The world markets are in meltdown. The next few months will be very ugly.

On October 6, 2011, Medea Benjamin, head of radical anti-war group Code Pink, told MRCTV’s Joe Schoffstall at ‘Occupy DC’ in Freedom Plaza that unions are not behind the formation of the recent demonstrations, despite the SEIU’s Stephen Lerner being one of the people behind the initial ‘Day of Rage’.

On August 19, The Blaze reported the following on Lerner:

“Now, the US Day of Rage protests, staged by a collective of activist groups allegedly in conjunction with Lerner and Rathke, are planning the actual “occupation” of Wall Street September 17, complete with a tent city set smack-dab in the middle of Manhattan’s financial district.  Similar protests are purportedly set to take place across the nation — and even world — at the same time. Some Day of Rage organizers are even calling on activists to squat in Manhattan’s financial district for months at a time.”

When asked about the SEIU organizer, Benjamin- whose organization is supporting the demonstrations- said he was not part of it and the likes of Van Jones and Stephen Lerner did not want to even touch it, despite Van Jones promising an ‘October Offensive’ and progressive uprising. Jones held a rally outside of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on October 5, 2011.

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The following is a transcript of audio recorded in the secret underground lair of Sec. of State Hillary Clinton. Due to the seditious nature of the conversation between Ms. Clinton and several top Democratic strategists, many Bothans died to give us this information.

HILLARY:  I announce next week. What’s my rationale for opposing Obama while hedging my bets and remaining Secretary of Stasis?

HOWARD WOLFSON:  No rationale is necessary, Excellency. This is about a woman’s right to choose.

HILLARY:  Correct. The decision to contend is between me and my spin doctor.

PAUL BEGALA:  You’ll alienate the black vote if you attack Obama, Mistress.

HILLARY:  How do I campaign without criticizing him?

ANN LEWIS:  Go positive, your Majesty. Commend his Muslim roots, his readiness to nuke Pakistan if he’s disrespected, his “Buy American” initiative encouraging drug cartels to shop here for their arms needs.  You’ll appear generous while planting doubts.

HILLARY:  Wonderful!  He rejects my “compliments,” he looks petty. Serpenthead?

JAMES CARVILLE:  Exalted One, reach out to our loyal media familiars to push this meme — under Obama, the poor may be obese and own iPads and SUVs, but their children are still going to bed hungry. (more…)

I received an email from Congressman Raúl R. Labrador’s office today, with a letter attached that began thus: “Today, Idaho First Congressional District Congressman Raúl R. Labrador called for the resignation of United States Attorney General Eric Holder after evidence of discrepancies in his previous testimony before the House Committee on the Judiciary was brought to light.”

The letter is dated October 6, 2011.

In the body of the letter, Congressman Labrador wrote pointedly:

“The Attorney General of the United States has an obligation to provide truthful and accurate testimony to Congress. When Attorney General Eric Holder testified before Congress on May 3, his statements were either untrue or deliberately misleading.  It is clear from recently-released documents that Mr. Holder did in fact know about Fast and Furious well before he publicly admitted.  Attorney General Holder has a troubling pattern of failed cooperation with the legislative branch. Because of this intentional stonewalling and his misleading testimony, I now call for Mr. Holder’s resignation.  It is clear he has not been honest about the extent of his involvement with the failed Fast and Furious program and should not be entrusted with managing the Department of Justice.“

When coupled with Congressman Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) call for a Special Counsel to investigate Holder’s statements before Congress, Labrador’s demand for Holder’s resignation may indicate that the tide has turned and that justice is being pursued regarding Fast and Furious.

Of course, President Obama is still a mile behind the curve on this one, and he’s still trying to give the impression that he believes Holder was honest with his answers to the House Oversight Committee on May 3.

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On September 17th, the first day of “OccupyWallStreet” the organization posted a call for revolution on its website. Among its “action items”:

And so we call on people to act

1. We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.
2. We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.
3. We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.
4. We call for the organization of people’s assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.
5. We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.

