(CNS News) — President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus act allocated $10 million to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for a program that traced guns sold to straw purchasers, an operation that was designed to prevent Mexican criminal organizations from obtaining U.S. guns.

The $787-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the stimulus, was passed by Congress and signed into law in February 2009. From this near-trillion dollar trove, the administration allocated $10 million to the ATF’s “Project Gunrunner” to increase staff by 37 persons, according to a November 2010 Department of Justice Inspector General report.

The phased-in hiring of stimulus-funded staff was almost complete by September 2010, according to the IG report.

Project Gunrunner had begun in 2006 to trace U.S. guns being sold to Mexican criminals. As the program evolved, in some cases the tracing of guns included allowing the sale of guns through straw purchases.

The controversial Operation of Fast and Furious, which allowed nearly 2,000 guns to flow into Mexico, was the Phoenix, Ariz. component of Project Gunrunner, a national program.

PHOENIX (AP) — An appeals court upheld a requirement in a 2004 Arizona law that voters show identification before they can cast ballots, saying that there wasn’t evidence that the mandate disproportionately affected Latinos as the challengers had alleged.

A 12-member panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said in a ruling Tuesday that there was evidence Arizona has racially polarized voting and a history of discrimination against Latinos, but concluded no proof was offered to show that the ID requirement gave Latinos fewer opportunities to vote.

The court, however, found that the federal National Voter Registration Act trumps another section of the Arizona law that requires people to prove their citizenship in order to vote.

That federal law allows voters to fill out a mail-in voter registration card and swear they are citizens under penalty of perjury, but it doesn’t require them to show proof as Arizona’s law does.

(The Register) A new study of survey data gleaned from space has shown a vast region of Himalayan glaciers is actually gaining ice steadily, mystifying climate scientists who had thought the planet’s “third pole” to be melting.

NEW YORK — What are parents to do when their child comes home from school with stories about “this creepy guy in my class” — and it turns out to be the teacher?
That’s a very real concern for parents with children in New York City public schools, where 14 teachers of highly dubious character have been reinstated to the classroom — and two others have been given “desk duty” — thanks to appeals by their powerful teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers.
NYDailyNews.com reports that 16 teachers “kept their jobs after being brought up on egregious charges, some sexual, some involving excessive personal familiarity with students.”
A few examples:
Gym and health teacher Willie Laraque was charged with bending a male student over a desk, leaning in to him and saying, “I’ll show you what is gay.” The Daily News reports Laraque is back in the classroom after paying a $10,000 fine.
Norman Siegel, a high school teacher, was accused of pressing his genitalia against a female student’s leg. Siegel only received a 45-day unpaid suspension, “although the arbitrator found that the girl’s charge was likely true” and that Siegel “was previously accused of a similar offense,” the Daily News writes.
There’s also a case involving Edward Cascio, a gym teacher who accepted pornographic pictures from a student — of another student. Cascio was back at work after serving his three-month suspension.

(CNSNews.com) – A bankruptcy court ordered $368,500 in bonuses for 20 top managers and employees of Solyndra, the solar panel firm that received $535 million from taxpayers two years before filing for bankruptcy and laying off 11,000 employees. The bonuses kicked in on March 31.

The 20 high-level workers earned a total base pay of $2.49 million before the bonuses. One of the executives earned a base annual salary of $206,499 and received a $30,000 incentive under the court order handed down on Feb. 22 by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath in Delaware.

Another executive earning $189,000 in base pay was awarded a $20,000 bonus and a third, who earned $190,800, received $15,000 more.

Most of the bonuses awarded were between $15,000 and $25,000, with the three top beneficiaries receiving $30,000, while the three lowest received $10,000 each.

From our friends at the New York Times, April 16, 2011:

President Obama  objected to the provision that would eliminate money for four czars handling health care, climate change, the auto industry and urban affairs. Lawmakers have criticized the use of such czars to oversee broad swaths of federal policy, arguing that they have enormous power yet are not accountable to Congress. All of the positions affected by the budget bill are vacant or have been eliminated, and it is not clear whether the White House wanted to fill any of them.

….

In his signing statement, Mr. Obama took issue with an obscure provision in the budget agreement, which keeps the government running through September. Mr. Obama said that the effort to cut financing from the positions conflicts with the president’s “well-established authority to supervise and oversee the executive branch.”

Click here to read the full article from the New York Times

Yes George W. Bush did this type of bullshit as well WHICH I DO NOT SUPPORT. However, like every bad policy that GWB saddled us with Obama is doubling down.  Today I read news that he’s at it again, from The Hill:

President Obama said Friday he will not be bound by at least 20 policy riders in the 2012 omnibus funding the government, including provisions pertaining to Guantanamo Bay and gun control.

After he signed the omnibus into law Friday, the White House released a concurrent signing statement saying Obama will object to portions of the legislation on constitutional grounds.

“I have advised the Congress that I will not construe these provisions as preventing me from fulfilling my constitutional responsibility to recommend to the Congress’s consideration such measures as I shall judge necessary and expedient,”

Obama said in a statement as he signed the bill into law.

Click here to read the complete article from The Hill.

So great… The Executive Branch of the US Government can affectively Veto any provisions set forth by the US Congress.

By my count we in effect have a “checks and balanced” government in which all three branches can make law as they see fit. Am I wrong here?

What a great video. This was sent this morning

Stephen Ohlemacher from The Associated Press writes in his piece Expiring tax cuts hit taxpayers at every level

A typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would have to pay $2,900 more in taxes in 2011, according to a new analysis by Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax consulting firm. The same family making $100,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $4,500.

Wealthier families face even bigger tax hikes. A family of four making $500,000 a year would pay $10,800 more in taxes. The same family making $1 million a year would get a tax increase of $53,200.

The estimates are based on total household income, including wages, capital gains and qualified dividends. The estimated tax bills take into account typical deductions at each income level.

Democrats have been arguing for much of the past decade that tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President George W. Bush provided a windfall for the wealthy. That’s true, but they also reduced taxes for the working poor, the middle class, and just about everyone in between.

Anyone remember this?

What a POS liar..

Click here to read more