The Smoke Break

You want some brie with that whine?

Increased 2010 Payroll Taxes Hit Even More Americans

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“I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase.
Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”
(Barack Obama)

Firm as Jello, eh?  In an unreported demonstration of Chicago-style fiscal responsibility, everyone who must have federal taxes withheld from their paychecks will see an increase in the amount taken out, and with a lowering of the threshold, millions more poor Americans will now be paying federal taxes, too.  These are only some examples from the new witholding tables:

1.) Congress has lowered the threshold to capture more wages that qualify to owe taxes–across the board. For example, in 2009 the withholding tax threshold began at weekly single wage levels of $138. In 2010, that same wage is lowered to $116. In short, instead of the taxable wage starting at $138, it is now down to $116–which changes the income threshold and taxes even poorer Americans.

For married couples, the change in the weekly base taxable wage changes from $303 in 2009 down to $264 in 2010. These lower wage thresholds can be seen throughout the new withholding charts for weekly, biweekly, semi-monthly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, and annual, as well as daily and miscellaneous pay periods.

This across-the-board reduction in the initial wage threshold increases the number of wage earners who would have to pay taxes.

2.) Instead of seven (7) wage categories, there are now nine (9) wage categories. The new structure allows for direct taxation on the middle class with these wages broken out into smaller categories. The direct hit on the middle class withholding taxes can be seen on all of the new tables. Additionally, the IRS could not explain these changes.

Let’s look at the actual numbers for one category and compare them from 2009 to 2010:

2009 Biweekly, Single, Payroll Period, after subtracting withholding allowances

Not over $276: $0 in taxes
Over $276 – $400: 10% payroll tax
Over $400 – $1,392: $12.40 plus 15% of excess over $400
Over $1,392 – $2,559: $161.20 plus 25% of excess over $1,392
Over $2,559 – $6,677: $452.95 plus 28% of excess over $2,559 (Notice the large salary range)
Over $6,677 – $14,423: $1,605.99 plus 33% of excess over $6,677
$14,423: pays $4,162.17 plus 35% of excess over $14,423

Let’s look at the new numbers for 2010:

2010 Biweekly, Single, Payroll Period, after subtracting withholding allowances

Not over $233: $0 in taxes
Over $233 – $401: 10% payroll tax
Over $401 – $1,387: $16.80 plus 15% of excess over $401
Over $1,387 – $2,604: $164.70 plus 25% of excess over $1,387
Over $2,604 – $3,248: $468.95 plus 27% of excess over $2,604 (Notice the large salary range is gone)
Over $3,248 – $3,373: $642.83 plus 30% of excess over $3,248 (Notice the substantial increase and 30% tax rate on these wages)
Over $3,373 – $6,688: $680.33 plus 28% of excess over $3,373
$14,450: pays $4,169.99 plus 35% of excess over $14,450

These patterns of additional withholding can be seen throughout the new charts for the 2010 tax year for single and married persons. It appears that everyone earning a paycheck is affected, not just retired military; social security payments will remain the same.

 In the immortal words of Joe Wilson, “YOU LIE!”

Quote Of The Day

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The new health care plan will be written by a committee whose Chairman says he doesn’t understand it,

passed by a Congress which hasn’t read it,

signed by a President who smokes,

funded by a Treasury Chief who did not pay his taxes,

overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese,

and financed by a country that is broke.

 

What could  possibly go  wrong?

They’ll Deliver For You, All Right

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And they said His Transparency didn’t do anything for the country during his Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

 

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 30, 2009
Executive Order — Medical Countermeasures Following a Biological Attack
ESTABLISHING FEDERAL CAPABILITY FOR THE TIMELY PROVISION OF
MEDICAL COUNTERMEASURES FOLLOWING A BIOLOGICAL ATTACK

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to plan and prepare for the timely provision of medical countermeasures to the American people in the event of a biological attack in the United States through a rapid Federal response in coordination with State, local, territorial, and tribal governments.

This policy would seek to: (1) mitigate illness and prevent death; (2) sustain critical infrastructure; and (3) complement and supplement State, local, territorial, and tribal government medical countermeasure distribution capacity.

