I saw several mentions of this on Friday (Rush mentioned it as well), but just couldn't bring myself to end the week on such saddening news, so I delayed it until today...
Abortion is celebrated as the golden calf of the Democratic Party, no matter the destruction, no matter the lack of reasonable restriction. And it's because of the promoted on-demand mentality that we find these kind of devastating reports to relay throughout America.
Just let this sink in and understand the shear evil that has been wrought on our culture and, more generally speaking, humanity. Unfortunately, Margaret Sanger's wish is coming true...
CNSNews: In 2012, there were more black babies killed by abortion (31,328) in New York City than were born there (24,758), and the black children killed comprised 42.4% of the total number of abortions in the Big Apple, according to a report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The report is entitled, Summary of Vital Statistics 2012 The City of New York, Pregnancy Outcomes, and was prepared by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Office of Vital Statistics. (See Pregnancy Outcomes NYC Health 2012.pdf)
The total number of live births in New York City in 2012 for women ages 15-49 was 123,231. That is a rate of 14.8 live births per 1,000 women, which is the lowest rate since 1979, according to the report. In addition, the live birth rate (per 1,000 women) has declined 3.9% since 2003, when it was a 15.4 rate, states the report. (See Pregnancy Outcomes NYC Health 2012.pdf)
In addition, while there were 73,815 abortions in New York City in 2012, the rate of abortions per 1,000 women is down 8.6% since 2011, according to the report.
Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have not published their abortion statistics for 2011 or 2012 yet, they do have data for 2010. (See Table 12.) In the CDC’s numbers, there were 38,574 black babies killed by abortion in New York City in 2010; Hispanic babies aborted, 27,112; white babies killed by abortion, 9,220; and “other” aborted, 5,368. The total abortions in New York City in 2010 “reported by known race/ethnicity” were 80,274, according to the CDC.
NRO also reminds us that New York has had the highest abortion rate of any city in the nation for years now.
How much longer will proponents excuse this holocaust? There's no denying what this is.
Prayers for all those lost, innocent souls, as well as for all those who participated in this evil practice. As Christ said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
CNSNews: Although whites outnumber blacks in Mississippi by nearly 2-to-1, 71.67% of the babies aborted in Mississippi are black, while 26.6% are white.
Based on data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 39,052 black babies were killed by abortions in Mississippi between 1995 and 2010. During that same time period, 14,529 white babies were aborted in the Magnolia State.
The total number of abortions between 1995 and 2010 in Mississippi was 54,484. In addition to blacks and whites, that number also includes abortions among Hispanics, "Other" (meaning Asian and Native American), and "Unknown," as published by the CDC.
The data for 2010 is the latest information from the CDC on reported abortions, as published in their annual Abortion Surveillance reports. The next report, which will cover 2011, is projected to be published in November of this year.
Belated a day, but never forgotten. February 22nd marked George Washington's 282nd birthday, and our first president made an unforgettable mark on America...we need to re-remember that...
JSOnline: Saturday [marked] George Washington's 282nd birthday...
Regrettably, in too many ways, we find that Washington's legacy is fading away. Two hundred years ago, every American knew his bravery, leadership and impeccable character. But not so today. A survey by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni shows that college graduates more readily identify Lady Gaga than Washington at Yorktown.
A zealous handful of patriots – led by Washington – risked everything to create the world's first true republic. Too many Americans simply take this for granted.
We need to be reminded that America didn't 'just happen.' And one way we can and should do that is by remembering and celebrating George Washington's birthday. Keep our first president "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
Go to MountVernon.org to learn more about our first and greatest President.
Aside from being a bit of a political junkie, I'm also a child of the '80's, and as such, an action figure fan (Transformers were my favorite!). So imagine my delight when this video popped up a few weeks back combining both phenomenon! An absolutely brilliant portrayal/mockery of the krumbling state of our nation's Kapitol...specifically, the kareer politicians entrenched within...
This is one way to get the message across. For more awesome adventures in Kronyism, visit TheKronies.com! (or your nearest federal building)
Speaking of the deteriorating state of journalism today, there was an interesting exchange between a singer and a mediaite the other day. Korn frontman Jonathan Davis calmly unloaded some shocking news to an unsuspecting TMZ reporter when describing the band's new music video: "I think that the government uses those people [crazy lives of celebrities] to detract from what's really going on. And you guys, you get very interested in what's going on in their lives." Going on to express that while those distractions play out, laws are being passed, "that made [Obama] basically a dictator." and they're "taking away your freedom."
Wow. Whichever direction he's reaching this conclusion (whether from an OWS influence or a sensible libertarian approach), it's nonetheless a sign that perhaps more are awakening to the tyranny of unlimited, unrestrained, authoritarian government that the current crop of career politicians seem hell bent on pursuing...
