Project 21 members have commemorated Juneteenth since 1999, urging black Americans to use the observance of Juneteenth to embrace their inherent talents and strengthen ties with family and community.

“Juneteenth is a time to reflect on where we as blacks have been and a time to conduct an azimuth check on where we are going,” said Project 21 member R. Dozier Gray. “It is a time for reflection. It is a time for clarity. It is a time to count the ways in which we are free and to take measure of the chains that still bind us. It is a time to take stock of ourselves — as men, as husbands, as women, as wives and sons and daughters. It is a time to plot a course to freedom from debt, immorality and lethargy. No one ever truly freed a man but himself, just as no one ever really enslaved a man but himself.”

In the course of the past year, government spending and government control greatly expanded and the nation’s economic well-being is now at risk. The passage of ObamaCare, which will result in the takeover of much of the nation’s private health care system, and ongoing attempts to impose a “cap-and-trade” energy policy will lead to decreased liberty and increased oversight over and cost to the average American in the future. That makes this year’s Juneteenth commemoration the most important in many years.

Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli added: “Juneteenth is a special day for blacks to commemorate liberty. Liberty offers us the opportunity to use our talents to pursue happiness and success. With this in mind, we must seek self-reliance and rely on hard-work as a means to achievement — avoiding government programs that create dependency.”

Juneteenth commemorates the anniversary of the June 19, 1865 arrival of Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas. The soldiers carried the news that the Civil War was over and that President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had abolished slavery two-and-a-half years earlier.

The annual commemoration became known as Juneteenth and quickly became a stabilizing as well as motivating presence in the lives of black Americans in Texas, who faced many uncertainties associated with newly-acquired freedom. The observance quickly spread from Texas to be recognized across the United States.

Juneteenth is celebrated in many ways, but education and self-improvement have been consistent themes at commemorative community gatherings and picnics in recent years. In 1980, Juneteenth was made an official holiday in Texas. Currently, 35 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday or observance.

Washington, D.C. – Today the Free Enterprise Project released an online petition calling for Jeff Immelt to resign as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric.

The petition can found at http://www.bigbusinesswatch.org.

“In a desperate attempt to find revenue, Immelt is seeking to profit from President Obama’s big government agenda,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project. “Immelt successfully lobbied for Obama’s failed $787 billion economic stimulus plan and now he is actively lobbying for the president’s cap-and-trade policy. Immelt’s actions are responsible for putting our nation in deeper debt and looting future generations of their economic liberty.”

“Immelt has positioned GE to depend on government spending and public policy initiatives such as cap-and-trade to boost the company’s revenue. For instance, Obama’s cap-and-trade policy would mandate the purchase of renewable energy products such as wind turbines which GE manufactures,” added Borelli.

“Our tax dollars are being laundered to bailout GE via Obama’s big government policies. Under the Obama – Immelt partnership, our progressive president significantly increases the role of government in our lives, Immelt gets much needed revenue and Americans pay for it all in terms of higher taxes, higher national debt and suffer from reduced liberty,” said Tom Borelli.

“When you think of it, Immelt poses more risk to liberty than a progressive Senator. Immelt’s ability to affect public policy has no checks and balances and he is using the vast resources of GE to promote Obama’s agenda. It’s time ‘we the people’ hold Immelt accountable for undermining America’s economic sustainability and our free enterprise system,” added Tom Borelli.

GE’s NBC Universal media empire, especially MSNBC, frequently supports Obama’s policy agenda and its news coverage of patriotic Americans participating in the Tea Party movement has been particularly harsh.

“Immelt has transformed MSNBC from a news network to Obama’s personal public relations agency. It’s outrageous that Immelt allows Keith Olbermann and other talking heads to tarnish the image of liberty loving Tea Party activists as racists. “‘We the people’ have had enough of Obama’s government gone wild spending programs and CEOs such as Immelt that are seeking to profit from taxpayers,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow with the National Center’s Project 21.

“The time has come for Tea Party activists to recognize the threat to liberty posed by CEOs such as Immelt. If GE’s board of directors will not address Immelt’s failed leadership, Tea Party members and other political activists must,” added Deneen Borelli.

Legislation Powers a Green Investment Bubble

Washington, DC: Responding to the introduction of the American Power Act by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), policy experts at the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to the role big business and special interests played in shaping the bill.

