The Final Five: June 20, 2012

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Tonight's Crazy Story:
Walmart: Thieves Admired, Pocketed "Pretty Money" from Register
Police in an Atlanta suburb are on the lookout for someone who is tricking clerks into allowing them to look at the "pretty money" in their register. Two women with Eastern European accents recently asked if they could take a closer look at the money, which they said looked better than the "boring" money back home. The thieves returned some of the money--but not all--leaving the drawer $841 short.

Topic One: Fast and Furious
Holder met with Issa last night, but still failed to bring the documents Issa has demanded: "On Monday afternoon, Issa told Holder he needed documents — not a promise of future document production — before he would agree to postpone contempt proceedings. Holder did not come to the meeting with the documents in hand. “To summarize, he [Holder] came with an offer of a briefing,” Issa said. “We went through the process of what was being offered and responded, as I think we have to, which is the documents that they may choose to give in the future, we need to have before tomorrow.” That said, Issa said he thinks the “documents necessary to cause a postponement appear to be in their possession,” and he hopes Holder gives them to him tonight."

Obama came to the rescue today, claiming executive privilege on the documents: "The White House move means the Department of Justice can withhold the documents from the House Oversight Committee, which was scheduled to consider a contempt measure Wednesday against Holder. In a letter to Obama seeking the assertion of executive privilege, Holder said the documents involved related to the Justice Department's "response to congressional oversight and related media inquiries," and that release of internal executive branch documents would have "significant, damaging consequences." Holder also said releasing the documents would "inhibit the candor of executive branch deliberations in the future and significantly impair the ability of the executive branch to respond independently and effectively to congressional oversight."

This goes against what Obama said in 2009, but what's new? "In 2009, President Obama said in a statement on the Freedom of Information Act that "The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears." Obama and administration officials also pledged to run the "most transparent administration in history." This statement seems particularly timely today since President Obama is invoking executive privilege in deciding not to release Attorney General Eric Holder's Fast and Furious documents."

Time for a Laugh:
"It's a great day for our president. He's down in Mexico for the G-20 Summit. Today he met with Russia's Vladimir Putin. He said "I think your communist policies are a danger to the world." There's no word on how Obama responded."
-Craig Ferguson

Topic Two: Obama and the Law
Does Obama believe he is above the law? "You'd think that, having taught law at least part-time, President Obama would have more respect for the subject. As it is, more than a dozen major scandals and Supreme Court reversals have rocked his administration, all of them attributable to the president's determination to override the law. One can only imagine what he was teaching those law students back in Chicago."

"The list of scandals and court reversals is long and sobering. Last Friday, the president announced that he would not enforce the law requiring deportation of illegal aliens. In short, Obama has thus decided that politics trumps the rule of law. Of course, this is nothing new for this president, but the blatant manner in which it was announced, purely for political gain, is deplorable."

"Obama's attempt to legislate from the Oval Office betrays a colossal arrogance. The frightening thing is that he actually believes he can govern in opposition to the wishes of the American people and their representatives in Congress. Not since the 1930s, when FDR attempted to stack the Supreme Court, have we seen a president who believed he was so far above the law. But at least FDR backed down in the face of popular opposition -- Obama continues with agency power-grabs, doubtful recess appointments, stonewalling of Congress, and blatant disregard for the law even in the face of public outrage."

Debt Watch:
$15,784,676,619,110.62
( As of Tuesday, June 19, 2012 )

Change: +$8,537,378,101
Your share as a citizen: $50,480.58
Share per household: $138,176.03
Debt since Obama inauguration: $5,157,799,570,198

Topic Three: Racial Double Standards
Walter E. Williams explains the double standard when it comes to race: "Back in 2009, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said we were "a nation of cowards" on matters of race. Permit me to be brave and run a few assertions by you just to see whether we're on the same page. There should be two standards for civilized conduct: one for whites, which is higher, and another for blacks, which is lower. In other words, in the name of justice and fair play, blacks should not be held accountable to the same standards that whites are and should not be criticized for conduct that we'd deem disgusting and racist if said or done by whites."

