Thank God: Obama Loses on Mortgage Cramdown Bill

Obama's attempt to persuade Congress to pass legislation allowing a judge to determine unilaterally how much to slash a bank's mortgage, thus invalidating every mortgage contract in America, has failed 51-45. Thank God for the GOP and 12 sensible Democrats who understand that if contracts are invalidated, the U.S. economy is doomed forever.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Democrats (and the President, who is supposed to be defending the Constitution rather than shredding it) thought that government or judicial authority over private contracts is a great idea...

Gettelfinger Motors

The WSJ explains the completely unequal treatment of GM's bondholders at the hands of the UAW and the government itself. Keep in mind that the bondholders have a $27 billion claim, about 50% more than the government's.

The feds have decided they should own a neat 50% of GM, yet that is not the natural outcome of the $16.2 billion that the Treasury has so far lent to the company. Nor is the 40% ownership of GM that the plan awards to the United Auto Workers a natural result of the company's obligations to the union.

Yet Secretary Timothy Geithner and his auto task force, led by Steven Rattner, have somehow decided that Treasury and UAW chief Ron Gettelfinger will get to own a combined 90% of GM. If there's a reason other than the political symbiosis among the Obama Administration, Michigan Democrats and the auto union, it's hard to discern.

OK, so the government and the UAW would own 90% of the company. Does anyone think the comopany would NOT be run based solely on political grounds? Would there be any incentive or way for the company to become profitable again? I highly doubt it...this company will become a nationalized/UAW car company. If it remains public, you can probably make a killing shorting the stock.

*Update*

The deal seems even better for the UAW with Chrysler. The UAW would own approximately 56% of the stock and can thus run the company however it chooses.

Jon Stewart: Truman Was War Criminal

What has happened to the values of our media? Sure, they've always been Far Left, but Jon Stewart, who is quite popular, particularly among younger adults, says that Harry Truman was a war criminal.

This is scary, but I think that it is a belief that is shared by today's Democrats as well. It's why no Democrat (apart from Joe Lieberman, who is an exception) mentions strong defense Dems like Truman or Kennedy as an example on foreign policy. Instead, they seem to want to channel Jimmy Carter - in fact, Obama has modeled his foreign policy on Carter's.

So now our war leaders are nothing more than genocidal war criminals. And it seems as though most Democrats now agree.

Specter Loss a Signal of Consservative Strength?

The Club for Growth, blamed for losing Arlen Specter as a result of endorsing the conservative GOP challenger Pat Toomey, responds with a relevant quote from Ronaldus Maximus:

“A political party cannot be all things to all people. It cannot compromise its fundamental beliefs for political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers. It is not a social club or fraternity engaged in intramural contests to accumulate trophies on the mantel over the fireplace...No one can quarrel with the idea that a political party hopes it can attract a wide following, but does it do this by forsaking its basic beliefs? By blurring its own image so as to be indistinguishable from the opposition party?"

Pat Toomey is undoubtedly a conservative - and is so far ahead of wishy-washy Specter that Specter already saw the writing on the wall and is trying to preserve his own power. To me, that signals a strengthening conservative view in the party.

Incidentally, the GOP is stronger than ever. According to Rasmussen, Republicans are now favored over Democrats on the generic ballot for only the second time in five years.

Obama's Economy: GDP Down 6.1%

In case you missed it, Q1 GDP decreased 6.1%...and yes, I do blame Obama for a good portion of it. While he only entered office in January, he has been outlining policies since November. His expected policy changes, including tax increases and higher business costs, have helped reduce both consumer demand and business spending, as well as heightening layoffs. Businesses plan their budgets based on future expectations and everything Obama has said has worsened confidence.

Obama also passed a budget-wrecking stimulus plan that hasn't done a thing to stimulate the economy. Some argue that it will take a while for the stimulus to kick in - perhaps even until 2010. That just means that it is an idiotic stimulus package that does nothing to stimulate the economy - and Obama pushed for and signed it. If he wanted to stimulate the economy, he could have pushed for policy changes that incentivize hiring and investment. Instead, he chose politics - and the result is an economic disaster.

And yet, the Obama budget still assumes a decline of only 1.2% in GDP this year and a ludicrous 3-4% growth over the next several years - and it still shows a trillion-dollar deficit years out.

Kathy Ireland Slams "Pro-Choice" Idea

Supermodel Kathy Ireland lashes out against the idea of "pro-choice." Ireland, who used to be pro-choice, admitted that she wanted to avoid becoming a believer in pro-life.

