If Obamacare wasn't already Unconstitutional, New Measure giving congress exception makes it Un^2 Constitutional

I came across a report on TheBlaze, a network subsidiary of Mercury Studios, owned by Glen Beck.  The brief video is of Glen speaking on what is so damaging about Obama's National healthcare Bill, which later got turned into a private tax.  They had to say it was a tax because it is mandatory for all of us to pay for.

My problem stems from the creation of This forced health insurance premiums even people who have no income, will be forced to pay for healthcare, and if they choose not to, they will receive heavy fines and/or jail time.

Now for you Liberals out there that are saying things like, "Well It's just to ensure we pay for Another tax, to further cripple the economy. And Obama has just announced that Congress Agreed to be exempt from the prison state they are about to unload on us, and run away, don't let them escape. 

BEWARE!! Things Could Get Worse Real Soon

The heat is coming, the Sun, will show us the signs.



Russia, we will be okay with you coming and taking Obama with you!





Putin: Who gave NATO the right to kill Gaddafi?

MITT ROMNEY INTRODUCES PAUL RYAN AS HIS VP

These are all speaking 'in the moment' - if only Pictures could talk

Stockton, CA Filed for Bankruptcy, but What's Next?

Stockton, California files for bankruptcy

By Jim Christie
SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Jun 28, 2012 11:49pm EDT
(Reuters) - Stockton, California, became the largest city to file for bankruptcy in U.S. history on Thursday after years of fiscal mismanagement and a housing market crash left it unable to pay its workers, pensioners and bondholders.

The filing by the city of 300,000 people followed three months of confidential talks with its creditors aimed at averting bankruptcy.

"We are now a Chapter 9 debtor," Marc Levinson, the lawyer who filed the city's voluntary petition in the Eastern District of California, in Sacramento (Case 12-32118) told Reuters.

Pleadings in support of Stockton's eligibility for Chapter 9 bankruptcy will be filed on Friday, Levinson said.

Stockton, which officially declared insolvency and its desire to restructure its debt, also filed a separate list of its major unsecured creditors.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, which manages Stockton's pension plan, tops the list. The retirement system has a $147.5 million claim for unfunded pension costs.

Other top creditors include investors holding $124.3 million of Stockton's pension obligation bonds, $40.4 million of the city's variable rate demand obligations, $35.1 million of the city's public facilities fees bonds and $31.6 million of the city's parking garage debt.

Wells Fargo Bank NA is listed as the trustee for the investors.

"We are extremely disappointed that we have been unable to avoid bankruptcy," Mayor Ann Johnston said in a statement. "This is what we must do to get our fiscal house in order and protect the safety and welfare of our citizens."

Negotiations with creditors ended on Monday with Stockton failing to win enough concessions to help close its budget shortfall for the fiscal year starting on July 1. The city will also file a motion to request permission to share information from the confidential mediation process.

HEALTHCARE TO BE PHASED OUT, PENSIONS UNCHANGED

The Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing, a rare event for U.S. municipal debt issuers, was left as the only option to close a deficit of $26 million in Stockton's budget for its the new fiscal year, according to city officials.

The budget approved on Tuesday by Stockton's city council suspends $10.2 million in debt payments and cuts employee compensation and retiree benefits by $11.2 million to help close the deficit.

About $7 million in savings would come from cutting retiree medical benefits for one year.

While the retiree medical benefits will eventually be eliminated, Stockton plans to leave its public pensions unchanged while in bankruptcy proceedings. Attempts to pare them would invite long and expensive challenges.

City Manager Bob Deis said he was out of options to balance the city's budget after deep cuts in recent years to Stockton's work force. City leaders rejected further cuts to the police department as Stockton is experiencing a surge in violent crime.

The city will maintain current levels of public services, although at the cost of Stockton shedding its retiree medical program and defaulting on more of its bonds, Deis told Reuters.

Stockton has already defaulted on about $2 million in debt since February, allowing the trustee for one of its bond insurers to seize a building once slated to be its future city hall and three parking garages.

