OBOF SS & NIRE OART 35 EXTRA

WELCOME TO OPINIONS  BASED  ON FACTS (OBOF)

Name	Published
OVERVIEW	Dec. 28, 2010
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 1	Dec. 30, 2010
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 2	Jan. 10, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 3	Jan. 17, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 4	Jan. 24, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 5	Jan. 31, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 6	Feb. 07, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 7	Feb. 14, 2011
SPECIAL ISSUE	Feb. 18, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 8	Feb. 21, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 9	Mar. 01, 2011
SOCIAL SECURITY PART 10	Mar. 07, 2011
SS & MORE PART 1	Mar. 14, 2011
SS & MORE PART 1A	Mar. 21, 2011
SS & MORE PART 2	Mar. 25, 2011
SS & MORE PART 3	Mar. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 4	Apr. 04, 2011
SS & MORE PART 5	Apr. 11, 2011
SS & MORE PART 6	Apr. 18, 2011
SS & MORE PART 7	Apr. 25, 2011
SS & MORE PART 7A	Apr. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 8	May 02, 2011
SS & MORE PART 9	May 09, 2011
SS & MORE PART 10	May 16, 2011
SS & MORE PART 11	May 24, 2011
SS & MORE PART 12	Jun. 06, 2011
SS & MORE PART 13	Jun. 20, 2011
SS & MORE PART 14	July  05, 2011
SS & MORE PART 14A	July  18, 2011
SS & MORE PART 15	July  19, 2011
SS & MORE PART 16	Aug. 03, 2011
SS & MORE PART 17	Aug. 15, 2011
SS & MORE PART 18	Aug. 29, 2011
SS & MORE PART 19	Sept. 12, 2011
SS & MORE PART 20	Sept. 26, 2011
SS & MORE PART 21	Oct.   10, 2011
SS & MORE PART 22	Oct.   24, 2011
SS & MORE PART 22 EXTRA	Nov.  04, 2011
SS & MORE PART 23	Nov.  07, 2011
SS & MORE PART 24	Nov.  21, 2011
SS & MORE PART 25	Dec.  05, 2011
SS & MORE PART 26	Dec.  19, 2011
SS & MORE PART 27	JAN.  03, 2012
SS & MORE PART 27A	JAN.  05, 2012
SS & MORE PART 28	JAN.  17, 2012
SS & MORE PART 29	JAN.  31, 2012
SS & MORE PART 30	Feb.  14, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL1	Feb.  21, 2012
SS & MORE PART 30 EXTRA	Feb.  23, 2012
SS & MORE PART 31	Feb.  28, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL2 - 59	Mar.  06, 2012
SS & MORE PART 31 EXTRA	Mar.  07, 2012
SS & MORE PART 32	Mar.  13, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL3 - 1	Mar.  20, 2012
SS & MORE PART 32 EXTRA	Mar.  24, 2012
SS & MORE PART 33	Apr.  10, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL 4 - 2	Apr.  17, 2012
SS & MORE PART 34	Apr.  24, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL5 - 49	May  01, 2012
SS & MORE PART 35	May  09, 2012
SS & MORE PART CL6 - 19	May  15, 2012
SS & MORE PART 35 EXTRA	May  18, 2012

IN  THIS  ISSUE

1.  Opening note.

2.  FAB GROUP.

3.  ALEC has faced a backlash.

4.  $10 million ad campaign.

5.  Possible thought - may or may not be worth anything.

6.  Closing

OPENING  NOTE

If you are a pet lover you will understand this.  If you are not you probably will think it is foolish.  I am late getting this posted, because I have a 21 year old cat that left me today.  I is hard to take, but he is in Kittie Heaven now and not in pain any more.  Thanks for your undestanding.

•  

"THE FAB GROUP"

MORE  NEWS  -  LESS  READING

What is "THE FAB GROUP?"  Very simply, it is a group of short news items that provide more varied amounts of news, which I think we all will be interested in, without long detailed commentary.  More news - less reading.

Why "FAB?"  My name is Floyd Austin Bowman -  (FAB), and these are a group of items that I have chosen, thus "THE FAB GROUP,"  pronounced "FAB."

