Speaker John Boehner's Powerpoint Presentation on the Debt Deal:

Speaker of the House John Boehner released this Powerpoint Presentation of the details of the negotiated Debt Deal.  Get the Power Point presentation here.

VIdeo: John Stossel's US Debt Solutions:

July 30th Fox News John Stossel aired a show titled "Debt Solutions".  Grover Norquist was a guest.

The Facts of Life for Liberals:

Pajamas Medias Andrew Klavan has a fantastic video titled "The facts of life for liberals" which should be required viewing:

Five Big Debt Ceiling Lies:

From Investor's Business Daily - Five Big Debt Ceiling Lies:


After months of dire warnings about not raising the debt ceiling, the public is still not convinced it's a big deal. Maybe that's because they've been repeatedly lied to about what's at stake.  Even with the clock ticking down, twice as many Americans still say lawmakers should vote against a debt ceiling hike as say they should vote for it. President Obama has said this is because the public isn't paying attention.  Just as likely is that they are paying attention, but have been turned off by the many falsehoods being bandied about — most of them by Obama himself. The five big ones:

Aug. 2 is the drop-dead deadline: This has been the White House line for months, and it's so widely accepted that several news outlets have countdown clocks on their sites. It's not true.
The New York Times on Tuesday reported that the government will have enough cash to pay all its bills until Aug. 10. And Wells Fargo Securities chief economist John Silvia says the debt ceiling won't be hit until sometime in September.

We risk defaulting on the debt:  Despite countless warnings, there's zero chance the federal government will default, since each month the government takes in far more in taxes and fees than it pays in interest.
The White House itself, while publicly clanging the default alarm, has been privately reassuring banks that it won't default on the debt, even if the debt ceiling isn't raised.

Social Security payments are at risk:  "I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on Aug. 3 if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," Obama claimed earlier this month.Also a complete fabrication. In June, for example, the government took in more than $250 billion, according to Treasury's monthly report. That was enough to pay that month's worth of interest, plus all Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans benefits, and all Defense and Homeland Security costs, with billions of dollars left over.

A long-term debt ceiling hike is a must:  Democrats refuse to sign a short-term hike, claiming that poses a risk to the economy. "A short-term extension would not provide the certainty the markets are looking for," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claimed. Obama has echoed that concern.
But it's a phony connection. For example, Congress raised the debt ceiling 17 times during President Reagan's eight years in office — an average of once every 5 1/2 months — and the economy boomed.

Obama wants a deal:  We can't prove this is a lie, but Obama's given every indication that it is. After all, he's done nothing to lead this to a resolution and plenty to disrupt it, all while claiming he wants an agreement. More likely, Obama thinks a debt crisis he can pin on Republicans is the path to victory in 2012.
There's no question that failing to raise the debt ceiling in a timely fashion would be economically disruptive, if for no other reason than that the economy is so anemic it can ill afford any shock.
But it's also clear that, even if Congress misses the Tuesday deadline, the sun will still come up Aug. 3, and many of Obama's big lies will be exposed.

Video Debate: Sen Marco Rubio vs. Sen John Kerry:

Senator Marco Rubio [R-FL] took to the Senate floor for a 15 minute speech on the Debt Ceiling debate. Around 7 minutes in Sen. John Kerry [D-MA] thought he would try and debate him.

Hat Tip:  Red State

Video: House Speaker John Boehner rallies the troops:

John Boehner - July 29th House Speech on Debt Ceiling

July 29, 2011 Speech to the House on the upcoming vote to pass the Debt Ceiling bill.

Peggy Noonan on the Obama Supporters "They've lost that Lovin Feelin"

Superlative editorial by Wall St Journal writer Peggy Noonan about President Obama:

As this is written, the White House seems desperate to be seen as consequential. They're trotting out Press Secretary Jay Carney, who stands there looking like a ferret with flop sweat as he insists President Obama is still at the table, still manning the phones and calling shots. Much is uncertain, but the Republicans have made great strides on policy. If they emerge victorious, they had better not crow. The nation is in a continuing crisis, our credit rating is not secure, and no one's interested in he-man gangster dialogue from "The Town." What might thrill America would be a little modesty: "We know we helped get America into some of this trouble, and we hope we've made some progress today in getting us out of it.
But that actually is not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about something that started to become apparent to me during the debt negotiations. It's something I've never seen in national politics.

The past few weeks I've asked Democrats who supported him how they feel about him. I got back nothing that showed personal investment. Here are the words of a hard-line progressive and wise veteran of the political wars: "I never loved Barack Obama. That said, among my crowd who did 'love' him, I can't think of anyone who still does." Why is Mr. Obama different from Messrs. Clinton and Bush? "Clinton radiated personality. As angry as folks got with him about Nafta or Monica, there was always a sense of genuine, generous caring." With Bush, "if folks were upset with him, he still had this goofy kind of personality that folks could relate to. You might think he was totally misguided but he seemed genuinely so. . . . Maybe the most important word that described Clinton and Bush but not Obama is 'genuine.'" He "doesn't exude any feeling that what he says and does is genuine."  
The fact is, he's good at dismantling. He's good at critiquing. He's good at not being the last guy, the one you didn't like. But he's not good at building, creating, calling into being. He was good at summoning hope, but he's not good at directing it and turning it into something concrete that answers a broad public desire.
And so his failures in the debt ceiling fight. He wasn't serious, he was only shrewd—and shrewdness wasn't enough. He demagogued the issue—no Social Security checks—until he was called out, and then went on the hustings spouting inanities. He left conservatives scratching their heads: They could have made a better, more moving case for the liberal ideal as translated into the modern moment, than he did. He never offered a plan. In a crisis he was merely sly. And no one likes sly, no one respects it.
So he is losing a battle in which he had superior forces—the presidency, the U.S. Senate. In the process he revealed that his foes have given him too much mystique. He is not a devil, an alien, a socialist. He is a loser. And this is America, where nobody loves a loser.

