Obama's Lowlights (7/30/12)

ObamaCare – A CNN report claims under the employer mandate, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees have to provide coverage or pay a $2,000 penalty for every worker minus the first 30. Growing businesses have discovered that expanding their workforce beyond 50 fulltime workers is simply too burdensome. In order to survive, many of these companies will have to either scale back the hours of existing employees so that they are no longer classified as fulltime or let them go altogether.

Chuck Schumer – While discussing the Disclosure Act, Schumer said there should be limits to the first amendment. These are the same Democrats that pushed for the first amendment to also cover freedom of expression so it is legal to burn the American Flag. They made their bed, they should sleep in it.

Filibuster – Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, is now openly promising to pass filibuster reform in the beginning of the next Congress if Democrats manage to hold onto a simple majority in the Senate and if Obama is reelected.

Navy Seals – Former members of Team Six have formed a Super PAC to take down Obama claiming he took credit for the Osama Bin Laden killing for political gain. “The President has failed and he is jeopardizing the safety of our troops, their families and our National security for political gain. Obama has exposed the identity of special operations units, leaked classified information, and limited the rules of engagement of forces on the ground,” said Mr. Zinke. “For those who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, it is a call of duty to take back America from a Commander-in-Chief that is incapable of understanding the sacrifices that have been made for the values that have made America great.”

Jobs - President Barack Obama’s Jobs Council hasn’t met publicly for six months because the President claims he is too busy. However, apparently not busy enough to skip a golf outing though.

Steny Hoyer - House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday that food stamps and unemployment insurance are the two "most stimulative" things you can do for the economy.

DOE – The Department of Energy was given 2 billion dollars in stimulus funds to spend on battery making companies, but the department admits to misplacing about a half million dollars in this program.

TSA – Twenty-Five illegal aliens have attended flight school since a “weakness” in TSA’s Alien Flight Student Program, noted by GAO, is that it does not check for immigration status.

Romney’s Taxes - Facing questions about why she and other top Congressional officials won’t release their tax returns, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) downplayed her previous demands for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release his, calling the issue a distraction

Harry Reid - If solar panel production at the Amonix’s Nevada facility permanently ceases, it could prove awkward for Harry Reid, who touted the “permanent green jobs” that the Amonix business supposedly represented. The company laid off 200 employees in January.

Ford - Ford Motor Co. is telling owners of one version of the brand-new Ford Escape not to drive the SUVs until dealers can fix fuel lines that can crack and spill gasoline, causing engine fires.

Aurora CO Shooting – “The Colorado Tea Party Patriots and the Tea Party Patriots are saddened to hear of the death and wounding of theater goers in Aurora, Colorado. The member of the Colorado Tea Party Patriots, Jim Holmes, age 52 is not the same person who has been identified as the shooter. The attempts of some media organizations to characterize the shooter as a Tea Party member without having made any effort to contact our organization are shameless and reprehensible.”

Syria - Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Syria for the third time, sparking outrage by the Western nations which demanded sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. 

Olympics - Olympic officials are wondering if McDonald's should continue sponsoring the Olympics. Health campaigners have attacked the London games for its links with the fast-food restaurant and brands such as Coca-Cola that they say contribute to obesity.

Obama's Lowlights (7/26/12)

Title IX – The Obama administration is going to use Title IX to make sure there is equal representation between women and men in math, science, and engineering fields.

Voter ID – The Obama administration is reluctantly abiding by a federal court ruling to allow Florida access to data to purge their voting rosters of illegal voters.

Obama Campaign - the Nevada Journal reports that several local governments are having trouble getting the campaign to pick up the tab for campaign stops-in 2008. Taxpayers have been on the hook for thousands of dollars in campaign expenses. Obama’s “Wedding Fundraiser” is also a flop – the campaign was trying to get people to donate to the campaign in lieu of a gift.

ObamaCare – The Federal Trade Commission says there have been numerous scams and fraud regarding ObamaCare implementation since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legislation.

Egypt - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Felons – The Obama camp has accused Romney of being a felon. Meanwhile, the Obama campaign has taken money from felons including Alberto and Carlos Cardona, Shervin Neman, John Corzine, and Courtney Dupree.

