PA Democrat Refuses To Say Pledge Of Allegiance

Politicians are often criticized for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time that's taken the wrong way. But state Representative Babette Josephs (D-Philadelphia) is being criticized for what she refused to say. The drama unfolded at what was billed as a non-controversial House State Government Committee meeting Wednesday morning. Republican Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) asked Josephs to lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance; a rather routine request that became anything but when Josephs refused. "Based on my First Amendment rights and based on the fact that I really think it's a prayer. I don't pray in public," she said as lawmakers were standing to recite the Pledge. After an awkward moment, Metcalfe quickly called on another member to lead the group. Afterward, Josephs was unapologetic. She said she was about 14 years old when Congress inserted the words 'under God' into the Pledge. She insists that makes it a prayer. "How many years ago was 1954? I have not said the Pledge of Allegiance since and I will not say it into the future unless they take those words out and make it less of a prayer," Josephs said. Metcalfe concedes it is Josephs' right to not say the Pledge. He just thinks it's wrong.

SOMEONE IN SACRAMENTO NEEDS TO LAY OFF THE PEYOTE: Gas prices in Cali spike an all-time record $0.20 in one day

The working people of California have to be extremely pleased with the left-wing eco-Marxists who control their state. Sacramento's insane push towards non-existent green energy sources -- wind, solar, and unicorn farts -- seems to be working out really well... if the goal is to de-industrialize the state.

Supposedly good news for Obama in the unemployment report, but very very bad news for commuters in Los Angeles:

LOS ANGELES – The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in Los Angeles County recorded what is believed to be its largest single-day increase today, rising 19.2 cents to $4.539 — its highest amount since July 12, 2008.

The average price has increased by more than 1 cent on each of the past seven days, including 8.8 cents on Thursday and 5.8 cents on Wednesday. It is now 40.3 cents more than a week ago, 36.4 cents higher than a month ago and 71.5 cents greater than at this time last year, according to figures from the AAA and Oil Price Information Service.

Yesterday it was reported that prices were so high, some gas pumps are simply shutting down:

Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area… are beginning to shut pumps as the state’s oil refiners started rationing supplies and spot prices surged to a record.

“We’re going to start shutting pumps Friday,” Sam Krikorian, owner of Quality Auto Repair in North Hollywood, said by phone yesterday. “Gas is costing me almost $4.75 a gallon with taxes. There’s no sense in staying open. The profit margins are so low it’s not worth it.”

This is exactly why Capitalism just doesn’t work – they should keep their pumps open not for filthy dirty profit, but for their love of community!

But, hell, who needs Keystone XL, Alaska, or offshore oil anyhow?

Calif. Gas Stations Shut-Down Due to Sky-High Prices

Oh to live in a Liberal controlled State.

                                               

Because of oil refinery stoppages in California, gas prices have risen so high that independent gas stations are shutting down because they can’t make a profit. 

Exxon’s Torrance refinery lost power Oct. 1 and is only starting to recover now; Phillips 66 is trying to fix two of its California refineries this month; and Chevron shut down its pipeline of crude oil to its Northern California refineries last month.
Meanwhile, Costco is starting to shut its pumps sown, Valero is terminating selling gas at its stations, and Exxon Mobil is rationing fuel.
Spot gasoline in Los Angeles has skyrocketed $1 a gallon this week to a record $1.45 a gallon premium versus gasoline futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level since November 2007. Fuel is now averaging $4.3929 a gallon, while gas rose to $4.315 a gallon yesterday.
Bob van der Valk, an independent petroleum industry analyst in Terry, Montana, said: “The squeeze is on, and people are doing desperate things. The mom-and-pop gas stations are having to close down from either not being able to obtain gasoline from their regular distributor or cannot afford the break-even price of almost $5 per gallon.”
The California Independent Oil Marketers Association asked the state yesterday to expedite a waiver that would allow refiners to produce and sell winter-grade

 Rebel Pundit caught up with supporters of the President at an Obama for America rally in Madison, WI on Thursday. When asked if it was "fair" that the President was unable to use a teleprompter during the debates, overwhelmingly the supporters said "no".



It's laughable.

Video: Hankygate

It's come to this.

