Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Breakfast is so important that I’m always searching for tasty, nutritious recipes to make sure my family starts the day right. This oatmeal is loaded with ingredients known for their cholesterol-fighting abilities, including oats, walnuts, and apples. Plus it’s quick and easy to make. You can use additional water in place of the apple juice to lower the sugar content, and simply add a bit of stevia and/or some vanilla-flavored protein powder.

Note: Organic ingredients are always preferable to conventionally grown.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple, cored and chopped finely
• 1 1/4 cups fresh, filtered water
• 1 cup unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice
• 1 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or lite salt
• 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
• 3 teaspoons raw, organic honey

Directions:

1. Combine chopped apple, water and/or apple juice, oats, cinnamon, and salt in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring the oat mixture to a boil on medium heat. Boil for one minute, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat. Add walnuts and honey, and stir to mix.

Cover and allow the oatmeal to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

The post Apple Walnut Oatmeal appeared first on Human Events.

From talking to patients, I’ve discovered that many people consider statins to be “miracle” drugs that allow them to eat anything they please without worrying about consequences. No wonder statins are the top selling prescription drugs in the country, with nearly half of the nation’s adults taking them.

What many people don’t understand is that statins rob the body of an essential nutrient known as Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). This vitamin-like substance plays a huge role in our lives, since it is responsible for roughly 95 percent of the energy creation within our bodies.

Although we manufacture CoQ10 internally, production slows as we age. So anyone over age 40 is most likely already experiencing a slowdown in CoQ10 production. Add statins to the mix, and you’ve got an older individual with serious fatigue issues.

Many people don’t know this, but your heart and brain use an enormous amount of energy just getting their everyday jobs done. That’s why you’re likely to feel both mentally and physically exhausted when your CoQ10 levels are low.

To keep energy up all day, I strongly urge everyone over age 40 to take at least 100 mg of CoQ10 daily, whether you have heart disease or not. For individuals taking statins, I recommend doubling that dose to 200 mg daily. As my patient Gene noticed, taking CoQ10 supplements made a big difference in his energy levels – something he’d been struggling with for several years.

The Problem with Statins

While statins can be helpful for patients who already have heart disease, I hesitate to prescribe them to reasonably healthy patients who want to take them as a preventive measure. Statins are not harmless drugs by any means. There are some 300 side effects linked to statins, including:

• Liver failure
• Damage to nerves
• Muscle pain and damage
• Nausea and vomiting
• Depletion of vital minerals, including zinc and selenium
• Constipation and/or diarrhea
• Weakness
• Headaches

Many times, these side effects don’t kick in right away, so when they occur, patients don’t connect them to the drugs. And there are less noticeable side effects, too. For example, new research shows that statins may block the benefits of omega-3 supplements, such as fish or flaxseed oil. Considering the long list of health benefits we get from omega-3s, that’s a serious problem.

In my opinion, the best approach to preventing heart disease is with lifestyle adjustments. The big two factors are…

1. Eating a nutritious, whole foods diet.
2. Practicing moderate, daily exercise.

There is no pill or magical substance that can replace those two essentials.

Here are four basic suggestions on how to avoid statin-related side effects and keep your heart and brain healthy.

1. Substitute a Statin Alternative

When it comes to lowering cholesterol, statins aren’t the only game in town. A natural substance, known as red yeast rice (available without a prescription at most health food stores), is chemically identical to a statin but is not as powerful and has far fewer side effects. Follow the dosage instructions on the product you purchase.

2. Make Meals Matter

I’ve noticed that, for many people, meals are a touchy subject. Everyone has favorite foods that they enjoy, and being deprived of them can take away some of life’s small pleasures. So, when a patient really needs to make dietary changes but is reluctant to give up unhealthy items, I often suggest they add a few better choices to balance the good and bad.

Adding the proverbial “apple a day,” for example, may seem like a small step, but it has a big payoff. Research has shown that the substances in apples may:

• protect against several forms of cancer.
• counteract damage done by rogue molecules known as free radicals.
• reduce inflammation.
• support a healthy immune system.
• repair damage caused by aging.

Most people like apples, so this is a much easier sell than, say, broccoli. Once a patient has gotten accustomed to an apple a day, I encourage them to branch out and try a new fruit or vegetable. Because, the truth is, that list of benefits I cited for apples is pretty much true for all fruits and vegetables, with some minor differences.

