CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Obama’s small business rubber stamp not so good at paying taxes, debts

In revelations that would be comical if they weren’t so predictable (and true), President Obama’s top small business advocate really is keeping it consistent with the administration he backs.

Small Business Majority President and CEO John Arensmeyer has frequently been trotted all over the place as a small business advocate supportive of the president’s agenda and policy goals. In a Huffington Post piece last year Arensmeyer advocated for higher taxes, writing "of course, nobody likes paying taxes, but we have a grave budget crisis on our hands."

Then there's this video segment in which Arensmeyer pushed support for an online sales tax. Note his advocating that everyone pay their fair share:

That’s funny considering Arensmeyer himself has had frequent problems when it comes to paying his own taxes, via The Washington Examiner:

Federal records show, for example, that from 2005 to 2009 Arensmeyer's group failed to file mandatory IRS 990 tax returns, even though donor records show Small Business Majority got at least $1.4 million in 2008 and 2009. Failure to file 990's for three consecutive years can result in the forfeiture of a group's tax-exempt status.

So, his vehicle for advocating that everyone else pay their fair share hasn’t been paying its fair share all along? It doesn’t stop there:

Marin County, Calif., court records show four tax liens on Arensmeyer Communications between 1999 and 2001, totaling more than $66,000. A fifth tax lien against Arensmeyer's firm was filed by the Illinois Department of Revenue in 1999 for $4,011.58. Arensmeyer filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007 to erase $211,000 in largely personal debt. The self-professed small business advocate even stiffed a struggling Pennsylvania small business, costing the owner $20,000.

Costing real small business owners thousands of dollars while racking up tax liens? All in a day’s work for someone who seems to think the Obama agenda actually helps small business.

The report exposing Arensmeyer goes on to note that he’s managed to also attend 17 White House functions, including but not limited to a South Lawn event with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Seems you can do whatever you want as long as you support the Obama agenda.

Gov. Chris Christie signs gay conversion therapy ban

New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie has signed legislation barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight.

According to the Associated Press, in a signing note Christie said the health risks of trying to change a child's sexual orientation outweigh concerns over the government setting limits on parental choice:

Government should tread carefully into this area and I do so here reluctantly.

However, I also believe that on the issues of medical treatment for children we must look to experts in the field to determine the relative risks and rewards. I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate.

According to CNN, Christie, a Catholic, Christie has stated his opposition to gay conversion therapy and in an interview on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" said he did not think homosexuality is a sin:

Well, my religion says it's a sin. But for me, I don't. I've always believed that people are born with the predisposition to be homosexual. And so, I think if someone is born that way, it's very difficult to say then that that's a sin. But I understand that my church says that.

Christie is wrong about the teachings of his own religion. Catholicism teaches that homosexual acts are a sin, not homosexuality.

New Jersey will be the second state to ban gay conversion therapy. California passed a similar ban last year, but the law became mired in litigation before it went into effect over whether the ban violates the First Amendment rights of therapists and parents.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put the law on hold in December, held hearings on the litigation in April and still hasn't issued a decision.

This move by the "centrist" Christie seems part of his strategy to run to the left of other potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates. Cristie's move to the left is also evidenced by his recent support for medical marijuana for ill children.

 

 

Scott Brown will visit Iowa to see if there is any intereset in President Brown

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts will be in Iowa on Sunday to, among other things, size up whether Iowans might be interested in a President Brown.

Brown told The Des Moines Register, "I’m going to be coming out more often to try to determine whether there’s an interest in my brand of leadership and Republicanism." Brown had a few things to say when asked about his presidential ambitions:

I think a lot of people today, they live in a bubble. They live in their home state and they don’t leave their comfort zone or try to expand their knowledge or understanding of what’s happening around the rest of the country or in the rest of the world, in some instances.

I want to understand the challenges and the opportunities and the aspirations of the people in the Midwest and how they view us and vice versa. I want to see if there’s interest in my brand of politics, being a strong national security hawk and a fiscal conservative. The way I see it, hey, there’s plenty of room for people in the party like me and Sarah Palin and Rand Paul and Chris Christie, yet we’re always attacking each other for not fitting some ideologically pure mold.

[. . .]

When it comes to the social issues, I find great people on both sides of the issue. I want to keep an open mind and find a balanced way to solve the issues.

Brown has a good story -- state legislative experience, U.S. Senate experience and 34 years of military experience. There was a Harper presidential poll last December in which Brown garnered 3%.

