The Obama Administration brags that Cash for Clunkers was a success because it revived the suffering auto industry. But who really benefited from this $3 billion program?
The majority of cars bought with taxpayer-paid incentives of $3,500 to $4,500 each were foreign cars. Toyota and Honda were the big winners.
For years, Americans have been pursuing the goal of self-sufficiency in oil, a natural resource essential to our standard of living. But the effort to get our government to revoke its ban on drilling for oil in American waters off of our shores has been consistently checkmated by the liberals and radical environmentalists.
An estimated 1,500 people crowded a Jerusalem square last week for an anti-Obama rally, protesting against unrelenting Amerrican pressure on the Israeli government.
Not coincidentally, four top United States officials were in Israel at the time, including Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell. They were there to pound the message to Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop building in the Jewish so-called "settlement" towns in Judea and Samaria and in East Jerusalem.
The major slogan of the protest rally was, "Yes to Israeli independence: No to American dictates."
I would like to use the salutation "Honorable Senator" or "Honorable Congressman/woman" but I cannot because I do not believe that salutation fits most of you. Honorable men and women would not vote on legislation they have never read. Only "yes" men and women, or those who have been bought and paid for could do such things.
Honorable men and women do not vow to uphold our Constitution and then go about doing everything they can to destroy it, by aiding and abetting one whose goal is obviously the destruction of our Republic. One who has been allowed to create dozens of administrative positions never before dreamed of and which shifts the power from a triune structure to a dictatorial one. There is no Constitutional provision for Czars in our Free Republic, Czars who are exercising federal power over issues that are constitutional issues left to the States or the people.
We’ve gt a deep recession, a credit crunch, job losses, and business failures, all started by a mortgage loan crisis. We are paying for that mortgage loan crisis, and it appears that nobody saw it coming.
How could so many knowledgeable people have missed it? When Jimmy Carter signed the Community Redevelopment Act of 1977, requiring financial institutions to make loans to people in low-income areas, it should have been clear that a lot of these loans weren’t going to be repaid. But they all said, we’ve got to stop redlining, the federal government is going to insure the loans anyway, and the government’s sending monitors to make sure we make these loans, so we’ll go ahead and make them although we’re pretty sure they won’t be repaid.
Democrats insisted on changing the law in Massachusetts to require an election to fill the office of Sen. John Kerry, should he be elected president in 2004. They argued that the people, not the governor, should choose the senator's replacement. Of course, the governor at the time was a Republican, Mitt Romney. Now that the governor is a Democrat, the people should not choose Ted Kennedy's successor; the governor should make the appointment. The duplicity here is despicable.
Democrats went berserk over what they called President Bush's "power grab," but are silent in the face of President Obama's massive consolidation of power. The duplicity here is despicable.
Thousands of patriotic Americans from across the country who are fed-up with the antics of the Obama administration, especially the overspending and health care plan, are heading for Washington, D. C., Saturday, September 12 for a National Taxpayers Protest and march on the U. S. Capitol.
Several hundred individuals will travel to the nation’s capitol from Greenville and Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Almost two hundred men, women and children braved the scorching heat and high humidity Saturday afternoon to make a statement in support of Southern Heritage and in opposition to the outrageous alleged NAACP and ACC baseball boycotts of South Carolina.
Leaders of the rally encouraged everyone to join the effort to protest the ACC’s intolerance, anti-Southern regional prejudice, and lack of respect for our history and heritage.
A single NAACP demonstrator showed up to ensure equal time in front of the television cameras. A second individual joined him later.
Fourth District Congressman Bob Inglis drew the first “blood” when he opined that Seventh District Solicitor Trey Gowdy is the “most curious” of his challengers before a packed house of more than two hundred members and guests of the Greenville County Republican Women’s Club at the Poinsett Club last Thursday.
Inglis informed the audience that Gowdy told him in February that he was considering a run for Attorney General in South Carolina and implied his support of Inglis for another term in Congress. Inglis said he was “shocked” to face Gowdy as one of his four opponents a few months later. Inglis concluded with a dig at his formidable opponent’s reliability saying: “Voters need a candidate with credibility.”
Many Americans ask how dangerous international policies can suddenly turn up in state and local government, all seemingly
uniform to those in communities across the nation and around the globe.
The answer - meet ICLEI, a non-profit, private foundation, dedicated to helping your mayor implement all of his promises. Originally known as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), today the group simply calls itself "ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability.”
In 1992, ICLEI was one of the groups instrumental in creating Agenda 21. The group's mission is to push local communities to regulate the environment - and it's having tremendous success.
During the 1960s Troy Brown had a road cut through his farm off Highway 101, North of Greer. A bridge was built over a stream that drained a swamp. The road was eventually named Forest Court and maintained by Greenville County.
On Saturday, August 29, a new concrete and steel bridge crossing the stream was named the Troy D. Brown Bridge and dedicated to honor the late Troy D. Brown, the man who provided the land and funds to build a public road through his Greenville County farm.
Individual freedom and ownership of private property are rights available to citizens of the United States of America that have made our republic the envy of the world and provided Americans a standard of living and degree of individual freedom not experienced by others in the history of the world.