 Read the entire article here.

"Lord I wanna Thank You for my Smoking Hot Wife"

The best NASCAR Prayer ever!

"Now What"? Fox News Bill O'Reilly on the Debt Crisis

Fox News' commentator Bill O'Reilly calls into his own show to give his take on the Debt Showdown:

Audio: Rush Limbaugh on the Budget Plan:

Rush gives his insight on the Boehner Plan here.

Rush "The GOP is trying to spoil Christmas"

The Internet Radio Network:

Free Streaming Radio over the Internet:

Some of our COMMON CENTS readers may be not be aware of the fact that we have a sister site:  The Internet Radio Network. At the IRN you can listen to over 80 of your favorite Talk Radio Shows via Free Streaming Audio. These shows include Politics (Rush, Sean, Levin, Beck), Religious Programing, Investing, Sports and much, much more - all via Free Streaming Audio:

Studies show that the Talk Radio Audience has successful upscale demographics and usually:

• have an income over $75,000 (vs. median US income of $48,200)
• have graduated college
• own their residence
• are likely to use the Internet
• are 25-65 years old (with the numbers of women listeners steadily increasing)

Listen to The Internet Radio Network here.

"If the Presidential Election were held today..."

Barack Obama would lose in a landslide.  So says The National Journal who cite polls showing Obama's weakness, especially in the Midwest"

President Obama’s job approval rating in the latest national polls has been in the danger zone, ranging from 42 percent (Gallup) to 47 percent (ABC News/Washington Post), with every survey showing him with higher unfavorables than favorables.  Needless to say, it’s not a good place for a president to be, especially since his numbers have worsened over the past two months.
The race for president isn’t a national contest. It’s a state-by-state battle to cobble an electoral vote majority. So while the national polls are useful in gauging the president’s popularity, the more instructive numbers are those from the battlegrounds.
Those polls are even more ominous for the president: In every reputable battleground state poll conducted over the past month, Obama’s support is weak. In most of them, he trails Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.  For all the talk of a closely fought 2012 election, if Obama can’t turn around his fortunes in states such as Michigan and New Hampshire, next year’s presidential election could end up being a GOP landslide.
Take Ohio, a perennial battleground in which Obama has campaigned more than in any other state (outside of the D.C. metropolitan region). Fifty percent of Ohio voters now disapprove of his job performance, compared with 46 percent who approve, according to a Quinnipiac poll conducted from July 12-18.
Among Buckeye State independents, only 40 percent believe that Obama should be reelected, and 42 percent approve of his job performance. Against Romney, Obama leads 45 percent to 41 percent—well below the 50 percent comfort zone for an incumbent.

 Read the rest of the article here.

Democratic Party Scandals and Corruption Updates:

It is sometimes difficult to keep up with all the scandals, criminal trials and corruption in the Democratic Party lately.  We hope this list helps keep you up to date:

Rep. David Wu:
Congressman to resign after Sex Scandal

Rep. Anthony Weiner:
Special Election called to fill seat after resignation over "Sexting" Scandal

Gov. Rod Blagojevich:
Convicted IL Governor could get up to 300 years in prison!

Rep William Jefferson:
Faces 13 years in Jail over Bribery conviction

Senator/VP Candidate John Edwards:
Felony Campaign Finance Violations Trial set for October

Rep. Charles Rangel:
House voted to censure - first time in over 30 years they censure a member

COMEDY GOLD: Press Secretary Jay Carney

"Where is the Plan"?  Watch Press Secretary Jay Carney squirm and sweat as he tries to spin the fact that the administration STILL does not have a budget plan.

"Where"?

Chart of the Day: "Sinking Like a Rock"

Today's Rasmussen Reports poll on President Obama's Approval Index.  Currently his Approval Index is at -19%.

Football Season is almost here: "The Boys of Fall"

Apparantly there will be a NFL Football Season this year!  To get you ready please watch Kenny Chesney's "The Boys of Fall".  Awesome video about the virtues of the game of football.

House Speaker Boehner's response to President Obama's Speech:

Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner responded to President Obama's speech to the nation - July 25, 2011

House Speaker John Boehner responds to President Obama's scare tactics, class warfare, lies and overall demagoguery in his speech to the nation about debt ceiling legislation. Aired 7/25/2011.

Video: Rep Allen West: "The GOP must stand firm"

GOP Rep. Allen West speaking to a group of Florida Republicans where he challenged the Republican Party to stand on principle and show character in the face of the fiscal battles going on right now. West said Republicans did not do what they were sent to Washington to do during the Bush Administration, when they controlled the White House, the House and the Senate for a time. But West pledged that as long as he is in Washington, he will do what the voters sent him there to do.

Huge Hat Tip to Freedom's Lighthouse

Wisconsing Governor Scott Walker's Vindication:

Wisconsin Governor Walker's Vindication - Remember the violent riots the leftist mob threw in Madison, WI this Spring over the Union Reform bill that Governor Walker was able to pass .  The leftists threw every invictive they could at Walker and the Republicans - to include death threats.  Well now that the bill is law there is no doubt about how it is helping schools, helping teachers and helping students.  From The Weekly Standard:

Emily Koczela had been anxiously waiting for months for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s controversial budget repair bill to take effect. Koczela, the finance director for the Brown Deer school district, had been negotiating with the local union, trying to get it to accept concessions in order to make up for a $1 million budget shortfall. But the union wouldn’t budge.