"We need to spread the pain. What's left are creditors, our bondholders and retirees," Deis said.

Stockton has suffered a sharp drop in revenue since the collapse of its once red-hot housing market, forcing it to cut more than $90 million in spending in recent years.

The housing boom transformed the farming city into a distant bedroom community of the San Francisco Bay area, and the bust put it at, or near, the top of national foreclosure rankings in recent years.

Stockton becomes the nation's most populous city to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. But Jefferson County, Alabama, remains the biggest municipal bankruptcy in terms of debt outstanding, as it had a debt load exceeding $4 billion when it filed in 2011. Stockton has about $700 million in bond debt.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded Stockton to default from selective default on Wednesday, citing the city's move toward bankruptcy and expectations that it will not substantially pay all of its obligations as they come due.

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday cut to 'Caa3' various general fund-supported debts of the city, putting the ratings in the "substantial risk" category, one notch above the "may be in default, extremely speculative" grouping. Moody's said its move was based on Stockton's bankruptcy budget.

(Reporting by Jim Christie, Hilary Russ and Joan Gralla; Editing by Tiziana Barghini and Stacey Joyce)

CalPERS says Illegal funds are now Legal?

STOCKTON - While in violation of the city charter, retirement benefits that Stockton paid for years on behalf of some elected leaders were perfectly legal according to state law, which overrides any local rules.

So representatives of the California Public Employees' Retirement System said Thursday.

Called CalPERS, the state agency manages pensions for 1.6 million public workers, including a longstanding contract with Stockton.

City leaders said they will now undertake bringing Stockton's CalPERS contract in line with its charter. Until that happens, they also will discourage any newly elected Stockton leaders from enrolling.

CalPERS already has agreed to remove from its rolls three city current elected officials - councilmen Elbert Holman and Dale Fritchen and Mayor Ann Johnston - if each so chooses. The public-pension agency will credit Stockton the funds contributed for each.

"I will disenroll," Johnston said. "Absolutely."

Fritchen said Thursday he was still fuzzy on the details. The three leaders expect a full debriefing Monday at City Hall. But Fritchen said he's intent on doing whatever is right by taxpayers.

Fritchen repeatedly has described dysfunction at City Hall, which led to the controversy, "frustrating."

"I keep saying that," he said. "I can't think of any other word."

'Click Here' To read the rest of Scott's Article

Who's enrolled

Stockton mayors and council members enrolled in the CalPERS retirement fund, and the amount the city contributed:

Mayors *Bold Denotes if official is still in office.

• Joan Darrah: $7,682.62 (collected retirement, now deceased)

• Ann Johnston: $45, 538.61 (not retired)

*Why is her dollar amount so much Higher than the rest of the people that have yet to retire? Maybe because she has been in
office longer than the City Charter's Limit. So she has almost $46,000 extra in her retirement, don't you think her "expert eye for finding the
problem" that she touts she has would've caught that amount in her should be non-existent pension??

• Gary Podesto: $7,018.43 (collecting retirement)


Council members

• Steve Bestolarides: $15,475.79 (not retired)

• Dan Chapman: $15,561.42 (not vested)

• Dale Fritchen: $12,189.52 (still accruing retirement)

• Gary Giovanetti: $8,326.68 (not vested)

• Ted Gonzales: $3,003.95 (not vested; cashed out his own money)

• Elbert Holman: $12,189.91 (still accruing retirement)

• Clem Lee: $15,622.18 (not vested)

• Leslie Martin: $23,599.99 (not retired yet)

• Sylvia Sun Minnick: $2,269.38 (collecting retirement)

• Victor Mow: $4,194.24 (collecting retirement)

• Rebecca Nabors: $15,566.89 (cashed out)

• Richard Nickerson: $4,486.29 (collecting retirement)

• Melvin Panizza: $4,297.94 (collecting retirement)

Source: City of Stockton

Right Now He's Scaring the Republican Party

Candidate: In this troubled city, inexperience a plus

By Scott Smith
Record Staff Writer
March 22, 2012 12:00 AM

STOCKTON - Gregory Pitsch has no political experience, but he believes his successes, failures and close calls as a small businessman make him a prime candidate to become the city's next mayor.