Obamaisms – This past week Obama told small businesses that “they did not build that, [the government] made it happen”. He also said if he was running against himself he would attack his economic record. In his campaign appearances he also made reference to the word “investment” which is code for more government spending. Obama also claimed on the stump that our health insurance premiums will go down under ObamaCare (I know mine has gone up – a bunch).

Economy – Retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.5% in June. Also, Ben Bernanke delivered a dismal report on the economy to Congress.

Voter Fraud - The Voter Participation Center (Liberal Group) works with a vendor that has access to multiple commercial databases that could include people who subscribe to magazines or junk mail using names of their pet, said Page Gardner, the group's president. She said the nonprofit tries its best to target only eligible and unregistered voters but that some other names inevitably get on the final list.

Tax War - Democrats in the U.S. Congress warned they are prepared to let all Bush-era tax cuts expire on December 31 if Republicans continue to insist on extending lower rates for top earners. Ernst and Young released a study funded by pro-business groups hostile to the Democrat's agenda. The firm's results showed that Obama's proposed tax hikes on the wealthy could cost the already sputtering economy more than 700,000 jobs.

Law of the Sea Treaty – Democrats are moving for the ratification of the 1982 UN resolution. The Law of the Sea Convention defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources. Fortunately, Republicans are on board to defeat the measure and defend U.S. sovereignty.

Fast and Furious – An incident report about the Brian Terry killing indicates the suspected killers were caught, but released.

Disclosure Act - Senate conservatives blocked passage of the DISCLOSE Act, a campaign finance law that would have imposes onerous new limitations on free speech.

Obama's Lowlights (7/23/12)

Maryland - Policies put in place by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley are believed to have cost the state $1.7 billion in lost tax revenues from 2007 to 2010. After his tax increase on high earners, 31,000 Maryland residents from the wealthiest counties moved out of state.

Mexico Border – The White House plans to close nine border patrol stations.

ObamaCare – Five Democrats joined the Republican ranks in yet another House vote to repeal the unpopular legislation this past week (244-189).

Hugo Chavez – In an interview Obama claims the leftist Venezuelan President poses no threat to American national security.

NAACP – Romney addressed the NAACP and received a standing ovation at the end of his remarks and applause throughout, but the majority of people and the media have chosen to focus on one particular instance during the speech when Romney received boos for promising to repeal ObamaCare. Meanwhile, Joe Biden address to the NAACP was to a primarily empty room (Obama did not attend the conference).

DOJ – Reports have surfaced that the Department of Justice is censoring reporters and what they can write.

Taxes and Debt – Senate Democrats blocked a vote on Obama’s tax plan to extend the Bush era tax rates on middle class Americans but to raise taxes on wealthier Americans. Through June, the federal government accumulated a record 904 billion dollars of debt in 2012.

San Bernardino CA – San Bernardino is the third California city to file for bankruptcy, expect many more localities to follow this precedent.

Pensions - Moody’s anticipates average pension returns of 5.5 percent rather than the traditional 7 or 8 percent investment projection. The result of this estimate is a tripling of national pension debt (unfunded liabilities), from $766 billion to $2.2 trillion.

Obama’s Own Words – In a recent interview Obama had this to say "When I think about what we've done well and what we haven't done well," the president said, "the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times." Tell a story, really?

Obama Campaign – Obama is claiming that Romney was still at Bain Capital past 2001 (and even accused him of being a felon), but they are wrong. USA TODAY IN 2001: “Romney, 54, announced Monday that he won't return to Bain Capital, the company he co-founded in 1984. The firm specializes in acquiring struggling companies and righting them. It manages about $12 billion in assets. Romney, who held 100% of the voting stock, said he transferred it to the 26 managing directors who have run the firm day-to-day since he took over the then-troubled Salt Lake City Games on Feb. 11, 1999. He will continue to hold investments in the firm.” (AUGUST 21, 2001)

DNC – The list of attendees for the Democratic National Convention continues to dwindle as prominent unions such as the AFL-CIO will not be attending or sending very small congregations.

Welfare – The Obama administration is unilaterally moving to gut the Welfare program developed under Bill Clinton that will essentially remove the work requirement for people receiving welfare.

USDA – They are transmitting Spanish soap operas across radio airwaves to attract Hispanics to sign up for food stamps.