“We laid off 27 [teachers] as a precautionary measure,” Koczela told me. “They were crying. Some of these people are my friends.”  On June 29 at 12:01 a.m., Koczela could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The budget repair bill​—​delayed for months by protests, runaway state senators, and a legal challenge that made its way to the state’s supreme court​—​was law. The 27 teachers on the chopping block were spared.
With “collective bargaining rights” limited to wages, Koczela was able to change the teachers’ benefits package to fill the budget gap. Requiring teachers to contribute 5.8 percent of their salary toward pensions saved $600,000. Changes to their health care plan​—​such as a $10 office visit co-pay (up from nothing)​—​saved $200,000. Upping the workload from five classes, a study hall, and two prep periods to six classes and two prep periods saved another $200,000. The budget was balanced.  “Everything we changed didn’t touch the children,” Koczela said. Under a collective bargaining agreement, she continued, “We could never have negotiated that​—​never ever.” Koczela, a graduate of Smith College and Duke University Law School, is no Republican flack. She says she’s a “classic Wisconsin independent. I vote both parties. I voted for Senator [Russ] Feingold but I voted for [Republican state] Senator Alberta Darling too.”

 It goes on.

What few people may have understood, though, is that these are “rights” that most people, including federal employees, don’t have. But Americans don’t like taking away anybody’s rights. The polls in Wisconsin showed voters overwhelmingly opposed to “weakening” or “stripping” or “eliminating” collective bargaining rights. President Obama called the bill an “assault on unions.” Democratic state senator Lena Taylor compared Scott Walker to Hitler.  But as the abstract debate over collective bargaining collides with reality, it is becoming clear just how big a lie the Big Labor line was. Now that the law is in effect, where are the horror stories of massive layoffs and schools shutting down? They don’t exist​—​except in a couple of districts where collective bargaining agreements, inked before the budget repair bill was introduced, remain in effect.  In Milwaukee, nine schools are shutting and 354 teachers have been fired due to a drop in state funding and the end of federal stimulus funding. But if teachers there agreed to the 5.8 percent pension contribution, the school district says it would rehire 200 of those teachers. (Other changes could offset the rest of the layoffs.)  Despite the promise from Mary Bell that all teachers would contribute something toward their pensions, Milwaukee teachers’ union president Bob Peterson won’t agree to the change. In doing so he’s made it clear that “collective bargaining rights” is code for “union veto power.”

Video: US Debt Crisis Plans

Speaker John Boehner on Fox News addresses the GOP Debt Plan:

Timothy Secretary Tim Geithner on the Debt Ceiling Situation:

John Stossel: Myths about history

Tom E. Woods & David Root on Fox News' Stossel:

Poll Dancing: GOP making huge gains across nearly all demographic groups:

According to the latest Pew Research Poll the Republican Party is making major gains across all demographic groups, especially Whites.  The GOP is making party affiliation gains among the young, the old, rich and poor Americans.

 

Republicans have made sizable gains among white voters since 2008. Currently, 52% of white voters either identify as Republicans or lean to the GOP, compared with 39% who affiliate with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic. In 2008, Republicans held only a two-point lead among white voters (46% to 44%).

There has been no change in party identification among African American or Hispanic voters. Large majorities of African American (86%) and Hispanic voters (64%) continue to identify as Democrats or lean Democratic.
The Democratic Party’s advantage among young voters has declined from 28 points in 2008 to 13 in the first half of 2011. The Democrats’ edge among voters ages 30 to 64 also has narrowed (from 10 points to three points). And Republicans now hold a two-point lead among voters 65 and older (47% to 45%); Democrats held an eight-point lead among seniors in 2008 (49% to 41%).

Video: Space Shuttle Atlantis' final landing at Cape Canaveral

Final landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis which ended NASA's 30 year Space Shuttle Program:

Speaker John Boehner: Obama "Moved the Goal Posts"

Speaker of the House John Boehner gave a very interesting press conference today where he explained why the Budget Talks broke down:

House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama pointed fingers at each other Friday night over who's to blame for the latest breakdown in the negotiations over raising the U.S. debt ceiling as an Aug. 2 deadline creeps ever closer.

Boehner said he was looking to negotiate with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress over a possible deal, but said he would attend yet another round of talks scheduled for Saturday morning at the White House.

Video: "Spenditol"

Just saw this commercial running on Fox News.  Spenditol - may not be for everyone:

The best editorial page out there...

is Investor's Business Daily.  IBD publishes outstanding, easy-to-read editorials that show the benefits of free markets and capitalism.  A sampling:

First Things:  Plans to solve our out-of-control debt problem keep proliferating. But amid the welter of competing forecasts and estimates, Republicans should remember: your principles matter more than the numbers.

Civility:  Republican Allen West is refusing to apologize to fellow Floridian and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for calling her "vile, unprofessional and despicable." His only fault was omitting "liar" and "hypocrite."

Election '12:  The Republican presidential front-runner is oddly silent on Washington's momentous budget talks. Mitt Romney can run, but he can't hide his positions forever.

Budget:  President Obama won't put high-speed rail on the block to ease the debt crisis. He insists we need to keep up with China. But its rail has become a $300 billion boondoggle.

