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French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday praised President Obama's health care overhaul, called his push for stricter financial regulations "great news" and, standing alongside Mr. Obama at the White House, said he hopes their administrations can team up "to go even further in regulating world capitalism." Mr. Sarkozy, a fierce advocate for tougher rules on global financial markets, said France will use its position next year as leader of a group of the world's top finance ministers to push for a new economic regulatory regime. "During the French presidency of the G-20, [Treasury Secretary] Tim Geithner, [French Finance Minister] Christine...

We turn to the Wall Street Journal for the math on what it will cost to raise taxes on corporations’ retiree prescription drug coverage. This is the provision that has caused several corporations to take markdowns recently. The bottom line: by closing this “loophole” — which was originally created to dissuade companies from dumping retirees’ prescription costs into Medicare Part D — the government could lose more than five times what it brings in. The Employee Benefit Research Institute calculates that the 28% subsidy on average will run taxpayers $665 in 2011 and that the tax dispensation is worth $233....

Henry Waxman is peeved. He expects corporate America to swallow health-care reform without a peep of protest -- and, apparently, without revealing new costs to shareholders or the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week, AT&T announced it will take an immediate $1 billion write-down thanks to a new tax in the health bill that will cause Caterpillar ($100 million) and Deere & Co. ($150 million), among other large employers, to do the same. The benefits consultancy Towers Watson estimates that the change may reduce corporate profits by as much as $14 billion over time. That's real money. For comparison: It's...

Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent vast sums on welfare or aid to the poor; however, the aggregate cost of this assistance is largely unknown because the spending is fragmented into myriad programs. As this report shows, means-tested welfare or aid to poor and low-income persons is now the third most expen­sive government function. Its cost ranks below support for the elderly through Social Security and Medicare and below government expenditures on education, but above spending on national defense. Prior to the current reces­sion, one dollar in seven in total federal, state, and local government...

Leftists have an anomalous disposition towards this country's history, the Founding Fathers, and the Constitution. The expanding chasm between what the documented intentions were of the Founders, and the fantastical and unsupportable conjecture of the Founders intentions by Leftist ideologues, are inexhaustible. The truth of the Founders intentions and the true meaning of the Constitution lie not in Supreme Court case law, not in manufactured history by the Left, and certainly not in the ideological cesspool of the Democratic Party. The truth lies in reading the Constitution, a knowledge of history, and studying the commentaries by the authors, which clearly...

The notion that the pain of Obamacare would not really be felt for a few years has always been silly. It won't be fully felt, but he economy is dynamic. Corporations have to plan today for the conditions of tomorrow. More to the point, public corporations with disclosure obligations under the securities laws have to disclose today when developments change their outlook for tomorrow. Hence, AT&T's announcement that Obamacare will force it to take a $1 billion dollar charge — the most alarming (but entirely predictable) bad news in a parade that, the Wall Street Journal's editors note, "includes Deere...

The Socialist International is a world-wide socialist organization. Their own website states as much. They claim to be a "...worldwide organization of social democratic, socialist and labor parties..." The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the biggest socialist organization in this country and it is the principal affiliate of the Socialist International. These folks are against the "evil" of "private profit" (read that wealth redistribution) and "race and gender discrimination" (read that in favour of homosexuality) among other things. At this point, many will be tempted to say "Well, that's interesting, but so what?" The "so what" of it is...

Never mind their soothing-sounding leftist doublespeak like 'Environmental Justice' (whatever that is supposed to mean) or the soft & fuzzy 'Global Non-Violence' (a euphemism for unilateral disarmament) — the DSA's self-declared principle of 'Economic Redistribution' clearly shows where these folks are coming from and exactly where they plan to take America.

This Monday Night, 9/28/2009:What do Barack & Michelle Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Van Jones, David Axelrod, Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Carol Browner, Ron Bloom, Hilda Solis, Samantha Power and Rosa Brooks have in common? TREVOR LOUDON bothers them a great deal -- because he blows their cover -- and he does it from New Zealand. We will have two hours to compare notes. And, listen for other Obamologists calling in. Stream it live, or listen/call in at (646) 727-2652 ~ 9-11pm ET,,, 6-8pm PT.