Eventually, most patients find that eating more produce isn’t as terrible as they imagined it would be. And once they start feeling better and the pounds begin to fall off, it’s a good bet they’ll understand how powerful – and beneficial – dietary change can be.

3. Move On

Maintaining a healthy heart, regardless of cholesterol levels, requires exercise. The heart is a muscle, and nothing strengthens it better than activity, like regular, brisk walking.

Unfortunately, few people get sufficient daily exercise. A new survey of nearly half a million Americans shows that only about 20 percent of U.S. adults get the recommended amount of aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise daily.

Unless your physician has declared workouts off limits, please carve out 20 to 30 minutes each day for walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming, or other activity. Personally, I find that exercising first thing in the morning not only gets me going, but it also takes one important item off my to-do list, which is a nice way to start the day. Try it, and see if it works for you, too.

4. Consider CoQ10 Supplements

If you’re over age 40, I’ll repeat what I said earlier – you need supplemental CoQ10. Your body is simply not producing enough on its own to keep energy levels where they should be or to protect you from serious illness. For example, a recent study found that low blood levels of CoQ10 were observed in a broad range of critically ill, hospitalized patients and were also associated with fewer daily activities after those patients were discharged from the hospital.

Clearly, it’s important to maintain healthy levels of this essential nutrient. Look for supplements that include boosters like resveratrol and Pterostilbene, antioxidants that make it more absorbable. Because they work, these are the ingredients I used to formulate my own version of CoQ10 supplements. As I mentioned earlier, if you’re currently taking statins aim for a daily dose of 300 mg of CoQ10. If you’re free of heart disease and aren’t taking statins, 100 mg daily should be sufficient.

If you’re concerned about cholesterol, remember that your body needs it for a number of important functions, including hormone production. In addition, cholesterol provides some little-known benefits, such as…

• Helping fight cancer
• Maintaining a sharp memory
• Protecting your chromosomes from aging
• Assisting with the production of serotonin, a “feel good” chemical messenger in the brain.

So please don’t get competitive about lowering your cholesterol further than your physician recommends. There are downsides to very low cholesterol, including depression, aggressive behavior, dementia, and an increased risk of a type of stroke known as cerebral hemorrhage. Instead of fretting about cholesterol, simply work to increase your number of healthy behaviors each day, and see what a difference that can make!

The post Lower Cholesterol Without Statin Side Effects appeared first on Human Events.

Concerns that the policies aimed at keeping interest rates about as low as they can go are understandable but easy-money proponents at the Fed can cite a number of recent economic reports and corporate earnings shortfalls to confirm that the U.S. economy remains weak. However, investors are wise to recognize that the Fed ultimately will reverse course when inflation returns and unemployment rates fall below the current politically hazardous level of 7.5 percent.

First, the price of gold, which is a traditional hedge against inflation, <a href=”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-17/gold-swings-after-six-day-loss-amid-etp-drop-dollar-s-strength.html”>fell today</a> for the seventh consecutive trading session and its longest slump in four years. If inflation was a true risk, gold would be rising rather than falling. Fed officials can use the sliding gold prices as a key reason to keep interest rates low.

Second, Wal-Mart is among a number of corporations that recently reported weaker-than-expected sales. Wal-Mart’s management expressed concern that its budget-conscious shoppers are scaling back their spending, and executives cited the company’s fading financial results as proof that prices need to be kept low to cater to customers.

Third, construction of new homes in the United States fell 16.5 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 853,000 units, marking the lowest level since last November. Builders acknowledged delaying the release of new houses or boosting new home prices. Both factors contribute toward putting home ownership further out of the reach of prospective buyers.

Fourth, consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in April for a second straight month of decline, the Labor Department reported yesterday. That slippage brings down the average annual increase in food prices to 1.7 percent, when excluding food and energy, falling below the 2 percent mark that Fed officials favor for a healthy economy.

Fifth, Europe’s economy seems to be sliding rather than recovering. Indeed, the euro-zone economy shriveled further during the first quarter of 2013 to mark an unprecedented sixth successive quarterly economic fall in the region. France, one of Europe’s biggest economies, slipped into recession, and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, barely grew, according to first-quarter data released Wednesday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical agency.