Maybe I'm being harsh, but I think Brown is a bit premature. He should run for, and win, either the U.S. Senate again or governor of Massachusetts in 2014. He has yet to decide about either of those races.

Support for Defunding Obamacare

Friday I spoke with WBYZ 94.5 Radio's Wild Bill McKubby about my recent article, "The people support defunding ObamaCare."

During the interview we discussed the findings of  the new Basswood Research poll conducted for Heritage action which found broad support for defunding ObamaCare including:

• Likely voters support defunding 57%-34%.
• Independents, support for defunding 57%-34%, exactly mirroring the result in the overall sample.
• A large majority, 77% favor either a slow down in implementation or an outright repeal.
• Just 42% of Democrats fully embrace ObamaCare and 17% favoring repeal.
• The poll was conducted in ten Republican-leaning but not safe-Republican Congressional districts -- six presently held by Republicans and four by Democrats resulting in a sample fairly representative of the nation.
• If President Obama forces a government shutdown over the defunding of ObamaCare the blame would be share.
• Republicans should be much more concerned with the fallout of failing to defund ObamaCare than with the imaginary fallout of doing so. The poll found that a majority would be less likely to support the reelection efforts of House members who voted to continue ObamaCare funding while 48 percent said they’d be more likely to support a member who did "everything" they could to slow down implementation of the law.
• How unhelpful it is for Congress to accept the special deal enabling Members of Congress and their staff will be exempted from the impact of ObamaCare.
• The need to be careful about the rhetoric used during the defunding debate

You can listen to the interview in the following YouTube:

Thanks to Wild Bill for having me on the show.

Liz Cheney calls on Enzi to return special ObamaCare subsidy

Yesterday, Republican Senate Candidate Liz Cheney called on Senator Mike Enzi to commit to return his taxpayer-funded ObamaCare subsidy to the U.S. Treasury and to convince his Senate colleagues to do so, as well.

Tuesday, Cheney called on Senator Mike Enzi and other elected officials to renounce special treatment that they will now receive under ObamaCare.

As we previously reported, two weeks ago President Obama went to Capital Hill to meet with Democrat Senators who were begging to be let out from under ObamaCare. And now we know that because of an extra-legal and special deal all the Members of Congress and their staff will be exempted from the impact of ObamaCare.

The Office of Personnel Management issued a ruling that enables Members of Congress and their staffs to buy health insurance coverage in the new ObamaCare exchanges and use the large ($5000 per individual and $11,000 per family), tax-free subsidy that they receive for their current health coverage to pay for their new ObamaCare coverage.

According to the Casper Star-Tribune, Enzi’s camp responded that he doesn’t support special treatment for lawmakers. And yesterday, in an interview, Enzi answered Cheney by saying he’s been trying to defund and dismantle ObamaCare since 2009 and will continue to do so.

It's hard not to notice that Enzi failed to commit to return his special ObamaCare subsidy that is not available to his constituents.

This special treatment for Congress reminds me of the days before the Republican's Contract with America when many laws did not apply to congress. The first reform promised by and accomplished pursuant to the Contract with America was to require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress. Perhaps the current Congress has forgotten that they should be treated like other citizens and not remain a privileged elite, immune from the consequences of the very laws they imposed on the rest of the country.

Cheney has  also launched an online petition, No More Special Deals for Congress. It urges Senator Mike Enzi and the other elected federal officials to renounce the special deal that members of Congress and their staffs are now getting under ObamaCare. The petition can be accessed here.

If you are inclined to sign Cheney's petition, I encourage you to consider sign the Don't Fund ObamaCare petition we previously mentioned here.

The people support defunding ObamaCare

A new Heritage Action poll finds broad support for defunding ObamaCare:

• Likely voters support defunding 57%-34%. 
• Among those with strong opinions on either side, those who “strongly support” defunding outnumbered those who “strongly oppose” defunding by a 41%-22% margin, signifying much greater intensity among opponents of the law. 
• Independents, support for defunding 57%-34%, exactly mirroring the result in the overall sample.
• A large majority, 77% favor either a slow down in implementation or an outright repeal.
• Just 42% of Democrats fully embrace ObamaCare, with 36% agreeing that it should be slowed down, and 17% favoring repeal.
• Only 5% of Republicans and 17% of Independents favor proceeding with ObamaCare fully and without changes.