If I had one thing to suggest to Davis, it would be clarifying something that it seems he begins to scratch: It's the idolatrous love-affair that the mainstream media and celebrities have with American leftist leaders, like Barack Obama, that allows a statist-controlled government to infringe upon more and more of our liberties daily.
As if half, or I'd suggest more, aren't already allowing that! But put that aside for now...
This is apparently Obama's effort to resurrect the aptly ironic-named Fairness Doctrine via his executive pen...executing another unconstitutional assault on Americans, yet again, as with other lawless pursuits, towards the First Amendment.
Mr. Constitutional Professor, my @$$...
HotAir: The better question is this — why should the FCC care what editors at TV stations and especially newspapers are thinking? More than a week ago, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai blew the whistle on the commission’s proposed study of editorial bias in news rooms, even though the FCC has no jurisdiction on broadcast news content, and no jurisdiction whatsoever on newspapers. Fox News began covering this yesterday:
The last thing we need is the government mucking around with news content.
The title of this Big Brother-ish effort by the Federal Communications Commission sounds innocuous enough: “Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs.” But it’s a Trojan horse that puts federal officials in the newsroom, precisely where they shouldn’t be.
Don’t take my word for it. The FCC says it wants to examine “the process by which stories are selected,” as well as “perceived station bias” and “perceived responsiveness to underserved populations.”
Perceived station bias? Are you kidding me? Government bureaucrats are going to decide whether a newsroom is being fair?
They're thinking this would serve as yet another totalitarian effort by the regime...or as Krauthammer put it, "As if the IRS and the EPA and the NLRB haven't done enough damage, the FCC has to trample on what rights are remaining."
Although, I wouldn't put it past certain newsrooms (uh hum, MSLSD!) to welcome the Obama regime into their so-called journalistic confines, as Rush explained this morning...
Still, such an outrageous move doesn't bode well for our genuine constitutional rights (the real ones, not the made up ones that the left constantly create on a whim).
UPDATE I: Byron York reports more on this story, revealing not only how this initiative tramples First Amendment protections, but that the program is being run by Democratic Rep. James Clyburn's daughter...
WashingtonExaminer: The First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” But under the Obama administration, the Federal Communications Commission is planning to send government contractors into the nation’s newsrooms to determine whether journalists are producing articles, television reports, Internet content, and commentary that meets the public’s “critical information needs.” Those “needs” will be defined by the administration, and news outlets that do not comply with the government’s standards could face an uncertain future. It’s hard to imagine a project more at odds with the First Amendment.
The initiative, known around the agency as “the CIN Study” (pronounced “sin”), is a bit of a mystery even to insiders. “This has never been put to an FCC vote, it was just announced,” says Ajit Pai, one of the FCC’s five commissioners (and one of its two Republicans). “I’ve never had any input into the process,” adds Pai, who brought the story to the public’s attention in a Wall Street Journal column last week.
Advocates promote the project with Obama-esque rhetoric. “This study begins the charting of a course to a more effective delivery of necessary information to all citizens,” said FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn in 2012. Clyburn, daughter of powerful House Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, was appointed to the FCC by President Obama and served as acting chair for part of last year. The FCC, Clyburn said, “must emphatically insist that we leave no American behind when it comes to meeting the needs of those in varied and vibrant communities of our nation — be they native born, immigrant, disabled, non-English speaking, low-income, or other.” (The FCC decided to test the program with a trial run in Ms. Clyburn’s home state, South Carolina.)
UPDATE II: So apparently, the Obama administration has felt the heat over the past few days; so much so that the FCC is supposedly backing off the newsroom study...for now, anyway...
FoxNews: The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that it was putting on hold a controversial study of American newsrooms, after complaints from Republican lawmakers and media groups that the project was too intrusive.
FCC spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said Chairman Tom Wheeler agreed with critics that some of the study's proposed questions for reporters and news directors "overstepped the bounds of what is required."
...in other words, we're unable to trample your rights this blatantly without resistance right now, so look for a resurrection of such suppressive policies towards the end of Obama's reign.
Well, looks like Elmendorf may have some company amidst the Democratic disliked...GOOD!
"I've never been an advocate for any minimum wage. I've always felt that at the end of the day, the market would determine a person's value per hour. But given that we have one, the last thing we want to do, now that we have the evidence, is clear: do not raise it. It's just a huge mistake. End of story."
What's this?! A refreshing broadcast of fearless honesty and TRUTH? Finally, someone, namely Kevin O'Leary in this instance, appears to have listened and learned from Milton Friedman!
When asked what kind of wages or economy we'd have if we never had a minimum wage, O'Leary fired back brilliantly (H/t: MarketSanity)...
"I think we'd have a very vibrant economy based on demand.