Sixth, a reversal of the Fed’s current easy-money policy to stimulate growth would be contrary to its public mission of maximizing full employment, as well as maintaining stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates. With unemployment around 7.5% and many workers taking part-time positions rather than full-time jobs that they would prefer, the Fed is far from achieving its goal of restoring full employment.

The only people who seem to be encouraged about the economy right now are members of the general public. <a href=”http://www.cnbc.com/id/100746068″>Consumer sentiment</a> is climbing, and investors still are bidding up the price of equities in search of heightened returns that the interest paid on savings accounts cannot match. Many of those people may be the ones who have taken on too much debt in the past, and Fed officials need to look beyond the scope of financially unsophisticated laymen in carrying out its mission.

Unless much more positive indicators about the U.S. economy arise in the coming weeks and months, any change in the Fed’s easy-money policy as soon as this summer seems slim.
<em>
Paul Dykewicz is a seasoned journalist who is the editorial director of the Financial Publications Group at Eagle Publishing and the editor of the <a href=”http://www.eagledailyinvestor.com/”>Eagle Daily Investor</a> website. He also edits five monthly investment newsletters, <a href=”https://www.markskousen.com/offers/products/fss121-skousen-editorial-ss4-aud/”>Forecasts & Strategies</a>, <a href=”https://www.fabian.com/offers/products/wsj225-editorial-link-wash-aud/”>Successful Investing</a>, <a href=”https://www.fabian.com/offers/products/hyh215-amrheim-editorial-link-fear-aud/”>High Monthly Income</a>, <a href=”https://order.nicholasvardy.com/offers/products/aip351-alpha-editorial-link-aud/”>Alpha Investor Letter</a> and <a href=”https://order.chrisversace.com/offers/products/ptp346-dawson-editorial-2lifetime-audio/”>PowerTrend Profits</a>, as well as a number of time-sensitive trading services.
</em>

The post Reasons Remain for Fed to Keep Easy-Money Policies Fueling Equities appeared first on Human Events.

With Japan’s recent rebound supported by the sharp decline in the yen’s value, there is only so much farther the yen can fall before any economic gains, if they remain sustainable, become merely asymptotic. With Abe and the BoJ needing more than a short-term effect, they are banking on the policy paying off for the long haul.

However, it is not as if Japan is the only economic region of the world trying to jumpstart its market. The euro zone is focused on bailing out some of its fiscally floundering nations. In the United States, the Federal Reserve has stimulated the markets, though the overall economy remains lackluster.

It is not as if all three economies can produce magic money out of thin air. In a global economy of give-and-take, something’s got to give. How much longer will Japan’s relative success in devaluing its currency, to reduce the price of its goods to spur exports and economic growth, be allowed to stand unchallenged?

Japan has put itself in a good position for now. Thanks to the BoJ’s policies, its first quarter 2013 results have been positive. Easy-money-fueled optimism and expectations for more gains in the future led to gains in both private consumption and exports. Though a weaker yen also has the inverse effect of raising import costs, the Japanese economy benefitted overall in its strong first quarter.

Eagle’s global guru, Nicholas Vardy, explained a couple months ago: “The weaker yen makes Japanese exports more competitive and boosts earnings from overseas for the household names among Japanese corporate giants… for every 10 yen the currency weakens against the dollar, profits of exporters would rise by 7% to 10%.”

However, the yen reached the 100-to-the-dollar level much quicker than many observers expected. Such a dramatic change could lead to volatility in the Japanese markets and leave little room for the gradual, steady improvement the BoJ and Abe desire.

To that end, the BoJ has taken action to move investors from safer bonds into equities in an effort to solidify the gains and growth of the Japanese economy. According to an official, “The BoJ is walking a very narrow path trying to engineer a gradual, not a sudden, rise in long-term rates backed by improvements in the economy.”

Others warn of the riskiness of Japan’s current path. “The bond market has been distorted by the BoJ. It’s reliant on central bank purchases more than ever, and a lack of liquidity will keep it vulnerable to sharp swings,” said Masaaki Kano, chief Japan economist at JPMorgan Securities.