And, no, Pitsch, 26, said he's not too young to lead Stockton.

"Look at the experienced politicians, what they have done," he said. "If that's what experience gives you, we're better off with someone who's inexperienced."

Pitsch is among seven candidates seeking the city's top elected office in the most crowded mayoral race in years. The city faces staggering crime and teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.

Promoting small business and jobs is the key to turning around the city, said Pitsch, an online retailer who sells T-shirts and electronics. He also dreams of growing his small music-production company.

But running his fleeting storefront clothing business has given him a taste of how perilous it can be to work in downtown Stockton. In June last year, Pitsch said, four armed men robbed him.

One put a knife to his throat, while two others pressed pistols to his head and rib cage. They stole money he needed to pay his rent, but he was not physically hurt.

"We were trying to bring something new," he said. "It was a bad experience."

He now works from his home in Weston Ranch and makes most of his living by designing and producing screen-print T-shirts in the business that has succeeded through word-of-mouth sales, he said.

Pitsch said he has dreamed of entering politics since he was in grade school. Born in San Mateo, he graduated from East Union High School in Manteca and has attended San Joaquin Delta College.

He worked in construction until the economic downturn left him without a job. That's when Pitsch said his entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he began launching his small businesses.

"I believe people should go after the career they want," he said. "You really can be whatever you want to be."

Pitsch has been married for more than a year to his wife, Brittany, an American Sign Language interpreter at an elementary school in Manteca.

Gregory Pitsch said the only mark on his record is a driving under the influence of marijuana case at age 19. Pitsch, a medical marijuana card holder, said he learned his lesson from that experience.

Contact reporter Scott Smith at (209) 546-8296 or ssmith@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/smithblog.


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RON PAUL CAMPAIGN TO GOP: ADAPT OR DIE

I don’t agree with everything said in this story, but it does a pretty good job of putting the long term revolutionary aspects of Ron Paul’s campaign into proper context. As I’ve said before, when the 2012 elections are over, candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum will be nothing more than asterisks in the history books, while Ron Paul will remain the most important political figure of our era. Reports CBS News:

As Paul’s team will openly admit, his presidential run has doubled as an effort to advance the Libertarian movement. And on that measure, there are reasons to already view it as a success.

Start with the vote totals… Paul has consistently won more votes in the 2012 cycle than he did in his presidential run four years ago. In Ohio, he went from 49,027 votes in 2008 to 111,238 votes in 2012; in Michigan, he went from 54,434 votes four years ago to 115,712 votes in this cycle. He more than quadrupled his vote total South Carolina, tripled it in New Hampshire and doubled it in Georgia.

Throughout the campaign, Paul has attracted the sort of crowds that also-ran candidates rarely see, including the 4,600 people that turned out to see him in Champaign, Illinois, on Wednesday. Meanwhile, his passionate supporters have continued to pour money into his campaign, even as Paul’s odds of winning the nomination have gotten ever longer.

“It does seem like this is a real step forward within the Republican Party,” said John Samples, who directs the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute, a Libertarian think tank. Noting that Paul’s supporters tend to be younger and previously disengaged from the GOP, he added: “He’s reaching a new constituency, and he’s doing it in the context of a party that has concerns about the future…”

Jesse Benton, Paul’s campaign chairman, said he does see evidence that Paul’s ideas are making a difference.

“There is a big debate right now inside the Republican Party on getting out of Afghanistan,” said Benton. “Look at the monetary issue. You’ve got candidates across the country campaigning on sound money, the gold standard, auditing the Federal Reserve. You’ve got internet freedom – Republicans came together and they opposed SOPA.” Benton also pointed to GOP efforts to cut spending, though he said such efforts have not gone nearly far enough…

Benton stresses that the Paul campaign is not giving up on winning the nomination, though he concedes that Paul is not going to get the 1,144 delegates necessary to secure it before the GOP convention in August. He argues that if no candidate secures the nomination before August, Paul will ultimately triumph at the convention.

