The Sunday 'Report;' 04/03/2011

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What Some 'National Pamphleteers' Won't Print:
Britain cuts aid to 16 nations and 4 U.N. agencies

By Adrian Croft
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday [03/01/2011] it would stop funding 16 countries and four United Nations' agencies as it focuses its 6.5 billion pound overseas aid budget on helping the poorest or conflict-ridden countries.  The major overhaul of aid policies follows a nine-month review of their effectiveness by the Conservative-led coalition government.  "This government is taking a radically different approach to aid. We want to be judged on our results, not on how much money we are spending," International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said.  Overseas aid is one of the few areas of public spending that has been ring-fenced by the coalition, which stands by the previous Labour government's goal of raising foreign aid to the U.N. target [....]
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/01/uk-britain-aid-idUKTRE7205C220110301

Caterpillar may leave Illinois

Business says state income tax increase is "not favorable to business;" Gov Quinn says the company will stay
Amy Rutledge, James Sears-WGN News
March 27, 2011
CHICAGO, Ill— 1400 jobs could potentially be lost at the Joliet Caterpillar plant if the company decides to pull out of Illinois, a very real possibility according to a recent letter from the company's CEO.
    CEO Doug Oberhelman sent a letter to Gov Pat Quinn stating four states are courting the company diligently in light of Illinois recent income tax increase. In the letter, Oberhelman said, "The direction that this state is headed in is not favorable to business."  Governor Pat Quinn told reporters Saturday, "Caterpillar's not going anywhere."  But business owners in Joliet are worried. Theresa Berkey is an estate planner says the loss of Catepillar could [....]
http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-caterpillar-leaving-mar27,0,2069753.story?track=rss

State Department Promises Move Toward CRC Ratification

    On March 10, the owe-bama regime told the UN Human Rights Council that it supports the UNHRC's recommendations that the United States should “ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child [CRC].” Moreover, the regime promised that it “intend[s] to review how we could move toward its ratification.”  In the meantime, SR 99 opposing ratification of the CRC is very close to its first major milestone. As of yesterday, Senator Jim DeMint's resolution, which expresses the reasons Senators oppose the UN child rights treaty, has 32 cosponsors, with 2 [....]
http://www.parentalrights.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={C2D9CE73-357C-4F02-9DA2-5D4D8D3C6666}

{*}Hezbollah Working with Cartels
 
Budget Deal? Not So Fast
Says Boehner: "No Agreement On Numbers"

March 31, 2011
    House Speaker John Boehner today disagreed with Democratic leaders who claimed that lawmakers had settled on a total number of spending cuts in a budget deal to keep the government running for the rest of the fiscal year.  On Wednesday night, as George Stephanopoulos reported here first, both parties had settled on the same dollar amount for – $33 billion. That number was confirmed by Vice President 'Plug' biden when he emerged from a meeting with Senate Democrats. But he also cautioned that the composition of those cuts was still up for discussion and “there’s no deal until there’s a total deal.”
This morning Senate Majority Leader 'Pinky' reid reiterated that lawmakers had reached an agreement on the number of spending cuts.  “We’re continuing to work very very hard to avoid the terrible consequences that would come with a government shutdown,”  'Pinky' reid said on the Senate floor.   “Democrats and Republicans have agreed upon a number on which to base our budget cuts – that number is $73 billion below the President’s budget proposal. Now we have to figure out how to get to that 73 number.”
Not so fast, Boehner countered a bit later this morning.
“There’s no agreement on numbers and nothing has been agreed to until everything has been agreed to,” Boehner said at a news conference.  He vowed [....]
{Blogger:  Seems to me that both 'Plug' and 'Pinky' lied through-their-teeth as usual!}
http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2011/03/budget-deal-not-so-fast-says-boehner-no-agreement-on-numbers.html
Until Next Sunday....

{*}

February 21, 2011
by: Adam Housley
    As if the threat of deadly drug cartels in Mexico wasn’t enough, some of them are joining forces with Middle East terror groups.  “Hezbollah are absolute masters at identifying existing smuggling infrastructures,” says former DEA Chief of Operations Mike Braun, adding that the group “is developing relations with those responsible for operating those smuggling operations and then forming close relations with them, so that they can move anything they have an interest into virtually anywhere in the world.” That comment comes from former DEA Chief of Operations Mike Braun. He goes on to tell me that the Middle East terror group is “rubbing shoulders” with drug cartels around the globe.
    My military and Department of Homeland Security contacts are insistent…it’s not if Hezbollah operatives have been smuggled into the U.S….but how many? They note that drug tunnels are becoming much more sophisticated and striking similar as tunnels being used by terror organizations to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. My contacts also say they have real concern that bombing techniques used in the Middle East to promote terror are now also being used inside Mexico, as the cartels war with [....]
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/02/21/hezbollah-working-with-cartels/