The poll was conducted on August 7-8, 2013, by Basswood Research in ten Republican-leaning but not safe-Republican Congressional districts -- six presently held by Republicans and four by Democrats:

Steve Southerland, R (FL-2)
Aaron Schock, R (IL-18)
Leonard Lance, R (NJ-7)
Renee Ellmers, R (NC-2)
Patrick Tiberi, R (OH-12)
Greg Walden, R (OR-2)
John Barrow, D (GA-12)
Mike McIntyre, D (NC-7)
Jim Matheson, D (UT-4)
Nick Rahall, D (WV-3)

Only 20% of voters in these districts support going forward with ObamaCare unchanged. 

By a two to one margin (60%-29%), voters approve of a temporary slowdown in nonessential federal government operations, which still left all essential government services running.

More encouraging for defunding supporters is that the potential of President Obama forcing a partial government shutdown over defunding ObamaCare will not be blamed solely on Republicans. Thirty-three percent would blame "Republicans in Congress" or "The TEA Party," 41% would blame "Democrats in Congress" or "President Obama," and 17% would blame "all of them." Independents would spread the blame among groups on the Right, 36%, groups on the Left 30% and 26% would blame both.

Heritage Action for America CEO Michael A. Needham said,  "House Republicans should be much more concerned with the fallout of failing to defund ObamaCare than with the imaginary fallout of doing so."

The poll found that a majority would be less likely to support the reelection efforts of House members who voted to continue ObamaCare funding while 48 percent said they’d be more likely to support a member who did "everything" they could to slow down implementation of the law.

You can read the poll’s top line results here (PDF link), and the full poll and cross-tabs here (PDF link).

The poll is good news for defunding supporters such as Sen. Ted Cruz.

The Workforce Fairness Institute launches Union Boss of the Year contest

The Workforce Fairness Institute ("WFI"), an organization that works to stop big labor’s harmful encroachment on the workplace, has launched its Union Boss of the Year contest.

Every few days, WFI will add a Union Boss of the Year contestant on its Facebook page. You can vote for your favorite boss by liking and sharing the image. The boss that gets the most shares and likes will be the WFI Union Boss of the Year.

WFI has selected some really horrific union bosses for the contest. This is an interesting way for WFI to meet its goal to educate the public on issues related to workforce fairness, and to build greater public awareness of efforts that interfere with the good employer/employee relationships that most businesses enjoy.

The first contestant is Hector Lopez, former President of Metal Polishers Union who plead guilty in federal court to a kickback scheme and tax evasion:

Lopez, 54, admitted pocketing kickbacks from a third-party administrator of the union's welfare fund, rigging the bids for a sprinkler system for the union hall so a crony would get the contract, and submitting inflated invoices for renovations to the union hall in exchange for cash.

"When I did these things I knew they were illegal," Lopez told Judge Allyne Ross.

According to the Daily News, Lopez's $148,000 salary was $40,000 more than allowed by the bylaws of the cash-strapped union. He collected a weekly $445 per diem and tooled around in a Cadillac Escalade. Lopez also resided rent-free in an Oakland Township, N.J., mansion owned by the contractor who was greasing his palm.

Instead of  looking out for the welfare of his members, Lopez stole money that intended to pay for healthcare expenses of union members and their beneficiaries.

Lopez's entry, posted Monday, has 205 likes and 137 shares,

The second contestant is Mark Rosenthal, President of Local 983 of District 37 -- New York City's largest blue-collar municipal-workers union. His entry image will be posted Wednesday.

According to the New York Post, Rosenthal "eats lunch when he arrives at work at 2 p.m. Then, like clockwork, he goes to sleep," and is usually out by 4 p.m. after being at the office two hours.

The winner of the Union Boss of the Year contest will be announced on August 28, 2013. The winning boss wins ignominy and the public hopefully wins awareness of the gross abuses of some labor bosses.

Ted Cruz urges Americans to speak out in favor of defunding ObamaCare

In his latest Freedom Minute Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) urges Americans to speak out in favor of defunding Obamacare. You can listen to the Senators call to action here:

Hi, I’m Ted Cruz and this is the Freedom Minute.

Last week, we marked the one-year anniversary of my winning the Texas Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

That victory was made possible because thousands upon thousands of grassroots activists across the state saw that the country was in trouble and stepped forward to help fix it.

Today I work for 26 million Texans, and your support is why I'm serving in office helping lead the fight to protect the Second Amendment, to secure the border, and to unshackle the free market economy.

Now we need to activate another grassroots army -- this time on a national scale.

In September, Congress will have the opportunity to defund Obamacare -- the disastrous health care law, which is killing jobs and hurting the health care system.

The only way we can win this debate is if the American people rise up and demand it. Please join us and let your representatives know where you stand.

I’m Ted Cruz and this is the Freedom Minute.