Sec. 2. United States Postal Service Delivery of Medical Countermeasures. (a) The U.S. Postal Service has the capacity for rapid residential delivery of medical countermeasures for self administration across all communities in the United States. The Federal Government shall pursue a national U.S. Postal Service medical countermeasures dispensing model to respond to a large-scale biological attack.

(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, in coordination with the U.S. Postal Service, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall establish a national U.S. Postal Service medical countermeasures dispensing model for U.S. cities to respond to a large-scale biological attack, with anthrax as the primary threat consideration.

(c) In support of the national U.S. Postal Service model, the Secretaries of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, and Defense, and the Attorney General, in coordination with the U.S. Postal Service, and in consultation with State and local public health, emergency management, and law enforcement officials, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall develop an accompanying plan for supplementing local law enforcement personnel, as necessary and appropriate, with local Federal law enforcement, as well as other appropriate personnel, to escort U.S. Postal workers delivering medical countermeasures.

Sec. 3. Federal Rapid Response. (a) The Federal Government must develop the capacity to anticipate and immediately supplement the capabilities of affected jurisdictions to rapidly distribute medical countermeasures following a biological attack. Implementation of a Federal strategy to rapidly dispense medical countermeasures requires establishment of a Federal rapid response capability.

(b) The Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, within 90 days of the date of this order, shall develop a concept of operations and establish requirements for a Federal rapid response to dispense medical countermeasures to an affected population following a large-scale biological attack.

Sec. 4. Continuity of Operations. (a) The Federal Government must establish mechanisms for the provision of medical countermeasures to personnel performing missionessential functions to ensure that mission-essential functions of Federal agencies continue to be performed following a biological attack.

(b) The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, within 180 days of the date of this order, shall develop a plan for the provision of medical countermeasures to ensure that mission-essential functions of executive branch departments and agencies continue to be performed following a large-scale biological attack.

Sec. 5. General Provisions.

(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 30, 2009.

On the surface, this sound so very noble.  But if Obama’s lips are moving or he’s signing his name to a piece of paper, rest assured it’s not what it might seem.  H/T to Greg Howard for pointing out the dots.

It is, of course, in the bubble world of the Obama administration, sheer and serendipitous coincidence that the following contract modification was issued the day before the Executive Order:

 FBO DAILY ISSUE OF DECEMBER 31, 2009 FBO #2959
SPECIAL NOTICE

68 — rPA Anthrax Vaccine Advance Development

Notice Date
12/29/2009
 
Notice Type
Special Notice
 
NAICS
325414 — Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing
 
Contracting Office
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Rm G640, Washington, District of Columbia, 20201, United States
 
ZIP Code
20201
 
Solicitation Number
HHSO100200900103C
 
Archive Date
1/28/2010
 
Point of Contact
Jake Lewis, Phone: 202-205-3624, Darrick A Early, Phone: 202-260-0293
 
E-Mail Address
jake.lewis@hhs.gov, darrick.early@hhs.gov
(jake.lewis@hhs.gov, darrick.early@hhs.gov)
 
Small Business Set-Aside
N/A
 
Description
Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 5.201(b) (1) (ii), the Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority (BARDA) intends to negotiate a contract modification with PharmAthene Inc. These activities exemplify the developmental, regulatory, and project management /Earned Value Management activities relevant for the expansion of the current development effort under BARDA contract (103C). These expansion areas include: Manufacturing activities such as process scale up and validation, assay validation, and non-clinical safety assessment and study plans. PharmAthene Inc. has been under contract with the US government since 2003 to develop an rPA vaccine via Contract N01-AI-30052. These development activities were transferred to BARDA as of 4/1/2009 (HHSO100200900103C). This product has matured as demonstrated by successful clinical and non clinical studies. Many of the (R&D) activities that are currently being executed have a direct impact on the government’s urgent need to devise effective measures to protect US citizens from harmful effects of anthrax spores used as instruments of terror. In addition, they impact the Contractor’s ability to successfully execute further development. Enabling the continued work will also maintain a properly balanced sources of suppliers for the requirements of acquisition program in the interest of rPA vaccine development to achieve industrial mobilization in case of an emergency. This contract increase level of effort does not represent a material difference between the modified contract and the contract that was originally awarded. The original contract adequately advised offerors of this type requirement found in the modification. This Notice of Intent is NOT a request for competitive proposals and a solicitation will not be issued. Parties may express their interest, to the Contracting Officer no later than 4 pm, Eastern Standard Time on January 13, 2010. Interested parties should submit no more than 3 pages explaining how they can meet this government’s requirement Response may be sent to: Primary Point of Contact: Jake L. Lewis, Contracting Officer Representative Jake.lewis@hhs.gov Secondary Point of Contact: Darrick Early, Contracting Officer Darrick.Early@hhs.gov
 