The U.S. ran a monthly surplus for the first time since 2008. "The federal government posted a budget surplus in April as tax receipts rose, the first month that revenue has outpaced spending in more than three and a half years. The Treasury Department, in its latest monthly budget figures out Thursday, said the government ran a surplus of $59.12 billion during April, compared with a deficit of $40.39 billion a year earlier. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had projected a $30.00 billion surplus. The federal government has historically run a budget surplus in April, when many Americans file their tax returns. Over the past 58 years, there have been 44 April surpluses, a Treasury official said. But from late 2008 up until two months ago, the government ran steady deficits amid weaker tax receipts and heavy spending following the financial crisis. The government last ran a monthly surplus in September 2008, the same month that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy." Jeffrey Sparshott in The Wall Street Journal.

@DaveedGR: Obviously, the April surplus is due to taxes coming in. Remarkable that there hasn't been a surplus in any April since 2008..

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Republicans may not offer a comprehensive replacement for Obamacare. "Republicans might not offer a comprehensive plan to replace President Obama’s healthcare law if the Supreme Court strikes it down this summer. House Republicans had said they would have a healthcare bill ready to go by the time of the ruling to present a clear alternative to the Democrats’ Affordable Care Act. But now, with the high court’s ruling just weeks away, some conservatives are urging the party to abandon that strategy, fearing voters will recoil from another sweeping revamp of the healthcare system...Ditching a comprehensive proposal could also make it easier for Republicans to steer the public’s focus away from popular elements of the Affordable Care Act that are unlikely to make the cut in a GOP plan...But a piecemeal strategy on healthcare could present its own risks. Republicans campaigned in 2010 on 'repealing and replacing' Obama’s law, but have struggled to clearly articulate a healthcare platform of their own." Sam Baker in The Hill.

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The House passed the GOP's sequester replacement bill. "The House approved sweeping legislation on Thursday to cut $310 billion from the deficit over the next decade -- much of it from programs for the poor -- and shift some of that savings to the Pentagon to stave off automatic military spending cuts scheduled for next year. The legislation has no chance of passing the Senate or of becoming law. The White House issued a stern veto threat, saying the bill would 'fail the test of fairness and shared responsibility.' But the legislation’s prescriptions and priorities could define the 2012 Congressional elections -- and are likely to affect the race for the White House...The bill’s political sensitivity came through in the 218-to-199 vote. Democrats were united in their opposition. Sixteen Republicans sided with the Democrats, and one Republican voted present. 'I voted my conscience, and I voted my district,' said Representative Mike G. Fitzpatrick, a Republican from suburban Philadelphia, who voted no." Jonathan Weisman in The New York Times.

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REICH: J.P. Morgan Chase makes the case for Glass-Steagall. "Ever since the start of the banking crisis in 2008, Dimon has been arguing that more government regulation of Wall Street is unnecessary. Last year he vehemently and loudly opposed the so-called Volcker rule, itself a watered-down version of the old Glass-Steagall Act that used to separate commercial from investment banking before it was repealed in 1999, saying it would unnecessarily impinge on derivative trading (the lucrative practice of making bets on bets) and hedging (using some bets to offset the risks of other bets)...What just happened at J.P. Morgan - along with its leader’s cavalier dismissal followed by lame reassurance - reveals how fragile and opaque the banking system continues to be, why Glass-Steagall must be resurrected, and why the Dallas Fed’s recent recommendation that Wall Street’s giant banks be broken up should be heeded." Robert Reich.

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Published: Friday 11 May 2012

“ALEC has faced backlash recently for its role in crafting Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. Now the organization is taking the same secretive approach to kill renewable energy development across the country.”

Is Digg defining a new direction for the curation economy? And could the new site help us cope with information overload?

Today, behind closed doors in Charlotte, North Carolina, legislators from 15 states will meet with the oil and gas industry to discuss so-called “model legislation” as part of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  The result could be laws that handicap renewable energy targets — while creating loopholes for fossil fuels, written directly by the oil and gas industry itself.

ALEC has faced backlash recently for its role in crafting Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws.  Now the organization is taking the same secretive approach to kill renewable energy development across the country.

Oil and gas corporations have a very strong role in politics through groups like Americans For Prosperity, American Petroleum Institute, and, of course, ALEC.  Four of the largest oil and gas corporations and two of the most profitable U.S. corporations overall, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP, sit on ALEC’s task forces.