“In reality the bill should be called the ‘American Corporate Power Act,’ since the legislation caters to big business demands while exposing Americans to the financial risks of a green investment bubble. By establishing a cap-and-trade scheme, Congress is incentivizing Wall Street to profit from a carbon trading market that is filled with risk,” said Tom Borelli Ph.D., director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.

“Wall Street is a big winner with Kerry-Lieberman.,” Borelli added. “The legislation’s cap-and-trade scheme powers a carbon trading market where banks will profit from the buying and selling of carbon credits and carbon offsets. However, by pursuing a quick buck, Wall Street is overlooking the inherent risk of trading carbon dioxide. Through cap-and-trade, the government is by decree, making carbon dioxide a commodity – something of value that can be traded. But carbon dioxide has no intrinsic value; it’s a ubiquitous naturally occurring gas.”

“Unlike other commodities such as gold, silver, even orange juice or pork bellies – with carbon dioxide you can’t eat it, wear it or build with it. If Wall Street could not manage the risk with real estate where land has actual value, how can they manage risk with carbon dioxide?” asks Tom Borelli.

“It’s outrageous that Congress, in its rush to establish a carbon trading market, is ignoring reports of fraud that has plagued the European carbon market,” said Tom Borelli.

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt and Al Gore’s venture capital partner John Doerr are members of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. GE and Kliner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers – Doerr’s firm – have made huge bets on green technologies and stand to profit handsomely from the Kerry – Lieberman legislation.

Both Immelt and Doerr issued statements supporting the American Power Act following the bill introduction.

“The alignment of business and government interests to mandate a carbon trading market and sales in green technologies is truly frightening. President Obama has ushered in a new era of politics where he financially rewards supporters of his progressive agenda at a great cost to the American people,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow with Project 21.

“Let’s not forget that Spain’s green jobs initiative was a miserable failure. Why would a green jobs program be any different here in the U.S.,” added Deneen Borelli.

“The business community is making a mistake by seeking profits on the backs of the Americans who are going to get saddled with the burdens of higher energy prices. Stopping cap-and-trade is very high on the agenda of the ‘Contract from America’ – the Tea Party legislative agenda for Congress. Companies will soon discover that alienating millions of customers is a bad business strategy,” said Deneen Borelli.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Concerns over PG&E Lobbying for Cap-and-Trade Spurred Investor Action

Washington, DC: The fate of a Political Contributions Shareholder Proposal being offered by Shelton Ehrich at the PG&E shareholder meeting Wednesday is being carefully monitored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which applauds efforts to bring greater transparency to corporate political giving.

Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project, says, “All Americans would benefit from greater transparency regarding corporate political giving. According to the proposal, in 2008 alone, PG&E spent over $27 million lobbying for such things as cap-and-trade, an expensive global warming-related policy scheme that would enrich a handful of corporations while raising consumer prices and driving our jobs overseas.”

PG&E is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) – a lobbying coalition of corporations and environmental activist groups who are seeking a national law to limit carbon dioxide emissions. USCAP played a key role in passing the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill in the House of Representatives last year. Other USCAP members include troubled companies such as BP, GM and Chrysler.

Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) are expected to introduce a Senate version of a cap-and-trade bill this week.

“With California’s unemployment rate at 12.5 percent, the state can’t afford cap-and-trade. Tragically, PG&E is trying to bring President Obama’s cap-and-trade dream to reality, despite the economic cost. Recall Obama said during his presidential campaign, ‘Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow of Project 21.

Economic studies on cap-and-trade have consistently found this regulatory regime would result in higher energy prices and slower economic growth.

PG&E’s annual shareholder meeting will be held May 12 at 10:00 AM PT at the San Ramon Valley Conference Center, 3301 Crow Canyon Road, San Ramon, California.

Mr. Ehrlich is expected to present the proposal at the meeting.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Washington, DC: Policy experts from the National Center for Public Policy Research are attending the annual shareholder meetings of Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer Thursday to question their CEOs about their active support of President Obama’s progressive agenda.

“The pharmaceutical industry was a key driving force that helped push ObamaCare over the legislative line. Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler played a crucial role in generating public and political support for ObamaCare,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D, director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project.

“By working with President Obama, the Democratic majority in Congress, and left-wing advocacy groups, corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are undermining the liberty of all Americans,” added Borelli.

Kindler pushed for a $150 million industry ad campaign to promote ObamaCare with liberal activist groups and co-authored a commentary with Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees International Union, on the left-wing blog The Huffington Post.