Web Link
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/HHS/OOS/OASPHEP/HHSO100200900103C/listing.html)
 
Place of Performance
Address: US Department of Health and Human Services, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Biomedical Advance Research and Development Authority, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Room G640, Washington, District of Columbia, 20201, United States
Zip Code: 20201
 
Record
SN02032034-W 20091231/091229233922-84ccfb33ed5f43af62a1b47d4f35fa5d (fbodaily.com)
 
Source
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

 And why this extremely lucrative contract to one company?  All-too-familiar Democrat paybacks, courtesy of Tara O’Toole.  As reported last September in the Washington Times:

President Obama’s nominee at the Department of Homeland Security overseeing bioterrorism defense has served as a key adviser for a lobbying group funded by the pharmaceutical industry that has asked the government to spend more money for anthrax vaccines and biodefense research.

But Dr. Tara O’Toole, whose confirmation as undersecretary of science and technology is pending, never reported her involvement with the lobbying group called the Alliance for Biosecurity in a recent government ethics filing.

Now, while it wasn’t exactly illegal, it does run directly counter to the spirit of ethical disclosure laws.  And when you dig down deeper, it becomes clear why.

Ethics rules require nominees to report any paid or unpaid positions held outside of government, including but not limited to those of “officer, trustee, general partner, representative, employee or any consultant of any corporation, firm, partnership or other business enterprise ….” Dr. O’Toole signed a letter on behalf of the group sent to the White House as recently as March.

In written testimony to Congress, Dr. O’Toole said the alliance was “created to protect the Center for Biosecurity’s status as an honest broker between the biopharma companies and the U.S. government.”

Dr. O’Toole was nominated less than four years after the alliance was formed in 2005. She has served as the group’s unpaid strategic director and has signed her name on more than a dozen letters sent to Congress and federal agencies.

The group’s letters to policymakers often seek more money for research and vaccines. She signed the letters as the group’s strategic director, in addition to listing her full-time paid job as director of the Center for Biosecurity, which is affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh.

The letters, including one that Dr. O’Toole sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, last fall, describe the Alliance for Biosecurity as a “collaboration” among the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies “working to develop vaccines, medicines and other medical countermeasures for the nation’s Strategic National Stockpile.”

Members include companies such as Pfizer Inc., Sig Technologies and PharmAthene Inc. The group discloses the letters and list of members on a Web site.

In an Oct. 31 [2008] letter to Mrs. Pelosi signed by Dr. O’Toole and two other alliance officials, the group called on Congress to include more than $900 million for the “advanced development of medical countermeasures” to be administered by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

The letter also was signed by the chief executive officer of member company PharmAthene, David Wright, who was one of the two first co-chairmen for the alliance after its creation in 2005.

Mr. Wright’s company has a big financial interest in securing work from the authority, according to investor filings. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing last summer disclosed that PharmAthene has been trying to win a contract administered by the authority to supply 25 million doses of an anthrax vaccine to the national stockpile, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Weekly Standard points it out in a bit more simple English:

PharmAthene is a company founded and run by Murtha cronies who have extremely close ties to O’Toole. In fact, O’Toole was head of the Center for Biosecurity, which is connected to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and both Murtha and O’Toole’s friends are working feverishly to position UPMC for a major biosecurity, vaccine-production contract that would result in billions flowing to Murtha’s district, and O’Toole’s private equity and lobbyist friends. According a recent report, this facility would be run by a mysterious unnamed biotechnology company. Anyone care to guess who that unnamed company is rumored to be?

PharmAthene was founded by Joel McCleary, who also happens to be a founding partner at a DC-based private equity firm, Four Seasons Ventures, and an advisor to UPMC. Partnered with McCleary at Four Seasons is none other than James Ervin, a former Murtha aid and the man one goes to for a Murtha earmark, a favor PharmAthene has benefited from in the past. Ervin lobbies for PharmAthene and Four Seasons is heavily invested.

