As British Prime Minister David Cameron continues to push ahead with his government’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage in the UK, many in his party are feeling alienated. The majority of grass roots Conservatives are opposed to the plan.
A minister has now suggested the driving force behind the policy is the Prime Minister’s wife, Samantha Cameron.
Mrs Cameron is the daughter of a baronet, and is known for her socially liberal views. She is said to be horrified by the socially conservative views of America’s Republicans.
The suggestion came out, at the same time as Mandrake asked David Cameron’s mother why her son was so determined to go ahead with a policy, that so many conservatives are opposed to. Mary Cameron, a former Justice of the Peace, replied, “I know, but David just won’t be told.”
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.
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Dawn breaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012. Photo: Jay Mallin/Bloomberg
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Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, talks about negotiations between U.S. lawmakers over the so-called fiscal cliff of $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts set to start at midnight. Norquist speaks with Erik Schatzker on the Bloomberg Television special “America’s Fiscal Debate.” (Source: Bloomberg)
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Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Jim Rickards, senior managing director at Tangent Capital Partners, and Stanley Crouch, chief investment officer at Aegis Capital, talk with Bloomberg’s Matt Miller about the impact of the fiscal cliff on the U.S. economy. They speak on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Rewind.” (Source: Bloomberg)
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.
A new study released this week from the widely respected National Bureau of Economic Research has confirmed beyond question that the left’s race-baiting attacks on the housing market (the Community Reinvestment Act – enacted under Carter, made shockingly more aggressive under Clinton) is directly responsible for imploding the housing market and destroying the economy.
The study painstakingly sorted through failed home loans that caused the housing market collapse and identified an overwhelming connection between them and CRA mortgages.
Again, let’s review:
-President Bush went to Congress repeatedly for years warning them that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were going to destroy the economy (17 times in 2008 alone). Democrats continuously ignored him, shut down his proposals along party lines and continued raiding the institutions for campaign contributions on their way down.
-John McCain also co-sponsored urgently critical reforms that would have prevented the housing market collapse, but Democrats shut that down as well, along party lines, and even openly ridiculed anyone who suggested reforms were necessary…to protect their taxpayer-funded campaign contributions as the economy raced uncontrollably toward the cliff.
-No one was making bad loans to unqualified people until Democrats came along and threatened to drag banks into court and have them fined and branded as racists if they didn’t go along with the left’s Affirmative Action lending policies…all while federally insuring their losses. Even the New York Times warned in the late 1990s that Democrats continuing to force banks into lowering their standards would lead to this exact catastrophe.
-Obama himself is even on the record personally helping sue one lender (Citibank) into lowering its lending standards to include people from extremely poor and unstable areas, which even one of the left’s favorite blatantly partisan “fact-checkers,” Snopes, admits (while pretending to ‘set the record straight’).
-Even The New York Times admitted that there is “little evidence” of any connection between the “Republican” deregulation measures Obama blames, like the Gramm-Bleach-Liley Act (signed into law by a Democrat), and the collapse of the housing market.
In a country where education has emphasized test taking and memorization, RDFZ XISHAN in Beijing is the first school in China to participate in a Mac one-to-one program, and has transformed learning into a collaborative and engaging experience — without sacrificing test scores.
On October 11th, while Vice President Biden and Vice Presidential Candidate Ryan are preparing to debate serious US issues, in Kentucky, another statesman – the Dalai Lama from Tibet, will be visiting neighboring state Virginia at the joint invitation of The Foundation for American Heritage Voices (their Tibetan American Cultural Division), the Tibetan Association of Charlottesville, the UMA Institute for Tibetan Studies, and the City of Charlottesville.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking on “Compassionate Care in 21st Century Medicine” and “Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World.” His choice of topics are very poignant considering the current debates around Obamacare.
The city of Charlottesville is also headquarters to the National Ground Intelligence Center (the security command for the US Army), GE Intelligent Platforms (including Aerospace, Defense/Military, and Communication Systems), and SNL Financial LC (a provider of breaking news, financial data and expert analysis on business sectors critical to the global economy).
While there, Charlottesville’s Mayor will be presenting the Dalai Lama with the distinguished Key to the City, giving him freedom of the city status.
Ohio is regarded as the most important of all the swing states at election time. This is not only due to demographics but also because Ohio has 18 electoral votes. History shows no republican has ever been elected President without winning Ohio- it decided the election for George W Bush in 2004, and in 2000. And this year is no exception.
The controversial British historian Niall Ferguson has used a cover piece in Newsweek magazine to argue that it is time Obama “hit the road”. In the piece Ferguson compares Obama’s pre-election promises with his record as President and then argues why he believes it is time for a new President.
The economic historian and Fellow of Harvard University, has spoken extensively about the need for economic reforms and the unsustainability of western debt. Ferguson writes:
“Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit,” Ferguson writes. “We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.”
Recently Ferguson raised eyebrows by claiming if young America knew what was good for them they would all join the tea-party.
Ferguson uses the lessons of economic history, to inform his political analysis of current events. He has been an advisor to politicians in America as well as in the UK. He teaches on the rise and fall of civilisations throughout history, and although he has not written America off, he understands that she is in a perilous place, and her place as the leader of the free world should not be taken for granted – America could fall, like many great nations before her.
House Financial Services Committee, this month is planning on working to dismantle the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.
According the the Hill, stated by Republicans; this legislation enacted in 2010 has excessive rules imposed on consumers and financial service companies.
“Supporters of Dodd-Frank sold it to the public as ‘tough Wall Street reform,’ but in reality its red tape hurts businesses and small-town banks far from Wall Street that had nothing to do with the 2008 financial crisis.”
The committee will hold at least two hearings on Dodd-Frank in the coming week.