Bonus deciphering sometimes requires delving into details

Posted by LegiStorm
March 16, 2011
    LegiStorm's recent examination of congressional bonuses continues generating widespread interest, but it helps to look more closely at the numbers to see if members are being as generous with bonuses as the numbers look at first.  Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) is a case in point. Her office contacted LegiStorm to point out the congresswoman did not give any fourth-quarter bonuses this past year, and a look at the raw salary numbers bears that out. However, in our chart the average salary for Tsongas' staff is shown to have risen 9.59% in the [....]
http://www.legistorm.com/
Obama’s Missionless War
If you don't have a mission, it's hard to know when it's accomplished.
Mark Steyn
April 2, 2011
    If I recall correctly, we went into Libya — or, at any rate, over Libya — to stop the brutal Qaddafi dictatorship killing the Libyan people. And thanks to our efforts a whole new mass movement of freedom-loving democrats now has the opportunity to kill the Libyan people. As the Los Angeles Times reported from Benghazi, these democrats are roaming the city “rousting Libyan blacks and immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa from their homes and holding them for interrogation as suspected mercenaries or government spies.” According to the New York Times, “Members of the NATO alliance have sternly warned the rebels in Libya not to attack civilians as they push against the regime of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.” We dropped bombs on Qaddafi’s crowd for attacking civilians, and we’re prepared to do the same to you! “The coalition has told the rebels that the fog of war will not shield them from possible bombardment by NATO planes and missiles, just as the regime’s forces have been punished.”

    So, having agreed to be the Libyan Liberation Movement Air Force, we’re also happy to serve as the Qaddafi Last-Stand Air Force. Say what you like about Barack Obama, but it’s rare to find a leader so impeccably multilateralist he’s willing to participate in both sides of a war. It doesn’t exactly [....]
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/263675/obama-s-missionless-war-mark-steyn
Bachmann Sets Timetable
[This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 31, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.]

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: My next guest hasn't officially thrown her hat in the 2012 presidential race yet, but with several reason trips to early primary states, she certainly appears to be leaning in that direction. And a final decision could be mere months away.
In the meantime, she is staying busy in Washington fighting to keep the government from shutting down in just eight days. And I sat down earlier with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to get her reaction to the countdown to the shutdown plus more on her possible presidential plans.
HANNITY: Congresswoman, welcome back. Good to see you.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: Sean, good to see you again too. Thank you.
HANNITY: All right. So, this is getting serious. You're contemplating a run for the presidency. Probably had some good reaction when you were in Iowa. What is the status?
BACHMANN: We had a great reaction when I was in Iowa. I met with a lot of people from different walks of life. Just a tremendous response, and we has said that if I do make a decision to throw my hat in, we'll make it probably in early summer because in Iowa the straw poll is in August and there needs to be a little bit a lead time to get ready for something like that. So, if I do decide to jump in, it will be in early summer.
HANNITY: What are the considerations that are running through your mind right now? Obviously, it's a big decision. But are you looking at the other candidates? Do you want to see who gets in? Are there one, two or three people that if they get in, maybe you will say OK, I'm content that there are good people in the race?
BACHMANN: It really isn't about other people or what their decision will be. Because I already think that there are a lot of great people out there. What I'm looking at is whether or not I think this is the right thing that I need to do with the message that I'm bringing forth. And whether the people that are in Iowa and other states see me as someone that they want to get behind and support.
HANNITY: All right. Steny Hoyer said earlier this week that the odds of a government shutdown now are increasing. There are articles how Democrats are trying to calculate how to best benefit from a government shutdown. There was this conference call with Senator Schumer and reporters, he didn't know he was being recorded and listened to. And I want to play to you what he said and I want to get your reaction.
BACHMANN: Sure.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. "CHUCKIE-CHEESE" SCHUMER, D-N.Y.: The main thrust is basically that we want to negotiate and we want to come up with a compromise but the Tea Party is pulling Boehner to far over to the right, and so far over that they're not -- there's no more fruitful negotiations. And the subtext at this is the only way we can avoid to shutdown is for Boehner to come up with the reasonable compromise and not just listen to what the Tea Party wants. Because the Tea Party wants to stick to HR1, with its draconian extreme, I always use the word extreme, that's what the caucus instructed me to do the other week, extreme cuts and all these riders. And Boehner's in a box.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. So, he's instructing his fellow Democratic senators, these are what you say to reporters, use the word extreme, tie Boehner to the Tea Party, they are not reasonable, they've got to extricate themselves somehow from the Tea Party Movement. First of all, I think this is a strategy that we are going to see a lot of [....]
http://www.hannity.com/article/bachmann-sets-timetable-for-presidential-decision/13078