The Goins Report: January 2013

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Ron Paul's Farewell Address vs. Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address

Which one was the better speech?

Ron Paul's Farewell Address

or

Barack Obama's Second Inaugural Address

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

My Favorite Reporter Jake Tapper Is At CNN

My favorite reporter, Jake Tapper, is no longer the Senior White House Correspondent for ABC News and is now with CNN.

I became a fan of Jake Tapper when I saw him go back in forth with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney over Anwar al-Awlaki's murder by the United States government. Had it not been for Austrian economist Bob Murphy posting this link that September day, I may not be a fan of Jake Tapper. Even more, I've come to study Tapper's questioning style and kept a Jake Tapper book mark (the 7th slot) on my Mozilla browser.

In short, I've decided to model myself after Jake Tapper. More on that later.

Here's a non-HD version of the exchange.

But for the HD version, go where I first saw it.

Click here for the HD version.

Also noteworthy is when Tapper asked President Obama "Where have you been" on gun control. It was one of his last, if not his very last, time in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room as ABC's top White House reporter.

Click here for the HD version.

Shortly after this exchange, the news broke that he would be joining CNN.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Twitter: "Tebowing is Out, Te'oing is in"

Disney Channel's A.N.T. Farm & Te'o

This is what happens when there is a 2, 5, and 7 year old in the house: You end up watching A.N.T. Farm occasionally on the Disney Channel and become able to make connections between the episode Cameron dreamed up his girlfriend, took her on a date, and then to the dance and the Manti Te'o story.

The difference, though, is that in the Disney show Cameron actually met his girlfriend episodes later.

Update: Te'o tells Katie Couric he lied, again, about fake girlfriend.

When Cameron finds out his girlfriend isn't real

Drudge: Where Are The Policeman Of The World?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Carter: Obama Drone Policies “Do More Harm Than Good” By Targeting “Potential Terrorists”

Former President Jimmy Carter (D) said that he thinks the United States in its foreign policy has “overcorrected” since the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, and that President Obama’s drone policy does “more harm than good” by targeting “potential terrorists” but also accidentally hitting civilians

During a recent trip to Haiti the former president was asked: “what are the main factors playing a role in this deterioration of human rights and the rule of law and how can we restore it?” The question, asked by a reporter at Russia Today, was prompted by an op-ed Carter wrote for the New York Times back in June where he argued that the “United States is abandoning its role as the global champion of human rights.”

“Well the main violations to which I referred in that op-ed piece have been brought about by overcorrecting the 9/11 disaster when terrorists came in and destroyed as you know more than 3,000 American lives and two of our buildings and also even attacked the Defense Department,” he said.

Carter said that “we have overreacted” to the September 11, 2001 attacks and called himself “a lonely voice” because he doesn’t believe in “drone assassinations of people.”

“I personally think that we do more harm than good by having our drones attack some potential terrorists who have not been tried or proven that they are guilty,” Carter said.

“But in the meantime, the drone attacks also kill women and children, sometimes at weddings, and I think this arises more new terrorists than it possibly corrects in maybe killing a few other terrorists leaders so that’s the kind of thing that I think we should correct.”

Carter didn’t mention a specific act, but he also said that “we have now violated a longstanding policy” in the United States “of preserving the privacy of American citizens.”

“We now have passed laws that permit eavesdropping on private telephone calls and private communications. In the past when I was president we passed a law that that could not be done in a single case unless you got a judge to decide in advance that this was a national security question which was very rare. Now it's done all over America,” he said.

"So I think we need to back off from the overcorrection of the problem with the terrorists in 9/11 and restore basic human rights as spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he continued. “There are 30 paragraphs in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and my estimation is that at the present time the United States is violating ten out of thirty. Other countries are doing the same, but I was just referring to my own country.”

Monday, January 7, 2013

House Blocks Obama Executive Order That Quietly Raises Congressional, Government Salaries

The House of Representatives blocked a pay increase that was the result of an executive order issued late last year.

As a result of the executive order, members of the House, Senate, and the Executive Branch would have received a small bump in pay thanks to an executive order given five days before the New Year.

The increases for U.S. lawmakers were small, ranging from several hundred dollars to a little over a thousand, in comparison to what government officials were previously making overall--but are much bigger than the increases of military members' salaries and government employees' salaries.

The Executive order, signed on December 27, 2012 by President Barack Obama lifted a year-long government-wide pay freeze on federal salaries, including those of various high government officials, Congress, government employees and the armed services members.

The changes wouldn't have went into effect until March 27, and wouldn't have effected the pay of outgoing members.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) all oppose the pay increase.

Here's a list of some of the changes in pay:

-Vice President Joe Biden's salary would have went from $225,521 to $231,900--a $1,200 increase.

-All members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives would have received a $900 pay increase from $174,000 to $174,900.

-The President Pro Tempore of the Senate would have received a $1,000 increase in pay from $193,400 to $194,400.

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader of the Senate Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would have received a $1,000 pay increase from $193,400 to $194,400.

-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would have seen their pay rise from $193,400 to $194,400--a $1,000 increase.

-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would have seen his $223,500 salary increase to $224,600--a $1,100 increase.

The Goins Report