“Since most Americans opposed ObamaCare, by supporting ObamaCare aggressively, Kindler risked the reputation of the company,” said Justin Danhof, director of legal programs for the National Center. “Furthermore, as our British friends know, government control over health care budgets inevitably leads to limits on the purchase of prescription drugs. Pfizer’s support for ObamaCare is not just bad for the company, but potentially could, over time, prove fatal to some Americans.”

Johnson & Johnson is also promoting Obama’s liberal policy agenda. In addition to being a member of the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which aggressively supported ObamaCare, Johnson & Johnson is also lobbying for Obama’s cap-and-trade energy policy as a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership, a lobbying coalition comprised of corporations and environmental special interest groups.

“Shareholders must be concerned about a potential consumer backlash against Johnson & Johnson because of the company’s support of Obama’s progressive agenda. ObamaCare was opposed by a majority of Americans and the cost of cap-and-trade will lead to higher energy prices and higher unemployment. Johnson & Johnson CEO William C. Weldon should be wary that the political activism exhibited by the Tea Party movement could be unleashed against the company’s products,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow with the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership program.

Danhof is representing National Center for Public Policy Research, which owns Pfizer stock, at the Pfizer annual meeting in Cleveland, Ohio. Deneen and Tom Borelli will be representing the National Center for Public Policy Research, which owns Johnson & Johnson stock, at its annual meeting in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

This morning I thought I found another. The email was titled, “Assistance Living Tax Slipped In”. I read it and laughed because nothing could be so absurd that American workers and taxpayers would be asked to cough up anywhere from $150 to $250 a month from their regular paychecks to pay for home health care that wouldn’t take effect for at least five years to perhaps ten and you may never need it but perhaps someone else will. Ridiculous!

But at the bottom of the email are two links that supposedly verify this to be true. An editorial in the Washington Times by the staff dated April 1, 2010 seems to verify this information, well, at least according to them. The editorial is called, “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul“.

One costly provision buried in the lengthy reconciliation bill at the last minute has taxpayers covering long-term at-home care for the elderly. Through the so-called Community Living Assistance Services and Support Act (CLASS Act), Americans will find between $150 and $250 taken out of their paychecks each month to cover this program nobody knew about.

There was a reason why the slimy politicians created this portion of the bill to not really show up as a giant unaffordable tax foisted on Americans is because Congress instructed the Congressional Budget Office to only look at the impact of Obamacare for the first 10 years.

The CBO is instructed only to consider the fiscal impact over the next 10 years, but the way the scheme is set up, people must pay the additional taxes for at least five years to become eligible. So for the first five years we only see revenue. After that, the taxpayers are eligible only gradually. They must then become old enough to require home health care, so expenditures will occur in the distant future. In other words, we see taxes with no expenditures upfront, but huge expenditures picking up after the CBO’s 10-year evaluation window passes.

Can you afford to have another $150-$250 dollars a month stolen out of your paycheck? And these lying, vermin bastards are now running around telling Americans that we should be thankful that Obama gave us all a tax cut. Did you hear the full-of-himself dictator yesterday telling his hand selected crowd of zombies that Tea Party protesters should be thanking him for cutting their taxes? Brazen deceit!

In addition to the Washington Times editorial, WBT, News Talk 1110 AM, interviews Senior Editorial Writer for the Washington Times, John Lott, about “Robbing Peter to Pay Paul”.

According to John Lott, this added tax of $150-$250 PER PERSON, will be levied on everybody who works. It is a payroll tax deduction. For the 47% of Americans who don’t pay a nickel in income tax, you will now. How does this sit with you and your family? How’s Barack Obama’s lying, cheating hope and change washing down your parched throat now?

And let’s not dump all the blame on Obama. I’m sure he never read the bill either, nor did he give a rolling donut hole what was in it. The pond scum-sucking leaches in Congress voted for it. If there was just one damned reason why every son of a bitch in Washington should be fired, this is it.

You and I can take the blame for voting these lame excuses for life and noxious human beings into office, but there has to be a complete overhaul. Thomas Jefferson reminded us many times that there are times when revolution is necessary.

If you’re not enraged over this irresponsible act of tyranny, not just by the President but by all of Congress, then by God I’m beginning to think nothing will put you over the edge.

I don’t know about you but I’m mad as hell. I can’t pay this amount of money each month. I have friends and family who can’t afford this.