Debt:  With "debtageddon" just two weeks away, the Democrats' strategy is clear. Offer no concrete spending cuts, say no to all GOP ideas, and insist on higher taxes as part of any deal. Is that what's meant by "compromise"?

Business:  Las Vegas CEO Steve Wynn drew attention for a boardroom rant denouncing the intolerable business climate fostered by the White House. He's hardly the first. What's happening is emblematic of a bigger problem. 

Mandates:  The Obama administration seems ready to force insurance companies to include birth control coverage in their plans. So much for the president's promise of bending health care costs downward.

 View Enlarged Image

National Debt:  No wonder President Obama has so heartily endorsed the "Gang of Six" deficit plan. Just like everything Obama has offered so far, it's short on details and long on tax hikes.

I guess there won't be many US Flags displayed at the Democratic Convention next year:

Amazing.  Just seeing the United States flag increases the probablilty of voting Republican - even 8 months later!

Just a brief exposure to an image of the American flag shifts voters, even Democrats, to Republican beliefs, attitudes and voting behavior even though most don't believe it will impact their politics, according to a new two-year study just published in the scholarly Psychological Science.
What's more, according to three authors from the University Chicago, Cornell University and Hebrew University, the impact had staying power.
"A single exposure to an American flag resulted in a significant increase in participants' Republican voting intentions, voting behavior, political beliefs, and implicit and explicit attitudes, with some effects lasting 8 months," the study found. "These results constitute the first evidence that nonconscious priming effects from exposure to a national flag can bias the citizenry toward one political party and can have considerable durability."
[See the month's best editorial cartoons.]
Theirs is the first study to look at the political impact on Americans who have seen an American flag, and it seems to back up another recent Harvard University professor's study that found that kids who attended a July 4th parade ended up leaning Republican when they grew up.
It's also sure to prompt GOP presidential candidates to add more U.S. flags at their events and speeches.
For this study, the scholars asked mostly Democratic-leaning voters to join in the survey conducted just before the 2008 election of President Obama over Sen. John McCain. All were given a survey to fill out. Half of those surveys included a small picture of an American flag in the top left corner.
Some 90 percent said that they believed their voting behavior wouldn't be influenced by the presence of a flag.
But after asking how the participants voted, the study concluded:
"In contrast to the beliefs of the participants in the pilot study, the results from the experiments reported here show that exposure to the American flag introduces a bias toward the Republican Party over the Democratic Party. In one experiment, we tested whether subtle exposure to the American flag shifted people's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors toward the Republican end of the political continuum. We found that a single exposure to a small American flag during deliberation about voting intentions prior to a general election led to significant and robust changes in participants' voting intentions, voting behavior, and political attitudes, all in the politically conservative direction."

 Read the entire article here.

Audio: Vegas Entrepreneur Steve Wynn blasts President Obama:

Steve Wynn ""This administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime," Wynn said.  "This is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America."

"And I'm telling you that the business community in this company is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs.

Here is the transcript:

Great News: Federal Government Workers more likely to die on job than be fired

or laid off".  From USA Today - talk about job security....

Death — rather than poor performance, misconduct or layoffs — is the primary threat to job security at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Office of Management and Budget and a dozen other federal operations.

The federal government fired 0.55% of its workers in the budget year that ended Sept. 30 — 11,668 employees in its 2.1 million workforce. Research shows that the private sector fires about 3% of workers annually for poor performance, says John Palguta, former research chief at the federal Merit Systems Protection Board, which handles federal firing disputes.

Turnover minimal at
federal agencies

Federal departments or agencies employing 1,000 or more that had the lowest rates of firing or laying off employees in the year ending Sept. 30, 2010:

	Employees	Laid off or fired
Federal Communications Commission	1,832	0
Federal Trade Commission	1,189	0
Nuclear Regulatory Commission	4,211	2
National Labor Relations Board	1,714	1
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	18,671	13
Environmental Protection Agency	18,742	19
U.S. Agency for International Development	3,376	4
Securities and Exchange Commission	3,917	5
Small Business Administration	4,019	6
Department of Housing and Urban Development	10,041	15

Source: Office of Personnel Management

The 1,800-employee Federal Communications Commission and the 1,200-employee Federal Trade Commission didn't lay off or fire a single employee last year. The SBA had no layoffs, six firings and 17 deaths in its 4,000-employee workforce.

When job security is at a premium, the federal government remains the place to work for those who want to avoid losing a job. The job security rate for all federal workers was 99.43% last year and nearly 100% for those on the job more than a few years.

Amazing VIdeo: Humpback Whale Thanks Rescuers:

Humpback Whale Thanks Rescuers:

Researchers saved from certain death by a whale of a mesh network of fishermen, the whale was freed from the nets after being thanked with spectacular diving and tail of the shots, seems to greet those who have given life ...

Poverty in America:

The poor in America have a higher standard of living than most people (including middle class) in the rest of the world,  National Review reports:

Data from the Department of Energy and other agencies show that the average poor family, as defined by Census officials:

● Lives in a home that is in good repair, not crowded, and equipped with air conditioning, clothes washer and dryer, and cable or satellite TV service.

● Prepares meals in a kitchen with a refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave as well as oven and stove.

● Enjoys two color TVs, a DVD player, VCR and — if children are there — an Xbox, PlayStation, or other video game system.

● Had enough money in the past year to meet essential needs, including adequate food and medical care.

Rather than report such detailed surveys, Rector and co-author Rachel Sheffield write, the media “amplified” the Census Bureau’s annual misrepresentation of poverty over the past 40 years. News reports routinely suggest that poor Americans typically are homeless and hungry — and U.S. foes and rivals such as Iran, China, and Russia are delighted to report the same.