"I called Planned Parenthood and begged them to give me their best argument and all they could come up with that it is really just a clump of cells and if you get it early enough it doesn’t even look like a baby. Well, we’re all clumps of cells and the unborn does not look like a baby the same way the baby does not look like a teenager, a teenager does not look like a senior citizen. That unborn baby looks exactly the way human beings are supposed to look at that stage of development. It doesn’t suddenly become a human being at a certain point in time," Ireland argued. "I’ve also asked leading scientists across our country to please show me some shred of evidence that the unborn is not a human being. I didn’t want to be pro-life, but this is not a woman’s rights issue but a human rights issue."

"If I see someone abusing a child I am going to stand up against that, and that’s how I feel about abortion. Women are not given all the facts, they’re told it is a harmless procedure and now it has turned into such a political football."

Watch out - the liberal activists are now going to have to destroy Kathy Ireland - she must have joined a cult or something...

Obama to Lessen Jail Time for Crack Cocaine Users

Hmmm. I wonder why?

Massachusetts Government Hates the Poor

Very interesting goings-on in Taxachusetts these days. On the one hand, there's Deval Patrick. This Obama buddy wants to sock it to the Massachusetts lower income folks by increasing their taxes on gasoline, alcohol, soft drink, and candy purchases. The other side, the Massachusetts legislature, also governed by Dems, agrees with tax increases on the poor, but just wants to do it via a higher tax on all sales, from 5% to 6.25%.

This is a battle of the far left socialites against another far left socialite. Kind of a heavy weight bout between Karl Marx and Lenin. But it's the exactly the sort of dilemma that Barack Obama would love to have. Either way he wins!

So which group dislikes the poor more? Yes, of course these tax hikes would affect everyone, but since we all know that poor people have a lesser income, it would impact them disproportionately more.

Isn't the headline above what it would say if GW Bush were thinking of hiking taxes, instead of Obama buddie Patrick, or a democratic MA legislature? Think so.

Obama Photo-op: Only $328,000

Obama's photo-op, in which he scared the bejeezus out of many New York City residents, cost taxpayers over $328,000 - and people made a big deal of Clinton's $10,000 haircut!

Hey Obama, still looking for ways to cut spending?

Specter Pulls a Bloomberg, Goes to Dems

Arlen Specter, seeing the future butt kicking in PA at the hands of Pat Toomey, decided to switch to the Democrat party.

Sorry, but if someone can really feel comfortable going from a pro-life, limited government, low-tax, federalist party to a pro-abortion, big government, tax-and-spend party, then you can't have any real values. It's just not possible.

What took him so long? If he did this 8 years ago, we would probably have a lot more conservative judges on the courts today - and Pat Toomey would probably be senator today.

GM Restructuring Run Amok

Larry Kudlow comments on the GM restructuring and believes it's a case of the Fox Guarding the Henhouse.

What is going on in this country? The government is about to take over GM in a plan that completely screws private bondholders and favors the unions. Get this: The GM bondholders own $27 billion and they’re getting 10 percent of the common stock in an expected exchange. And the UAW owns $10 billion of the bonds and they’re getting 40 percent of the stock. Huh? Did I miss something here? And Uncle Sam will have a controlling share of the stock with something close to 50 percent ownership. And no bankruptcy judge. So this is a political restructuring run by the White House, not a rule-of-law bankruptcy-court reorganization.

That is strange - bondholders usually have a stronger hand at the table, but there's not much they can do if the government dictates the results. Kudlow also has other serious doubts about the independence of Geithner.

Obama Breaks Promise on Health Care

John Lott has an excellent piece at FoxNews that explains Obama's broken promise on health care, where he stated on the campaign trail that “If you got health insurance, then you can keep it . . . and we won’t do anything about that.”

Last Sunday on “Meet the Press,” Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic adviser, let the cat out of the bag on health care. In explaining why universal health care wasn’t going to increase the deficit, Summers said that people are just getting too much unnecessary care. Summers claimed: “whether it’s tonsillectomies or hysterectomies . . . procedures are done three times as frequently [in some parts of the country than others] and there’s no benefit in terms of the health of the population. And by doing the right kind of cost-effectiveness, by making the right kinds of investments and protection, some experts that we — estimate that we could take as much as $700 billion a year out of our health care system.”

...The selective use of statistics by Summers and others in the Obama administration is startling. In 2000, New York had 501 abortions per 1,000 live births, Wyoming had 1. New York had 31 abortions per 1,000 women, Wyoming had fewer than 1. Abortion procedures rarely involve the health of the mother. Yet, presumably, Summers wouldn’t argue that these gaps, which are 10 to 167 times greater than the 3-to-1 ratio that so upsets him for other procedures, imply that abortions should be rationed.