Still, Abe has committed to these policies and their pace for the long term. He recently set a goal of tripling Japan’s infrastructure exports and doubling the country’s farm exports by 2020. In addition, he called for increased private investment to sustain and bolster economic gains. It remains to be seen whether or not Japan will manage to achieve these aims.

Whatever the future holds, it is important to remember that Japan, and its success or failure, does not exist in a vacuum. As the weakened yen profits from exports, the stability of Japan’s newfound resurgence depends upon whether others fail to retaliate. With inflation possible in the United States at some point due to the Fed’s own easing policies, the BoJ needs to keep its easing at least on a similar pace to maintain its ideal yen-to-dollar ratio. The question remains: in a world where everyone is trying to eke out profits and growth amid tough times, how much longer can Japan keep ahead of the game?

Matthew Moniz is a contributor to Eagle Daily Investor.

The post How Long Will the Japanese Rally Last? appeared first on Human Events.

But Miller also described the tax system as “voluntary.”  Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) supported him.  Of course, every sane person listening to this drivel immediately declared their desire to un-volunteer.

A sharp-eyed Twitter correspondent, TalkRadio200, spotlighted at Twitchy.com remembered hearing this “voluntary tax system” line before.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) peddled it during an unintentionally hilarious interview with a very patient, but persistent, host named Jan Helfeld in 2008:

It’s a very illuminating exchange that says a lot about the liberal mindset.  (And also the clueless arrogance of Harry Reid, who apparently forgot about the ubiquitous system of paycheck withholding for income taxes in the United States, and scrambles to recover with the hysterically funny claim that withholding is an uncommon practice reserved to certain programs.  It’s impossible for anyone with lick of common sense to watch this part of the conversation without laughing out loud.)

This idea didn’t originate with Reid.  He’s just twisting it into a pretzel of Orwellian socialist rhetoric because he doesn’t want to admit that the government uses force to redistribute income.  Tax preparation software company Turbo Tax offers a concise summary of the voluntary taxation concept:

The nature of the voluntary tax system in the U.S. takes the calculation of taxes owed out of the hands of the federal government. You are responsible as an individual taxpayer to calculate what you owe. You’re expected to voluntarily comply with the tax code by reporting what you owe to the government and paying the entire amount that you owe under the law.

The Internal Revenue Code is the law of the land when it comes to determining your tax liability. While you may be able to take a deduction here or there that’s in a gray area, and you may be able to argue that you have complied with all applicable tax laws, the taxes that you are legally required to pay are outlined in the IRC.

Although the U.S. tax system is voluntary, failure to comply carries stiff penalties. If you under-report your income or overstate your deductions, you’ll face fines and interest charges. If you fail to file a tax return, the IRS will file a substitute return based only on the information it has — meaning you likely won’t receive the benefit of any deductions and will end up paying more tax than you should. The IRS also has the power to levy your bank accounts, garnish your wages and place a lien on your property if you don’t voluntarily pay what you owe. In serious cases, you may even face criminal charges.

In other words, the “voluntary” aspect of taxation is that you’re allowed to figure up your own tax liability, either on your own or by hiring professional assistance.  It has nothing to do with the nature of taxation itself, or your obligation to participate in the system, which is why Reid makes such a fool of himself when he tries to portray American taxation as some kind of free-willed community-spirit activity, compared to the dictatorial income seizures of certain other unspecified governments.  He does eventually get around to an essentially correct definition of “voluntary taxation,” but connoisseurs of the absurd will find much to savor before he gets there.

Socialists love to appropriate the language of free enterprise to cloak their agenda of compulsory income redistribution.  They frequently refer to taxes as “contributions.”  When they want to raise taxes, they describe it as “asking” the targets of class warfare to “pay their fair share.”  Their endless references to “fairness” are meant to portray them as noble seekers of cosmic balance, obeying transcendent principles, rather than greedy politicians hungry to confiscate more loot from the people who earned it.

And when the government spends money, its faithful acolytes sanctify the process by calling it “investment” – which is perverse and ludicrous, because investment is voluntary, and investors suffer the consequences of poor or unlucky decisions, unlike the super-State and its unicorn-powered Treasury printing presses.