“Regrettably, most discussions of poverty in the U.S. rely on sensationalism, exaggeration, and misinformation,” Rector says. “But an effective anti-poverty policy must be based on an accurate assessment of actual living conditions and the causes of deprivation.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Project Veritas VIdeo: Medicade for Russian Drug Dealers:

Undercover Video:  Medicaid for Russian Drug Dealers:

The latest bombshell video from James O'Keefe's Project Veritas.  In this video the two undercover kids pose as Russian Mobsters dealing in illicit drugs.  They claim they just purchased an $800,000 McClared F-1 and their sisters are prostitutes in need of abortions.  Watch as the Ohio Medicare officials walk them through what they need to do to qualify for Medicaid:

Washington, D.C.—James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas today released its latest undercover investigation.  Citizen journalists have uncovered widespread Medicaid fraud in state offices across the country.
The first investigation released focuses on four Medicaid offices in Ohio.  The undercover reporters intimate that they are drug dealers, drive expensive cars, and possess incredible wealth.  At no time did the case workers ask the reporters to leave.  Even though the reporters admit to making their living through drug dealing or facilitating child prostitution, the case workers never called the police, Child Protective Services or the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  In fact, the case workers appear eager to assist the reporters in filling out the necessary Medicaid paperwork.
When one of the reporters inquires about Medicaid for his sick father, he asks that if it will be a problem if he sells the “herbal remedy,” the case worker replies: “Well, I mean, it doesn’t matter what kind of work he does.”

Video: Herman Cain on 'Fox News Sunday'

GOP Presidential Candidate Herman Cain appeared on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace yesterday.  He made some interesting comments:

FLASHBACK: In 2006 every Democrat Senator (including OBABA) voted No on raising ceiling:

Hyper-partisan as always in 2006, when the Republicans were in charge every single Democrat Senator, 100% of them voted "No" on raising the debt ceiling.  Included in that total was then Senator Obama whose comments on raising the debt ceiling are below:

The fact that we're here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign -- is a sign of leadership failure.  Leadership means the buck stops here.  Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.  Americans deserve better.  I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt  limit.

Roll Call of that vote:

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109^th Congress - 2^nd Session

as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate

Vote Summary

Question: On the Joint Resolution (H.J.Res.47 )
Vote Number:	54	Vote Date:	March 16, 2006, 11:17 AM
Required For Majority:	1/2	Vote Result:	Joint Resolution Passed

Vote Counts:	YEAs	52
	NAYs	48

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

Alphabetical by Senator Name

Akaka (D-HI), Nay Alexander (R-TN), Yea Allard (R-CO), Yea Allen (R-VA), Yea Baucus (D-MT), Nay Bayh (D-IN), Nay Bennett (R-UT), Yea Biden (D-DE), Nay Bingaman (D-NM), Nay Bond (R-MO), Yea Boxer (D-CA), Nay Brownback (R-KS), Yea Bunning (R-KY), Yea Burns (R-MT), Nay Burr (R-NC), Yea Byrd (D-WV), Nay Cantwell (D-WA), Nay Carper (D-DE), Nay Chafee (R-RI), Yea Chambliss (R-GA), Yea Clinton (D-NY), Nay Coburn (R-OK), Nay Cochran (R-MS), Yea Coleman (R-MN), Yea Collins (R-ME), Yea Conrad (D-ND), Nay Cornyn (R-TX), Yea Craig (R-ID), Yea Crapo (R-ID), Yea Dayton (D-MN), Nay DeMint (R-SC), Yea DeWine (R-OH), Yea Dodd (D-CT), Nay Dole (R-NC), Yea

Domenici (R-NM), Yea Dorgan (D-ND), Nay Durbin (D-IL), Nay Ensign (R-NV), Nay Enzi (R-WY), Yea Feingold (D-WI), Nay Feinstein (D-CA), Nay Frist (R-TN), Yea Graham (R-SC), Yea Grassley (R-IA), Yea Gregg (R-NH), Yea Hagel (R-NE), Yea Harkin (D-IA), Nay Hatch (R-UT), Yea Hutchison (R-TX), Yea Inhofe (R-OK), Yea Inouye (D-HI), Nay Isakson (R-GA), Yea Jeffords (I-VT), Nay Johnson (D-SD), Nay Kennedy (D-MA), Nay Kerry (D-MA), Nay Kohl (D-WI), Nay Kyl (R-AZ), Yea Landrieu (D-LA), Nay Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay Leahy (D-VT), Nay Levin (D-MI), Nay Lieberman (D-CT), Nay Lincoln (D-AR), Nay Lott (R-MS), Yea Lugar (R-IN), Yea Martinez (R-FL), Yea McCain (R-AZ), Yea

McConnell (R-KY), Yea Menendez (D-NJ), Nay Mikulski (D-MD), Nay Murkowski (R-AK), Yea Murray (D-WA), Nay Nelson (D-FL), Nay Nelson (D-NE), Nay Obama (D-IL), Nay Pryor (D-AR), Nay Reed (D-RI), Nay Reid (D-NV), Nay Roberts (R-KS), Yea Rockefeller (D-WV), Nay Salazar (D-CO), Nay Santorum (R-PA), Yea Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay Schumer (D-NY), Nay Sessions (R-AL), Yea Shelby (R-AL), Yea Smith (R-OR), Yea Snowe (R-ME), Yea Specter (R-PA), Yea Stabenow (D-MI), Nay Stevens (R-AK), Yea Sununu (R-NH), Yea Talent (R-MO), Yea Thomas (R-WY), Yea Thune (R-SD), Yea Vitter (R-LA), Yea Voinovich (R-OH), Yea Warner (R-VA), Yea Wyden (D-OR), Nay

Highlights: World Cup Soccer: USA vs. Japan

Congratulations Japan!

