ICYMI: Obama Is Isolating Israel (From Newsmax)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 28, 2011

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Obama Is Isolating Israel
From Newsmax

 

By George Allen

Thursday, October 27, 2011

 

The Obama administration recently warned Israel that it is becoming “increasingly isolated” in the Middle East and must take “risks for peace.” However, it is the very policies of the administration that are undermining Israel’s ability to take such risks and have served to increase Israel’s vulnerability in a hostile region.

Historically, strong American support has enabled Israel to make tough, risky decisions. For example, Israel unilaterally withdrew Israeli Defense Forces and uprooted settlements from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, knowing that it had the unwavering support and commitment of the United States. In fact, unwavering support for Israel has long been a core tenet of U.S. foreign policy, supported by Republicans and Democrats alike.

I am proud of my consistent record of standing with our friend and ally Israel throughout my public service. As governor of Virginia and in the U.S. Senate as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I vigorously promoted and encouraged close cultural, economic, educational and strategic ties between the freedom loving people of our two nations.

I have long believed that Israel and the United States share an unshakable bond, and the United States must stand with Israel in the face of these burgeoning threats.

Unfortunately the Obama administration sees it differently. In less than three years President Obama’s attempts to create a distance between the United States and Israel while accommodating Israel’s enemies have severely undercut our relationship in a very public way, leaving Israel increasingly vulnerable and isolated while emboldening their enemies.

In speech after speech, Obama has distanced the United States from Israel, castigating Israel over housing projects in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, even making a dangerous and unprecedented call to start negotiations based on the pre-1967 borders that made Israel’s security vulnerable in the first place.

Perhaps the Obama administration believed that creating distance with Israel would improve U.S. standing with the Palestinians and that the Palestinians in turn would be more accommodating for peace. In fact, the opposite has occurred. Israel has received more rockets from Iranian-supported Hamas in Gaza, including missiles fired at school buses. And there are concerns about shoulder-fired missiles from Libya getting into Gaza.

  
Read More:  http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/netanyahu-obama-hamas-israel/2011/10/27/id/415958

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ICYMI: It’s Time for Real “Energy Action” (From The Daily Caller)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 27, 2011

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
It’s Time for Real “Energy Action”
From The Daily Caller

By George Allen

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Two months ago, President Obama announced his latest stimulus proposal, which is a continuation of the same failed policies we’ve seen over the last three years — higher taxes to fund more costly government spending programs.

Absent from the president’s rhetoric was any mention of unleashing America’s energy resources, a proven way to create more than a million new, good-paying jobs here in the USA.

Virginia and the nation deserve better. With 9.1 percent unemployment and more than 14 million Americans looking for work, it is time for this administration to start viewing America’s energy resources as a blessing, not a curse.

One of the major components of my comprehensive, pro-growth plan for jobs — “The Blueprint for America’s Comeback” — is the aggressive pursuit of energy freedom by opening up access to America’s plentiful energy resources and taking control of our own energy destiny.

Fortunately, an opportunity exists for the president to take real action right now to strengthen America’s energy security and create jobs.

Earlier this month, I joined Governor Bob McDonnell and leaders from across Virginia in urging the Obama administration to approve the construction of an advanced pipeline linking Canada and the United States.

The Keystone XL Project will bring more than 700,000 additional barrels of domestic and Canadian oil each day to refineries in Texas. Construction alone will mean jobs for as many as 20,000 Americans, and related economic activity is projected to bring around 100,000 additional hires. Property tax revenues in states through which the pipeline passes could exceed $5 billion, meaning more resources for schools, roads and public safety. And the energy flowing through the pipeline will be from our closest neighbor and ally, not from an unstable and unfriendly foreign regime.

With so much to gain, why is the White House delaying? The Obama administration has yet to approve the permit needed for construction to begin. Bureaucrats and politicians in Washington, D.C. are standing in the way of a project that would create thousands of new jobs, increase our long-term supply of affordable energy and generate revenues without raising taxes.