Therefore, it’s not surprising to hear these silly efforts to portray the IRS as an operation “customers” would “voluntarily” patronize.  They like to think of the entire bloated central government in those terms, as a loving maternal caretaker and “partner” that just wants to help good people achieve their dreams.  They know what the IRS really is, they understand the obscene amounts of power it commands, and they appreciate the deadly consequences to republican self-government when those powers are abused for political ends.  They just don’t want you thinking about those weighty issues.  Much tyranny can be hidden behind a smiley-face pin.

It would be great if the defenders of liberty could retake the English language from these hooligans, depriving them of a vital tool for herding gullible people down the socialist rat hole.  I’d stay away from playing these little word games with “voluntary taxation” if I were them.  Few of us are gullible enough to swallow that without choking on it.

The post America’s “voluntary” tax system appeared first on Human Events.

Kelly was just getting warmed up.  A few moments later, he was comparing the IRS to the monster under a child’s bed.  When he was done, he received a thunderous standing ovation, which he later said he was “humbled to receive” on Twitter.

Among other things, Kelly says he doubts Barack Obama’s story about learning of the scandal from TV news reports on Friday afternoon.  He wondered why Miller didn’t seem to be outraged at the “huge blow to the faith and trust the American people have in their government” dealt by the IRS scandal.  He said he was more concerned after today’s hearings than he was before.  And he memorably noted that the IRS does not accept the kind of excuses that it’s currently foisting on Congress and the American people.

To give you an idea of what Rep. Kelly and the rest of the Republicans trying to deal with this situation are up against – the Democrats won’t be much help, and frankly America will be lucky if they’re not an active obstacle to the investigation – here’s the moment from today’s hearings that went right into the history books, as Miller incredibly tried to dismiss the outrageous abuse of IRS power as “horrible customer service.”

Rep. Kelly has also joined with Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) to reopen the investigation of General Motors dealership closures.  It has long been suspected that politics figured into the decision about which dealerships would be closed, as those owned by known conservatives were treated much the same way as Tea Party groups looking for tax exemptions from the corrupt IRS.  In fact, this was one of the reasons Kelly ran for Congress – the dealership founded by his father was one of those slated for closure.

“We are troubled by the recent reports from the Treasury Department indicating that the Internal Revenue Service targeted groups for excessive scrutiny on the basis of their political affiliation,” Kelly and Renacci wrote to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Thursday.  ”This news raises serious questions about past decisions made by the Department regarding auto dealership closures that occurred in 2008 and 2009.”

The congressmen asked Lew to provide “all e-mails, phone records, notes, memoranda, reports, and other communications regarding the decision-making process for dealership closures from the Automotive Task Force.”  They also want the names of all officials involved in the decision-making process, the data they used, and records of the meetings they held.

Here’s a little bonus Kelly from yesterday, as he tees off on ObamaCare and the way it “drives a wedge between business owners and their employees.”

The post Rep. Mike Kelly goes nuclear on the IRS appeared first on Human Events.

—-

The first thing the American people should understand, according to Steve Miller, acting IRS commissioner of Internal Revenue Service (the man “fired” by President Barack this week) is that there was no nefarious intent behind the IRS scandals. The wholly “independent” agency — which also happens to be part of the Executive Branch — was merely guilty of providing “horrible customer service.”

So there’s that.

But one of the more curious defenses we heard during the congressional testimony so far is this: None of the IRS’s actions were motivated by “partisanship.”

Miller claimed, again, that “what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be more efficient in their workload selection — an “intolerable” “mistake,” but “not an act of partisanship.” And as CNN points out, “Democrats repeatedly asked the other witness Friday — Inspector General J. Russell George, who wrote the report on the controversy — to reiterate that there was no evidence of political motivation.”

It is true that critics can’t bore into the dark soul of the IRS, but surely we can take the evidence before us and make a reasonable assertion about intent.

The most obvious question is this: If the IRS scandal was not politically motivated, why then would it target conservative groups in such high numbers? Why draw up a list of offending phrases that is exclusively aimed at one ideological outlook?  And if the IRS was truly overloaded with tax exemption applications for 501(c)(4)s, why would it spend all that extra time targeting groups for special attention?

And why would the IRS wait until after the election to let Americans know what had happened, even though they knew (perhaps for a year) what was going on?