“A brokered convention is now our stated goal, and winning the nomination for Dr. Paul at said convention will require extensive politicking,” he said. “We plan to head to a Tampa with every political bullet we have loaded in our gun, ready for the convention fight…”

No matter what happens, Libertarians seem committed to moving the Republican Party toward their beliefs over the long term… Samples, of the Cato Institute, says Paul may ultimately be remembered as the man who moved the Republican party away from the George W. Bush model and into the future.

“There’s generational change going on here, and perhaps as time moves on you’ll see a different kind of Republican who’s closer to him,” he said. “And as you look back, you might say he kind of foreshadowed what happened.”

Benton’s message to the party, meanwhile, is simple: Adapt or die.

“The party’s at a crossroads,” he said. “They’re either going to start to embrace real limited constitutional government – and I think a lot of people are – or they’re really going to struggle nationally.”

“If they want to shrink this down into a little teeny tiny minority party,” he added. “They can keep catering to the neoconservatives.”

Memo to Stocktonians: 'I am What Stockton Needs'

To the citizens of Stockton,

The time is now. As citizens, there is no longer the luxury to sit back and allow our Civic leaders to blindly misdirect us. The powers that be have decided to take Stockton for a ride, a really bumpy ride. While a few people are active and they do voice their opinion, but there is an even larger portion of Stockton that doesn't know where to go if they so choose to put their word out. I am running for the office of mayor in Stockton, California, because I feel I am the best candidate in the highly-contested race for the seat.

This June will be my fourth year as a Resident of Stockton. And let me just say, I have learned many valuable lessons while residing in the Worst place to live in America, in 2010(according to Forbes Magazine). Certain lessons that will strengthen one's state of mind, and give thm the power to do the right thing, strictly to benefit my community.

I am going to be breaking down the budget to find out what the cities biggest priorities should be. I am not going to take the repetitive non-sense we are seeing from politicians as they continually assume that my youthful spirit will not directly benefit the city monetarily, well I would beg to differ. Nobody likes a poor-sport, and you will come to realize that I do not embody that characteristic. Don't get me wrong, I play to win, but a fair fight is just that, fair!

I will listen to the citizens rather than hear their opinion, and vote based on my own. That is a failed political practice, that is destroying our trust that we have from the people who vote us in. Yeah I know that's what the Mayor's job description entails, however this city has been ran that way for too long now. I have some higher, but still attainable goals that I wish to bring forward to the city's council. Such ideas are rarely conceived, except by those of us that can have a solution to a problem instinctively upon it being mentioned.

THE PRIORITIES I SEE FIT FOR STOCKTON'S RESTORATION:
1) Get a hold on the bankruptcy proceedings to review what is being deemed expendable, and what is necessary. Keeping the parking garages downtown is of vital importance to the recovery we are seeking.

2) I will vow to ''solarize'' the City's largest energy consumers and work with them to apply for federal funding to install solar panels, and be with
them every step of the way to make sure they aren't sidelined by the red tape which has been famous among insiders in Washington.

3) Try to branch out satellite sites for the city of Stockton employees and Police to become more localized to keep them close to home to reduce
the cost of the fuel bill each month just to have the fleet mobilized. Each office will have a number of volunteer's to ensure our Police can be
really policing against all the city's gang and drug problems.

4) Inspect the School District to find other unnecessary waste of our education funds. As well as ask the state to be pardoned from their curriculum
because we have seen it not work in the sense of educating our future leaders since 2004.

5) Be the first public school district to give students a head start, by making the school day just an hour and a half longer, allowing each student
to additionally get a High-School Diploma, as well as have an Associate's Degree by the end of their four years of High School. This will open up
the community college for the previous generation that hasn't been able to finish their college education, since all the local campuses have
been full.