And that’s where O’Toole comes in. In addition to running the Center for Biosecurity, O’Toole advised the Alliance for Biosecurity, which we now know PharmAthene basically runs.

And slap my ass with a hairless cat if anthrax hasn’t popped up in New Hampshire, and was considered a possible threat just today in the Alabama offices of several of its Congress critters. 

Will wonders never cease?  Or will the cease come to only more and more of our freedoms as these spawns of a meth-crazed whore’s douche bag continue to lie, cheat, and steal our hard-earned tax dollars?

Quote Of The Day

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Courtesy of two commenters at HotAir on the question of terrorism and profiling :

 

(SouthernGent) –  Simple solution:  If you refuse to eat a bacon/lettuce/tomatoe sandwich before boarding a plane you can’t board the plane.

 

(TXUS)  –  Got some Jewish friends who love this country as much as I, so I’d rather put a simpler requirement on passengers…

“Here’s the Koran and here’s the U.S. Constitution. Pee on one or the other.”

 

A New T.I.T. For Illegals

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And they wonder why we call California the land of fruit and nuts?

Faculty members at the University of California, San Diego are using federal dollars to develop a GPS-enabled cell phone that would direct illegal border crossers to drinking water. The “Trans-border Immigrant Tool” would allow users to follow arrows on the screen to nearby water stations.

With $15,000 from a federal grant [stimulus dollars], the designers hope to hand out the phones for free in Mexico.

University of California, San Diego faculty member Brett Stalbaum dismisses critics who say this will encourage illegal immigration, arguing:   “There are many areas in which every American would say— I don’t like the way my tax dollars are being spent. Our answer to that is an in-your-face, so what?”

Just shorten the tool’s name to “T.I.T.”  Entirely appropos for a future-vote-buying gimmick from the progressive liberals.

Mastermind of 2007 Karbala Attack Freed In Prisoner Swap

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In a stunning turn of events that is going virtually unnoticed by the American media, Britain’s Peter Moore, apparently the only surviving hostage of a 2007 kidnapping in Iraq, has just been set free by his Iranian captors.  But there is a decided strangeness about the whole thing. 

Behind the scenes, British officials in Baghdad have been trying to reach contacts who might have links to the kidnappers. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, hinted at this when he said yesterday that there had been no “substantive” concessions to the hostage-takers, suggesting that in return for Mr Moore a number of extremists held in prison may have been released.

—

Mr Moore had been working for US management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq, while the other men were security contractors employed to guard him.

The kidnappers were understood to belong to an obscure militia known as the Islamic Shia Resistance, which demanded the release of up to nine of their associates held in US military custody since early 2007.

Several had already been handed to the Iraqi government and some had since been freed under the reconciliation process.

Mr Miliband has insisted no “substantive concessions” were made to the hostage-takers by the UK.

Frank Gardner said a senior Whitehall official had confirmed Qais Al-Khazaali – the leader of the kidnap group – was released “very recently” by the US to the Iraqi authorities.

Mr Khazaali had been suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and eventual killing of five US soldiers, he added.

—

The events that led to the kidnappings began shortly after the US president, George Bush, ratcheted up the pressure on the Iranians with a televised address to the world warning Iran to stay out of Iraq and pull back their proxies.

Iran responded with an unprecedented attack on a US base in Karbala nine days later. The attack had the hallmarks of the al-Quds kidnap section of the Revolutionary Guard, according to the major who spoke to the Guardian.

The Guardian has also obtained documents released by the US military under the Freedom of Information act.

The documents reveal how the al-Quds operatives’ English was so perfect that the Iraqi guards at the checkpoints “were convinced the attackers were American”.

When the attackers entered the compound they shot dead Private Millican. Four other US soldiers were kidnapped and spirited away in US-style vehicles. They were tracked down by US helicopters but before evading capture they shot dead their handcuffed captives.

Tit-for-tat incidents continued with the arrest by the US of Khazali and his brother in Basra in March that year. Khazali is alleged to have been the mastermind behind the Karbala killings, and also the appointed head of all Iranian special groups in Iraq.

The next move – the kidnap of the Britons from the Ministry of Finance – by the Righteous League and the al-Quds force was to be decisive and was designed to achieve two aims.