It’s strange that the Democratic Party, a group that doesn’t think the government should intervene between a doctor and a woman when it comes to determining whether or not to have an abortion, appears to have no problem in telling doctors whether they can perform “tonsillectomies or hysterectomies.”

...Possibly Americans should ask Canadians and Brits –- people who have long suffered from rationing — how happy they are with central government decisions on eliminating “unnecessary” health care.

Number of Americans Who Prefer Free Market Economy Up Sharply

Another poll unlikely to find its way to the nightly news. According to Rasmussen, the number of Americans who prefer a free market economy to a government-run economy is up 7 percentage points since December, to 77%.

Of course, Democrats in Congress and the White House will argue that they like a free market economy too - just one that gives them sufficient power to define and oversee it.

Lots of Fraud in Food Stamps Program

With the food stamps program "poised for a historic expansion," the government tells us that they expect about $400 million, or 2% of the increase, to be wasted due to fraud. More tellingly, however, is how little the government seems to care about this type of fraud. According to Joel Berg, a top official in the program during the Clinton administration:

"It's easier to get a driver's license than food stamps," said Joel Berg, a top official in the assistance program during President Clinton's administration. "You can do a lot of damage with a driver's license. ... To my knowledge, no one has died in a food stamps-fraud accident."

This rationale is precisely what is wrong with government spending programs across the board.

Even Boston Globe Says Homeland Security Dept. Politicized

When even The Boston Globe editorial page says that Janet Napolitano has turned the Department of Homeland Security into a highly politicized agency, you know that it's bad. Janet Reno must be proud.

Dems Guarantee Nationalized Health Care in 2009

The Dems are using the budget "reconciliation" process, originally designed to save money in Congress, to jam through their nationalized health care agenda without the possibility of the filibuster. And add the $1 trillion energy/business tax to that...From NR:

In this case, the Obama administration plans to abuse a process that was designed to save money, not create expansive and expensive new policies. The idea is to implement two controversial policies at the once — carbon caps, which will raise government revenues, and nationalized health care, which costs money. Ideally, the one policy allows the other one to pass. If Congress can estimate for itself $1.5 trillion dollars in future revenues from selling mandatory carbon credits, it can then pass legislation under reconciliation to spend all but $1 billion of that money on an entirely new health-care system.

The Cubanization of the U.S. economy - the Dems own it. As Obama well knows, not a single GOP member voted for his plan to quadruple the budget deficit and not a single GOP member will join him on his Great Nationalization & Taxation plan. Most divisive ever.

Joke of the Day: Obama Asks for Ideas to Curb Federal Spending

In a move designed to be more marketing than substance (what else is new?), Obama is asking for ideas to curb federal spending. Hmm...here's a start - forget about nationalized health care, forget about cap-and-trade, slash every department by 40% (don't think any American would notice the difference),...the ideas are like a neverending story.

Dingell: "Nobody In This Country Realizes Cap-and-Trade is a Tax"

Senior Democrat Congressman John Dingell says it plainly:

"Nobody in this country realizes that cap-and-trade is a tax and it's a great big one."

Well, Congressman, nobody in this country (at least among the media, but also most of the American public) believes that Obama is raising their taxes either...in fact, he still has people believing the biggest bamboozle of all time - that he is cutting taxes and spending.

Obama to Nationalize Student Lending; Cites College Costs

Obama is excited to get his hands on the student loan industry and is proposing to nationalize the business - all in the name of helping the children, of course.

The cost of higher education "has never been higher," said Obama, joined at the White House by college student Stephanie Stevenson of Baltimore, Md., a University of Maryland student, and her mother, Yvonne Thomas. Obama said skyrocketing tuition costs have put "new pressures" on families already hard-pressed in economically difficult times.

Yet, Obama said, "we have a student loan system where we are giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies." He called the system "a paradox of American life" that threatens to widen the gap between the haves and have-nots.

Ok, so how about getting rid of all the wasteful subsidies to colleges, that already have billions and billions in endowments? Or how about windfall profits taxes on professor salaries? Or pressuring colleges to stop wasting money like he's doing with the banks? Instead, he prefers to let tuition continue to skyrocket and then he can decide who gets a loan and how much - the government's never been wrong before and has been a shining example of efficiency in running private financial institutions...