What do you Mean my Retirement is Gone!

Moody's downgrades Stockton's credit

STOCKTON, CA - Moody's downgraded Stockton's credit-worthiness Friday to below investment grade, affecting nearly $341 million of debt.
The rating for Stockton's 2007 pension obligation bonds were downgraded to Ba3 and 2006 lease revenue bonds were downgraded to B1.
"Moody's rates over 12,000 municipalities in the United States. Fewer than 30 are currently rated non-investment grade (Ba1 or lower)," Moody's spokesperson David Jacobson said. "With yesterday's downgrade, Stockton is now rated Ba2. The most notable city on the same list is Detroit, which is currently rated Ba3 and is under review for a potential downgrade."
Moody's also downgraded the city's water enterprise rating to A3.
Moody's decision to downgrade Stockton's credit-worthiness comes after city officials said they will vote Tuesday on whether or not to start the 60-day meditation period required before filing for bankruptcy.
During the meditation process, the city would suspend payments to creditors and work with them on payments. Stockton City Manager Bob Dies proposed that payments only be suspended for the rest of the fiscal year and payments would be made through other revenue sources.
RELATED STORY: Official: Bad money moves, bad luck got Stockton in trouble
Moody's Senior Vice President Eric Hoffmann said "the proposed suspension and entry into a mediation process demonstrates significantly reduced willingness, if not ability, to make full and timely debt service payments."
"The downgrade also reflects the city's indication that it is in the process of restating prior year audited financial results," Hoffmann added. "While this process is in its preliminary stages and only estimates have been released, the potential for restatement reduces the credibility of the city's financial reporting to date. The preliminary estimates released by the city indicate that adjustment to the city's fiscal 2010 audit report will likely be negative and material."
The highest rating is AAA.
"Moody's currently rates the state of California A1 with a stable outlook," Jacobson said. "California is our second lowest rated state. Illinois, rated A2, is the lowest."
Hoffmann said Stockton's credit rating could be further downgraded if the city files for bankruptcy.
Stockton city councilman Dale Fritchen and the Stockton police union have expressed concern over filing for bankruptcy.
"This will hurt Stockton, hurt my neighbors, my family, and my community," Fritchen said. "I'm putting everything in to make sure this doesn't happen."
In a statement, the union said the city is starting to work its way back financially, but filing for bankruptcy would be disastrous.
"Sales revenues are up and residents' confidence is coming back," the police union said in a statement. "Bankruptcy would send the city spiraling backward with no recovery in sight."
The union is calling for residents to show up at Tuesday night's council meeting and push for a public release of the city's budget.
News10/KXTV

UN Should Weigh In on Iran

Brazil's top diplomat said he has asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to consider weighing in on the legality of a possible preemptive strike on Iran.

"No doubt adding an additional flashpoint of military action in a volatile region will greatly exacerbate tensions," Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota told Yahoo News in an interview in New York Tuesday. The international community should proceed "with the utmost caution." "There is a role for him in this," Patriota said he had proposed to the UN chief. "One sometimes hears the expression, 'all options are on the table.' But some actions are contrary to international law."

Patriota's comments come as the United States, United Kingdom and Russia have asked Israel both privately and publicly not to carry out a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Patriota has played a key role as architect of Brazil's foreign policy amid the country's rapid rise into a major global power. Last month, Brazil surpassed the United Kingdom as the sixth largest economy in the world. In another sign of the dizzying pace of the country's rise on the global scene, Brazil has roughly doubled the number of its embassies and consulates around the world in just the past ten years.

Earlier this month, Brazil joined Washington and 11 other nations at the UN Security Council in voting in favor of a resolution that would have condemned Syria's Bashar al-Assad for his brutal crackdown. But Russia and China vetoed the measure, putting into disarray diplomatic efforts to try to stem the spiraling violence in Syria where more than 6,000 people have been killed in the eleven month uprising.

