DebateGate

Why is this being allowed to happen? I am starting to wonder why Republicans aren't being more aggressive in looking into these on-going criminal affairs by Obama's Administration.

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/solyndra-exec-board-737m-loan-gaurantee

Steve Mitchell and Argonaut Private Equity might have a chance to recoup some of their losses in the Solyndra debacle now that the Department of Energy has given a $737 million dollar loan guarantee to a company backed by Argonaut that also lists Mitchell as a "board participant."

Mitchell served on the Solyndra LLC Board of Directors and reportedly still serves on the board. Mitchell serves as a "board participant" for Solar Reserve, the parent company to Tonopah Solar (the Tonopah Solar email address even routes to a Solar Reserve account) and his Solar Reserve biography says that he "currently sits on the Boards of Directors of . . . Solyndra" and several other companies. Despite the Solyndra failure, the Department of Energy continues to provide loan guarantees to solar companies, giving Tonopah Solar a $737 million loan guarantee for a project in Nevada.

Mitchell owes his position at Solyndra and Solar Reserve, apparently, to the fact that his primary employer, Argonaut Private Equity, invested in both companies. Mitchell holds the title of Managing Director for Argonaut Private Equity. After Solyndra declared bankruptcy, two Democratic members of the U.S. House asked that House Subcommittee call Mitchell to testify about Solyndra. Though he has not appeared before Congress, he has "been asked to provide documents to Congress" pertaining to Solyndra.

The Mitchell connection to Solar Reserve brings George Kaiser into the spotlight with respect to this latest loan guarantee. Kaiser owns Argonaut and thus invested in both Solyndra and Solar Reserve (more heavily in the former than the latter). He also bundled over $50,000 into President Obama's campaign.

Their poor track record notwithstanding, Kaiser and Mitchell now have another opportunity to profit from investing in a solar company funded by the Department of Energy.

OMB's Jack Lew stays mum on issues surrounding Solyndra funding
Transparency

 

Rick Perry said Wednesday that he was sorry for saying at last week's Republican debate that those opposed to providing an in-state tuition break to the children of illegal immigrants "did not have a heart."

“I was probably a bit over-passionate by using that word and it was inappropriate,” Perry said in a interview with Newsmax. “In Texas in 2001 we had 181 members of the legislature – only four voted against this piece of legislation – because it wasn’t about immigration it was about education.”

But Perry stood by his argument that building a fence along the entire Mexican border was unwise. The Texas governor said that the fence would likely be expensive, ineffective, and violate the property rights of those who owned land on the border.

“In the metropolitan areas where the fencing actually can play a positive role, absolutely,” he said. “But you have to have boots on the ground… having an obstacle without observation is no obstacle at all. So just the idea of building a fence and saying, ‘That will take care of it, let’s just build a fence,’ has never worked in the history of mankind.”

Other candidates seized on Perry's support of the tuition credits - and arguments against a fence - in an attempt to discredit him at the debate. Michele Bachmann argued that taxpayer dollars shouldn't benefit those here illegally, while Jon Huntsman suggested his position on the fence might be "treasonous." But while Perry walked back his 'heartless' comment, he insisted that his experience as governor of a border state best prepared him to handle immigration issues.

"As Texas governor, a border governor, you have to deal with these issue, you can’t just talk about them and say, ‘Oh, let’s build a wall from Brownsville to El Paso and that will take care of it.’ We have to live with reality," Perry said.

He also reiterated criticism of the federal government for what he considers a failure to protect the southern border.

"We wouldn’t be having these conversations today, whether it’s about in-state tuition for illegal immigrants or whether it’s the Arizona law or whether it’s voter-ID which we passed in Texas, or sanctuary cities and the banning of those… None of those would come up if the federal government had simply done its job through the years to secure our borders," Perry said.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/09/27/hallmark-now-selling-unemployment-sympathy-cards/

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Call it another sign of our difficult economic times: Hallmark has taken a cue from the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate and released a line of cards for people who’ve lost their jobs.

Caring or insulting?

“It’s says something about the economy I suppose. But it also says something about that folks are still loving and caring and want to encourage folks along the way,” Emily Louis said.

Louis was in a Dallas Hallmark store looking for a birthday card.