And so today, according to documents posted by Common Cause, representatives from these and other energy groups will discuss potential legislation that would undermine clean energy standards and limit regulations of polluting industries.

The agenda items illustrate ALEC’s objectives. An economist from the oil lobby American Petroleum Institute leads a discussion on oil and gas prices, and a few of the panels include, “The Dirty Truth Behind Reusable Bags” and “Resolution Supporting a Reasonable Compliance Timeline and Economy wide Impact Study of EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Rule.” Peabody Energy — one of the largest coal companies in the world — will give the presentation on “Regulation Through Litigation Of Greenhouse Gases Is Unsound Public Policy.”

ALEC already benefits from special exemption from some state laws:   For example, South Carolina, Indiana, and Colorado have specifically exempted ALEC from lobbying status.

The oil industry’s astroturfing does not end with ALEC. Heartland Institute, part of the consortium of ultra-conservative think tanks leading a broad attack on clean energy, will also speak at ALEC’s meeting.  Americans for Prosperity, funded by money from the Koch brothers, is also involved in Big Oil’s PR campaign against clean energy.

We have already seen oil dominating election ad spending this year, with million spent by groups like Americans for Prosperity and American Energy Alliance since January.  More than 80 percent of election year attack ads have focused on energy — all of them thoroughly debunked.

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BREAKING  NEWS  ON  THURSDAY                         

$10  MILLION  AD  CAMPAIGN,

BUT  IS  THERE?

A lot of smoke erupted on Thursday, but when the fire trucks got there, there was no fire.  That pretty well describes what happened, when it was reported, that a man, who is not a household name, Tom Ricketts,  may back  a $10 million ad campaign against President Obama.  As more and more information became available, it sounds like Mr. Ricketts rejects the entire campaign.

The first reports were that he was going to back this project, but in a confused uncovering of what took place, it seems there will be no such ad campaign.  The following is real interesting.

The New York Times reported Thursday on just what that big entree might be: that Ricketts commissioned a study on how his super PAC could spend $10 million on an intense ad campaign tying President Obama to his controversial former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

For his part, Ricketts rejected the idea that he had any plans to make Wright a major issue of the campaign.

“Not only was this plan merely a proposal — one of several submitted to the Ending Spending Action Fund by third-party vendors — but it reflects an approach to politics that Mr. Ricketts rejects, and it was never a plan to be accepted, but only a suggestion for a direction to take,” said a spokeswoman for Ricketts.

The denial aside, Ricketts has suddenly become a major player in American politics.

But just who is he?

Actually, he’s a man with some pretty close ties to Obamaworld and the Democratic Party.

Ricketts himself is a former Democrat who became a Republican and later an independent.

His daughter, Laura, is a gay and lesbian activist and big-time Obama bundler, having raised around half a million dollars for the man her father would apparently like to bring down.

The New York Times got hold of the proposed campaign playbook, submitted by Republican strategists to TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, who has become increasingly involved in GOP politics of late.

The plan, called “The Defeat of Barack Hussein Obama: The Ricketts Plan to End His Spending for Good,” would “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the strategists write, according to the Times report — tie Obama to Wright’s controversial sermons.

Fred Davis, the ad man behind “I am not a witch,” oversaw the proposal. Davis worked on the McCain campaign and argued in favor of a Wright ad then. 

Strategic Perception, Davis’ firm, said in a statement that the “the Ricketts family, never approved” the proposal “and nothing has happened on it since the presentation.”

THIS IS A POSSIBILITY.

MY THOUGHT THAT MAY

OR

MAY NOT, BE WORTH ANYTHING.

The election is a little over five months away and already things are getting muddy.  In connection with the above there is a diabolic thought that may or may not be too outlandish to even think about, but I am going to throw it out here for whatever it is worth or worthless. 

Suppose the plan was to set this news up so that it could be found and published with no intention ever of it happening.  If that were done, they could accomplish publicizing Rev. Wright again and at the same time give Ricketts and Romney a chance to show how upright and considerate they are by "repudiating" such an outlandish approach.     

In that case, they would accomplish everything they wanted to and spent no money at all, just free advertising.   

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If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. 

God bless you all

&

God bless the United States of America