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From The Washington Post:

Under Silver’s leadership, the program grew to be the largest project finance effort in the United States. He headed both a $70 billion dollar investment program in alternative energy and a $20 billion investment program in advanced automotive technology.

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight Subcommittee is investigating a range of issues surrounding the federal government’s loan guarantee to Solyndra, including the fact that DOE officials learned the company was violating its loan deal and subsequently changed the loan terms so that it could continue receiving taxpayer funds.

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While it is an open question whether Obama and BigLabor created the #Occupy anarchy spilling out around the country or are simply trying to co-opt it for the upcoming campaign, its clear that something is a foot. Past attempts to create a leftist alternative to the mainstream tea party movement included the Coffee Party (apparently decaffeinated) and the non-sensical “No Labels” party. Those efforts didn’t even make it past one news cycle.

So, rather than risk going into the next election without an energized base, ObamaBigLabor have gone back to the reliable well of extreme leftist radicals. Sure, they are few in number, and a bit crazy-even by leftist standards-but, if enough rank-and-file union members can be convinced to join them, the media will lend a hand and make it all seem very reasonable and mainstream.  With enough media support, the American public may not even appreciate the true radicalism of this new ‘movement’ until after Obama is reelected.

So, as part of our ongoing public service, BigGovernment thought we’d revisit some of the early days of the current ‘anarchy.’ You see, the current protests began to be planned around June. Coincidentally, this was around the same time that Richard Trumpka, big boss of the AFL-CIO said this to Salon:

What you’re about to see is, we’re going to do a full-time, around the calendar political program that’s going to be mobilizing and educating people 12 months a year, 24 months a cycle, as opposed to doing it till Election Day and dismantling it.

And,

We’re going to try to get back on every campus out there, start a debate about how we change the country, how we change the economy. We’re bringing young people in and not saying, here’s what we can do for you, but tell us what you need us to do for you?

And no, this is not your ordinary union organizing campaign.

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Regarding our country’s current fiscal issues, Republicans are right to draw a line in the sand. We have an obligation to say “no” to tax increases that do nothing to either stem or support the profligate, big-government spending favored by the Democrats. Unchecked government spending is a road that, if traveled, will further plunge our nation into economic anemia due to massive debt and uncontrollable entitlements. This malaise, Democrats will argue, may only be solved by “redistributing wealth” through back-breaking tax increases that will erode the spirit and principles that distinguish our country, leaving only a shadow of its past greatness. That is what is at stake; the stakes have never been higher.

Conservatives cannot allow Republican lawmakers to soften or defect on the party’s fundamental principles, or worse, align with those who are diametrically opposed to everything the GOP stands for:  free enterprise, reasonable taxes, limited government and tort reform. Yes, tort reform — and here’s why.

Ignoring tort reform has been devastating to taxpayers, the economy and American business. The U.S. is the most litigious nation in the world; it weakens us competitively and lessens respect for America’s legal system in the eyes of the world. The question isn’t how this critical issue fell from our sightlines to the sidelines. The question is: Why have we permitted trial lawyers to worm their way into our ranks to undermine GOP priorities and the party itself?

In state capitols across the country, there are legislators who proclaim to be conservatives yet block lawsuit reform. A look at just a few states quickly reveals several examples of Republicans who align with personal injury lawyers. (more…)

From Reuters:

President Barack Obama launched a broad onslaught against banks on Thursday, tapping into public anger over rising fees to garner populist support ahead of his 2012 re-election campaign.

Obama, a Democrat who is pressing his case for re-election with unemployment stuck above 9 percent, said his Republican opponents’ primary plan to boost the economy involved rolling back financial reforms his administration fought to pass.

Obama spoke at a White House news conference after thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators protested at New York’s financial district and in several U.S. cities this week against economic inequality and the power of U.S. financial institutions.

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If you were to pile Hollywood’s most talented black actors, actresses, and singers into a room, many of them would echo the same sentiment towards the Tea Party movement — that they are, in effect, little more than a fringe racist organization.

