Tag Archives: provide-much

We Told You So — Obama Tries to Pull a Fast One On Health Care

Sometimes you hate being right. In chapter 4 of our book, “The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency,” we make the point that Team Obama would try to pull a fast one when it comes to Obamacare's individual mandate that everyone reading this blog post needs to buy health insurance, or be subject to a penalty payable to your good friends at the IRS. We first made this argument in a column we co-authored with Senator Orrin Hatch in The Wall Street Journal back in January. Now this issue has suddenly exploded back into the news. For months, Team Obama has been saying that the individual mandate is authorized by Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce, as found in the Commerce Clause. We explain in our book why that argument is a loser in court, and that the White House would have to pull a bait-and-switch and suddenly argue that the mandate is a tax (violating Obama's promise not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250K per year). Looks like we were right. In their first filing against the multi-state lawsuit challenging Obamacare, Team Obama is now arguing that the individual mandate is… a tax. If you read chapter 4 of our book, though, after we explain how the mandate is not authorized by the Commerce Clause, we then go on to explain how it is also unconstitutional if it's a tax.Evidently worried about this, Team Obama then goes on to argue that if the court doesn't buy the tax argument either (because the argument is bogus, perhaps?), then it's still justified under the General Welfare Clause. Anticipating that, our next section in chapter 4 explains why the mandate is also not authorized by the General Welfare Clause. We close that section by noting that one thing you're taught in law school is that the General Welfare Clause doesn't authorize the federal government to do anything. It is a limitation on federal power, not a source of additional power. When you cite the General Welfare Clause, you're grasping at straws. That's exactly what Team Obama is doing. Their legal argument is desperate, because the Obamacare mandate is unconstitutional. With the vote on Elena Kagan's confirmation to the Supreme Court looming, this issue could not be more timely. We need federal courts that will uphold the Constitution's limits on federal power. They can start by striking down Obamacare http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/07/19/ken-blackwell-ken-klukowski-blueprint-… added by: congoboy

Google, scarrier than we all think.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Citing new information about Google's classified government contracts and the Internet giant's admitted Wi-Spying activity, Consumer Watchdog today said it is more imperative than ever for the Energy and Commerce Committee to conduct hearings into possible privacy violations by Google. In a letter to Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Joe Barton, the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group's John M. Simpson wrote: “Based on today's Washington Post, it appears that Google holds classified U.S. government contracts to supply search and geospatial information to the U.S. government. In addition, White House records show that Google executives have been holding meetings with U.S. national security officials for undisclosed reasons. Finally, it also appears that Google's widely criticized efforts to collect wireless network data on American citizens were not inadvertent, contrary to the company's claims.” “As history has repeatedly shown, alliances between the U.S. intelligence community and giant corporations that collect data on American citizens can be a toxic combination where the U.S. Constitution is concerned,” the letter said. In a June 9 letter to the Energy and Commerce Committee, Google director for public policy Pablo Chavez asserted that Google “mistakenly included code in our software that collected samples of 'payload data'” from private WiFi networks. But review of a patent application from Google covering the gathering of WiFi data published Jan. 28 shows that the data collection program was a very deliberate effort to assemble as much information as possible about U.S. residential and business WiFi networks. The letter continued: “…what the patent does show is that Google's recent claims about how the Street View program was designed are not accurate, and that the company always intended to collect and store the 'packets' of wireless data that contain so-called payload information. “The patent makes repeated reference to 'capturing' packets, including paragraph [0055], which states that the system will enable geolocations so long as the equipment being used 'is able to capture and properly decode a packet…' “This raises serious questions about whether Google has engaged in a reckless effort to amass private data without giving any thought to the possible misuse of that information, and whether it can be trusted to safeguard the information it collects from the prying eyes of the U.S. government.” Read the patent here: http://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/US20100020776.pdf Read the letter here: http://insidegoogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/LtrWaxman071910.pdf In addition, White House visitor logs show that Alan Davidson, Google's Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, has had at least three meetings with officials of the National Security Council since the beginning of last year. One of the meetings was with White House senior director for Russian affairs Mike McFaul, while another was with Middle East advisor Daniel Shapiro. It has also been widely reported that Google has been working in “partnership” with the National Security Agency, the very same government body that illegally intercepted the private communications of millions of Americans during the Bush administration http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/googles-wi-spying-and-intelligence-ties-… added by: littlwarrior

Inception Outrages Lazy Moviegoers

They're pissed they had to pay attention to the movie. added by: Geoffiroth

A $20 computer with a display, hard drive and internet connection

We had reported earlier on a $15 Android Computer. Well we have something new here for you, behold the Humane Reader, a computer designed to provide much needed access to technology to homes and schools on a budget… http://itgrunts.com/2010/07/20/a-20-computer-with-a-display-hard-drive-and-inter… added by: itgrunts