Congressman Jim McDermott chimed in during the hearing, claiming that there is a difference between “stupid mistakes and deliberate mistakes” (true) and that IRS officials “deeply regret” the “shortcuts” they took in accessing Tea Party/limited government groups (how on earth does Jim McDermott know if people deeply regret their actions?). McDermott went on, as many on the left have done, to blame the Citizens United decision for spurring scores of “far-right groups” to seek a voice in the political process. Using a partisan justification to argue that partisanship was no factor is not particularly helpful. Moreover, the Citizen United decision would make it more difficult for the supposedly stressed IRS to do its job and imbue it with more power. (UPDATE: Meanwhile, there was no surge in IRS tax-exempt applications in 2010.)

For those who do argue that the IRS was simply following the law … well, guess what, the Citizens United decision is also the law.

In part, the obtuseness of IRS leadership might be chalked up to reflexively defensive position that attempts to shield the agency from charges that it acted with political intent – the most egregious violation of the public trust.

Yet, as Kimberly Strassel points out, even without explicit communication this comes from the top. Barack Obama has been calling out groups for years, not only as political opponents, but as people undermining democracy and decency. He’s focused on them not as adversaries but as enemies. Many on the left, as I’m sure many in the IRS, don’t view groups with “patriot” in their slogans as partisan opponents but people actively undermining the law.

As early as January 2010, Mr. Obama would, in his state of the union address, cast aspersions on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, claiming that it “reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests” (read conservative groups).

The president derided “tea baggers.” Vice President Joe Biden compared them to “terrorists.” In more than a dozen speeches Mr. Obama raised the specter that these groups represented nefarious interests that were perverting elections. “Nobody knows who’s paying for these ads,” he warned. “We don’t know where this money is coming from,” he intoned.

Many of the left don’t view themselves as particularly partisan when they take on ideological positions. Fact is, though we don’t know the scope of the sins, to argue that the sins aren’t partisan is a huge stretch.

—————————
Follow David Harsanyi on Twitter @davidharsanyi.

The post The IRS’s assault on common sense (Update: Treasury Department knew in 2012) appeared first on Human Events.

Obama said it about the IRS scandal.  Although he now claims to be angry about it, he didn’t say a single word about these outrageous abuses of power until a reporter specifically asked him about it during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday, four days after the news broke.  ”I first learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this,” the President claimed.  ”I think it was on Friday.”

Aren’t there people who are supposed to brief the President on important events?  Do those people still have their jobs today?  If so, why?  Besides rushing out to comment on his own initiative, rather than waiting until the topic was raised by the press at a completely unrelated media event, wouldn’t a truly concerned President demand the resignation of the staffers who failed him so utterly that he had to learn about the worst scandal of his Presidency by watching  TV or reading a newspaper?

Then we heard Attorney General Eric Holder claim the White House only learned about the Associated Press phone scandal by reading the newspapers:

When asked about the suspicious “lobbying” efforts of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to squeeze money for ObamaCare “education” from the same insurance companies she regulates, Holder replied, “I think you might be referring to what I only read about in the newspapers involving what HHS is doing with implementation of the Act.  I don’t know whether or not… what funds are being used or whether that letter would apply to that effort.  I just don’t know.”  So he only learns about Administration misadventures by reading the newspapers, too.

And now the outgoing Acting IRS Commissioner, Steven Miller – who will remain on the job until the previously scheduled end of his temporary assignment in June, even though the President falsely portrayed him as sacked over the scandal –  said in testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee that he learned crucial details about the case by reading them “in the newspaper.”

Good heavens, it seems as if an awful lot of high-ranking people in this Administration learn about their own departments from the papers and evening news broadcasts!  And they’re totally out of the loop on everything.  They live in a state of perpetual astonishment, picking up important information from the news only days before they have to give press conferences or testify before Congress.

Maybe that’s because Barack Obama relentlessly demonizes the only major media outlet that routinely reports on such things: Fox News.  No sooner had he been sworn into his second term than he blasted the network as an obstacle against bipartisan compromise.  ”I think what we really have to do is change some of the incentive structures so that people feel liberated to pursue some common ground,” said the President.  ”One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates.  If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you’ll see more of them doing it.”

He’s described them as a “television station entirely devoted to attacking my Administration.”  When his spokesman Jay Carney was asked earlier this week why Obama hadn’t spoken with the Attorney General about the AP phone scandal, Carney sneered, “Imagine the story on Fox if that happened.”