When it comes to energy, this is just the latest contradiction between the president’s words and his actions. Since 2008, President Obama has touted the job-creating promise of his energy agenda. Instead, we see misused taxpayer funds for unreliable, expensive energy schemes; higher fuel prices; blocked energy development of American coal, oil and natural gas resources; and continued high unemployment over 9 percent.

The good news is that America has the most plentiful energy resources of any country in the world. Our reserves and recoverable oil, natural gas and coal exceed the resources of such energy giants as Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.

Despite this bounty, our dependence on foreign oil is greater today than it was in the days of President Jimmy Carter’s gas lines. Federal bureaucrats continue to hold America’s energy resources “off limits,” and promising ventures like the Keystone pipeline are stopped at the Canadian border.
Read More:  http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/27/its-time-for-real-energy-action/

 

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It’s Time for Real “Energy Action” (Op-Ed from The Daily Caller)

It’s Time for Real “Energy Action”

The Daily Caller

By George Allen

Thursday, October 27, 2011

 

Two months ago, President Obama announced his latest stimulus proposal, which is a continuation of the same failed policies we’ve seen over the last three years — higher taxes to fund more costly government spending programs.

Absent from the president’s rhetoric was any mention of unleashing America’s energy resources, a proven way to create more than a million new, good-paying jobs here in the USA.

Virginia and the nation deserve better. With 9.1 percent unemployment and more than 14 million Americans looking for work, it is time for this administration to start viewing America’s energy resources as a blessing, not a curse.

One of the major components of my comprehensive, pro-growth plan for jobs — “The Blueprint for America’s Comeback” — is the aggressive pursuit of energy freedom by opening up access to America’s plentiful energy resources and taking control of our own energy destiny.

Fortunately, an opportunity exists for the president to take real action right now to strengthen America’s energy security and create jobs.

Earlier this month, I joined Governor Bob McDonnell and leaders from across Virginia in urging the Obama administration to approve the construction of an advanced pipeline linking Canada and the United States.

The Keystone XL Project will bring more than 700,000 additional barrels of domestic and Canadian oil each day to refineries in Texas. Construction alone will mean jobs for as many as 20,000 Americans, and related economic activity is projected to bring around 100,000 additional hires. Property tax revenues in states through which the pipeline passes could exceed $5 billion, meaning more resources for schools, roads and public safety. And the energy flowing through the pipeline will be from our closest neighbor and ally, not from an unstable and unfriendly foreign regime.

With so much to gain, why is the White House delaying? The Obama administration has yet to approve the permit needed for construction to begin. Bureaucrats and politicians in Washington, D.C. are standing in the way of a project that would create thousands of new jobs, increase our long-term supply of affordable energy and generate revenues without raising taxes.

When it comes to energy, this is just the latest contradiction between the president’s words and his actions. Since 2008, President Obama has touted the job-creating promise of his energy agenda. Instead, we see misused taxpayer funds for unreliable, expensive energy schemes; higher fuel prices; blocked energy development of American coal, oil and natural gas resources; and continued high unemployment over 9 percent.

The good news is that America has the most plentiful energy resources of any country in the world. Our reserves and recoverable oil, natural gas and coal exceed the resources of such energy giants as Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.

Despite this bounty, our dependence on foreign oil is greater today than it was in the days of President Jimmy Carter’s gas lines. Federal bureaucrats continue to hold America’s energy resources “off limits,” and promising ventures like the Keystone pipeline are stopped at the Canadian border.

  
Click here to read more

George Allen will fight to keep Virginia and America safe (From the Gazette Virginian)

George Allen will fight to keep Virginia and America safe

The Gazette Virginian

October 19, 2011

 

To the editor:

It’s clear that we need a leader in Congress who will work hard to make both Virginia and America safer for our law-abiding citizens and their families. When crime threatens the safety and well-being of our communities, it’s essential that our elected officials do not hesitate to step in and crack down on the problem.

