce de résistance. I was moved.

“Movie critic Roger Ebert, on the other hand, was moved ‘to throw up.’

“’Dead Poets Society is a collection of pious platitudes masquerading as a courageous stand in favor of something: doing your own thing, I think,’ [Ebert] wrote in the opening line of his scathing review.

“Which makes me wonder what the fastidious movie critic would think of an alternate ending, one in which the students are punished by the school and then brought up on misdemeanor charges by the local district attorney for conspiracy and disrupting a meeting?

“Oh wait, that isn’t fiction, but the real life story of the ‘Irvine 11.’”

But it’s not the story of the Irvine 11. The students in question weren’t protesting the firing of a favorite professor in their class room. They were systematically shutting down a speech they weren’t required to attend – a speech other students wanted to hear. “The Heckler’s-veto,” writes Hrabe “wasn’t the only First Amendment issue in this case.” The Irvine 11 were singled out for prosecution because they were Muslims, criticizing a Jewish Israeli.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the District Attorney selectively prosecuted,” said Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations — Greater Los Angeles Area, “because the students were Muslim, the speaker was an Israeli diplomat, and the verbal protests centered on Israel’s long history of war crimes.”

So the Executive Director of CAIR thinks the students were singled out because they are Muslims who were attempting to fight the Israeli/Palestinian conflict  in the auditorium of an Orange County campus? I doubt that these students were “selectively prosecuted.”

The Muslim Student Union and Students for Justice in Palestine groups on Irvine’s campus have long led the most vitriolic “Israel Apartheid Week,” also known as “Anti-Israel Week,” in the country featuring  speakers such as Imam Abdul Malik Ali. Malik Ali is known for using Holocaust references, 9/11 trutherism, and his viceral hatred of all things Jewish and American to rile up campus Islamist groups across the country. His speeches have never been systematically disrupted or shut down by students. The MSU and its views are not singled out for punishment on campus, in fact they’re quite popular and wide-spread.

The question in this case was quite clearly the “heckler’s veto,” and the attempt to shut out of campus opinions that some students don’t like.

I’m not saying that debate on campuses should be “nice”—some things you just can’t be “nice” about—it should, however, be ordered and civil.

When controversial speakers are prosecuted under ridiculous “disturbing the peace” statutes, it sets up a forced choice for freedom. Every speaker must live in fear of prosecution, or worse, only the dissenting speakers get quashed. Either scenario is unacceptable because both outcomes lead to less speech.

In this case we have an example of the opposite of the scenario Hrabe illustrates. By taking a firm stand in support of civil discourse and in opposition to the “heckler’s veto” the Irvine 11′s prosecution could finally lead to an opening for civil debate and a hearing of all sides on our campuses.

If we expect young Americans to be educated and prepared to participate in civil society, colleges and universities should foster environments where all opinions can be heard and discussed; and enforce strict rules against the disruption of civil debate.

“Civil” disobedience has replaced civil society on our campuses. This case could be the first step towards restoration of free and open speech for students.

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“Racially heated” Facebook Posting Sparks Outrage at UC Berkeley

By on September 24, 2011 in Features

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A Facebook post announcing plans by a UC Berkeley Republican group to sell baked goods priced according to race, gender and ethnicity – “White/Caucasian” pastries for $2 and “Black/African American” pastries for 75 cents, for example – has drawn outrage on campus.

You may be surprised by this but, UC Berkeley College Republicans do exist. And, they’re usually great. This time they’re getting attention over an event posting on Facebook for their planned “Increase Diversity Bake Sale” on Tuesday;  bringing attention to SB 185 a bill on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk to allow the CSU system to pick new students by race.

Once known as Affirmative Action Bake-sales, these events have been a hit with lefties and righties on campuses for quite some time. They enrage the left, on campus and in the media, because they’re so clear—and so true.

This from a campus lefty:

“I’m ashamed to know that I go to the same school with people who would say stuff like this,” responded student Skyler Hogan-Van Sickle on Facebook. “I’m really trying to figure out how someone can be this hateful.”

Wahh, waah, waaah. I’d be ashamed to go to a school where administrators care more about my “ethnic background” than my academic ability.

Read the story here: Racially heated posting sparks UC Berkeley Outrage.

Berkeley students call “Emergency” town hall meeting on “racist bake-sale. Cal student senate will meet tonight to discuss SB 185 and the bake-sale.

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CA Republican Leader Warns State Convention About “Cancers” in the Party

By on September 22, 2011 in Features

Orange County California GOP Chairman emeritus Tom Fuentes made a powerful appearance at last weekend’s California Republican Party convention in Los Angeles. After years of plunging registration numbers, a turn-coat Governor, and a billionaire-minded candidate recruitment program, Fuentes gave delegates a stern warning:

Full text: Be Not Afraid.

(h/t FlashReport)

The California GOP had a close encounter with cannibalism as the leftist wing of the party attempted to gut the party’s platform Sunday. Fuentes’ warning should guide republicans into the final platform vote next Spring and into the Presidential election next Fall.

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Obama, Restoring America’s Dignity

By on September 22, 2011 in Features

President Obama joined a meeting of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) while hobnobbing with the International Community in New York yesterday. The OGP seeks to “promote transparency, fight corruption, empower citizens, and harness the power of new technologies to make the government more effective and accountable.” They also take group photos:

20110922-123346.jpg

The guy with Obama’s hand in his face is supposedly the Mongolian President, an American ally. We know how the President likes to treat our close ally’s.