The first was to halt the project Moore was working on. The sophisticated computer system being installed would have exposed any corrupt practices in the Ministry of Finance .

Judge Radhi Hamza al-Radhi, former commissioner of the Commission of Public Integrity in Iraq, testified to the US Congress on 4 October 2007: “The cost of corruption that my commission has uncovered so far across all ministries in Iraq has been estimated to be as high as $18bn.” He had fled to the US in August 2007 after his family’s home was targeted in a rocket attack.

Vance Jochim, who was the chief auditor and a US adviser for the Commission of Public Integrity based at the US embassy in Baghdad, has previously told the Guardian: “The new system would provide more transparency and accountability over the oil and other revenue handled by the finance ministry” – which he said had been resisting its implementation for nearly two years.

Eight months after the kidnappings, the only other location with a full record of the Iraqi government’s financial transactions and records of possible financial misconduct – Iraq’s Central Bank – was destroyed in a fire. The subsequent investigation found that it was arson.

The intelligence source said: “Many people don’t want a high level of corruption to be revealed. Remember this is the information technology centre, this is the place where all the money to do with Iraq and all Iraq’s financial matters are housed. The centre is linked to the Americans and all the money transfers. Everything, right down to the last penny, is in that centre.”

But if one aim was to avoid detection of corruption, the second aim was to bargain for the release of the Khazali brothers. In the end that was achieved, although not before the four bodyguards surrounding Peter Moore had been killed.

—

The US has released the leader of an Iranian-backed Shia terror group behind the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in January 2007.

Qais Qazali, the leader of the Asaib al Haq or the League of the Righteous, was set free by the US military and transferred to Iraqi custody in exchange for the release of British hostage Peter Moore, US military officers and intelligence officials told The Long War Journal. The US military directly implicated Qais in the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers in Karbala in January 2007.

“We let a very dangerous man go, a man whose hands are stained with US and Iraqi blood,” a military officer said. “We are going to pay for this in the future.”

The US military has maintained that the release of members and leaders of the League of the Righteous is related to a reconciliation agreement between the terror group and the Iraqi government, but some US military officers disagree.

“The official line is the release of Qazali is about reconciliation, but in reality this was a prisoner swap,” a military intelligence official said.

Moore and four members of his personal bodyguard were kidnapped at the Finance Ministry in Baghdad in May 2007 by a group that calls itself the Islamic Shia Resistance, which is in fact a front for the League of the Righteous. The group had always insisted that Qais, his brother Laith, and other members of the Asaib al Haq be released in exchange for Moore and the others. Three of Moore’s bodyguards were executed while in custody, and the fourth is thought to have been murdered as well.

“This was a deal signed and sealed in British and American blood,” a US military officer told The Long War Journal. “We freed all of their leaders and operatives; they [the League of the Righteous] executed their hostages and sent them back in body bags. And we’re supposed to be happy about it.”

I’m sure the administration is going to try to put their tired “it’s Bush’s fault” spin on this bowing down to Iran, however, what is clear that something is rotten not just in Denmark, or Copenhagen, and it is most assuredly going to come back and bite us in the ass either through the loss of more military lives, or more jihadists attacks on U.S. soil.

—

UPDATE

The Pentagon is now denying any “quid pro quo” prisoner swap.  It’s all about “reconciliation” and the security of Iraq, despite evidence about post-“rehab” terrorist activities by these jihadists to the contrary.

This release of the Khazali brothers has apparently been in the works for some time, however, no response was ever received to the following inquiry made directly to the President by Senators Jeff Sessions and John Kyl back on July 1, 2009:

On January 20, 1986, President Ronald Reagan issued Nation Security Decision Directive Number 207, which prohibits negotiations with terrorist organizations regarding the release of hostages.  The Directive sets forth in unequivocal terms the United States’ “firm opposition to terrorism in all its forms” and makes clear the government’s “conviction that to accede to terrorist demands places more Americans at risk.  This no-concessions policy is the best way of protecting the greatest number of people and their safety.”  The Directive continues to say:  “The [United States government] will pay no ransoms, nor permit releases of prisoners or agree to other conditions that could serve to encourage additional terrorism.  We will make no changes in our policy because of terrorist threats or acts.”  This policy is further articulated in Department of State Publication 10217, which makes clear the United States “will not support the freeing of prisoners from incarceration in response to terrorist demands.”