It was Samuel L. Jackson most recently who, while entertaining children at a “Reach Out and Read” benefit that featured other well-known thespians such as Julianne Moore and John C. Reilly, decided to follow in the footsteps of the Congressional Black Caucus, all while chatting up a reporter for the New Yorker:

While we were on the subject, we asked Jackson if he agreed with fellow thespian Morgan Freeman, who caused something of a ruckus recently after he claimed that the tea party is racist. “It’s pretty obvious what they are,” Jackson told us. “The division of the country is not about the government having too much power. I think everything right now is geared toward getting that guy out of office, whatever that means,” he said, echoing Freeman. “It’s not politics. It is not economics. It all boils down to pretty much to race. It is a shame.”

Of course, Jackson did not simply come out and say what he believes. Apparently, he was one of only two beings (the other his shadow) that hadn’t been informed of the “N-head” controversy (if it can even be viewed as such) of Republican hopeful Rick Perry. Jackson made it abundantly clear that he was convinced the “shock rock” (as a close associate referred to it) wouldn’t affect Perry negatively. After all, “He’s a Republican and this is America”. You see, Mr. Jackson not only believes that Republicans are inherently racist, but that the same holds true for the entirety of the United States. That is what the real shame is. (more…)

The EPA has justified much of its job-killing regulatory agenda by citing promises of improved public health and reduced health care costs to treat respiratory illnesses it claims are exacerbated by airborne pollution. They’ve even recruited advocacy groups like the American Lung Association to publicly endorse the rules.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

However, the medical community remains unconvinced.  Medical professionals and U.S. Reps. Paul Broun, Larry Bucshon, Michael Burgess, Bill Cassidy, John Fleming, Phil Gingrey and Paul Gosar have written a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging her to delay implementation of the proposed Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology rule (MACT), which imposes stringent new standards on coal-fueled power plants.

Why this particular policy? Well, the Utility MACT rule is expected to cause widespread shutdowns of power plants across the country.  The letter signers state that the proposed rule will actually hurt public health by raising electricity prices and thus health care costs, therefore negating any supposed longer-term health benefits.

From the letter:

We ask that the EPA take into account the direct and indirect costs associated with the proposed rule and withdraw the rule until we can be assured of its positive contribution to public health…

It is well established that additional costs placed upon the healthcare and economic sectors of our country may actually damage public health and raise premature death rates.  Given the extremely high cost of the Utility MACT proposal – perhaps the most expensive in the Agency’s history – we ask that the EPA take into account the direct and indirect costs associated with the proposed rule and withdraw the rule until we can be assured of its positive contribution to public health.  The American public deserves no less.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Scott Conroy to discuss yesterday’s blockbuster announcement by Sarah Palin that she will run for President. We’ll ask Scott what the fallout will be in the rest of the GOP field, how Iowa looks with her out of the race, and what Rick Perry’s $17 million haul will mean for his campaign.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Buy Sarah from Alaska: The Sudden Rise and Brutal Education of a New Conservative Superstar on Amazon
BREAKING NEWS: SARAH PALIN’S 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT
Sarah Palin 2012 decision: Not running
Regarding Sarah Palin: “Tell ‘Em You’re With Tina Fey”
Iowa Still Wide Open for GOP Field
Rick Perry Campaign Raises More Than $17 Million in 49 Days
Erick Erickson: Remember Journolist? Why In God’s Name Is The GOP Consenting to Let a Journolist Member Moderate a Debate?

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From the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight:

ATF_10-04-11_Holder_memo_docs

Senator Chuck Grassley and Congressman Darrell Issa today said that Attorney General Eric Holder received at least five weekly memos beginning in July 2010, including four weeks in a row, describing the ill-advised strategy known as Operation Fast and Furious. The memos were to Holder from Michael Walther, the director of the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The Attorney General told Issa during a House Judiciary Committee in May 2011 that he had just learned of Fast and Furious a few weeks before. Yet, on January 31, in a previously scheduled meeting, Grassley personally handed him two letters about Fast and Furious. Grassley and Issa said they find it very troubling that Holder actually knew of Operation Fast and Furious much earlier, and in greater detail than he ever let on.