Photo Credit: Allan Tanenbaum-Pool / Getty Images

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Solyndra: Employees Shed Light on Mismanagement, Reckless Spending

By on September 21, 2011 in Features

Solyndra, the taxpayer funded solar firm that went under a couple of weeks ago, has proven to be a much more than just a bad stimulus bet. Andrew McCarthy presents a strong case for criminal fraud over at NRO. This week the Washington Post interviewed Solyndra employees who claim the company was recklessly “spending money left and right.”

A new factory built with public money boasted a gleaming conference room with glass walls that, with the flip of a switch, turned a smoky gray to conceal the room’s occupants. Hastily purchased state-of-the-art equipment ended up being sold for pennies on the dollar, still in its plastic wrap, employees said.

As the $344 million factory went up just down the road from the company’s leased plant in Fremont, Calif., workers watched as pallets of unsold solar panels stacked up in storage. Many wondered: Was the factory needed?

The WaPo story explains how Solyndra attempted to exploit the administration’s apparent thirst for gambling on its “Green Jobs” scheme after receiving the $535 billion loan.

Solyndra’s ability to secure federal backing also made the company eager for more assistance, interviews and records show. Company executives ramped up their Washington lobbying efforts, hiring a former Senate aide to work with the White House and the Energy Department. Within a week of getting a loan guarantee commitment from the Energy Department, Solyndra applied for another, worth $400 million. It never won final approval.

…

The leading investors in Solyndra were two investment funds with ties to George B. Kaiser, a major campaign fundraising “bundler” for Obama.

The White House had scheduled a press event around the time of Solyndra’s factory groundbreaking on Sept. 4, 2009. Federal reviewers gave their final nod to the deal on Sept. 2.

With the loan guarantee in hand, Solyndra built a second, seven-acre factory with 19 loading docks. As part of the expansion, Gronet and fellow managers hoped to cut costs by speeding up the automated assembly. To do so, they bought a custom-made assembly tool from VDL, a Dutch company. The company had never built that kind of equipment, but it promised the assembly tool would arrive in the summer of 2010. By that time, Gronet had been pushed out as chief executive. Workers told The Post in interviews that they were shocked that summer when Harrison, newly installed as CEO, told them that sales projections used to justify the new factory to federal agencies had been far too optimistic.

Read the whole story here.

In an interview with NR’s Andrew Stiles, Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) discusses how risky Obama’s bet really was.

 

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Video: A Timely History Lesson

By on September 21, 2011 in Features

Debunking the Palestinian Lie: “A Century of Palestinian Rejectionism and Jew-Hatred”

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The Return of The Dana Report

By on September 21, 2011 in Features

We’re coming back!

The site as been sitting around idly for quite some time (if you’re reading this now, you probably noticed). But this week it’s coming back. There’s just too much going on right now for the Dana Report to remain silent.

• The Palestinians—you know, those Arab fellows living in Judea and Samaria—are bum-rushing the UN this week to get their aid-supported terrorist-run jew-hating backwater declared  an independent state and member of the community of nations. Not that I care what the UN does, but other people do; and those people think the UN is a BIG deal.

• Republicans are revving up for an exciting (maybe?) primary cycle.

Rick Perry is running at the head of the pack, now. So was Rudy Giuliani in 2008. But, Rick’s my guy as long as he keeps up the fight. If he’s not your guy, let me know why down in the comments (unless Ron Paul is your guy. I’d rather not hear about that).

Mitt Romney is up there too. But he’s too . . . squishy for my taste.

Bachmann’s still in there.

Thad McCotter is awesome. You say, “But he voted for the Auto Bailout!” he did, not so hot, but I can deal with it. Thad won’t make it out of the single digits—he just doesn’t look “presidential,” whatever that means. I’d like to see him in one of the debates though. He’s smart.

• The President, or Barack, as he likes to be called, is acting more like a Barack than a Mr. President.

He’s screwing up really bad. If you read this site before we went AWOL you expected it. Although I didn’t expect him to fail so badly.

The Solyndra investigation should be fun. Andy McCarthy over at NRO is calling that scandal “fraud,” he’s probably right. How high it goes in the administration, we’ll see in the next few months.

The AG, Eric Holder, should be fired. He should have been a long time ago. But Fast & Furious should be the last straw.

Boeing and the NLRB. It’s shameful.

Secretaries paying as much in taxes as “millionaires and billionaires?” C’mon.

• Stay tuned. The Dana Report is back.

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Washington and Lincoln on Thanksgiving

By on November 27, 2008 in Features

Please take some time to read these Thanksgiving proclamations from our first and sixteenth Presidents. Their sentiments are alive and equally valid today.

George Washington’s proclamation of Thanksgiving, October 14, 1789:

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;– for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;– for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;– and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us. [Read More...]

Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving, October, 3 1863:

…No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. [Read More...]

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Shelby Steele on Barack Obama

By on November 21, 2008 in Features

Shelby Steele joins Peter Robinson on “Uncommon Knowledge“:

From National Review Online – Uncommon Knowledge, Nov. 20, 2008

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