We would like to know if it remains the policy and practice of the United States not to negotiate with or make concessions to terrorists, especially as it relates to the release of detainees or hostages.  This question is prompted by news reports from a wide range of outlets that show your administration may have violated this longstanding policy by releasing a dangerous terrorist in Iraq in response to the demands of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, a terrorist group that is holding British hostages.

Last month, a United States official whose identity remains unknown ordered the release of terrorist detainee, Laith al Khazali, whom the New York Times labeled “a senior Shiite insurgent said to be backed by Iran who was accused of playing a leading role in a group that killed five American soldiers in Karbala [, Iraq,] in a sophisticated attack in 2007….”  Press reports suggest that al Khazali’s release was the first phase of a detainee-for-hostages swap involving five British civilian hostages who were kidnapped by Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in 2007.  In its June 9, 2009 story on this remarkable release, the New York Times reported that the release of al Khazali “appears to involve the release of British hostages who are being held by the [terrorist] organization.”

A United States military spokesman has reportedly confirmed that the release of al Khazali was tied to negotiations with the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq terror group, allegedly for some “reconciliation effort.”  This “reconciliation” concept appears to be a new label for terrorist negotiations.  According to the New York Times, a spokesman for the Iraqi government conceded that the release of British hostages had been part of the negotiations for the release of al Khazali.  The spokesman, Sami al-Askari, suggested that the “reconciliation” notion was adopted as the public face of any detainee-for-hostages negotiations:

This is a very sensitive topic because you know the position that the Iraqi government, the U.S. and British governments, and all the governments do not accept the idea of exchanging hostages for prisoners….So we put it in another format, and we told them that if they want to participate in the political process they cannot do so while they are holding hostages.  And we mentioned to the American side that they cannot join in the political process and release their hostages while their leaders are behind bars or imprisoned.

According to a June 9, 2009 New York Post article, “secret negotiations have been under way for months” with Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq – also known as the League of Righteousness -0 for the release of British hostages.  Iraqi lawmakers reportedly told the Post “the kidnappers had agreed to free the hostages in exchange for the phased release of League members, starting with Laith al-Khazali.”

Within days of Khazali’s release, British press outlets began reporting that the release of at least one British hostage was imminent.  Tragically, on June 21, 2009, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq sent the dead bodies of two of the five British hostages to the British embassy in Baghdad.  Before the terrorist group handed over the two dead Britons, a source close to the group made clear that the release of Laith al Qazali was not enough to gain the release of the five British hostages.  This person told the British paper The Times, “[n]one of the original conditions have changes…It has always been the five men in exchange for the prisoners including Qais and this remains the same to this date.”

The foregoing events have been reported by numerous outlets in the United States and Europe.  If these reports are accurate, they confirm that your administration released a major terrorist detainee in connection with hostage negotiations with a terrorist group.  Aside from the fact that a terrorist and war criminal was released without charges, the negotiations surrounding the release suggest a major shift in the United States’ approach to hostage negotiations and terrorist demands which, as we have learned, will only lead to more kidnappings, extortion, and hostage release demands.

Due to the very serious nature of this matter, we ask that you answer the following questions to clarify the policy your administration will follow in dealing with terrorist organizations’ demands:

(1)  Has your administration negotiated directly or indirectly with any terrorist organization for the release of detainees held by the United States government?

(2)  Was the release of Laith al Khazali related in any way to obtaining the release of one or more of the British hostages held by Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, and what is the name of the highest ranking United States official who approved the release?

(3)  Prior to approving the release of Laith al Khazali, did your administration evaluate whether a criminal indictment or military commission charges could be brought against him, including for violating the federal war crimes statute?  If so, what was done?

(4)  While reconciliation has been floated as a basis for al Khazali’s release, please state to what extent the leaders of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq have seriously discussed giving up their efforts and history of attacking United States and Iraqi interests?

(5)  Did your administration make any effort to consult the family members of the give slain servicemen who were killed in the January 2007 Karbala attack before the release of Laith al Khazali?  According to a New York Post article, the father of one of the slain soldiers was surprised by the release.

(6)  Does your administration adhere to the “no-concessions” policy described in National Security Decision Directive Number 207, including its statement that the United States does not “permit releases of prisoners or agree to other conditions that could serve to encourage additional terrorism[?]”