This morning I heard a newscaster invoke the analogy of the frog and boiling water. If you place a frog in boiling water, he will immediately jump out. Place the same frog in cool water and slowly bring the water to a boil and the frog will remain in the water and boil to death.

So, what are we frogs going to do about it?

Tom Remington

Photo from fOTOGLIF

So concludes a new paper “ObamaCare Would Drive Doctors Out of Business” by Matt Patterson, health policy analyst for the National Center For Public Policy Research.

Among the findings:

* ObamaCare’s high taxes and new regulations would increase doctors’ overhead and red tape.

* At the same time, millions of newly insured individuals would swell their patient rosters.

* The increased work load, costs and stress, coupled with a decrease in income, would make the practice of medicine more trouble than it’s worth for many doctors.

* In one recent survey, 46 percent of responding primary care physicians say they would quit or try to quit medicine if ObamaCare passes.

* In addition, 63 percent of physicians would prefer Congress take a gradual, incremental approach to health care reform, as opposed to the massive, one-size-fits-all overhaul favored by the Obama administration.

* The shrinking pool of physicians brought on by ObamaCare, coupled with the coming retirement of the Baby Boomers, would put massive stresses on an already overburdened health care system, leading to rationing, long waits, and unhappy, overworked medical care professionals.

Says Patterson, “President Obama and Congressional leaders promise to subsidize health insurance for millions of Americans, but what good is insurance if you can’t find a doctor? Our elected leaders have continued to ignore the public’s opposition to this bill; now they are ignoring our doctors, who warn of grave consequences if this legislation passes.”

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Challenge Part of a Comprehensive “Pro-Liberty” Strategy to Combat CEOs Who Seek to Profit from Big Government

Washington, D.C.: John Deere executives were challenged at its annual stockholder meeting by representatives of the National Center for Public Policy Research Wednesday. The confrontation came over John Deere’s membership in the pro-cap-and-trade lobby group the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), and John Deere’s support for cap-and-trade legislation.

Tom Borelli, director of The National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, and Deneen Borelli, a full-time fellow of the National Center’s Project 21 leadership group for conservative African-Americans, asked John Deere CEO Samuel Allen to justify the company’s lobbying for climate restrictions that would hurt the company’s customers, stockholders, and the U.S. economic climate generally.

They also warned Allen that in light of new SEC guidance on disclosure of climate change-related risk, a failure to fully disclose the business risk of cap-and-trade legislation could expose the company to lawsuits.

Allen defended the company’s involvement, claiming farmers could benefit from cap-and-trade. (The Obama Administration argues farmers would benefit from federal government “allowance revenues” under cap-and-trade, while others, including the anti-cap-and-trade American Farm Bureau, say cap-and-trade “will mean higher fuel and fertilizer costs, which puts [U.S. farmers] at a competitive disadvantage in international markets with other countries that do not have similar carbon emission restrictions.”)

Deneen Borelli sees the risk of a “green bubble” even if some farmers were to profit from government emissions credits as the Obama Administration argues: “I’m outraged by Allen’s justification of the trading aspect of carbon credits where farmers could potentially benefit. Given our current economy, the last thing we need is to expose farmers and the country to another Wall Street risky derivatives trading scheme.”

Tom Borelli adds: “Allen dismissed the American Farm Bureau’s opposition to cap-and-trade by glibly saying other groups support the legislation. It’s a bad sign for investors when a CEO is so out of touch with his customer base.”

The Borellis have attended the stockholder meetings of other USCAP members, getting Caterpillar CEO James Owens to admit to his stockholders that his company had not done a cost-benefit analysis of the costs of cap-and-trade before lobbying for it.

The National Center for Public Policy Research in 2007 organized a letter signed by some 70 national organizations and prominent individuals, including a former U.S. attorney general, calling on Caterpillar to withdraw from USCAP.

Caterpillar withdrew from USCAP this year.

An audiotape of the Borellis’ questioning of General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt during GE’s 2009 annual stockholder meeting drew significant cable and print media coverage after GE cut off the microphone of Deneen Borelli and a likeminded questioner. In the hubhub that followed, LA Weekly reported that GE’s Immelt “personally issued a GE ban” on advertising with the parent company of the Hollywood Reporter, which had covered the stockholder meeting story extensively.

In an article published by FoxNews.com on Wednesday, Tom Borelli explained the National Center’s strategy in challenging these and other CEOs directly: “CEOs see big bucks in big government… Because CEOs can represent as much of a risk to liberty as elected officials, limited government advocates need a voice in the boardroom.”

