What’s news today?

Billy Graham continues to be recognized for his work.

From CNSNews

“The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham and President Ronald Reagan now stand at the top of the list — in terms of the number of times anyone has been named to Gallup’s Top 10 Most Admired Men list.

According to the pollster, Graham, who is 94, has been named to the Gallup list 56 times since 1955, more than anyone else — male or female.”

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The next 3 are all related. It seems Obama campaign contributors aren’t the only ones getting in on the “Green” scam. Looks like some of those “Evil” Oil companies are getting in on the fraud too.

From ZeroHedge

“Wondering why rail traffic has been somewhat surprisingly consistent despite uncertainty? Concerned at government’s tenticular reach into each and every aspect of our lives? This somewhat stunning anecdotal report from OilPrice.com might shed some light:

A cargo train filled with biofuels crossed the border between the US and Canada 24 times between the 15th of June and the 28th of June 2010; not once did it unload its cargo, yet it still earned millions of dollars… The companies “made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.” Each time the loaded train crossed the border the cargo earned its owner a certain amount of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which were awarded by the US EPA to “promote and track production and importation of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.”

We suggest this is merely yet another unintended consequence (just as we noted here) and perverted incentive of central planning and an all encroaching government.”

I dug around and found the original story from CBCNews/Canada

“CN internal documents obtained by CBC News show that the company had agreed to flip the shipments back and forth across the border using its rail lines and tunnels 24 times without unloading any cargo. This garnered CN $2.6 million.”

Here’s the followup piece from CBCNews/Canada

“CBC News received several tips after a recent story about a company shipping the same load of biodiesel back and forth by CN Rail at a cost of $2.6 million in the summer of 2010. It turns out the shipments were part of a deal by a Toronto-based company, which made several million dollars importing and exporting the fuel to exploit a loophole in a U.S. green energy program.”

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Another victory against ObamaCare. May it die from a thousand such cuts.

From TheFreeBeacon

“Another business won temporary relief Thursday from the Obamacare mandate to provide contraception against its religious convictions, bringing the total number of injunctions against the mandate to 10.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted Triune Health Group preliminary injunctive relief against the mandate.

Triune’s owners, Christopher and Mary Anne Yep, are “ardent and faithful adherents of the Roman Catholic religion” who object to the government forcing them to purchase insurance “for drugs and services to which they object based on their religious convictions,” according to the court’s two-page decision.”

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Why are Economists united in their dislike for the fiscal cliff deal?

Ummmmm…….. ‘Cuz it stinks? Yep, final answer. And no, I’m not an economist. But I could play one on TV.  😉

From Time.com

“One of the truths revealed by the debate over the fiscal cliff is that lawmakers in Washington are in bitter disagreement over the cause of and solution to our economic malaise. There is the Keynesian camp, which believes that the economy is being hindered by a general lack of demand, and that the government needs to spend more in order to get the economy going again. Then there is a faction of economists — let’s call them the uncertainty hawks — who believe that businesses and individuals would be more willing to make the investments necessary to spur economic growth if they had a clearer idea of future tax bills and government spending levels. And finally there are the deficit hawks, who believe economic growth is being hampered by large federal deficits and debt, and that the best way to encourage economic growth is to shrink the deficit, mostly through reducing government spending.

With the recent deal over the fiscal cliff, however, a strange thing happened: Despite the fact that many of these camps’ ideas are in direct opposition with one another, the final deal ended up satisfying nobody — causing economists across the ideological spectrum to declare the deal a dud.”

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread, so your choice.

🙂

Here’s a couple to start off with.

Would I find this shocking? No.

In fact, I seem to remember mentioning it before. They don’t deserve the influence they wield with this admin.

From TheInvestigativeProject

“An Egyptian magazine claims that six American Islamist activists who work with the Obama administration are Muslim Brotherhood operatives who enjoy strong influence over U.S. policy.

The Dec. 22 story published in Egypt’s Rose El-Youssef magazine (read an IPT translation here) suggests the six turned the White House “from a position hostile to Islamic groups and organizations in the world to the largest and most important supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The story is largely unsourced, but its publication is considered significant in raising the issue to Egyptian readers.

The six named people include: Arif Alikhan, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for policy development; Mohammed Elibiary, a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council; Rashad Hussain, the U.S. special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference; Salam al-Marayati, co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC); Imam Mohamed Magid, president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); and Eboo Patel, a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships.”

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Here comes the nonsense. And from where else but the elected officials of the state that’s got the murder capital of the US. “Cuz they’re experts at preventing gun violence.

From FoxNews

“Illinois Senate Democrats advanced legislation late Wednesday to restrict  semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, pressing forward with new gun  control measures in the waning days of the session over the objections of  firearms groups.

Amid the developments, the Illinois State Rifle Association issued an “urgent  alert” to its members warning them that Democratic legislators were trying to  push through last-minute anti-gun legislation.