As our governor, George Allen demonstrated a proven and thorough record of helping to bolster public safety in the commonwealth, working alongside law enforcement officials to ensure that common sense, effective approaches to addressing crime problems were in place and helping make our communities safer.

When George Allen took office in 1994, violent crime in our state was at an all-time high. The skyrocketing crime rate in Virginia was in part the result of the soft approach being taken in the granting of parole, making it easier for violent criminals to get out of prison. Many criminals were serving only one third of their sentence, with three-out-of-four violent crimes being committed by repeat offenders.

One of George Allen’s key accomplishments while serving as governor was his successful initiative to abolish the dishonest and broken parole system and enact truth-in-sentencing laws. These proposals helped close the revolving door in our prisons and keep violent criminals behind bars, where they belong.

George Allen also fought as governor to reform our antiquated and broken juvenile justice system. Under the old outdated system, teenagers who committed heinous violent crimes such as murder or rape were effectively given only a slap on the wrist. Juvenile murderers at the time were serving less than six-year sentences. Under then-Governor Allen’s reforms, juveniles 14-17 years old charged with murder would be automatically tried as adults. Those charged with other serious violent crimes such as armed robbery and rape could be tried as adults at the discretion of the commonwealth’s attorney. These and other common-sense approaches helped hold violent criminals accountable for the fear and destruction that they cause to our communities.

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Listen to Virginians, Mr. President (Op-Ed from The Washington Times)

Listen to Virginians, Mr. President

The Washington Times

By George Allen

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

 

President Obama just witnessed the defeat of his flawed stimulus bill that called for tax hikes to pay for more of the same failed policies that we have seen come out Washington. Even some Senate Democrats expressed the same concerns I have heard from Virginians – the bill is “terrible,” “invested far too little in actual job creation” and they can’t “support raising taxes so Washington can spend more.”

Such a setback should make apparent to the president what Virginia families know: Higher taxes and more government spending do not create jobs. Instead of working to reinvigorate the entrepreneurial spirit of America with the right economic, energy and education policies, the president has chosen to go on a taxpayer-funded bus tour to try to convince Virginians a second stimulus and higher taxes are a solution to our country’s problems.

As Mr. Obama makes a few stops in the Commonwealth on his bus tour, I hope he takes time away from his campaign events to listen to Virginians. The people of Virginia are anxious and worried about their families losing their jobs, looming tax increases, high fuel and electricity costs hurting their budgets and the rising health care costs and job impediments due to Obamacare. Here’s some advice:

1. Really listen: The president is visiting Virginia at a crucial time in the course of our history. America has had 32 consecutive months of unemployment above 8 percent, 1.5 million people have lost their jobs since the failed $825 billion stimulus and our confidence in the future is down. Incomes have dropped to levels not seen in 15 years. For the first time in the nation’s history, our credit rating is down – a further strain on the economy as well as our belief in the American Dream.

Families in Virginia know we are not better off due to the policies of Mr. Obama and former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine during the past nearly three years. As a result, more and more people are becoming pessimistic about the future, concerned that the opportunities to succeed that they had in life won’t be around for their children and grandchildren. The president should take a break from his campaign events to really hear this message.

2. Do what works: Rather than recycle failed policies, Mr. Obama and Mr. Kaine, who was also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, need to focus on how to turn our economy around. It is time for America’s comeback. It starts with a pro-growth agenda based on our foundational principles of freedom, opportunity for all and personal responsibility rather than mandates, dictates, redistribution and dependency on government.
Click here to read more

Advancing a new freedom-to-work agenda for America (From The Washington Examiner)

Advancing a new freedom-to-work agenda for America

The Washington Examiner

By George Allen

Thursday, October 6, 2011
Our Right-to-Work law is one of Virginia’s foundational strengths and competitive advantages.  The laws that protect workplace Freedom have made Virginia one of the best places to start or grow a business, but not everyone sees things as we do.

This is especially true in Washington.  Rather than recognizing the fact that Right-to-Work laws are good for everyone, President Obama’s administration and his allies seem bent on destroying them. 