The memos specifically said that the straw buyers were “responsible for the purchase of 1500 firearms that were then supplied to Mexican drug trafficking cartels.”

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Heard this great joke the other day.

E-Mails: OMB Staffers Joked About Solyndra Bilking Tax Payers

Are you laughing, yet? They are, I trust you realize, still laughing at you. Don’t get mad, get even. Take our country back in 2012 and put some of these clowns out of a job. We’ll see who’s laughing, then.

Nevada has announced its caucus date. With other dates to be announced, New Hamphire law stipulates that its primary remain the first in the nation. It’s unclear what if any ramifications that may present. Iowa, also a caucus, has generally preceded NH by one week. I would say Election 2012 can’t get here fast enough, but it may be getting here even faster, soon. Stay tuned.

The Nevada Republican Party announced Wednesday that it will hold its presidential caucus on Jan. 14, likely pushing the first votes of the 2012 election cycle into 2011.

Microsoft is reportedly considering a bid for Yahoo, which recently did a content deal with ABC.

BusinessInsider has a round-up of all things Steve Jobs and Apple.

Democrats have tossed a White House tax proposal for another. With luck, the words “toss, Democrat” and “White House” will feature prominently in the headlines of 2012.

Senate Democrats, divided over how to pay for President Obama’s jobs plan, Wednesday tossed out the White House tax proposals and replaced them with one of their own: a tax increase on millionaires. Obama’s plan to increase taxes on individuals earning more than $200,000 and joint filers making more than $250,000 was highly unpopular among some Democrats.

Senate Dems are planning a committee vote today to recommend Richard Cordray as the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If you think debit card fees are annoying, wait until Cordray takes on the near-limitless powers of the fed’s newest bureaucracy. Like Elizabeth Warren, he’s a lefty, but one with deep ties to the trial bar.

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Even as the Obama administration postures on behalf of deficit reduction and job creation, it continues to advance policies that undermine energy production in the Gulf region and lower federal revenue, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) has pointed out in his correspondence with top officials in Washington D.C.

Most recently, in a letter addressed to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael Bromwich, warned of a severe revenue fall off attached to declining energy lease sales.

“Under the Obama administration’s management, revenue from our offshore lease sale program has gone from $10 billion to nothing in just three years,” Vitter said. “Revenue cannot be generated from sales that do not happen, and jobs cannot be created on leases that private industry cannot acquire. We’re in a severe fiscal crisis and we’re facing significant economic challenges related to job creation, yet the administration continues to neglect our offshore resources.”

In fiscal year (FY) 2008 revenue from bonus bids on offshore leases was approximately $10 billion, but for FY 2011 that amount is down to $0, according to Vitter’s letter. “Revenue cannot be generated from lease sales that do not occur, and jobs cannot be created on leases that private industry cannot acquire,” he continued.

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From Politico:

More Americans than ever say they disapprove of how President Barack Obama is handling his job, a new poll shows.

A majority of voters — 55 percent — told Quinnipiac University they don’t like how Obama is doing his job. That’s an all-time low for Obama, according to pollsters. Just 41 percent approve of the job the president is doing.

“The trend isn’t good for President Barack Obama,” Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a press release. “His disapproval has gone up 9 points since the summer, from 46 percent in July to 52 percent in September to 55 percent today.”

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Steve Jobs personified capitalism and free markets in as pure and beautiful a way as the world has seen in the modern generation of industrial giants. His pursuit of excellence — his passion to make Apple the best and most profitable company it could be — enriched the lives of untold millions.

Jobs set a new standard for how a personal computer should work — i.e., it should be as easy to use as nearly any other home appliance. The industry was forced to follow Jobs’ lead. His leadership in developing the iPhone completely changed the game — forcing competitors to quickly evolve beyond a device that flipped open to one that brought the entire digital world to one’s fingertips. Jobs not only put the word ‘apps’ into our shared lexicon, but — against betting odds — made app-interface the present and future of digital media consumption.