“There would be no exemptions and no grandfathering,” the group stated in its  alert. “You would have a very short window to turn in your guns to the state  police and avoid prosecution.””

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OK wait. 1 more. I just have to.

Pay your fair share Al! Don’t be a hypocrite.

From theNYTimes

“Al Jazeera on Wednesday announced a deal to take over Current TV, the low-rated cable channel that was founded by Al Gore, a former vice president, and his business partners seven years ago. Al Jazeera plans to shut Current and start an English-language channel, which will be available in more than 40 million homes, with newscasts emanating from both New York and Doha, Qatar.

For Al Jazeera, which is financed by the government of Qatar, the acquisition is a coming of age moment. A decade ago, Al Jazeera’s flagship Arabic-language channel was reviled by American politicians for showing videotapes from Al Qaeda members and sympathizers. Now the news operation is buying an American channel, having convinced Mr. Gore and the other owners of Current that it has the journalistic muscle and the money to compete head-to-head with CNN and other news channels in the United States.

Al Jazeera did not disclose the purchase price, but people with direct knowledge of the deal pegged it at around $500 million, indicating a $100 million payout for Mr. Gore, who owned 20 percent of Current. Mr. Gore and his partners were eager to complete the deal by Dec. 31, lest it be subject to higher tax rates that took effect on Jan. 1, according to several people who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. But the deal was not signed until Wednesday.”

What’s news today?

There’s lots of interesting stuff today, so let’s get to it.

Boehner’s last day as Speaker? From CNSNews

“I have confirmed with a group of Congressmen that House Speaker John Boehner will not be reelected Speaker tomorrow.

He will either resign or be forced out tomorrow.”

Also, from HotAir

“Ah well. A member of Boehner’s team tells NRO they’re in touch with caucus members and not worried about the vote. Read Joel Pollak’s piece at Breitbart last week to see why. When push comes to shove, there’s no reason to think anyone else would do a better job of uniting moderates and tea partiers or getting Obama to agree to serious deficit reduction except maybe Paul Ryan, and he’s the last person who wants Boehner’s job now.”

“Update: A friend with a Democratic source on the Hill says his source has heard the rumor about Boehner too and hints that Democrats might vote for him as Speaker tomorrow if his election appears to be in jeopardy. The thinking is that if the GOP dumps Boehner, it might remove some of their fingerprints from the fiscal cliff deal that just passed and Democrats don’t want that. Plus, they’d rather deal with the devil they know than the devil they don’t. There are no potential successors who’d be more agreeable than Boehner is. But this is all premised on him going forward with his nomination as Speaker even if he can’t secure a majority of the GOP caucus. Unlikely.”

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More on the Tax Cut That’s Not, aka The Fiscal Cliff Deal.

From Bloomberg

“The budget deal passed by the U.S. Senate today would raise taxes on 77.1 percent of U.S. households, mostly because of the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington.

More than 80 percent of households with incomes between $50,000 and $200,000 would pay higher taxes. Among the households facing higher taxes, the average increase would be $1,635, the policy center said. A 2 percent payroll tax cut, enacted during the economic slowdown, is being allowed to expire as of yesterday.”

Only in Washington is this considered a success. And in 2 months, this manufactured crisis again rears it’s ugly head, because they didn’t fix anything.

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The Supreme’s will have to decide this one, especially since we have now have conflicting judgements.

From TheHill

“A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt on the Obama administration’s birth-control coverage policy for Tom Monaghan, the Catholic billionaire who founded Domino’s Pizza.

Federal District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff issued the decision Sunday, less than two days before the policy would have taken effect and exposed Monaghan to fines for non-compliance.

“Plaintiff has shown that abiding by the mandate will substantially burden his exercise of religion,” Zatkoff wrote.”

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This one isn’t shocking at all. From Reuters

“The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, indicating that more people may purchase one after the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.

The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks – about a 39 percent rise.

The latest monthly figure was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.86 million checks.”

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Here’s another interesting read on the subject of gun control.

From PJMedia

“‘Gun Control Fails,’ Say Statistics from … Gun-Control Advocates”

“I personally believed in civilian disarmament until an acquaintance in law enforcement challenged my gun-banner’s assumptions with questions and points I could not rebut. This began a research journey limited only by my decision to exclude any data cited by the NRA. At the time, I was convinced only caring people like the Brady Campaign would present the truth.

Surprisingly (to me, at the time), I found no dataset proving civilian disarmament made anybody safer.”

Do note: all data cited below are from sources supportive of gun control.”

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What’s news today?

This is an open thread, so you tell me.

The joke that is the fiscal cliff deal continues to be the big story I guess.

Only in Congress can they screw up, not do their job in the first place, and then act as if we face a catastrophe of monumental proportions if we don’t act fast. Maybe do your job right the first time, and add a permanent fix, and this rush wouldn’t be necessary. But this is Congress, so I guess that’s asking too much.