This call to action is a continuation of Senator Cruz's efforts to mobilize the grassroots to support the campaign to defund ObamaCare.

Senator Cruz made a similar appeal during his speech at the RedState Gathering in New Orleans last week. He urged people to go to the Don't Fund It.com website and sign the petition to tell Congress not to fund ObamaCare. Cruz also wants hundreds of thousands of Americans to call their Senators and members of the House and tell them to "stop saying you oppose ObamaCare and actually stand up and defund it":

"I can’t win this fight. There is no elected politician in Washington who can win this fight. The only people who can win this fight are you. The only people who can win this fight are the American people rising up in overwhelming numbers and saying, 'We want our country back.'"

Senator Cruz has also posted a video on YouTube describing how ObamaCare can be defunded, which you can watch here.

It's up to the people to stop ObamaCare

At the RedState Gathering in New Orleans on Friday, Sen. Ted Cruz called for a grassroots effort to persuade Republicans to eliminate funding for President Obama's health care law. Or as he put it, the "biggest and the most important battle 113th Congress is going to face" -- the battle to defund ObamaCare.

Senator Cruz told the gathering of Conservative activists that the best way to defund ObamaCare is with the continuing resolution needed to fund the federal government after the current continuing resolution expires on Sept. 30, 2013.

Senator Cruz and other like-minded Senators have vowed not to vote for any continuing resolution that funds ObamaCare. To be successful 41 Senators or 218 Members of the House must stand together and likewise refuse to fund ObamaCare.

Don't Blink

This is how Senator Cruz said this could work:

The House passes a continuing resolution that funds the entire federal government and includes language that explicitly prohibits spending even a penny of federal money, discretionary or mandatory, on ObamaCare.

The next step is that President Obama and Harry Reid will yell and scream that those mean Republicans are threatening to shut down the government. At that point we have to do something different than we've done before. We have to step up and win the argument.

Senator Cruz explained that those opposed to ObamaCare must tell the American people they are not shutting down the government -- they are voting to continue funding the entire federal government except for ObamaCare. They must ask why President Obama is threatening to shut down the government in order to force ObamaCare down the throats of the American people?

"Obama has been willing to grant ObamaCare waivers to giant corporations. Why is Obama threatening to shut down the government to deny that very same waiver to the hard-working families of America?"

Cruz admits that they don't yet have the 41 Senate or 218 House votes to make this work. Some Congressional Republicans are afraid to defund ObamaCare. They fear the President's big bully pulpit and that the main stream media will repeat word for word everything he says:

"So if the President says the Republicans are shutting down the government, the reporters will write that."

Senator Cruz shrugs that off. He points out that the way ObamaCare opponents can win this argument is by a grassroots mobilization of the American people. He urges people to go to the Don't Fund It.com website and sign the petition to tell Congress not to fund ObamaCare. Cruz also wants hundreds of thousands of Americans to call their Senators and members of the House and tell them to "stop saying you oppose ObamaCare and actually stand up and defund it":

"I can’t win this fight. There is no elected politician in Washington who can win this fight. The only people who can win this fight are you. The only people who can win this fight are the American people rising up in overwhelming numbers and saying, 'We want our country back.'"

This Thing Ain't Working

According to Senator Cruz, this is the best time to defund ObamaCare.

ObamaCare is unpopular:

• The always unpopular ObamaCare is more unpopular than ever.
• President Obama's campaign to sell ObamaCare to Americans has failed.
• Leading Democrats have criticized the president's incompetent implementation of ObamaCare.
• Even Democrats are giving up on ObamaCare.

Union's, Obama's most faithful allies, are jumping off the ObamaCare ship:

• James Hoffa, head of the Teamsters, wrote a letter to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying  ObamaCare is destroying the 40-hour work week that is the back bone of the middle class.
• The IRS employees' union, whose members are in charge of enforcing ObamaCare, wants out from under ObamaCare.

Last week President Obama went to Capital Hill to meet with Democrat Senators who were begging to be let out from under ObamaCare. And now we know that because of an extra-legal and special deal all the elected elite and their staff will be exempted from the impact of ObamaCare.

Last month Obama was forced to admit the failure of ObamaCare by unilaterally and lawlessly delaying the employer mandate on certain companies until after the 2014 midterm election.

As Senator Cruz notes, if  ObamaCare were a good thing, if it were working Obama would want it to be in full force before the 2014 midterm election. "The delay is a tacit admission that this thing ain't working."

Consider this a call to action. Spread the word. Only you can get ObamaCare defunded.