Thomas Sowell: Dismantling America

Townhall "The Constitution was not only a challenge to the despotic governments of its time, it has been a continuing challenge-- to this day-- to all those who think that ordinary people should be ruled by their betters, whether an elite of blood, or of books or of whatever else gives people a puffed-up sense of importance."

Fed Unveils Slew of Mortgage Rules

Wall Street Journal "The Federal Reserve unveiled a slew of rules Monday aimed at protecting consumers from abusive lending practices blamed for luring millions into unaffordable home loans. The rules include a ban on yield-spread premiums, controversial payments that mortgage brokers have historically received in exchange for guiding consumers toward higher-interest rate mortgages. “This will prevent loan originators from increasing their own compensation by raising the consumers’ loan costs, such as by increasing the interest rate or points,” the Fed said."

DISASTER IN THE GULF

Houston Chronicle "Resumption and expansion of deep-water drilling across the Gulf of Mexico will be more costly and time-consuming for oil companies such as BP as a result of changes the Obama administration ordered Monday."

ObamaCare Woes

Townhall "June surveys from Rasmussen Reports show that voters believe ObamaCare will increase costs, decrease quality and want the new massive program repealed. "

http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/MichaelRamirez

Under Dr. Berwick, Death Panels Coming to Life

Verum Serum "Obviously the decision isn’t final yet, but assuming Medicare does refuse to cover this drug…How is this different from a death panel? Would someone on the professional left who railed against Sarah Palin’s use of that phrase please explain the difference?"

Bean-Counters and Baloney

Thomas Sowell "One of the things that got us started on heavy-handed government regulation of the housing market were statistics showing that blacks were turned down for mortgage loans more often than whites. The bean-counters in the media went ballistic. It had to be racism, to hear them tell it. What they didn't tell you was that whites were turned down more often than Asians. What they also didn't tell you was that black-owned banks also turned down blacks more often than whites."....
"The bean-counters are everywhere, pushing the idea that differences show injustices committed by society. As long as we keep buying it, they will keep selling it-- and the polarization they create will sell this country down the river."

The Mosque: Deal or No Deal?

Powerline Blog "Haaretz headlines: "Muslim leaders to abandon plans for Ground Zero community center."".... "But the New York Daily News says Haaretz is all wet:"...

Haaretz Muslim leaders to abandon plans for Ground Zero community center. "Insiders say Muslim spiritual leaders behind the controversial initiative are considering giving up on the former World Trade Center location, in a gesture of appeasement."

NY Daily News "UPDATE from our Sam Goldsmith, who's been following this issue and just got off the phone with Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the project: "That's complete misinformation. That's crazy," El-Gamal said."

Harry Reid: Hey, maybe we shouldn’t build that Ground Zero mosque

Washington Examiner "In a move that will probably make it harder for Democrats to point at Republicans and scream “Xenophobe!”, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has come out against the mosque at Ground Zero." Via Beltway Confidential

COCHISE COUNTY ARIZONA

Neal Boortz "Border Patrol agents are pulling back from some areas along the border in the Southeast corner of Arizona. This is the same area where you can find signs telling American citizens to stay away. Now why are we warned to stay away? Why are the Border Patrol agents being pulled back?"

Ground Zero Mosque is Part of Ideological War

Big Peace "The mosque at Ground Zero has nothing whatever to do with religious tolerance or religious freedoms as the president suggested in his recent Ramadan White House remarks. The mosque at Ground Zero is the newest phase in an endless ideological war against the United States and non-Muslims everywhere.

"Where do we go from here now that our Commander in Chief publicly supports an oppositional and hostile ideology whose purpose is our destruction?

"Had Eisenhower or JFK publicly supported Communism during the Cold War the result would have been impeachment. We are now engaged in an ideological war more important than the Cold War, and we are not fighting."

Britain’s New Export: Islamist Carnage "Britain’s largest and longest-running terrorist investigation ended last month with the conviction of three British Muslims. Their 2006 plot involved blowing up trans-Atlantic airliners with the hope of killing up to 10,000 people. That near-disaster offers a pungent reminder of the global danger poised by U.K.-based radical Islam."

America’s Untapped Resource "Since converting to Christianity in 1993, Walid Shoebat has made it his life’s work to warn the west of the threats it faces from Islam. He is ready to help in any way he can but when his phone rings, it’s never the CIA, the FBI, or the DOD on the other end. Instead, it’s often another radio talk show host fascinated by his story and wanting him to share it with the audience."

The Enigma of Our Age

Victor Davis Hanson "In short, the great enigma of our postmodern age is how American society grew so wealthy and free to create so many residents that became so angry at the conditions that have made them so privileged — and how so many millions abroad fled the intolerance and poverty of their home country, and yet on arrival almost magically romanticize the very conditions in the abstract that they would never live under again in the concrete."