Statement of Tom Borelli PhD, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project

Washington, D.C.: The following is a statement from Tom Borelli, PhD., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project:

“Yesterday’s press release from the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) misled the public by failing to disclose that in addition to losing BP, Caterpillar and ConocoPhillips, the lobbying group lost Marsh, Inc. and Xerox from its ranks. Marsh and Xerox were listed as members in Congressional testimony in January 2009.

USCAP’s effort to put a happy face on its crumbling organization is laughable. While touting new members, USCAP forgot to tell the public that it lost Marsh and Xerox from its lobbying effort.

USCAP is collapsing as fast as the prospects of passing cap-and-trade legislation. USCAP’s slanted view of its organization and its inaccurate portrayal of the economic impact of cap-and-trade is as biased as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Nobel Prize winning report on global warming. Economic studies on cap-and-trade consistently show the legislation will increase energy prices and slow growth both of which are job killers.

General Motors and Chrysler, despite their bankruptcies, remain as USCAP members.

It’s outrageous that taxpayer-owned companies such as General Motors and Chrysler are dues-paying members of a lobbying outfit. With GM and Chrysler, we have government-owned companies lobbying the government for policies that will make our country less competitive. It’s no wonder everyday Americans are becoming Tea Party activists.”

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Washington, D.C.: President Obama’s cap-and-trade policy took another hit with the announcement that oil companies BP and ConocoPhillips and heavy equipment maker Caterpillar are leaving the high-profile United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) lobbying organization.

USCAP played a key role in lobbying for the Obama-supported Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill approved by the House of Representatives last year.

“The companies that bolted USCAP realized the organization was really a front group serving only the interests of GE and utility companies and their environmental allies. This became obvious when the Waxman-Markey bill gave the vast majority of free carbon allowances to the utility industry while GE reaped the reward of its lobbying muscle by securing federal mandates for electricity generation in a way that benefits GE’s wind turbine business,” said Tom Borelli, PhD, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project.

“With the Waxman bill, environmental special interest groups and GE achieved their renewable energy dreams and the utilities took the free carbon allowances, leaving their coalition partners in the oil and heavy industry companies out in the cold,” added Borelli.

For years, policy experts at the National Center have been harsh critics of USCAP, saying its lobbying goals are bad for the U.S. economy, low-income Americans, employment and the stockholders of affected companies, including those of several USCAP members.

On the eve of Caterpillar’s 2007 stockholder meeting, for example, The National Center organized a letter to Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens signed by 70 organizations, companies and prominent individuals, including a former U.S. Attorney General, urging Owens to immediately withdraw Caterpillar from USCAP. National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour noted when the letter was released that the cap for which USCAP was lobbying would “cost the poorest fifth of Americans nearly double what it would cost the wealthiest fifth of Americans, as a percentage of wages, in added energy costs.”

Ridenour also noted that Caterpillar itself would have been adversely affected: “Capping U.S. emissions will accomplish little while hurting the poor and many of the industries upon which Caterpillar has depended for sales. When Caterpillar President James Owens has presided over the destruction of the oil, mining, timber and agricultural industries, what product will it have to sell then? Emissions credits?”

Borelli concurs. “When I challenged Caterpillar’s participation in USCAP at the 2007 Caterpillar stockholder meeting, I was outraged to learn that CEO Jim Owens did not conduct a cost-benefit analysis to estimate the impact of cap-and-trade on his business. By adopting the progressive line of ‘having a seat at the table’ in shaping legislation to justify USCAP membership, Owens embodied the proverbial ‘useful idiot’ in supporting the left-wing’s energy agenda,” said Borelli.

At the 2009 Caterpillar shareholder meeting, Owens acknowledged he opposed the Waxman-Markey bill because it could harm his business. This put Owens at odds with coalition partner Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric.

GE secured hundreds of millions of dollars from President Obama’s $787 billion “American Reinvestment and Recovery Act” for its utility customers Duke Energy, Exleon and FPL Group – all USCAP members.

“USCAP has always been about GE, the utility industry, and environmental advocacy groups advancing their narrow cause at the cost of the other coalition ‘partners’ and taxpayers. It’s only a matter of time until the other USCAP members, such as John Deere & Co., wake up and recognize that cap-and-trade legislation is toxic to shareholder interests,” said Borelli.