 

More Liberal Compassion In Action

By

While the vitriol of the left no longer surprises, they’re spewings on Twitter tonight at the news that Rush Limbaugh was taken to the hospital with chest pains is painful.  As a public service, I’ve collected some of their comments and present them here for your edification.  If they’re a member of your family or a friend, please remember that this is the ordinary American kind of progressive liberal compassion that wants to take over your health care.

(For the Twitter-impaired, the “RT” means a “re-tweet” or reposting of someone else’s comment.)

CheddarChad: What is that racist bastard Rush Limbaugh trending for??

NYfitter: RT @Mopec35: RT @Pumpy_Beanis: DIE RUSH LIMBAUGH YOU FUCKING PIG MAN JUST FUCKING DIE//here he is @spongedocks @MOPEC35<—–Thats him

thesixthwoman: RT @JamesAkersJr: I hope Rush Limbaugh is saved by a black homosexual doctor with a questionable immigration status. <<who’s MUSLIM!!!>>

VRWCTexan: @HULAgate billpalmer come on God, I don’t ask you for much, & very rarely ask you to smite anyone. but please kill Rush Limbaugh tonight.

plan9production: Rush Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital. I told him Oxycontin and bacon cheeseburgers were a dangerous mix.

LeslieBright: RT @gammawaif: RT @JoeMyGod RT @JamesAkersJr: I hope Rush Limbaugh is saved by a black homosexual doctor with a questionable immigration …

DarlaV: Oh no! Limbaugh is in the hospital…you know what that means! If he dies, theres a god, bcause I’ve been praying for it.

mian: LMFAOO RT phontigallo I was scared of another death this year til I heard Rush Limbaugh was in the hospital. Come on 2009; don’t fail me now

gillywithaG: RT @DJBRIG: So Rush Limbaugh is in the hospital. Come on’09, you got a day. Let’s take a celebrity i actually don’t like!!!

trankedbojo: fuck rush limbaugh – hope he dies

CampGrooveThang: RT @CarrieCornish: I do hope Rush Limbaugh is saved by a black lesbian doctor with a questionable immigration status.

Ladygoogoogaga: Maybe Rush Limbaugh will die and seal 2009 as the best year ever. (via @Willseph)

LBTHEGREAT: RT @RickAfterDark I’ll be disappointed if Rush Limbaugh diessuddenly.That prick should have2suffer for weeks, or even months first.

carlosceldran: feels guilty that when he first heard of Rush Limbaugh’s heart attack, the first thing I thought was, “Oh, cool.”

steadierfooting: It’s a post-Christmas miracle! RT @ChicagoBreaking: Report: Rush Limbaugh hospitalized in Hawaii

rachel_snook: I try to never wish harm to another human being. But Rush Limbaugh. . .

scrappy_rocks: Are we lucky enough for this to be our #2 of 3? Report: Rush Limbaugh rushed to hospital with chest pains

TheFullGinsburg: No one wants Rush Limbaugh to die. But they do want his doctors to fail.

CerromeRUSSELL: RT @MsRoney: RT @tom_streeter: I do hope Rush Limbaugh is saved by a black lesbian DR wit a questionable immigration status HAHAHA!

Joe_Gamble: In other news, Rush Limbaugh is still alive. Too bad he didn’t get caught smuggling dope in China.

CalFireNews: It is much easier to score Oxycontin in Palm Beach than Hawaii apparently…

They kiss their mamas with these mouths.  Aren’t all you card-carrying Democrats proud?

Obama’s Vacation Isn’t The Reason To Complain

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There’s much derision being thrown at President Walking Eagle for being in Hawaii when a terrorist tried to blow up a flight to Detroit.  Even some of the most respected and sourced conservative pundits are making a big deal about the fact that the image Obama portrays is that his cronies and his golf game are more important to him than the safety of the American people.

While I personally belive that His Transparency never had and never will have the best interests of anyone except himself in his alleged heart, I am not so sure crucifying him for staying at his vacation location is entirely warranted.  First reason is that, as our employee, he does have the right to take some time off.  (“It’s Christmas, for God’s sake!”)  That he chooses to do so at great taxapayer expense during a recession, in contrast to GW, who spent his time away from Washington either at Camp David or his own ranch in Texas, is an argument for another day.  As long as he remains accessible to the information required to do his job should there be a crisis like that created by Numbnuts Abdulmutallab, Obama staying put is no different than any of us who remain “on call” for our jobs.