Obama's Lowlights (7/19/12)

Unemployment – All 17 GOP governors elected in 2010 have reduced the unemployment rates in their states. Furthermore, the average drop in the unemployment rate in these states was 1.35%, compared to the national decline of .9%, which means, according to the analysis, that the job market in these Republican states is improving 50% faster than the national rate.

Syria – The rogue nation is poised to earn a seat on the U.N. human rights council in 2014.

California - Capping a dramatic showdown over the most expensive project in state history, California legislators gave final approval to high-speed rail (69 billion dollars), firing the nation's first bullet train toward the future after an impassioned debate over whether the project's price tag was too high in a state whose economy is still hobbling.

ObamaCare - Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said last week. In fact, the governors of Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Louisiana have all said their states will not expand Medicaid programs, nor will they create a health insurance exchange.

Texas – Inmates are suing the state for the right to have taxpayer funded air conditioners for their prison cells.

Ray LaHood - Echoing the laments of pundits like Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood argued that China outpaces the United States in building major transportation infrastructure like high-speed rail because of its authoritarian system and because the Chinese don't have the Republican Party holding up progress.

Polls - A new poll from The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way.

Fast and Furious - After more than 18 months of waiting and a contempt of Congress charge against Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI unsealed an indictment of five illegal Mexican bandits charged with the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Arizona and offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four of the five men who are still on the run and suspected to be in Mexico.

Campaign Finance – The final June numbers show Romney with 106 million dollars compared to only 71 million dollars for Obama.

Unemployment – The federal government made 14 billion in unemployment benefits to those who aren't actively searching for a job, those who were fired or quit voluntarily, and those who continue to file claims even though they've returned to work. Any of those circumstances would make a person ineligible for benefits.

Unions – They have spent 4.4 billion on politics the past 6 years instead of investing in the people they supposedly advocate.

Voter ID - Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP Nation Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. What did media need in order to attend? That's right, government issued photo identification (and a second form of identification too!), something both Holder and the NAACP stand firmly against when it comes to voting. Holder's DOJ is currently suing Texas for "discriminatory" voter ID laws.

Spain - Seventeen European finance ministers agreed to lend Spain €30 billion to help bailout its distressed banks. The proposal will be submitted to a meeting of all 27 EU finance ministers.

Obama's Lowlights (7/16/12)

Economy – The economy remains stagnant as the private sector added a measly 80 thousand jobs in June and the unemployment rate stayed at 8.2%. The unemployment rate for minorities remains very high: Hispanics 11% and African Americans 14.4%. What’s worse, according the Social Security administration more Americans went on disability last month than found a job – 85 thousand. In fact, the number of new disability enrollees has climbed 19% faster than the number of jobs created during Obama’s presidential tenure – 3.1 million to 2.6 million. This is one way to keep the unemployment rate down and win votes. If that is not bad enough, in the 60 years prior to the Obama administration there have been 39 months of 8% or higher unemployment, under Obama we are at 41 months and counting. And Obama calls this “forward” progress. The White House has used the same one line in their response to the Bureau of Labor Statistics economic report the past 30 months "Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report."

Rules and Regulations - Tomas Lopez , 21, was fired by his supervisor for vacating his lifeguarding zone to save a man drowning in an unprotected area of the beach in Hallandale Beach, Florida. This is exactly what happens when the government places rules and regulations on companies and individuals – it eliminates commonsense in the decision making process. Fortunately, Lopez was reinstated a few days later.

Texas – Illegal immigration has gotten so out of hand on the Southern border the Texas Department of Public Safety has gotten gun boats to patrol the Rio Grande since the federal government is doing nothing.

Terrorism - According to a report prepared by the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology’s Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences division, people with conservative or libertarian leanings fit the profile of an extreme right-wing domestic terrorist.

UN - Apparently the obscure UN agency ‘World Intellectual Property Organization,’ is being investigated by the State Department for shipping “computers and other sophisticated equipment” to North Korea and Iran - despite the fact that both the U.S. and U.N. have sanctions against the pariah regimes in an effort to halt the development of their respective nuclear weapons programs. In other news, the UN is proposing a tax on all billionaires around the globe to raise money for poor nations.