What a game!!  Japan beat the USA on Penalty kicks after 120 minutes of tied soccer in the 2011 Women's FIFA World Cup:

World Cup Highlights - USA vs. Japan

World Cup Final: USA vs. Japan

World Cup Final:

Links for you to follow the 2011 Women's' World Cup Championship Match between USA and Japan at 2 PM EST:

ESPN Gamecast:

Watch the World Cup Live

Gather.com

Updates and Live Blog

CNN-SI
Live play-by-play analysis chat and updates

FIFA:
Official analysis and play-by-play

Incredible Video: NASA booster rocket video from inside Shuttle Atlantis

Video taken from the booster camera itself of the first four minutes of Space Shuttle Atlantis' final launch:

OBAMACARE WAIVERS: List is up to 1471!

Congratulations to the latest 39 companies (this week) added to the total list of 1,471 Waivers to Obamacare that have been released so far!  The list of Obamacare Waivers is below:

• Self-Insured Employers (572) 
• Health Reimbursement Arrangements (477) 
• Multi-Employer Plans (347) 
• Non-Taft Hartley Union Plans (29) 
• Health Insurance Issuers (40) 
• State-Mandated Policies (4)
• Association Plans (2)

Friday Night Lights - Season Finale "8 Months Later"

Final scenes from tonight's Friday Night Light's series finale "8 Months Later"

Is anyone looking for a new job or new career?

Is anyone out there looking for a new job or career?  We here at Common Cents sincerely hope that this list of job sites helps you find that next job or career.  Good luck to you!  The Number One way people find jobs is by Networking.  Tell EVERYONE you know you are looking.  Expand your circle of friends and acquaintances.  Strike up conversations with strangers!! 

The number two method to find a new job is via online job postings.  With that in mind C we bring you the following list of sites that will help you in your job search:

• Monster.com is the largest internet job search site.  If your resume is not posted here you are wrong.
• Idealist.org - Over 4,500 Not For Profit jobs posted!
• CareerOneStop.org- Your one-stop-shop for all things careers!
• WorkTree claims to be scans MILLIONS of jobs in seconds! View jobs from thousands of online sources INSTANTLY! 50,000+ links to job sites, recruiters, employers and more!
• Job.com is another very large job search site. Registration and resume posting is free and this job search site always ranks as one of the top career sites on the Internet.
• Beyond.com - You can do it all at Beyond.com.  Currently there are thousands of Jobs Posted.
• SnagAJob.com is America’s largest hourly job website, featuring more than 100,000 active job postings in industries including: restaurant, retail, office and more.
• Indeed.com claims to have 940,444new jobs in the last 7 days.  Search job sites, newspapers, associations and company career pages.
• Simply Hired.com claims to have over 5,198,287jobs are posted right now!!!
• Execu-Search.com specializes in jobs for Executives
• The Ladders.com search for jobs paying $100,000 and up at The Ladders.com!!
• The Federal Government is always hiring!
• Resume Mailman.com - emails your resume to 1000s of recruiters
• Resume Zapper.com emails your resume to thousands of recruiters!
• Hot Resume.com - post your resume here for free!
• Conservative Jobs.com - The name says it all!
• Salary.com - Find out how much you should be paid for your job!!
• Hoovers.com - Get all the up-to-date information on your company and others

Other easy money making ideas:

• Craig's List  - has thousands of jobs available in every sector.  Free to use, free to post and no charges for anything.
• The Day Job Nuker - is a easy to navigate site dedicated to showing you how to make a living online - written by someone who is doing it!!!
• Need to make money now?  - These companies will pay you to turn your car into a traveling billboard by covering it with advertising!  Interesting idea...
• Very Easy money -  Make money selling used golf balls.

Cable TV Ratings:

What we took away from this, besides as usual Fox News beating its competition combined, is that the brand new show "The Five" is beating all of its competition in the 5PM slot - taking off where Glenn Beck left off...

TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD)
5 pm	The5 1231	Blitzer 566	Matthews 706	Special 651
6 pm	Baier 1718	Blitzer 470	Live 664	Prime 584
7 pm	Shep 1450	King, USA 458	Matthews 720	Issues 714
8 pm	O’Reilly 3070	InTheArena 573	O’Donnell 1042	Grace 1224
9 pm	Hannity 2375	Morgan 657	Maddow 1149	DrDrew 1199
10 pm	Van Susteren 1847	Cooper 800	Schultz 1147	Behar 927
11 pm	O’Reilly 1394	Cooper 414	O’Donnell 658	Showbiz 559
TOTAL DAY	1274	436	557	563
PRIME TIME	2432	675	1114	1108

FIFA World Cup Soccer: USA vs. France

Highlights of today's semi-final match between USA and France in the FIFA World Cup:

World Cup Soccer:

Video Clip: Double Rainbow viewed at Yosemite:

It has over 28 million views and is definitely worth a viewing.  This Double Rainbow was spotted at Yosemite's Bear Mountain last year.