I know, I know; it’s tough to be a realist and sometimes even tougher to be fair.  And certainly his pathetic little attempts to address the matter from Hawaii, from not being told about the incident until two hours after it happened (in contrast to being awakened when word came of his Nobel Peace prize nomination) to not making a public statement for three days because he allegedly doesn’t want to give terrorists more attention than they deserve (in contrast to immediately sticking his nose into trivial matters like his friend, Professor Gates’, bad behavior) have done nothing to reassure Americans that the right choice was made by electing him to be our President. 

But such is life, dear readers.  Such is life.  As it has been said, you’ve got the government you deserve.  Deal with it.  Try to find the bright side because I believe there is one and it will continue to provide more of the figurative rope this administration is using to hang itself.

The real issues come in the form of continuing to knee-jerk parrot the tired old “blame Bush” rhetoric – after having an entire year of control over America’s Homeland Security.  After having a full year of privileged intelligence briefings and the opportunity for real insight into the workings of American counter-terrorism.  As was demonstrated so horribly on Christmas Day, there has been little real effort or progress made in this area.  I’d say this is  mostly because Obama is the kind of person who can never be bothered with details and so claims the authority while passing the buck on the responsibility, even when he chooses the wrong people for a job.  Most assuredly, Janet Incompetano has some explaining to do.  As do a whole lot of people in the State Department, the CIA, etc., etc., etc.  And when their ignorance or their deliberate mistakes are finally understood, the inconvenient truth is that Obama’s gonna own it – sympathetic preogressive liberal lock, stock, and barrel. 

That ain’t gonna be pretty and I can almost understand wanting to hide my head in the sun-drenched sand and sing “Mele Kalikimaka”.

Already, the heat of the facts are starting to build.  The following little summary comes from USA Today (bad punctuation theirs, not ours):

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, spent a month at an al-Qaeda compound north of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, where he completed training alongside a Saudi al-Qaeda bomb-maker.

Little noted is the fact that the second in command of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula— the group that reportedly trained and deployed Abdulmutallab for his mission to attack the American homeland — is a released Guantanamo detainee:  Said Ali al-Shihri.  While al-Shihri’s specific role has not been determined, it is increasingly clear that the terrorist network he helps lead was behind the attempted Detroit attack.

Known to Guantanamo officials as Detainee No. 372, al-Shihri was captured on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in December 2001. He denied being a terrorist and claimed to have traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the 9/11 attacks to deliver money for the Red Crescent.   At Guantanamo, he told officials that he had never even heard of al-Qaeda until he arrived in Guantanamo, and declared that “Usama bin Laden had no business representing Islam.”  He promised that if released he would return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reunite with his family and work in their used furniture store.

Despite evidence that he had trained in an al-Qaeda camp north of Kabul, he was released in 2007 to a Saudi rehabilitation program.  But al-Shihri never became a furniture salesman. Instead, last January, he appeared in a series of jihadist videos identified as al-Qaeda’s second in command on the Arabian Peninsula.  The New York Times reported that he is “suspected of involvement in a deadly bombing of the United States Embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa,” in September 2008.

President Walking Eagle and his administration refuse to connect any dots and have dug in their heels that they will continue with plans to empty and close the Guantamo Bay.  They feel that its symbolism trumps having martyrs to the jihadist cause out running around actively recruiting others to both continue their attempts to destroy America and to pay us back for their having been caught trying to do so.  Ah, the audacity of pride.

Facts: 

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is led by two former Guantanamo detainees who reportedly were released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo in 2007 and were set free after completing a controversial “rehabilitation program.”

All the suspects convicted of being involved in the 2000 attack on the USS Cole have also either been released by Yemeni authorities or managed to escape in a jailbreak. 

Which, of course, perfectly explains why the administration can make the following statement with a straight face:

“Our policy is, as consistent with the law, that we’ll make transfers, we’ll notify Congress of the transfers, that we’ll make transfers consistent with our national security interests. And we believe that each of those that we have done so far enhances our national security.”

Hark, is that again the sound of the beating wings of flying pigs?  Ask the passengers on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.