As I travel around Virginia, I am constantly reminded of the importance of our freedom to work.  Virginians remind me about the companies that have relocated to or expanded in Virginia since we declared that “Virginia is Open for Business!” in 1994.

Others recall those 50,000 Virginians who have left the welfare rolls to find gainful employment.  I often wonder how successful our economic development and ground-breaking welfare reform efforts would have been in a less job-friendly state.

These are not abstract concepts.  These are real jobs created because Virginia respects and protects our Right to Work.

Through executive fiat and the intrusive action of the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB), the Obama administration and their congressional and big labor allies are waging war on private employers under the guise of protecting workers.

They believe that more regulation and government control will protect jobs, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Businesses create jobs when entrepreneurs believe that their anticipated return on investment outweighs the risks.

Over-regulation creates uncertainty and additional risk, which in turn stifles investment and diminishes job opportunities.

The threat to Virginia’s jobs from Washington is real, and it must be checked.  From the President’s job-killing monstrous health-care dictates to his gigantic $1.5 trillion tax increase proposal and Executive Orders, bureaucracy and lawsuits trying to tell Boeing where it can build a business, the opponents of our freedom to work are seriously threatening.

That is why I have created a three-part Freedom to Work agenda that will 1) help America’s businesses create jobs; 2) save taxpayers money; and 3) protect the liberty of working men and women.

Click here to continue reading

ICYMI: Advancing a new freedom-to-work agenda for America (From The Washington Examiner)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 6, 2011

   
  

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Advancing a new freedom-to-work agenda for America
From The Washington Examiner 

By George Allen

Thursday, October 6, 2011
Our Right-to-Work law is one of Virginia’s foundational strengths and competitive advantages.  The laws that protect workplace Freedom have made Virginia one of the best places to start or grow a business, but not everyone sees things as we do.

This is especially true in Washington.  Rather than recognizing the fact that Right-to-Work laws are good for everyone, President Obama’s administration and his allies seem bent on destroying them. 

As I travel around Virginia, I am constantly reminded of the importance of our freedom to work.  Virginians remind me about the companies that have relocated to or expanded in Virginia since we declared that “Virginia is Open for Business!” in 1994.

Others recall those 50,000 Virginians who have left the welfare rolls to find gainful employment.  I often wonder how successful our economic development and ground-breaking welfare reform efforts would have been in a less job-friendly state.

These are not abstract concepts.  These are real jobs created because Virginia respects and protects our Right to Work.

Through executive fiat and the intrusive action of the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB), the Obama administration and their congressional and big labor allies are waging war on private employers under the guise of protecting workers.

They believe that more regulation and government control will protect jobs, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Businesses create jobs when entrepreneurs believe that their anticipated return on investment outweighs the risks.

Over-regulation creates uncertainty and additional risk, which in turn stifles investment and diminishes job opportunities.

The threat to Virginia’s jobs from Washington is real, and it must be checked.  From the President’s job-killing monstrous health-care dictates to his gigantic $1.5 trillion tax increase proposal and Executive Orders, bureaucracy and lawsuits trying to tell Boeing where it can build a business, the opponents of our freedom to work are seriously threatening.

That is why I have created a three-part Freedom to Work agenda that will 1) help America’s businesses create jobs; 2) save taxpayers money; and 3) protect the liberty of working men and women.

Read More: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/10/advancing-new-freedom-work-agenda-america#ixzz1a0W7FT00

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A Pro-Growth Plan for America’s Comeback (From The Loudoun Times-Mirror)

A Pro-Growth Plan for America’s Comeback

The Loudoun Times-Mirror

By George Allen

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

    
When the $800 billion stimulus plan passed Gov. Tim Kaine said it “would jump start the economy” and it was “what’s needed to put Americans back to work.”

That was when unemployment was at 7.8 percent. Now two and half years later, unemployment is stuck above 9 percent, 1.7 million jobs have been lost, and the national debt has soared to well over $14 trillion. It’s painfully clear to families that the first stimulus was a failure.