Occupy Movement – Their plan to publish a cookbook was scrapped because the effort was disorganized and discombobulated.

NOAA - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website, from the Ocean Facts subheading, revealed your tax dollars, in latest effort by organization, was spent on verifying mermaids aren't real.

Romney – He set a GOP campaign fundraising record for June – over 100 million dollars.

Green - The U.S. Navy has started going green under the direction of Obama’s Secretary of the Navy Roy Mabus. They started using a special “green fuel” for their “Great Green Fleet,” which will be tested this month while completing its Rim of the Pacific exercise. The cost of the green fuel is $26 per gallon, a 622% increase over the current fuel price. In other news, the administration is outsourcing green jobs to Africa: The U.S. government is spending $20 million to “help clean energy projects in Africa get started.” Those projects include wind farms and solar panels, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced at the recent Rio +20 Conference in Brazil.

ObamaCare - The health care law "includes the largest set of tax law changes in more than 20 years," according to the Treasury inspector general who oversees the IRS. The changes will require new regulations, forms and publications, new computer programs and a big new outreach program to explain it all to taxpayers and tax professionals.

Obama's Lowlights (7/12/12)

ObamaCare – Florida Governor, Rick Scott, insists he still won't "implement these exchanges that will increase the cost of health and make Medicaid worse." The Supreme Court ruled that states can opt out of ObamaCare Medicaid expansion and still keep its prior funding levels. In other news, Pelosi calls the mandate a penalty that comes under the tax code. Oh really? Also, healthcare giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to an unprecedented $3 billion settlement with the U.S. government over allegations that the company advertised drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and then used lavish gifts to convince doctors to prescribe the drugs. Remember, big Pharma and its lobbyists yielded no concessions in the ObamaCare legislation.

Fast and Furious - According to a letter, an eye witness account, ATF Chief of Public Affairs Scott Thomasson was none too pleased allegations of gun walking during Operation Fast and Furious had gone public in the spring of 2011. He allegedly stated, "All of these whistleblowers have axes to grind. ATF needs to f--k these guys," and "we need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys and take them down". In other news, the Secret Service shutdown a student-protest calling for the firing of Attorney General Eric Holder saying they were acting on concerns over a 'a suspicious package' apparently left by a tourist on White House grounds. There were no follow up reports to clarify if the package existed and or to identify its contents.

Arizona - A hiker in the Madera Canyon area (I have hiked here before) found three assault rifles in a black trash bag one mile north of Old Baldy Trail.

Church – Speaking at a Black church, Michelle Obama says that there is no better place to talk about politics but at church.

Energy Plan – Obama released his 5 year energy plan and Republicans pounced on the President for his administration’s failure to include Virginia in the final five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling. But it wasn’t just Republicans complaining. Sen. Jim Webb (D) joined the bipartisan dissent.

EuroZone – The unemployment rate for the Eurozone reached a record 11.1% in June.

Romney Campaign – Romney will visit Israel this summer as he tries to bridge the gap in the Jewish vote. This move will accomplishes something Obama has yet to do – visit the nation.

California - In yet another example of a bureaucratic waste of taxpayer dollars, the Department of Homeland Security decided to reward the University of California Berkeley Police Department (UCPD) with a $200,000 grant that was used to purchase an “Armored Response Counter Attack Truck.”

Government Waste - Hundreds of millions of your taxpayer dollars are being spent to hold onto vacant and unused buildings around the country.

Unions – According the USA Today: The National Education Association (NEA) has lost more than 100,000 members since 2010. By 2014, union projections show, it could lose a cumulative total of about 308,000 full-time teachers and other workers, a 16% drop from 2010. Lost dues will shrink NEA's budget an estimated $65 million, or 18%.

Parents - California State Sen. Mark Leno (D) introduced a bill that would permit a child to legally have more than two parents. Non-traditional relationships including surrogate mothers and same-sex parents complicate the definition of a family.

Global Warming – The alarmist are back fear mongering after over 2,000 heat records were broken across the country during the nationwide heat wave this past week.  Violent storms and high temperatures have resulted in the deaths of 18 people.

