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Thursday, February 20, 2014

The Daily News Byte


                It appears that the FCC is looking to study the American media. Supposedly, they would be sending FCC employees into news rooms across the country and analyzing their news stories. According to the FCC's supporters, they are looking to just make a survey and will not be regulating any kind of content. My main question is, if they just want a survey of information and plan to essentially do nothing with it for policy changes, what's the purpose. Also, why do such an extensive study by sending people to news stations just to watch. When a government agency claims it only wants to survey and that regulation will not follow, I am highly suspect, especially when those claiming to just want to observe are a regulatory agency. That would be like the IRS coming into your home to watch you do your taxes, they claim to be there to just watch, but won't make any judgments. Yeah, right.

                Why does anyone let Joe Biden near the press? I still can't believe the man made it to the White House. He recently claimed that even if the sign-ups for Obamacare don't hit the projected numbers, by between 1 or 2 million people, that they still had a 'hell of a start.' It's an interesting analysis of what's actually happened. We don't even know how many people have paid their premiums and what portion of those enrollees were the victims of losing their coverage due to Obamacare. So, the government said 7 million by March. But if they make it to 5 million, we don't know how many are receiving insurance, and a portion of them are people who lost coverage, that to Biden is still a good start. Only in the government can not reaching a goal by a few million still be considered good.

                With all the controversy surrounding the Snowden files, public outcry from here at home and abroad would make one think that the NSA would be looking to reduce its spying abilities and dismantle some programs. But, according to the WSJ, it appears the NSA is looking to expand! It seems like the data is being held due to the impending court cases, and who knows what the outcome will be of those. But, with the current expansion happening, does anyone truly believe that afterwards the NSA will just destroy all records? I mean, the press will report that, but we can never know for sure.

                This short little video goes on to explain why essentially, all politicians sounds exactly alike. The simple answer, they must because of majority rule. Because of majority rule, candidates need to soften their positions to gravitate more towards the independent and undecided voters.

                It would appear that I wasn't the only one making a connection between the current interventions in Syria and Ukraine as a continuation of the Cold War. The President directly said that "Our view is not to see it as some Cold War chessboard where we are in competition with Russia," Obama said, adding that the events in Syria and Ukraine were “an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the people." Now doesn't that just sound inspiring. Washington only cares about the people in Ukraine. It still doesn't detract from the fact that two major superpowers are essentially using these nations to achieve their own political ends.

                This is an op-ed piece by Thomas Sowell, a fellow of the Hoover Institution. He highlights that many of the Republican 'leadership' have essentially become so disconnected from the people that they appear to no longer think it's necessary to convey their ideas. Ted Cruz, a new guy, has created such political controversy in since he's been in Washington. One of the main reasons is because he is able to actually articulate the ideas of the Republic party, which he seems to go against. Because he is not playing DC's game, he is getting blasted in the media. The Republican leaders and keeping their heads down and not communication, and Ted Cruz is filling that gap.


                Okay, to start, just the title of this article is so wrong on so many levels. First, how has our society come to look to the President for this action? Where does he possess this authority? Each day I read the news I come back to a ground breaking book "The Cult of the Presidency." Everyone must read it. Second, is the President, frankly, stupid comment: “Improving gas mileage for these trucks is going to drive down our oil imports even further. That reduces carbon pollution even more, cuts down on businesses’ fuel costs, which should pay off in lower prices for consumers. So it’s not just a win-win, it’s a win-win-win. We got three wins.” This is a classic move, highlighting the things that make his argument work. He just blows by the only thing that matters, cost. If he raises standards, yes companies will pay less in gas and save money in that area (yay!) but, how will the company achieve these better standards? Well, if they are to high, they need new trucks which will cost lots of money (sad) and drive up prices. The author of this article is a trucking company, and they praise the President for this (so much for shutting out Big Business Mr. President). Here is the truth of the matter, a large corporation has the ability and funds to invest in new technologies that small companies do not. So, small business goes bye bye while big business reaps the benefits of removing competition.

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