And, under Jobs’ leadership, Apple developed the iPad — the industry standard for the modern tablet. Not long ago, people sneered and snickered at the name, iPad — and boldly predicted the failure of Apple’s big gamble. What fool would dare to try to establish a middle ground between a smart phone and laptop when none yet existed? Steve Jobs dared. He created a new market, out of thin air, and welcomed tens of millions of happy customers to Apple for his efforts.

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The Michigan Education Association announced this week that a public poll it funded reveals that Michigan residents agree with the union’s take on pending education reforms.

The EPIC/MRA survey results also show that respondents don’t think too much of Gov. Rick Snyder, state Republican lawmakers or their education agenda.

The MEA must think Michiganders are either really stupid or really gullible. Perhaps worse, the media fell for the ruse.

Michigan media fell for the poll equivalent of a whoopie cushion

Consider the lead in to a question posed to those surveyed by the union earlier this month:

“Opponents of legislation to allow local public school districts to outsource teaching services say teachers hired by private companies will not have the experience of those who work for local public school districts, nor the commitment or loyalty to the district or students. Also, they will probably be paid much less and have inferior health insurance and other benefits. That will only force longtime teachers to leave the profession or seek employment elsewhere, with private companies keeping the leftover profits. Knowing this, do you favor or oppose legislation to allow local public school districts to outsource instructional teaching services? [IF FAVOR/OPPOSE, ASK] Would that be strongly or somewhat?”

It’s no wonder the majority answered in opposition. Public opinion surveys with such leading questions are known as push-polls, and are designed to solicit specific responses. College freshman learn that in Political Science 101.

What baffles us is why any self-respecting journalist would buy into this ridiculously tainted survey. Unfortunately, several did.

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One of the key attorneys in the Pigford “black farmers” lawsuit has confirmed, on camera, what we at Big Government have argued for months: that the $2.7 billion Pigford settlement has been corrupted by fraud on a massive scale.

On September 23, 2011, at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., attorney Faya Rose Toure (a.k.a. Rose Sanders) described a conspiracy to defraud the federal government, involving claimants, attorneys, and members of the clergy.

The original Pigford plaintiffs were black farmers who sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture for racial discrimination.

Sanders related how class-action lawyers later recruited claimants by sending representatives to black churches, where they allegedly told congregants that they were eligible for “reparations,” even if they had never farmed.

Sanders’s claims were at least partially corroborated at the press conference by Gary Grant, President of the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association, who indicated that he knew of the involvement of preachers in Pigford-related fraud.

What Sanders reveals in the clip below ought to be enough to cause the supervising judge, Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to suspend the settlement process.

It ought to be enough to prompt the FBI to re-open investigations into the lawyers and organizations involved.

It ought to be enough to encourage Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to fire up his magic investigation machine, and start issuing subpoenas–not just regarding the Pigford settlement, but also the Obama-created settlements for women, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino famers who are alleging discrimination.

Watch the clip, then I’ll take you through some of the points that Pigford attorney Sanders is making.

And so after all of that, they are now accusing the farmers of fraud. There is a problem. There are people who are out there hustling, and taking advantage of black farmers. And some of them are our people. They are the ones that are misleading the people, making them believe they are in the lawsuit, making them believe they are eligible. I actually went to a meeting in Alabama, where these white lawyers from Texas had hired–you were there [“Yes, maʼam. And they're still calling me and trying to get me to fraud.”]–hired black people, hired black people to go into all these black churches and they literally told black people: “Oh, you didn’t have to farm. It doesn’t matter if your grandfather never farmed. If you ever thought about farming, youʼre eligible for this lawsuit.” So these people are thinking this is more of a like reparations-type lawsuit. They donʼt know any better. So when they sign up, they just donʼt know. But the government is determined to prosecute [them], and to limit this process, and that is something I think we need to be outraged about. I think we need to somehow get to the NAACP, and I have talked to the NAACP–we’ve got to have a coalition. We–frankly speaking, we’ve got to get away from some of our differences, because our needs are greater than our differences…

Let’s start at the beginning. (more…)