"You say, "Williams, what in the world are you talking about?" Mitt Romney hasn't revealed all of his fall campaign strategy yet, but what if he launched a "White Americans for Romney" movement in an effort to get out the white vote? If the Romney campaign did that, there'd be a media-led outcry across the land, with charges ranging from racial insensitivity to outright racism. When President Barack Obama announced his 2012 launch of "African Americans for Obama", the silence was deafening. Should the same standards be applied to Obama as would be applied to Romney? The answer turns out to be no, because Obama is not held to the same standards as Romney."

"Liberals won't actually come out and say that criticism of Obama is in and of itself racist, but they come pretty close. Former President Jimmy Carter said that criticism of Obama shows that there is an "inherent feeling" in America that a black man should not be president. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball," said that critics of Obama are crackers. Morgan Freeman said that the campaign to see that Obama serves one term is a "racist thing." Former Obama czar Van Jones said that Romney's campaign sign "Obama Isn't Working" implies Obama is a "lazy, incompetent affirmative action baby."

Tweet of the Day:
Ari David (@AriDavidUSA): So Obama invokes Executive Privilege on #fastandfurious but leaks information that harms US and Israeli national security #lnyhbt

Topic Four: Perpetual Stimulus
Neil Reynolds explains the problems of perpetual debt: "The British government has run a budget surplus in only six of the 37 years since 1975. The American government has run a budget surplus in only five of the 52 years since 1960. The Canadian government has run a budget surplus in only 10 of the 46 years since 1966. As Hudson Institute scholar Christopher DeMuth asserts in a prescient paper, Debt and Democracy, Keynesian doctrine – surpluses in the good years, deficits in the bad – has morphed in the advanced democracies into perpetual stimulus. As a result, the exponential accumulation of debt means that the next generation, people still unborn, could theoretically be required to pay all of their lifetime incomes in taxes merely to make the interest payments on an enormous debt."

"Obviously,” Mr. DeMuth says, “this will never happen.” But, based upon past experience, democracies are not yet prepared – with few exceptions – to balance their books. In these circumstances, what gives? In Mr. DeMuth's assessment, democracy gives. A day of reckoning comes. The Western world must either return to balanced books or risk a turbulent end to the great age of the dynamic democracies."

"The routine redistribution of wealth from future generations to ourselves is profoundly undemocratic and corrupting,” Mr. DeMuth says. “The risks … are not only economic but political. [The use of] deficit financing of current consumption now undermines spending discipline and political accountability. The reinstitution of responsible management of public debt may be essential to the sustenance of democratic self-government.”"

Food for Thought - A Quote from our Founders
"A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader."
-Samuel Adams

Topic Five: The Obama Jobs Program
Obama paying protesters to follow Romney: "President Obama’s latest job-creation gimmick is a self-serving one: Obama allies are reportedly paying protesters to stake out Mitt Romney’s rallies. Two Michigan protesters said that they were getting paid to do that arduous work. They’re clearly not unionized – one protester claimed she was getting paid $7.25 per hour, while another man said he was being paid $17 per hour. These same professional protesters had appeared at another Romney rally that same day. Their story was confirmed by an Obama campaign official, but disassociated his own group from those protesters."

Tomorrow in History
June 21, 1788 - New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the US Constitution, thus making it effective for all the states that ratified it.

Grab Bag - Interesting and Important Stories to Conclude Your Evening:
'Julia' goes missing

Mitch Daniels for President...of Purdue?

Bloomberg article says "I'M MAKING THIS UP"

Obama saved the unions, not Detroit

Is the economy losing jobs?

What Obama has(n't) done about Colorado fires

Wikileaks founder seeking asylum in Ecuador

Obama attorney says Obama not the Democrat nominee

Congress loses $1 billion while grilling Dimon about losing $2 billion

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