As far back as 2009, the Obama Administration described Fox News as a “wing of the Republican Party.”  Then-White House communications director Anita Dunn said of Fox, “They take their talking points, put them on the air, take the opposition research, put them on the air.  And that’s fine.  But let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”

Here’s a twofer from 2009, where Obama attacked both Fox News and the Tea Party:  ”So, when you see – those of you who are watching certain news channels that on which I’m not very popular and you see folks waving tea bags around, let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation about how we are going to cut our health care costs down over the long term, how we are going to stabilize Social Security.”

Gosh, I wonder where the IRS ever got the idea to persecute those “folks waving tea bags around?”

There are plenty more examples.  Obama and his top people whine about Fox News incessantly.  But if they were watching Fox instead of the Obama-approved networks that work so hard to bury stories inconvenient to President Boyfriend, maybe these buffoons would know more about the Administration’s failures, and sooner.

The post The Obama media blackout appeared first on Human Events.

Dollar Beats Euro, Yen (Reuters)
The dollar rose against a variety of foreign currencies today on the back of debates over the future of the Fed’s stimulus program. The dollar marked a six-week peak against the euro and its best level against the yen in four and a half years, due respectively to concerns about action by the European Central Bank and Japan’s continued easy-money policy.

Consumer Sentiment Rebounds (CNBC)
Early May’s consumer sentiment levels surged to beat economists’ predictions and reach their highest level since 2007. As Americans feel more confident about their financial and economic prospects, and future economic activity shows promise, this number could rise further. “The biggest positive factor is the potential for improvement in the recovering housing and labor markets,” Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board, said. “The biggest unknown is the resiliency in confidence, both consumer and business.”

GM Shares Break $33 IPO Level (Detroit Free Press)
For the first time in two years, General Motors has risen above its $33 public offering price. Its 2013 gains of 14% reflect growing investor confidence that GM’s recovery has gained sustainable traction, despite losses in its European operations. “GM, while still beset with issues, is generally executing better than investors give it credit for,” Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said.

The post Unemployment Falls in 43 States; Dollar Beats Euro, Yen; Consumer Sentiment Rebounds; GM Shares Break $33 IPO Level appeared first on Human Events.

Americans spent some $45.9 billion on dining out in April of this year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That total is a $200-million increase from the previous monthly high set in December of last year. Given the ongoing concern about the economy and whether or not government stimulus is actually pulling the United States out of its malaise, this figure came as a bolt out of the blue for some restaurateurs. Ryan Lowder, chef at one high-end Utah eatery, was quoted as saying, “Last month was a shock.” But here’s the thing, 49 percent of Americans surveyed said they were not going out to eat as much as they like. However, people who are going out seem prepared to spend more than ever before. These restaurant figures back up a recent Gallup Poll finding that only 41 percent of Americans are spending less money than before. So, does this situation mean the United States will eat (and spend) its way back to economic health?

When Not to Follow Insider Buying (YahooFinance)

One of the best signs for an impending share-price increase is when corporate officers or insiders load up on their own shares. Combine this buying with an increasing demand for a limited supply of the shares and you have the makings of a classic run-up, right? Not with shares of Fiat (F-IT), especially when the buyer is trying to single-handedly reduce the supply of one of the company’s most popular and expensive sports cars — the Maserati Quattroporte. Twice in the last two years, a wealthy Chinese “investor” has purchased models of this car (costing him around $270,000) and had them smashed with sledgehammers. One report claims it is his way of protesting poor customer service, but savvy investors also may recognize the classic traits of insider buying to push up company stocks. With Fiat’s share price barely moved during each incident, perhaps the wealthy Chinese businessman is merely the world’s worst inside buyer.

The Week Set to End on Green Wave (Bloomberg)

U.S. stock futures are up this morning, even before the figures are announced for the index of leading indicators. The index is expected to have climbed .2 percent in April, which seems to be enough to let U.S. markets finish the week in the green, despite some data falling short of forecasts and rumor that the Federal Reserve may begin to pull back on quantitative easing (QE). Asian markets certainly assumed the optimistic pose, with Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Shanghai’s Composite all finishing the session up less than one percent. Europe’s also running with that idea, with England’s FTSE up .23 percent, Germany’s DAX ahead .15 percent and the STOXX 50 Index advancing .23 percent.

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