Asked if she would give someone who lost a job one of the new cards, she said, “Yeah, I think I would.”

Frank Fernandez, who owns Monica’s Hallmark in Dallas, said, “The cards are flying off the shelves.”

Call it caring with a twist. The kind that tells you, “When life gives you a lemon, go ahead and make a martini with it,” as one so boldly suggests.

Suzanne Sheafer was in Monica’s Hallmark with her nine-year-old daughter Kaylie.

Asked what she thought about the job loss cards, Sheafer said, “Nowadays everybody’s always doing email or other things and I think when you get a card in the mail it’s that extra touch that you know someone went the extra mile.”

So what is the protocol? How soon should you give someone who’s lost a job a card? More importantly when is it too late?

“It seems to me like within a couple of days you should be able to address the question,” Frank Fernandez said. “Because you’re basically trying to make the people forget about what happened and focus on what’s ahead.”

Fernandez was a sales representative for a Fortune 500 company in 1994 when he lost his job.

“We can all relate to it,” he said.

Fernandez was without a job for a whole year. And though he never got a card, he got the message about life lemons.

“I lost my job,” he said. “But, that’s how I ended up owning Hallmark stores.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/nightmare-libya-20000-surface-air-missiles-missing/story?id=14610199

The White House announced today it planned to
expand a program to secure and destroy Libya's huge s
tockpile of dangerous surface-to-air missiles,
following an ABC News report that large numbers of
them continue to be stolen from unguarded military
warehouses.

Currently the U.S. State Department has one official
on the ground in Libya, as well as five contractors
who specialize in "explosive ordinance disposal", all
working with the rebel Transitional National Council
to find the looted missiles, White House
spokesperson Jay Carney told reporters.

"We expect to deploy additional personnel to assist
the TNC as they expand efforts to secure conventional
arms storage sites," Carney said. "We're obviously at a
governmental level -- both State Department and at
the U.N. and elsewhere -- working with the TNC on
this."

ABC News reported today U.S. officials and security
experts were concerned some of the thousands of
heat-seeking missiles could easily end up in the
hands of al Qaeda or other terrorists groups, creating
a threat to commercial airliners.

"Matching up a terrorist with a shoulder-fired
missile, that's our worst nightmare," said Sen. Barbara
Boxer, D.-California, a member of the Senate's
Commerce, Energy and Transportation Committee.

Though Libya had an estimated 20,000 man-portable
surface-to-air missiles before the popular uprising
began in February, Assistant Secretary of State Andrew
Shapiro told ABC News today the government does
not have a clear picture of how many missiles they're
trying to track down.

"We're making great progress and we expect in the
coming days and weeks we will have a much greater
picture of how many are missing," Shapiro said.

The missiles, four to six-feet long and Russian-
made, can weigh just 55 pounds with launcher. They
 
lock on to the heat generated by the engines of
aircraft, can be fired from a vehicle or from a
combatant's shoulder, and are accurate and deadly at
a range of more than two miles.

Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch first warned
about the problem after a trip to Libya six months
ago. He took pictures of pickup truckloads of the
missiles being carted off during another trip just a
few weeks ago.

"I myself could have removed several hundred if I
wanted to, and people can literally drive up with
pickup trucks or even 18 wheelers and take away
whatever they want," said Bouckaert, HRW's e
mergencies director. "Every time I arrive at one of
these weapons facilities, the first thing we notice
going missing is the surface-to-air missiles."

The ease with which rebels and other unknown
parties have snatched thousands of the missiles has
raised alarms that the weapons could end up in the
hands of al Qaeda, which is active in Libya.

"There certainly are dangerous groups operating in
the region, and we're very concerned that some of
these weapons could end up in the wrong hands,"
said Bouckaert.

advertisement
Nightmare in Libya: Thousands of Surface-to-Air Missiles Unaccounted For

 
"I think the probability of al Qaeda being able to
smuggle some of the stinger-like missiles out of
Libya is probably pretty high," said Richard Clarke,
former White House counterterrorism advisor and
now a consultant to ABC News.

Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security
Council, told ABC News in a statement similar to
Carney's remarks that, "Since the beginning of the
crisis, we have been actively engaged with our allies
and partners to support Libya's efforts to secure all
conventional weapons stockpiles, including recover,
control, and disposal of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft
missiles."

