Patriot Update - A Free Press for the Conservative Revolution

Politics:

WikiLeaks Fights to Stay Online Amid Attacks

Wikileaks struggled to stay online Friday as corporations and governments moved to cut its access to the Internet, a potentially crippling blow for an organization dedicated to releasing secret information via the web. The American company that directed traffic to the website wikileaks.org stopped late Thursday after cyber attacks threatened the rest of its network. WikiLeaks responded by moving to a Swiss domain name, wikileaks.ch -- and calling on activists for support. Two companies host the Swiss domain name, one of which is in France. The other is in Sweden. On Friday, France moved to ban WikiLeaks from French servers. The French government has been one of numerous administrations embarrassed by the frank assessments of U.S. diplomats and their sources in a flood of cables released by Wikileaks in cooperation with major newspapers in several countries.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/03/wikileaks-provider...

Politics:

Jobless Rate Rises to 9.8 Percent, Highest Since April

The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 9.8 percent in November, a seven-month high, as hiring slowed. Employers added only 39,000 jobs last month, a sharp decline from the 172,000 created in October. The weakness was widespread. Retailers, factories, construction companies, financial firms and the government all cut jobs last month. Private companies -- the backbone of the economy -- created 50,000 jobs. That was down significantly from the 160,000 private-sector jobs created in October and was the smallest gain since January. With hiring so weak, the unemployment rate rose from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent. The jobless rate has now topped 9 percent for 19 straight months, the longest stretch on record.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/03/jobless-rate-rise...

Politics:

Boehner On 9.8% Unemployment: Dem Leaders Should Stop Wasting Time on Tax Hike Votes

House Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-OH) this morning called on the lame-duck Congress to cut spending and stop all the looming tax hikes after the Department of Labor reported that unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in November despite Obama Administration projections that the ‘stimulus’ would keep unemployment below eight percent. Joblessness has now topped 9.5 percent for 16 straight months, the longest such stretch since the Great Depression. Boehner issued the following statement: “Any sign of job growth in this struggling economy is encouraging, but clearly no match for the uncertainty families and small businesses are facing, which is why we must cut spending and stop all the looming tax hikes."

Source: http://gopleader.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=216...

Politics:

DREAM Act Would Cost Taxpayers $6.2 Billion Per Year, Group Says

A group advocating for tighter immigration laws estimates that a hotly debated bill that would give tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who attend college or join the military a path to legal status would cost taxpayers $6.2 billion a year and "crowd out" U.S. students in the classroom. A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies says the so-called DREAM Act, which would give more than 2 million young immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16 a chance to become legal residents, could erode the educational opportunities available to U.S. citizens.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/02/dream-act-cost-ta...

Politics:

WikiLeaks Changes Domain Name After Attacks

WikiLeaks was forced Friday to switch over to a Swiss domain name, wikileaks.ch, after a new round of hacker attacks on its system prompted its American domain name provider to withdraw service. WikiLeaks' U.S. domain name system provider, EveryDNS, withdrew service to the wikileaks.org name late Thursday, saying it took the action because the new hacker attacks threatened the rest of its network. "Wikileaks.org has become the target of multiple distributed denial of service attacks. These attacks have, and future attacks would, threaten the stability of the EveryDNS.net infrastructure," EveryDNS, headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, said.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/03/wikileaks-provider...

Politics:

Deal Near, Senate Plans Vote on Dem Tax Cuts

A deal to extend expiring tax cuts for all taxpayers is starting to take shape even as Senate Democrats plan weekend votes on bills that would let the tax cuts for the wealthy die. Obama is seeking to expand the tax package to include other measures designed to boost the nation's sluggish economy. Among them are extending jobless benefits for millions of unemployed workers and continuing tax breaks that were part of President Barack Obama's massive economic recovery package enacted last year. Without action by Congress, unemployment benefits will run out this month for 2 million people, and several million more will lose them later in the winter. Earlier Democratic efforts to extend the program into 2011 have been blocked by Republicans demanding offsetting spending cuts. The issue is Obama's top domestic priority, and shows how difficult a time his administration will have working with newly empowered Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives next year.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/03/deal-near-senate-...

Politics:

The Political Theater of the Expiring Bush Tax Cuts and the Street Mob

The House of Representatives is set to open the next act in the grand political theater, a fiscal tragedy of epic proportions surrounding the prevention of a massive tax hike set to befall the American taxpayer in a few weeks. Why? The Bush tax cuts expire. The scene opens with the Members voting on an expanded version of the President’s original proposal to allow the tax hike to fall only on singles making more than $200,000 and married filers making more than $250,000 annually. The expansion is the addition of a number of terrible tax provisions originally enacted as part of the “temporary” stimulus. In previous scenes, President Obama and his allies have repeatedly argued that the tax increase is necessary to begin to address the budget deficit. His admission of our disastrous fiscal path that he has made substantially worse is encouraging, but as typical of his economic policies, his prescription is largely political and entirely harmful.

Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/02/the-political-theater-of...

Politics:

The Cartel: Where Are Our Education Dollars Going?

The Cartel, a searing education documentary, opens nationwide on Wednesday. The film, by director Bob Bowden, exposes where our multiplying education tax dollars are going. Spoiler alert: In too many instances, they aren’t going toward teaching children. Bowden focuses on New Jersey, a state that spends over $17,000 per student annually. A few simple calculations show the real picture: Instead of being chronically under-funded, as union advocates claim, each classroom in the state costs the taxpayer between $300,000 and almost $450,000 annually. But the reality is that charter schools, such as the Robert Treat Academy in Newark, are far outperforming district schools on state tests—and doing it for 60 cents on the dollar.

Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/02/the-cartel-where-are-our...

Politics:

In Mexico, Homeland Secretary Napolitano Glosses Over Drug War

The “readout” from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s November 30 visit to Mexico City constitutes a soothing tidbit of information—bureaucratic Muzak: In the face of ever-evolving, multinational threats, the U.S. is committed to working with our international partners to enhance information-sharing and our mutual security. We look forward to our continued partnership with the Mexican government as we forge an unprecedented international security framework that facilitates legitimate trade and travel while protecting our citizens.

Source: http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/02/in-mexico-homeland-secre...