Yosemite Bear Giant Double Rainbow

California 36 Special Election Results

Results from tonight's special election (CA-36) between Craig Huey and Janice Hahn

CA-36 Special Election Results:

California Secretary of State Elections

The Daily Breeze (Torrence, CA) Election Results

Video: Glenn Beck visits Israelis Knesset:

Video:  Glenn Beck visits Israelis Knesset:

VIDEO: "Washington could learn a lot from a Drug Addict"

Superlative Video which put Debt Ceiling story in perspective:

"Washington could learn a lot from a Drug Addict"

Washington's chronic overspending is just like a junkie's addiction to drugs. Unless the cycle of addiction is broken, our economic and unemployment situation will continue to suffer. Washington is out of time. To avoid hitting rock bottom, Washington must cut spending today. To spread this message, Washington Could Learn a Lot has created this video.

Washington Could Learn a Lot is a project of Public Notice Research & Education Fund (PNREF). PNREF is an independent non-profit dedicated to educating the American people about economic policy and the principles of economic freedom.

Through our education and awareness projects, PNREF will explore the future consequences of public policies being enacted today.

 Hat Tip to Public Research & Education Fund via The Gateway Pundit

Rush Limbaugh Audio: "Shut up and eat Your Peas Mr. President"

July 11, 2011 - Rush Limbaugh's opening monologue:  

CA-36 Update: Craig Huey or the Lady who employs Drug Dealers & Rapists:

Big Hat Tip to Redstate.com As you know there is a Special Election Tuesday in the 36th Congressional District of California between Democrat Janice Hahn and Republican Craig Huey.  The Latest...

The Republicans have largely ignored Craig Huey’s special election effort in California 36. This a Democrat leaning Congressional seat, but Huey made it into a special election with Democrat Janice Hahn.
Hahn has become an embarrassment.
It turns out that when Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council, she supported hiring drug dealers, drug addicts, and rapists as “gang interventionists.”
Now Hahn is in more hot water for sending out a mail piece with World War II hero and Olympian Louis Zamperini’s image to convey that Zamperini is endorsing her.
Zamperini makes it clear he is not endorsing Hahn and had strongly warned her prior to this mail piece to not use his name or image.
Compare Janice Hahn to Craig Huey. There’s nothing salacious about Huey. He’s just a hard working Republican who can get to Congress if we help. The national Republicans are not helping Huey. We can make a difference.

 

Women's World Cup: USA vs. Brazil

USA Soccer:  Highlights of the US World Cup Soccer Match between the United States and Brazil:

Friends of Common Cents:

Light Blogging today... in the meantime check out these outstanding sites:

Newsbusters

Common Sense Now

I Own The World

Coffee with the Hermit

Confessions of a Single, Christian Female

Patriot's Corner

Carol's Blog

Muellerstuff

Day Job Nuker

Musings of a Right Winger


The Elector Retards

Video: Derek Jeter joins Baseball's 3,000 hit club with a Home Run!

7/9/11: Derek Jeter picks up career hit No. 3,000 with a home run to left field, making him the 28th member of the 3,000-hit club and only the 2nd player ever to do it with a Home Run!  Also he is the first NY Yankee EVER to get 3,000 hits.

CA-36 Special Election Tuesday:

We urge you to support Republican Craig Huey in next Tuesday's Special Election to replace retiring representative Jane Harman in California's 36 Congressional District.  The Democrat, Janice Hahn has been caught red-handed making a series of lies which are documented in this 8-minute video by the local news affiliate.  Amazingly Hahn's lawyers sent a "Cease and Desist" letter to the Fox affiliate asking them to stop

Janice Hahn's Gang Intervention Controversy Grows:

From Pajamas Media:  So the story goes like this: There’s a special House election next Tuesday in CA-36. Janice Hahn, the Democrat, tried to kill a negative story about herself on the local Fox affiliate, concerning her ridiculous and wasteful “gang intervention program,” which more or less put gang members on the city payroll when she was a Los Angeles city council member. Fox 11 investigated the program and found that it was one massive debacle. Hahn fired off a cease and desist to get Fox’s story killed. That backfired as you’ll see in the video below, in which Fox 11 spends 8 full minutes of its newscast going over all the story’s details. Do yourself a favor and watch the story to get a very detailed look at just how wonderful Hahn’s gang program really was. The comparison between Hahn and Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu is particularly entertaining. But the bottom line is that Hahn wasted public money on a project centered on unrepentant gangbangers. One of the gangsters sucked up over $1 million being an “intervention” type, but is in jail now for selling illegal machine guns. Nice work, Janice! Way to turn ‘em around!

 Donate, make phone calls and spread the word:  Craig Huey for Congress

Craig Huey's latest Campaign Ad "Nothing"

Spread the Word - Craig Huey for Congress:

Video: Watch the previous 134 Space Shuttle Launches:

in only 134 seconds.  Amazing video of our soon to be retired Space Shuttle Fleet:

Watch 134 Space Shuttle launches in 134 seconds:

Horrors: WI Collective bargaining reforms saving school districts up to $1.3 million

Remember how the radical-left protested months ago about the collective bargaining law which was recently passed in Wisconsin.  It was going to gut or end education, Wisconsin was declaring war on our children and worse.  14 Democrat Senators fled to Illinois to prevent a vote on this measure.  Well now the law is in effect and so far the results are great for taxpayers, teachers and students.