Freedom, including property rights, is currently under attack at the city and county level where citizens tend to trust elected officials because they are their relatives and neighbors and are in many instances readily available for face to face discussions.
Savor the silence of America's self-serving champions of privacy. For once, the American Civil Liberties Union has nothing bad to say about the latest case of secret domestic surveillance -- because it is the ACLU that committed the spying.
Last week, The Washington Post reported on a new Justice Department inquiry into photographs of undercover CIA officials and other intelligence personnel taken by ACLU-sponsored researchers assisting the defense team of Guantanamo Bay detainees. According to the report, the pictures of covert American CIA officers -- "in some cases surreptitiously taken outside their homes" -- were shown to jihadi suspects tied to the 9/11 attacks in order to identify the interrogators.
This week’s article will be focused on some of this year’s inductees into the South Carolina Gospel Music Association.
First is H. I. (Ingram) Willis, Sr. He lived in Greenville County and was a very big part of the “Shape Note” singing and schools for the better part of his life, in fact for some 50 years. During his involvement in Gospel Music he was the president of the South
Carolina State Singing Convention and President of the North Greenville Singing Convention. In addition to these activities he was choir director for 2 churches and sang second tenor in the Nelson Stamps Quartet, as well as playing guitar for the group. At one time the members of this group included Paul Burroughs singing Bass, W. H. Nelson singing Baritone, Woodrow Pittman singing First Tenor and as mentioned Willis rounding out the group. This group had a regular spot on WESC radio on Sunday morning.
Sen. Jim DeMint told a packed crowd at Tommy’s Ham House, Aug. 20, that a lot of Congressmen and Senators are going to return to Washington after the August break with a new frame of mind because they are hearing from the American people.
Sen. DeMint, who opposes the president’s health care plan, said he knows the president’s motive is not to get the uninsured insured and that his motive is not to lower the cost of private health insurance because he has introduced bills that would have moved the country in that direction, and they were voted down by the Democrats.
Popular Television Anchor, Carol Goldsmith, discussed her career in television before a group of retired military officers and spouses of the Military Officers Association of America at the Hilton in Greenville, Friday evening.
She was introduced by LaVerne Tremblay, a member of the board of directors of the Greenville MOAA Chapter, who discovered she had something in common with the veteran news anchor. The ancestors of both had lived on the north side of Chicago in the days of Al Capone and had moved their families to safety away from the criminal activity about the same time.
Ken Ard, above, made a courtesy call on Greenville County Republican Women’s Club President Geri Warren and Past President Betty Poe. A small business owner and current member of county council in Florence, South Carolina, Ard was in Greenville recently seeking support as he pursues the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor of South Carolina. During his first Greenville visit as a potential statewide candidate, Ard met briefly with several local Republican Party leaders and elected officials.
On August 15, Hunley Chapter #2667, South Carolina Division, UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), celebrated its first anniversary! Despite a number of members being out of town, those members and guests still in town observed the occasion with a dinner at quaint, family-owned Rechaud’s restaurant in Greer. The chapter reserved the entire restaurant and enjoyed wonderful food and the attentive service of Rechaud’s friendly staff. A Powerpoint photo show ran continuously on a screen in the background which highlighted the many activities that chapter members were involved in during the last UDC year.
There are about 54,000 widows who receive about $1,150 a month in Dependency and Indemnity (DIC) Compensation from the Veterans Administration.
Military personnel purchase a Survivors Benefit Plan (SBP) that provides income for a surviving spouse when the veteran dies. If the veteran dies from service related causes, the $1,150 DIC is subtracted from the widow’s SBP payments that were paid for by her sponsor.
When you think you have heard the worst regarding the regime running the U. S. government in Washington, D. C., something else even worse surfaces. The latest is the Death Book for Veterans.
Public exposure of the book came just a few days after President Obama assured a large veteran’s group that he will never cut benefits to veterans. Then on Wednesday, August 19th, the Wall Street Journal published a story by Jim Towey, titled Death Book for Veterans. The story exposed the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs has published a 51 page end-of-life counseling book titled, Your Life, Your Choices.
There was a time when rushing a thousand-page bill through Congress so fast that no one has time to read it would have provoked public outrage. But now, this has been attempted twice in the first 6 months of a new administration.
The fact that they got away with it before, with the "stimulus" bill, may have led them to believe that they could get away with it again.
Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg's official government title is "Special Master for Compensation." You'll be happy to know that he's really getting into the confiscatory spirit of his role. Asked by Reuters whether his powers include reaching back and revoking bonuses awarded to financial industry executives before his office was created earlier this year, Feinberg asserted broad and binding authorities -- including the ability to "claw back" money already paid out.
Regulations governing his office explicitly limit his jurisdiction over contracts signed before Feb. 11, 2009. But the fine print is no obstacle to Obama's czars. "The statute provides these guideposts, but the statute ultimately says I have discretion to decide what it is that these people should make and that my determination will be final," Feinberg claims. "Anything is possible under the law."