Two big questions hang over President Obama's radical "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones. Is he still a communist? Is he a security threat? Many have assumed that Van Jones' committment to communism ended when the organization he helped to lead STORM (Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement) dissolved in 2002. Yet a 2004 treatise Reclaiming Revolution: History, Summation, and Lessons from the Work of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement written and endorsed by a majority of former STORM members makes it clear that most ex STORMers are still committed to the revolutionary movement; From page 49. When...

The following FAQ will help clarify a few facts: Q: What is the Socialist International? A: It is the worldwide organization of socialist, social democratic and labor parties. It currently brings together 131 political parties and organizations from all continents. Its origins go back to the early international organizations of the labor movement of the last century.* It has existed in its present form since 1951, when it was re-established at the Frankfurt Congress. They are now headquartered in London, England.* In 1864, representatives of English and French industrial workers founded the International Workingmen's Association in London. Karl Marx, who...

Marxist political coalition Was active from 1992-1998 Endorsed Barack Obama for Illinois state senate seat in 1996 Co-founded in 1992 by Daniel Cantor (a former staffer for Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign) and Joel Rogers (a sociology and law professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), the New Party was a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist public officials -- most often Democrats. The New Party's short-term objective was to move the Democratic Party leftward, thereby setting the stage for the eventual rise of new Marxist third party. Most New Party members hailed from the Democratic...

In retrospect, we may discover that 1883 was a most significant year. We're familiar with 1848 giving us The Communist Manifesto and 1859 giving us The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, but 1883 gave us three portentous happenings. These seemingly unrelated happenings turned history toward socialism. 1. Karl Marx died on March 14, 1883, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London, England. The assumption that Communism died with him was logical since only six people attended his funeral. But the truth is that it had...

Politics: Is anyone surprised that the would-be czarina of federal climate and energy policy has ties to a socialist group? The environmental movement's goal is to afflict the economy, not comfort the ecology.Carol Browner, who'll run the new White House office of climate and energy policies, isn't new to Washington. The public will recognize her name from the years she served as Environmental Protection Agency administrator under Bill Clinton. The public, however, knows little or nothing about her work with Socialist International, a group that describes itself as a worldwide organization of social democratic, socialist and labor parties that envisions...

President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Labor Department has close ties to U.S. communist and socialist organizations and has sent representatives to functions organized by national parties for both ideologies. The pick of Rep. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., a Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader considered to be one of the most reliably pro-union voices in the House, was hailed as a victory by communist and socialist leaders...... An article this past weekend in the Communist Party USA's People's Weekly World Newspaper welcomed Solis and quoted known socialist leaders calling her a "great choice" and an "outstanding" selection with "a life-long...

Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod, once worked for a man who was an identified member of the Communist Party USA, a registered agent of the Soviet Union and a paid disseminator of Soviet black propaganda. This man went on to become a key Chicago political fixer who helped elect communist linked politicians including the late Chicago mayor Harold Washington and former US Senator Carol Moseley Braun. This man knew Barack Obama and was a key member of an organisation which endorsed Barack Obama in his 2004 US Senate race. Barack and Michelle Obama were active members of this...

First it was Barack Obama's encounter with Joe the Plumber. Then there was his 2001 interview at Chicago radio station. Today, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air highlights yet another in what is turning out to be a long line of links and other items proving that Democratic candidate Barack Obama is a longtime dedicated, doctrinnaire soc-, soc-, (yes, we're still allowed to say it) socialist. It comes from the March-April 1996 edition of New Ground, a publication of the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America (CDSA). I'll cite the relevant verbiage after the jump. But what's more important, I will show...

Some people, including some writers for The Black Commentator, are adamant that Senator Obama should not be supported and that he is a fraud.

New Party Update July-August, 1996 by Bruce Bentley The Chicago New Party is increasely becoming a viable political organization that can make a different in Chicago politics. It is crucial for a political organization to have a solid infrastructure and visible results in its political program. The New Party has continued to solidify this base. First, in relation to its infrastructure, the NP's membership has increased since January '95 from 225 to 440. National membership has increased from 5700 in December '95 to 7000. Currently the NP's fiscal balance is $7,000 and receives an average of $450/month is sustainer donations....

JERUSALEM – Evidence has emerged that Sen. Barack Obama belonged to a socialist political party that sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda. Several blogs, including Powerline, previously documented that while running for the Illinois state Senate in 1996 as a Democrat, Obama actively sought and received the endorsement of the socialist-oriented New Party, with some blogs claiming Obama was a member of the controversial party. The New Party, formed by members of the Democratic Socialists for America and...