Yet it took my opponent over two years as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, five months as a U.S. Senate candidate and zero jobs created in August to finally realize we need a job creation strategy.”

That’s been apparent to many Virginia families for far too long.

In spring we released my comprehensive pro-growth plan – The Blueprint for America’s Comeback that will restart America’s economic engines, help us achieve energy freedom, and rein in Washington’s out of control spending and reach.

First, take the shackles off job creators. In 2008, we were number 1 in the World Economic Forum’s list of most competitive nations. Today we’ve dropped to fifth. Some of the world’s highest taxes are found right here in America, and they’re killing jobs. Reducing the tax on job creators from 35-percent ranking among the highest in the world down to a competitive 20-percent would cause the beneficial creation of 500,000 jobs per year.

Our nation can again be the most competitive in the world, but only if we allow American businesses and entrepreneurs to compete in the world market, rein in stifling, excessive regulations, make the tax code more fair and simple, and strengthen education and training.

Second, unleash America’s energy and creativity. The world’s most plentiful energy resources are right here in America, but they’re kept out of reach by counterproductive policies that raise costs, punish families and small businesses, slow our economy, and make our nation vulnerable to outside forces. Unleashing American energy will fuel a job-creating boom with over a million new good paying jobs and an addition of over a trillion dollars to government revenue without raising taxes, reduce costs for American families. It can improve our quality of life, strengthen our nation’s security, and keep money in the U.S.A.

Third, ensure that government serves the people and not the other way around. Most of the challenges we face today are directly linked to the excesses of our government. Simply put, it borrows taxes, regulates and spends too much. The time has come to finally pass a Balanced Budget Amendment that includes Line-Item Veto and enforceable spending caps.
As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, Tim Kaine strongly advocated for much of the failed policies that have driven up our national debt making annual trillion dollar deficits the norm even as unemployment remained at unacceptably high levels.

He has supported repeated calls for tax increases to cover the surge in Washington spending. And he is now applauding the call for a second stimulus which includes higher taxes and more spending that will impose additional burdens on struggling lower and middle income working families and job creating small business owners. 

During his tenure as Virginia Governor we saw the same approach and got the same results. He repeatedly called for tax increases – $4 billion in total, while Virginians lost over 100,000 private sector jobs.

That philosophy didn’t work then in Richmond, hasn’t worked in Washington during the last three years, and won’t help put people to work going forward.

Click here to continue reading

ICYMI: A Pro-Growth Plan for America’s Comeback (From The Loudoun Times-Mirror)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 27, 2011

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
A Pro-Growth Plan for America’s Comeback
From The Loudoun Times-Mirror 

By George Allen

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
When the $800 billion stimulus plan passed Gov. Tim Kaine said it “would jump start the economy” and it was “what’s needed to put Americans back to work.”

That was when unemployment was at 7.8 percent. Now two and half years later, unemployment is stuck above 9 percent, 1.7 million jobs have been lost, and the national debt has soared to well over $14 trillion. It’s painfully clear to families that the first stimulus was a failure.

Yet it took my opponent over two years as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, five months as a U.S. Senate candidate and zero jobs created in August to finally realize we need a job creation strategy.”

That’s been apparent to many Virginia families for far too long.

In spring we released my comprehensive pro-growth plan – The Blueprint for America’s Comeback that will restart America’s economic engines, help us achieve energy freedom, and rein in Washington’s out of control spending and reach.

First, take the shackles off job creators. In 2008, we were number 1 in the World Economic Forum’s list of most competitive nations. Today we’ve dropped to fifth. Some of the world’s highest taxes are found right here in America, and they’re killing jobs. Reducing the tax on job creators from 35-percent ranking among the highest in the world down to a competitive 20-percent would cause the beneficial creation of 500,000 jobs per year.

Our nation can again be the most competitive in the world, but only if we allow American businesses and entrepreneurs to compete in the world market, rein in stifling, excessive regulations, make the tax code more fair and simple, and strengthen education and training.