Note: My son, Timothy Baldwin, writes today's column. He is an attorney who received his Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a former prosecutor for the Florida State Attorney's Office and now owns his own private law practice. He is author of a new book, published soon by Agrapha Publishing, entitled FREEDOM FOR A CHANGE.
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Yes, yes, we have all heard the remarks from those who would call themselves conservative, libertarian or the like concerning the nomination and now swearing-in of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court, which took place on August 8, 2009. Yes, yes, books have been written by those conservative and libertarian editorialists and authors who have explained to us that the United States Supreme Court (US S CT) is "out of control" and how we must elect "conservative" Presidents to appoint "conservative" judges. Ironically, this infatuation with the federal government, and specifically with the judicial branch of the federal government, has actually (at least in part) created the growing enslavement of the people of these States United.
I’ve been writing from a politically incorrect point of view about such topics as affirmative action, radical feminism, etc., for over 15 years now. My context is that of a political philosophy which (I hope) promotes freedom and responsibility for all individuals of whatever race/ethnicity, liberty in society, and discourages readers from trusting concentrations of power. Affirmative action programs, I often argued, are of questionable benefit to the majority of blacks, tend to trigger racial resentments that wouldn’t have been there otherwise, and concentrate power over the hiring process in the hands of faceless bureaucrats.
At first it annoyed me when some left-liberal would read such things and accuse me of being a closet racist, or worse. But by the time I’d moved to Greenville (2005), it only amused me.
This week’s article features one of this year’s inductees to the South Carolina Gospel Music Association’s hall of fame, Ken Turner. As many of you probably know, Ken grew-up in Greer, more specifically in the Apalache Community. In an interview several years ago he shared how his father gave him a guitar and how he learned to play some cords. He said that he sat on the porch at night playing and singing.
A few years ago, The Times Examiner published the miraculous story of Winn Freeman, Founder and President of Wisdom in Living Life Ministry. The title of the article was “Man on a Mission.” For almost two decades, Freeman has been showing others the way to real freedom from addiction. Farron Hancox is one of many who sought and found real freedom from addiction with the help of Winn Freeman and Wisdom in Living Life Ministry.
Sen. Phil Shoopman and Rep. Tommy Stringer addressed a group of northern Greenville County precinct leaders Saturday, August 15 at Rock’s Country Store Restaurant. Following brief presentations on the past legislative session in Columbia and a look to the future, they answered questions posed by members of their audience.
Sen. Shoopman represents Senate District 5 in northern Greenville County. The district reaches from Gowansville in the east beyond Travelers Rest and Marietta in the west.
The following letter to the Editor was received from Mrs. Cynthia Zerga on or about July 30, 2009. Mrs. Zerga delivered essentially the same message to Greenville County Council in person during the August 4 meeting. Words and phrases unacceptable for a family newspaper have been omitted from the original letter.
My name is Cindy, and I am a resident of Greenville, South Carolina. I want to tell you about an incident that occurred in my neighborhood on July 17 , and also to share my feelings about why it may have happened and what can be done about it.
On Friday, August 14, Greenville County Schools held their 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year Awards program at the Carolina First Center. There were 100 teacher candidates chosen from the different schools in the school district. From these candidates, ten were selected as teacher of the year candidates. There were three runner-up candidates chosen and then the teacher of the year.
Kelly H. Nalley, a Spanish teacher at Fork Shoals School, was chosen Greenville County Schools, 2009-2010 “Teacher of the Year.” She teaches Spanish to 2nd thru 5th grade students.
Charlie Waller brought the Grand Ole Gospel Reunion back to Greenville this past week after moving to Knoxville for a few years following a long stretch of reunions in Greenville held at Memorial Auditorium until it was torn down. The reunion then moved to the Peace Center for a couple of years and finally to Furman’s Auditorium for the last two years before moving out of the state.
The Grand Ole Gospel Reunion brings hundreds of people from all over the nation to Greenville for almost a week. The influx of Southern Gospel Music fans and performers provides a significant boost to the local economy, especially hotels and restaurants.
After awaking the next morning I left the motel and drove to the nearby Shoney’s (Yes, Shoney’s is still in business, just not in the Greenville area.) where I enjoyed the breakfast bar.
After breakfast I headed east along Virginia 10, crossed the James River on I-295 (a magnificent view of the James and surrounding environs) and then hit I-64. When I drove on to the entrance ramp I noticed a curious sight for an Interstate – a closure arm. Yes, it was in the open position, but, if for some reason the authorities wished to close the Interstate to traffic, they could do so. Perhaps its purpose is to close I-64 to eastbound traffic in case a hurricane were to necessitate the use of all four lanes for westbound traffic.
If Americans are to remain free people, we must reject every aspect of socialized medicine. By their actions, the Obama administration and the national Democratic Party have demonstrated that they misrepresent facts, use threats and intimidation and reinterpret existing law in order to ensure their base of power and control is strengthened and expanded and that their goals are achieved, if not totally, at least in part.
The federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in the healthcare of American Citizens. When faced with truth and strong opposition, they change tactics and try to achieve the same goals using other methods and approaches.
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