The melodramatic slo-mo made me laugh, so I feel obliged to post even though most of you probably have already seen it elsewhere. Accusing the other team’s guy of using mysterious debate paraphernalia to cheat is an old-school blogosphere tradition. The left collectively wet itself over a mysterious bulge in George W. Bush’s jacket at the debate in 2004, making enough of a stink that the story got picked up overseas. (The bulge turned out to be a strap for his bulletproof vest, not a wire for an earpiece as liberals had speculated.) Our side countered at the time by noting that John Kerry appeared to have pulled something from his own jacket pocket that looked like a crib sheet. (It turned out to be a pen.) Suspicions about the Bush “bulge” broke big because it fit the left’s narrative that he was really just a high-functioning chimpanzee who needed his lines fed to him by Karl Rove. This new one, accusing Romney of using a crib sheet, won’t get as much traction because even most Mitt-haters accept, however grudgingly, that he’s a smart guy who’s fully capable of mastering the information needed to do well at a debate. Rarely during the campaign have even his detractors accused him of being stupid, and the notable exceptions had more to do with him allegedly being wildly “out of touch” than with being dumb. Remember, liberals think all conservatives are evil, crazy, *or* stupid, not *and.*

You shouldn’t make a movie that offends Not All Muslims (unless it helps Obama get reelected)

Remember when riots broke out in the Middle East and our ambassador to Libya was murdered on the anniversary of 9/11, and Not All Muslims blamed it on a dumb YouTube video? Remember when the State Department and the Obama administration went right along with that assessment for weeks, until they couldn’t get away with lying about it anymore? And remember when the guy who made the dumb YouTube video was taken away for questioning in the middle of the night, and then thrown in jail in an “unrelated” parole violation? Remember all that?
Never mind.

Jobs Report Met with Skepticism

This morning's jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is being met with skepticism. The report found that, from August to September, the unemployment rate dropped from just above 8 percent to 7.8 percent.
In fact, when Labor Secretary Hilda Solis appeared on CNBC this morning, the first two questions for her were whether the books have been cooked: 

Solis called the charges insulting and "ludicrous."

Man Tells Obama: Business 'Terrible Since You Got Here'

An Ohio man at the market told President Obama that business has been "Terrible since you got here," according to the White House pool report. Via the pool report:

Potus stopped to meet people waiting for him, where he did the requisite hand-shaking, high-fiving and the rare baby-holding before going on to chat with proprietors at Turczyk's Meats and the adjoining Larry Vilstein's, Christopher Bakery and Edward Badbuster & Son. He then asked the proprietor at Rolston Poultry how business was going. "Terrible since you got here," the man said. Pool could not get close enough to the Rolston Poultry man to get his name or political affiliation. Potus didn't appear amused by the sentiment. 

Welch to Matthews: ‘Chris, Don’t Lose It Now’ Full Jack Welch interview on Hardball

Former General Electric chief executive officer Jack Welch stood by his questions about the BLS jobs report in an interview with Chris Matthews Friday, at one point telling Matthews, “Chris, don’t lose it now.”
Welch schools Matthews. The full interview is below:

Five Reasons Stephanie Cutter is Obama’s Worst Press Secretary

Obama for America’s deputy campaign manager has become a major force in the 2012 campaign—and that may not be a good thing

AP Images

 Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter has become one of the most recognizable faces of the Obama reelection campaign—but that is not necessarily a good thing for the president.
A cavalcade of televised blunders has marked Cutter’s stint as a prominent Obama surrogate.
What’s more, Glenn Thrush reports in the e-book “Obama’s Last Stand: Playbook 2012” that Cutter’s tenure has not been smooth in Chicago, either.
“Aggresiveness and persistence were Cutter’s calling cards,” Thrush writes. “Even people who liked her found her tough to work with in the heat of a campaign.”
Arguments between Cutter and senior campaign adviser David Axelrod have become so heated, in fact, that the two “were barely on speaking terms” after Axelrod perceived Cutter “being too aggressive” and “overstepping her authority as a deputy,” according to aides.
Cutter’s rise has occurred despite the fact that she is a reliable source for campaign blunders.
Here are five of Cutter’s biggest gaffes so far this year:

Meet the Obama Donors at the BLS

At least two economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) have contributed to President Barack Obama’s campaign. Harley Frazis of Bethesda, MD, has contributed at least $2,000 to Obama and $9,000 to the Democratic National Committee over the last three election cycles. During his time at BLS, Harley has published a number of papers including his most recent, “How to Think About Time-Use Data: What Inferences Can We Make About Long- and Short-Run Time Use from Time Diaries?”
Stephen Phillips of Washington, D.C., has contributed at least $270 to Obama during the 2012 cycle. According to his LinkedIn profile, Phillips served as an economist at BLS between June 2009 and July 2012. Phillips was responsible for examining the impact of Obamacare on Healthcare North American Industry Classification System indices. Phillips was also assistant coach for a girls’ high school tennis team in 2010. 
 The post has been updated to note Phillips’ dates of employment at the BLS.