Second, unleash America’s energy and creativity. The world’s most plentiful energy resources are right here in America, but they’re kept out of reach by counterproductive policies that raise costs, punish families and small businesses, slow our economy, and make our nation vulnerable to outside forces. Unleashing American energy will fuel a job-creating boom with over a million new good paying jobs and an addition of over a trillion dollars to government revenue without raising taxes, reduce costs for American families. It can improve our quality of life, strengthen our nation’s security, and keep money in the U.S.A.

Third, ensure that government serves the people and not the other way around. Most of the challenges we face today are directly linked to the excesses of our government. Simply put, it borrows taxes, regulates and spends too much. The time has come to finally pass a Balanced Budget Amendment that includes Line-Item Veto and enforceable spending caps.
As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, Tim Kaine strongly advocated for much of the failed policies that have driven up our national debt making annual trillion dollar deficits the norm even as unemployment remained at unacceptably high levels.

He has supported repeated calls for tax increases to cover the surge in Washington spending. And he is now applauding the call for a second stimulus which includes higher taxes and more spending that will impose additional burdens on struggling lower and middle income working families and job creating small business owners. 

During his tenure as Virginia Governor we saw the same approach and got the same results. He repeatedly called for tax increases – $4 billion in total, while Virginians lost over 100,000 private sector jobs.

That philosophy didn’t work then in Richmond, hasn’t worked in Washington during the last three years, and won’t help put people to work going forward.

Read More: http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/guest_opinion_a_pro-growth_plan_for_americas_comeback12/

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Job growth: Restoring American dream means rekindling entrepreneurial spirit (Op-Ed from the Washington Times)

By George Allen
Wednesday, August 31, 2011

”God gave us this great and good land, but it’s up to us to make it flourish – to preserve its freedom, to see it grow and become a nation of greatness.”

Ronald Reagan expressed these words of responsibility in 1986. Twenty-five years later, how is our nation doing?

Not well at all, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO just released its latest Budget and Economic Outlook, and the picture it paints is very different from the one President Reagan envisioned. Instead of economic growth, our nation is burdened by government growth – with an adverse impact that millions of American families and working people know only too well.

Job numbers are down, the stock market is down, economic outlook is down, and confidence in the future is down. And for the first time in American history, our nation’s credit rating is down – an unprecedented development that further strains our economy and confidence in the future.

No wonder the CBO warns that America is facing “profound budgetary and economic challenges.”

Meanwhile, the federal government and its burden on our economy continue to grow. Since 2009, federal spending has jumped more than 30 percent, the nation’s debt has risen from $10 trillion to nearly $15 trillion, the cost of complying with Washington’s slew of regulations has reached nearly $2 trillion per year, and the nation’s unemployment rate has risen to and remained above 8 percent for a record 30 straight months.

That’s not the growth Reagan had in mind, and it certainly isn’t the recipe for greatness for Americans.

I am advocating and persuading people to support my Blueprint for America’s Comeback. It is a pro-growth plan of action that will make our nation once again an engine of job creation, unleash our plentiful energy resources and rein in what has become an overreaching, overspending government. Here are three common-sense, proven solutions and reforms to help America soar.

1.We must grow jobs in America. Let’s send a message to the world: America is open for business again. America’s job-creating businesses are burdened by one of the world’s highest tax rates at 35 percent. Reducing the tax on job creators to a competitively advantageous 20 percent would create 500,000 new jobs per year. Beyond that, we need to rein in the unaccountable, unelected bureaucracies that are imposing job-strangling regulations, make the tax code fairer and simpler, and work with the states to achieve world-class education that will make good-paying jobs a reality for millions of Americans. We must be the world capital of innovation.

2. We must unleash America’s energy and creativity. The world’s most plentiful resources are right here in America, but they’re kept out of reach by counterproductive, punitive energy policies that raise our energy costs, slow our economy and make our nation vulnerable to outside forces. Unleashing American energy will put us on a path toward energy freedom, help create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, increase our supply of affordable energy and keep our money here in the United States.
Click here to read more