Pakistan - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement today that the U.S. is sorry for the losses the Pakistan military suffered during the Nov. 26 incident last year in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by U.S. military aircraft during a border incident. I do not understand apologizing to the nation that harbored Bin Laden for 10 years.

Obama's Lowlights (7/9/12)

Freedom of Information Act - “Obama is the sixth administration that’s been in office since I’ve been doing Freedom of Information Act work. … It’s kind of shocking to me to say this, but of the six, this administration is the worst on FOIA issues. The worst. There’s just no question about it,” said Katherine Meyer, a Washington lawyer who’s been filing FOIA cases since 1978. “This administration is raising one barrier after another. … It’s gotten to the point where I’m stunned — I’m really stunned.”

Green Jobs - We can now add Mascoma Corporation to the long list of underachieving ‘green’ companies being propped up by a wasteful government bureaucracy. Mascoma has received 120 million in government funding and added only 3 new jobs over the past 3 years. In other news, Abound Solar, a solar panel maker that received a $400 million loan guarantee from the federal government, announced this past week that it would file for bankruptcy amid plummeting prices and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers in the solar equipment market.

Judicial Activism - Law professor Jonathan Adler writes that a New York Times analysis showed "the Roberts Court has overturned prior precedents and invalidates federal at a significantly lower rate than its predecessors." The ObamaCare decision reinforces this view.

Eric Holder – The House passed a bipartisan contempt (civil and criminal) vote on Eric Holder for his withholding of documents over the Fast and Furious program. The final vote was 255 to 67 with 110 people not voting. Twenty-one Democrats voted for the contempt charge on Holder. However, in a predictable move the Justice Department moved to shield Attorney General Eric Holder from prosecution after the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. The House plans to file a civil suit against Holder in a Federal Court.

ObamaCare = On twitter President Obama tweets – Healthcare “is still a BFD” after the Supreme Court decision in reference to Joe Biden’s comments when Obama signed the legislation into law. A DNC executive tweeted “its legal, bitc#$s”. According to a recent study ObamaCare will introduce more than two dozen new taxes on hospitals, doctors, insurers, and other providers. Interestingly, the White House continues to vehemently deny that the mandate is a tax, but if it is not a tax according to the Supreme Court it is unconstitutional. Also, the Romney campaign has been raking in donations after ObamaCare was ruled Constitutional. Romney received over 5.5 million dollars in contributions the 24 hours following the Supreme Court decision.

Student Loans - The House of Representatives passed a transportation bill that included an extension of the low interest rate (3.4%) on government-subsidized student loans, just days before the rate would have doubled.

Border Patrol – The Department of Homeland Security’s latest advisory document tells border agents to “run away” if they confront any gunmen.

Unions – New York City unionized utility workers have gone on strike in the middle of a heat wave. New Yorkers can always seem to count on union utility workers to go on strike whenever the weather becomes extreme.

Syria - A United Nations-brokered peace plan for Syria is a victory for Russia because it lacks clear wording that bars Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from taking part in a transition of power, analysts in London and Washington said.

Obama's Lowlights (7/5/12)

ObamaCare – The Supreme Court upholds the law by calling the individual mandate a tax.

AP – According to an Associated Press poll, 1 in 4 Americans say they are still undecided and willing to change their Presidential vote.

Bill Maher – On the Fast and Furious scandal he said “Republicans do not care about dead Mexicans!”

Egypt - Egypt’s military rulers officially recognized Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood as the winner of Egypt’s first competitive presidential election, handing the Islamists both a symbolic triumph and a potent weapon in their struggle for power against the country’s senior generals.

Arizona v. U.S. – The Supreme Court struck down 3 of the 4 provisions disputed in its immigration law SB1070. This is a win for Obama, the DOJ, and federal power and another loss for state sovereignty. The federal government immediately set up a hotline following the decision for people to report "potential" civil rights violations.

Citizens United – The Supreme Court upheld its previous decision on Citizen’s United by striking down an attempt by the state of Montana to bypass the law by placing campaign contribution limits on corporations.

Fast and Furious – A new poll the Hill indicates that 61% of independent votes disapprove of the White House’s use of executive privilege to protect correspondence about the program and only 25% approve.

Juveniles – The Supreme Court (5-4 Decision) struck down an Alabama law that can sentence juveniles to life without any opportunity for parole.