 
Boxer: U.S. Passenger Jets at
Risk

 
Adding to the urgency is the fact that America's
passenger jets, like those of most countries, are
sitting ducks, despite years of warning about the
missile threat. Since the 1970s, according to the U.S.
State Department, more than 40 civilian planes
around the world have been hit by surface-to-air
missiles. In 2003, Iraqi insurgents hit a DHL cargo
plane with a missile in Baghdad. Though on fire, the
plane was able to land safely. Four years later,
militants knocked a Russian-built cargo plane out of
the sky over Somalia, killing all 11 crew members.

Now there are calls in Congress to give jets that fly
overseas the same protection military aircraft have.

"I think we should ensure that the wide-bodied
planes all have this protection," said Sen. Boxer, who
first spoke to ABC News about the surface-to-air
security threat in 2006. "And that's a little more than
500 of these planes."

Boxer sent a letter today to Secretary of Defense Leon
Panetta and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet
Napolitano urging the two to establish a joint
program "to protect commercial aircraft from the
threat of shoulder-fired missiles."

According to Boxer, it would cost about a million
dollars a plane for a system that has been installed
and successfully tested over the last few years,
directing a laser beam into the incoming missile.

"For us to sit idly by and not do anything when we
could protect 2 billion passengers over the next 20
years [with] a relatively small amount of money [from]
the Department of Defense, I think that's malfeasance,"
said Boxer. "I think that's wrong." And it could be
more practical than trying to round up all the missing
Libyan missiles.

they're very difficult to get back, as the CIA realized in
Afghanistan," said Bouckaert.

When the Afghan mujahideen were fighting the
Soviets more than two decades ago, the CIA supplied
the Afghans with 1,000 Stinger surface-to-air
missiles, which had a devastating effect on Soviet
military aircraft. After the Soviets had retreated,
however, the CIA spent millions of dollars trying to
buy back the remaining missiles from the Afghan
fighters.

According to Bouckaert, the CIA spent up to
$100,000 a piece to reacquire the Stingers.

"In Libya we're talking about something on the order
of 20,000 surface-to-air missiles," said Bouckaert.
"This is one of the greatest stockpiles of these
weapons that has ever gone on the loose."

He was magnificent on Greta tonight. I gotta say that he says everything I have been wanting a R candidate for President to say. I am extremely impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If he keeps this up he is going to win it!

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Teacher-calls-local-Tea-Party-president-a-Nazi/_2b16h_Ir0W12AQGP000Ww.cspx

Since liberals don't have ideas that make sense and can't defend such ideas this is how they debate in public.


see text

SAN ANTONIO - Tempers flared during a town hall meeting on the Dream Act Tuesday night. During the meeting a high school government teacher from John F. Kennedy called the local Tea Party president a Nazi.

The exchange was recorded and posted on You tube.

"When you get to name calling that just shows that there is no logic to your argument any further. It's all emotion, " said George Rodriguez, President of the San Antonio Tea Party.

The teacher's emotion came from a panelist's comment that school administration should deport undocumented students.

"So you would have students in this room deported?" asked the teacher.

The panelist replied, "Yes, I would if they were illegal. You bet."

Rodriguez also told the teacher if the person is here illegally, they are breaking the law.

"You know what I would have? I would have you teach more balanced - conservative," added Rodriguez.

After those remarks is when the teacher made the Nazi comment saying, "You can just say what you are - a Nazi."

Edgewood ISD will not be taking any disciplinary action against the teacher.

"He realized he shouldn't have gone that far, and he gave us a statement and expressed his concern and regret," said district spokesperson Maclovio Perez.

Perez adds the teacher was at the town hall meeting on his own time and students were invited, but not required to go. Perez went onto to say the teacher is a good educator and has been with the district for more than six years.

The Tea Party would like the chance to go and speak to the districts high school students "to explain to them our position in a controlled, quite, calm manner" added Rodriguez.

Perez said he will proposed the idea to the school administration.

Note: Hispanic Tea Party Leader, someone needs to tell Obama (President Dummy) that the Tea Party has minorities involved in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!