Coach Roy's Reading List for 1/13/2012

Triskadecaphobics Unite!, you have nothing to lose but your freedom to worry - besides things in DC are scary enough.

[As usual my comments are in bold type surrounded by square brackets].

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Politics (as usual) Department:

Gallup: Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.

• Record-High 40% of Americans Identify as Independents in '11

• Americans See Views of GOP Candidates Closer to Their Own

• Americans' Economic Worries: Jobs, Debt, and Politicians

[Gee, maybe Rush is Right? Again?]

DE Officials hand out $131,500 in bonuses

[And this was just in Delaware!]

Del. lawmakers eye minimum-wage hike

(WTW) Democratic lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill in the state Senate that would raise Delaware's minimum wage by a dollar.

[Its an election year, after all]

Vatz: Republican Gov. Haley Barbour: Despicably and Indefensibly Putting Innocent Lives at Risk

(Richard E. Vatz - Red Maryland) Lest you think that all the worst abuses of governmental power are committed by liberal Democrats, take a look at the reprehensible action by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour as he left office. The Christian Science Monitor sums it up this way: "Outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour (R) gave reprieves to 208 inmates, including 14 convicted murderers, prompting Democratic legislators to reintroduce a bill that would curb pardon powers."

Obama to propose merging agencies

[Especially the ones with Republican ties...]

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Presidential Election Department:

Morning Examiner: Obama's endless power to appoint (Conn Carroll - Wash Examiner) President Obama’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) released its opinion yesterday justifying Obama’s January 4 “recess” appointments (Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Richard Griffin and Sharon Block to the National Labor Relations Board). The memo is dated January 6th, but the Department of justice insists it was completed well before Obama made the appointments. The Heritage Foundation’s Todd Gaziano explains why the decision will not hold up in court:

Video: Obama Called Smaller Bush Debt Rise “Unpatriotic”

(White House Dossier.com) The new borrowing requested by the CURRENT president would raise the debt ceiling to $16.4 trillion. The debt stood at $10.6 trillion when Obama took office. That’s an increase of $5.8 trillion, nearly $2 trillion more than the “unpatriotic” figure cited by Obama in the video.

Rudy Giuliani: 'What the hell are you doing Newt?'

Video: Michelle Obama Would Like You To Know That The Reason You Don't Like Her Husband Is Because You Are Too Stupid To Know How Awesome He Is.

New Book Claims Obama Complained About Taking Pictures With Troops During Trip to Baghdad

(The Blaze) Author and Rolling Stone contributing editor Michael Hastings’ new book, The Operators, could cause waves for President Obama’s reelection bid — not to mention his already tenuous relationship with U.S. troops — as book excerpts reveal the president was less than enthused to be photographed with troops during a visit to Baghdad.

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Law of Unintended Consequences:

Video: Dead People Receive Ballots in NH Primary

(Project Veritas) On January 10th, Project Veritas reporters walked into New Hampshire Polling Locations during the Presidential Primaries, saying dead people's names. We stated the name of a dead person we got from the NH obituaries.

• Watch: NH AG Investigating O’Keefe Group for Undercover Vid Showing Them Posing as Dead Voters to Get Ballots

• Watchdogs to Obama: Fix the FEC

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The Media

John Podhoretz, Ann Coulter, Mitt Romney and Real Life Conservatives vs Professional Conservatives

(PJ Media) John Podhoretz - Why are conservatives lining up behind a politician of whom Rush Limbaugh has said flatly: “Mitt Romney is not a conservative” — a sentiment echoed by Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and 2008 Iowa caucuses winner?

Video: Soledad O’Brien Hammers Jodi Kantor Over Her Controversial Book On The Obamas

(MediaIte) Soledad O’Brien welcomed The Obamas author Jodi Kantor on Starting Point Friday morning, and things got a little heated as O’Brien continuously tried to ask Kantor to defend her methodology in reporting the book.

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World View

El Presidente Chávez and President Obama

(PJ Media) President Obama is no el Presidente Chávez. It may be extreme to suggest that if reelected and given Democrat majorities in both houses of the Congress he might morph in that direction. However, the U.S. Constitution seems of little importance to him when it gets in his way. Having Venezuela’s Constitution amended to suit his purposes has been easier for Chávez although he also ignores it when convenient.  Amending the U.S. Constitution is a difficult task requiring a substantial consensus. Simply ignoring it when it suits President Obama’s purposes has been much easier.

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Global What?

[& The Environmental Wackos]

The ‘Green’ Debate: President Obama Praises the EPA for Growing the Economy and GM Refuses to Admit the Volt Was a Flop

(The Blaze) Speaking before a throng of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees on Tuesday, President Barack Obama praised the agency for helping to grow the U.S. economy.

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Popular Culture, etc.:

Friday the 13th times three

(Wilm News Journal) But when a Friday the 13th rolls around, a few will stop to peruse her selection of crystals. The objects are said to realign the vibrations of your body with the changes in the metaphysical world, Barbato said.

Religious leaders: Gay marriage a ‘peril’ to liberty

(Wash Times) Nearly 40 religious leaders, including Catholic, evangelical, Jewish and Mormon figures, issued an open letter Thursday that argues that the battle against same-sex marriage is a fight on behalf of religious freedom.

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Business

Chamber of Commerce to Obama: You ‘Missed the Biggest In-Sourcing Opportunity’ —Keystone Pipeline

(CNSNews.com) – While President Barack Obama has been touting the importance of “insourcing” jobs into the United States (as opposed to outsourcing jobs overseas), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reminded America on Thursday that Obama recently rejected one of the most prominent and beneficial insourced opportunities: the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sand oil through middle America to refineries on the Gulf Coast and create at least 20,000 jobs.

Union fight pits rights of free speech, private land

(The Washington Times) With a full complement of members after President Obama’s recent recess appointments, the National Labor Relations Board could soon rule on a closely watched labor law case with major implications for property rights, union organizing tactics and even what workers can write about on their company email accounts.

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Military Stuff

US stations two aircraft carriers opposite Iran, 15,000 troops in Kuwait

(DEBKA File) US President Barack Obama is busy aligning Middle East allies with the next US steps on Iran. Contributing to the mounting sense in Washington of an approaching US-Iranian confrontation, the Pentagon is substantially building up its combat power around Iran, stationing nearly 15,000 troops in Kuwait - two Army infantry brigades and a helicopter unit – and keeping two aircraft carriers in the region.

[So much for withdrawing the troops]

Panetta: 2 Army combat brigades will leave Europe

(Stars & Stripes) STUTTGART, Germany — Two U.S. Army combat brigades will be withdrawn from Europe as part of a new Pentagon defense strategy that aims to find efficiencies while also shifting more strategic focus to Asia.

[Will be several days away from reacting to events in Middle East and Europe]

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And the rest of the stuff:

The Weather in Lower Slower Delaware

U.S. Retail Gasoline Prices

Politico's Morning Score Election Cheat Sheet [Remember this is Politico]

Latest NewsBusted

Links may become inactive after time...my comments still hold