Mike McIntyre – The North Carolina Democratic Congressman has refused to endorse President Obama. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill will not attend the Democratic convention.

Wall Street Ditching Obama - Individuals who work in the securities and investment industry have given the Romney campaign $8.5 million through the end of April, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Over the same time period, Obama has brought in only $3 million from securities and investment workers, and the industry is only the campaign's fifth largest source of funds.

Welfare / Poverty – According a Cato Institute study “Federal welfare spending this year now totals $668 billion (41% increase over 2008), spread out over 126 programs, while the poverty rate that remains stubbornly high at nearly 15 percent – roughly where it was in 1965, when President Johnson declared a federal War on Poverty.” What’s worse, The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been running radio ads for the past four months encouraging those eligible for welfare to enroll. The campaign is targeted at the elderly, working poor, the unemployed and Hispanics.

EPA - In a surprisingly sweeping win for the Obama administration, a federal appeals court said Tuesday that the EPA is “unambiguously correct” in its interpretation of the Clean Air Act when it comes to regulating greenhouse gases. Unbelievable, maybe they should start regulating how many breaths we can take in a minute to eliminate some of those Leftist carbon emitting oxygen thieves that blow a lot of hot air.

Fracking - Heather Zichal, the top White House energy aide, told reporters that she expects the Interior Department rules regulating hydraulic fracturing, dubbed fracking, to be completed by year’s end.

Stockton CA - Stockton, Calif., could become the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy as local officials struggle to restructure millions of dollars of debt.

Obama Campaign - President Obama’s campaign trip to Boston will cost Massachusetts taxpayers close to $200,000.

Obama's Lowlights (7/2/12)

Democratic National Convention – More Democrats continue to distance themselves from Obama and will not attend their convention this summer. Congressman Mark Critz (PA), Kathy Hochul (NY), and Bill Owens (NY) are the latest of a growing list of Democrats not going to the DNC.

Radicalized Christians – With Representative King conducting hearings on the radicalization of Muslim Americans, Democrats want equal time to investigate the radicalization of American Christians.

Public Schools – A new Gallup poll shows that only 29% of Americans have confidence in the public school system – an all-time record low.

John Bryson - US Commerce Secretary John Bryson resigned last week, nearly two weeks after being involved in two car crashes in Southern California that he said were linked to a seizure.

Home Sales – The sale of new homes slipped 1.5% in May compared to the previous month.

Bill Maher – In reference to Allen West, he called the GOP the “Party of the Apes”.

Southern Union - The Supreme Court threw out an $18 million penalty this past week against the natural gas company convicted of violating an environmental law, the vote was 6-3.

FCC - The Supreme Court has thrown out fines and sanctions against broadcasters who violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on broadcast television.

Banks - Moody's Investors Service lowered the credit ratings of 15 the world's largest banks last week, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, saying their long-term prospects for profitability and growth are shrinking.

Obama Campaign – They spent more 15 million more dollars in May than what they brought in. Desperate for money, the Obama campaign is looking for help in England, France, and China where Obama is more popular than here in the U.S.

Farm Bill - The Farm Bill was sold as a bi-partisan, budget cutting piece of legislation. In reality, the bill fails to make any meaningful cuts to the food stamp program or farm subsidies. The bill is another in a long line of bi-partisan deals that will lock in big spending and pages of regulations. In this case the price tag is $969 billion, with 1,000 pages to empower DC bureaucrats.

Joe Williams – Politico suspended the reporter for a pornographic rant about Romney’s private parts on MSNBC.

North Las Vegas - After five years of declining property taxes, massive layoffs and questionable spending, leaders of the blue-collar, family-oriented city outside Las Vegas declared a state of emergency, invoking a rarely used state law crafted for unforeseen disasters.

Wisconsin - Wisconsin membership in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - the state's second-largest public-sector union after the National Education Association, which represents teachers - fell to 28,745 in February from 62,818 in March 2011.

David Myers – Myers, a convicted felon, was found guilty of accounting fraud that covered up WorldCom’s eventual collapse was given nearly 7.5 million is loans from the Obama stimulus.

U.N. – They are putting together an “Arms Trade Treaty” for an upcoming July meeting with global leaders.