The Hartland-Lakeside School District, about 30 miles west of Milwaukee in tiny Hartland, Wis., had a problem in its collective bargaining contract with the local teachers union.
The contract required the school district to purchase health insurance from a company called WEA Trust. The creation of Wisconsin's largest teachers union -- "WEA" stands for Wisconsin Education Association -- WEA Trust made money when union officials used collective bargaining agreements to steer profitable business its way.
The problem for Hartland-Lakeside was that WEA Trust was charging significantly higher rates than the school district could find on the open market. School officials knew that because they got a better deal from United HealthCare for coverage of nonunion employees. On more than one occasion, Superintendent Glenn Schilling asked WEA Trust why the rates were so high. "I could never get a definitive answer on that," says Schilling.
Changing to a different insurance company would save Hartland-Lakeside hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be spent on key educational priorities -- especially important since the cash-strapped state government was cutting back on education funding. But teachers union officials wouldn't allow it; the WEA Trust requirement was in the contract, and union leaders refused to let Hartland-Lakeside off the hook.
That's where Wisconsin's new budget law came in. The law, bitterly opposed by organized labor in the state and across the nation, limits the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. And it just happens that the Hartland-Lakeside teachers' collective bargaining agreement expired on June 30. So now, freed from the expensive WEA Trust deal, the school district has changed insurers.

 It gets better:

Now, with the collective bargaining agreement gone, Schilling looks forward to working more closely with teachers. "I would say the biggest change is we have a lot more involvement with a wider scope of teachers," he says. When collective bargaining was in effect, "We dealt with a select team of teachers, a small group of three or four who were on the bargaining team, and then the union director. Any information that went to the teachers went through them. Now, we feel that we will have a direct dialogue."

And finally - the money saving can not be dismissed:

Hartland-Lakeside isn't the only school district that is pulling free from collective bargaining agreements that mandated WEA Trust coverage. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the Pewaukee School District, not far from Hartland-Lakeside, will save $378,000 by next year by leaving WEA Trust. The Menomonee Falls School District, farther north, will reportedly save $1.3 million. Facing state cutbacks, the districts can't afford to overpay for union-affiliated coverage.
Look for the unions to fight back with everything they have. If the Wisconsin situation has shown anything, it is that organized labor views the collective bargaining fight as a life-or-death struggle. If the unions lose in Wisconsin, the clamor for change could spread to other states. What happened in Hartland-Lakeside could become a model for other schools looking for new and better ways to do business.

 Read the entire article here.

Watch the last Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch LIVE:

CNN is live streaming the very last Space Shuttle Launch.  Watch it here.

Live Blog of Space Shuttle Atlantis launch 

Video:  Space Shuttle Atlantis and the last Shuttle Flight ever.

Exclusive: The 'Undefeated' Trailer:

The official trailer about Sarah Palin "The Undefeated" is out.  Narrated by Tammy Bruce, Mark Levin and others this movie will make history:

'THE UNDEFEATED' TRAILER:

The Undefeated Teaser Trailer from Dain Valverde on Vimeo.

BREAKING: Casey Anthony to Be Released From Jail Next Wednesday:

Casey Anthony to be released from jail next Wednesday July 13, 2011

From ABC News:

ORLANDO, Fla. July 7, 2011

Casey Anthony, acquitted of killing her daughter Caylee, will be released from jail next Wednesday, her attorney told ABC News.
Anthony, 25, was ordered today to remain in jail after Judge Belvin Perry sentenced her to four years in jail and a fine of $4,000 on her conviction of lying to law enforcement officials.
The judge gave her four consecutive jail sentences, but she has already served nearly three years and would get credit for time served as well as good behavior. Perry originally estimated Anthony could be freed in late July or early August, but Anthony's attorney Jose Baez told ABC News that she will be released July 13.

Fox News Video: Casey Anthony Prosecuter reflects on the trial and verdict:

Fox News interview with the lead prosecutor Jeffrey Ashton in the Casey Anthony trial:

Casey Anthony Sentencing today - Live Wire:

HLN is streaming live from Orlando, FL with a Live Wire from the Casey Anthony Sentencing hearing.

HLN Live Wire Sentencing is here

HLN's Robin Meade's Twitter Feed is here.

Google News:  Verdict in Casey Anthony trial - feed is here

USA Today:  Watch Casey Anthony sentencing live here

It's official: Obama "recovery" slowest in decades:

Actually our current economic "recovery" is anemic at best.  Remember, when the Democrats took over Congress in Jan 2007 the Unemployment Rate was only 4.6%.  This is sad folks...

Recovery from Current Recession Far Slower than Normal

WOW! Video of Dust Cloud swallowing up Phoenix, Az

Phoenix Dust Storm:

Amazing video shows a wall of dust moving through the city of Phoenix in Arizona. Sandstorms like this happen during the region's monsoon season, which is underway. They occur over desert land and can reach thousands of feet into the air, spurred by strong winds. The dense cloud dramatically reduced visibility, grounding flights at a major airport and leaving thousands without electricity.



Rush Limbaugh's July 4th speech in Joplin, MO:

Rush Limbaugh spoke at an Independence Day celebration Monday in Joplin, Missouri.  As you know Joplin was recentely devestated by tornadoes.  Rush gave a very inspirational speech -as always:

                                   Hat Tip to Reboot Congress

Transcript:  Rush Limbaugh 4th of July Speech in Joplin, MO

New York Times:  A Declaration of Endurance

2012 Presidential Poll:

Who will you be voting for in the 2012 Presidential Election?

Who will you be voting for in the 2012 Presidential Election?
	Barack Obama
	Rick Perry
	Michelle Bachman
	Tim Pawlenty
	Herman Cain
	Mitt Romney
	Sarah Palin
	Ron Paul
	Rick Santorum
	Ron Huntsman
pollcode.com free polls

2011 Washington D.C. Fireworks:

2011 Washington D.C. Fireworks Show:

Happy Independence Day America - our 235th birthday:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to

dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.