To Continue reading this Story visit Yahoo!

The Truth Behind Federal Reserve

RON PAUL ON THE ECONOMY

Master Of Puppets

Opinion-BAY: The Problem That Is Destroying America

  I am disgusted with the {profane}morals of one of America's most known Websites, a true icon for the whole online auction industry.  It inspired the creation of Amazon, WeBidz, Overstock, and the list goes on.  However, there is something new the bay has introduced, called "BUYER PROTECTION (BP)."
To a lot of you out there that's great!  But where is the Seller's Protection?

My Entrepreneurial self couldn't process the worst business principle I have ever heard, "Our buyers' opinion matters more than the facts, because it helps future buyer's from having a negative experience with that seller."  - Words from YAB-E representative during a phone call I placed after having my account suspended.  How did my Account get suspended?  They said I had too many Negative Feedback Ratings.

This is where the story gets mind-boggling, but try to understand as much of this as possible, because this virus-like characteristic is spreading quickly from State to State, and that's only if this disease doesn't swim, otherwise it's damn near global by now.  I was starting off as a new Seller on YAB-E, and through the first month and a half, I sold 9 items.  Out of these nine sales, five of them came back negative.  The first two I received were on the first two items I sold.  Well, let's just say I learned to calculate what the cost to ship it will be, before posting it for sale.

I had no idea, a Wakeboard would be $90 dollars to ship using USPS. Wow, I only charged the buyer $35 USD.  After e-mailing the buyer to notify him of my mistake and asked if he would reimburse me the difference if I mailed him a copy of the receipt with the product?  He said no, because he shouldn't have to pay for my mistake.  So I refunded him 100 percent of his money, and canceled the transaction.  His emotions stained my reputation.  Why would a customer become upset after receiving a full refund of their money? They must be {profane} morons.  When they're the one who refused to pay the necessary amount to have it shipped.  That was the first complaint against my Account.  My second sale that resulted in negative feedback was also due to a error with estimated shipping cost, as I was unaware that Hawaii isn't included if it says free shipping to U.S.?

The first two were followed by 3 consecutive Positive Ratings which helped extend my income for a little while. Thanks to these blessed people I was able to pay a third of one month's mortgage payment.

(+)        (+)        (+)

A third negative feedback was posted on my profile when I sold an old siemens cellular phone and charger for $3.99, plus $3 for shipping.  It was stolen by a now ex-customer.  Stressing out about what to do, I decided to explain to the Buyer that I couldn't find it, so I will give him a full refund, which was a few days after the auction ended.  --Feedback--(NEG) "Seller is BS, wasted my time and gave me a refund days later."

The fact: After a refund, No transaction has occured.  
The Opinion: The Buyer felt that he was cheated out of his time.

why would a buyer's opinion, be any sort of basis on which a business is permitted to sell?  YAB-E wants to ensure that their customers have a great buying experience.  Did they forget that it is the sellers that are covering all of their overhead?  This could be the reason they are steadily losing legit Sellers and profits, causing their stock value to plummet.  This is the wrong way for Meg Whitman's legacy to fall, being overprotected to the point you are unable to Compete in any fashion.  Not to mention Meg, but 225 Million dollars on Advertising, and not a penny contributed to the State of California.  Wouldn't that have helped us lower the deficit that we were and still are facing?

Sorry for rambling there, do you see the opinions develop more often than the facts.  How is this?  Aren't the facts the story, and opinions feelings about the story?

"FEELINGS DON'T EXIST!"

Now for the fourth negative mark to my feedback had to do with "Lobby Cards."  Apparently I was misinformed by the lobby card collecter who sold them to me, because they were 8x10 photos from the set.  I gave her a full refund after she returned the item to me by mail.  Her opinion of the non-existant transaction is that I obviously don't know what Lobby cards are.  The fact was I handled an unsatisfied customer the same way I was taught, the customer is always right. Right? When did the businesses start losing credibility for serving the needs and wants of their customers?