In other words...think about if you never had a minimum wage. People would go seek the highest opportunity at the lowest risk all the time. Companies would do the same thing. We'd probably have more jobs remaining in America today than what we have today, because basically our cost of labor in many sectors -- automotive, I like to use all the time, using the leverage of unions over the decades that have made our car companies less competitive than global leaders. There was a time when Detroit owned this sector globally. Look at it today. And I blame union wages as part of that problem. Why do people want to move manufacturing to Mexico? Because the labor is cheaper.
Let the market determine what labor should be, and we’d have a much more vibrant economy.
Remember guys, we're competing globally now! We're not just competing in North America. We have to fight everybody, all the time, everywhere!
I feel like we're in the middle of a game and we have to give a pep talk back to the economy."
“This is a basic premise upon which capitalism was built, and we’ve drifted so far off the pendulum that we don’t even question anymore policies like this."
And that's fairly evident by the insistence to keep pushing off implementation until AFTER each consecutive election cycle...
NationalJournal: For nearly three years, the Democratic approach to the political unpopularity of President Obama’s health care law was denial. Deny it played a significant role in the party’s historic midterm losses in 2010. Insist, in the face of contradictory evidence, that as more voters experienced the benefits of the law, the more popular it would become. Deny it would be a major issue at all in the 2014 midterms.
The latest version of the argument points to polling showing that voters don’t want to repeal the law but prefer to see it fixed—perfectly in line with the newly adopted positions of vulnerable Democratic officeholders. In a memo leaked to the press, Democrats argue they can neutralize their health care vulnerabilities by promoting their desire to fix the law and blaming Republicans for intransigence in seeking a full repeal. But dig a bit deeper past the talking points, and it’s unclear what they want to fix—beyond their broken poll numbers.
Indeed, in a sign that Democrats are stuck in neutral on their Obamacare messaging, the “news” from the memo is months old. The strategy devised by the sharpest party operatives has already been in effect in numerous ads across the country and was promoted by the party’s top strategists two months ago. In those targeted races, public polling has shown Democratic standing worsening where the on-air Obamacare debate has already begun. (See: Landrieu, Mary; Hagan, Kay.)
The main reason 2014 is different than 2012 isn’t the quality of the messaging. It’s that the law is now a reality affecting millions of Americans—and more don’t like the changes. The most important test on the ultimate success of the health care law will be whether voters think they’re getting a better deal out of the law than not. And all available evidence, from polling to the government’s cherry-picked enrollment data, suggests that supporters face a tough challenge making the sell.
In discussing the unfixable hydra-head of the Democratic Party's 'greatest hits', from fuel efficiency & climate change to raising the minimum wage, or dare I mention the dregs of Obamacare, Rush explains why "you can’t grow the economy when people like Obama are president."
"The Democrat Party has these greatest hits: raise the minimum wage, climate change, pollution. They have these things they just keep recycling over the years. And they do it for political purposes to advance their agenda, obviously. But you'll notice nothing is ever fixed!" ...
"It's just BS! They never fix anything. They come along, and they present the crisis of the day. They then announce their solution, they implement the solution, it never gets fixed!"
Reuters: Raising the U.S. federal minimum wage to $10.10, as President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are proposing, could result in about 500,000 jobs being lost by late 2016, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated on Tuesday.
The non-partisan CBO also said that increasing the hourly wage could reduce U.S. budget deficits by a small amount for several years, but then increase them slightly in later years.
Here's a few more interesting details from Breitbart:
The CBO report estimated, if fully implemented by 2016, "the $10.10 option would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers" while bringing 900,000 workers out of poverty.
As for the $9 option that has previously been proposed by Obama and some Democrats, the CBO estimated that such a hike would cost 100,000 jobs while bringing 300,000 workers out of poverty.
Time to snap back to reality, America, and understand that this president is not Santa Claus. What he is doing is bartering with the working poor -- bringing some right above the poverty level by costing others the only job they've got -- while placing an additional burden on employers.
UPDATE: Looks as though the CBO is defending its minimum-wage estimate as Obama and the Democrats fume over the fact that the CBO Director dared to defy their agenda by simply telling the truth of the matter...
NJ: White House pique notwithstanding, the Congressional Budget Office is standing by its estimate of the job impact that a minimum-wage hike would create.
"Our analysis of the effects of an increase in the minimum wage is completely consistent with the latest thinking in the economics profession," said CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf, disputing the Obama administration's attempted takedown of his agency's work.
The White House and congressional Democrats tried to paint CBO as out of touch with mainstream economic thinking after the nonpartisan budget agency estimated raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour could reduce the number of workers in the labor force by 500,000 in 2016.
Elmendorf argued that it's a little hard to compare CBO's findings, which covered both an increase in the federal minimum to $10.10 and to $9 from the current level of $7.25, with other economists' assertions on the job impact of the minimum wage because the latter didn't necessarily have to quantify their estimates. But, he said, CBO appears to line up with what other economists—who have spoken in qualitative language—have found.