2005 Barney Frank Caught in Lie: "This is Not a Bubble"

This clip from Barney Frank in a June 2005 speech is damning - and it helps show his complete cluelessness on the housing sector. From Gateway Pundit. Here are a few choice quotes on his view towards home prices as he argues for more home ownership:

"There was not the degree of leverage that we have seen elsewhere...this is not the dot com situation...you're not going to see the collapse that you see when people talk about a bubble and so those of us on our committee in particular will continue to push for home ownership."

Do we really want this guy providing forecasts and insights into what should be done with our banking and real estate sectors?

Stress Test to Achieve Political Ends?

James Rickards, former general counsel at Long Term Capital Management, appeared as guest host on CNBC this morning and stated that the bank stress tests were conceived entirely for political purposes - not simply for grandstanding, but to achieve political goals. In other words, if the government wants influence over the GM bond negotiations, mortgage modifications or participation in the PPIP, the stress test "results" could be the perfect way to force companies into the government's arms.

At first I thought only Citigroup would "fail," but with B of A touching one of every four Americans, it sure would be tempting for the government to take a piece of B of A also. I now expect B of A's "results" to be in trouble also (or rather, it's too attractive a company not to take advantage of).

*Update*
Lest some of you think the government hasn't pre-ordained the outcome, take this quote from the NYTimes:

Officials have said that at least a handful of the 19 banks undergoing the exam will need to raise sizable amounts of fresh capital, a move that will severely dilute existing shareholders. For the tests to be credible, regulators recognize that not all of the banks can pass the exam with flying colors.

The Idiotic Stress Test Rollout

The Treasury is going forward with its release of stress test data to the markets, beginning privately tomorrow and then releasing them to the public on May 4. I'm guessing that some data or at least rumors of data, will begin to leak out before then.

Not only is the entire idea ill-conceived, but the entire rollout of the results is going to increase volatility, speculation and instability in the banking sector over the next two weeks. And in some cases, I think these stress tests will create a self-fulfilling prophecy out of fear of a failure. If there is a worse way to try to stabilize the financial system, I can't think of one.

GE Shareholders Angry at Meeting

GE shareholders are rightfully upset and showed their anger over MSNBC's left-wing hatred with questions to Jeff Immelt at GE's shareholder meeting.

It's one thing if GE were encouraging this kind of b.s. at MSNBC and had the solid business results to show for it. They don't. Immelt has been a disaster for shareholders, who have seen a loss of approximately 75% of their value over the past two years. I've seen Immelt on CNBC and other news outlets and based on many of his answers in support of Left-wing ideology, I have to think that his ideology is more important than making money for shareholders.

NBC has a network has lost all credibility with most Americans. Immelt should be fired.

Obama Crosses Rubicon on Bipartisanship

The WSJ says to mark the date of April 21, the date where Obama opened the floodgates for potential prosecution of his predecessor administration over policy differences.

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret....This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.

If this analogy seems excessive, consider how Mr. Obama has framed the issue. He has absolved CIA operatives of any legal jeopardy, no doubt because his intelligence advisers told him how damaging that would be to CIA morale when Mr. Obama needs the agency to protect the country. But he has pointedly invited investigations against Republican legal advisers who offered their best advice at the request of CIA officials.

...So the CIA requests a legal review at a moment of heightened danger, the Justice Department obliges with an exceedingly detailed analysis of the law and interrogation practices -- and, seven years later, Mr. Obama says only the legal advisers who are no longer in government should be investigated. The political convenience of this distinction for Mr. Obama betrays its basic injustice.

...Those officials won't be the only ones who suffer if all of this goes forward. Congress will face questions about what the Members knew and when, especially Nancy Pelosi when she was on the House Intelligence Committee in 2002. The Speaker now says she remembers hearing about waterboarding, though not that it would actually be used. Does anyone believe that? Porter Goss, her GOP counterpart at the time, says he knew exactly what he was hearing and that, if anything, Ms. Pelosi worried the CIA wasn't doing enough to stop another attack. By all means, put her under oath.

I have said before that I hope investigations go forward - and I still hope that occurs. It will show the true colors of the new regime.

Deval Patrick Paving the Way for Obama?

Deval Patrick, one of Obama's best friends and proteges, is getting hammered in the polls, despite being governor of the most liberal state in the country. Only 33% of voters say they would vote for him while 57% say they would vote against him. Unless he reverses course and cuts taxes to grow the economy, it looks like a Republican may be returning to the state house in Massachusetts.
And since Obama is even more radical than Patrick covering a much more conservative area, he could be in for similar trouble.

High Unionization, High Taxes = High Unemployment

Jim Lindgren lays out the numbers for the states with the highest and lowest unemployment rates. Not surprisingly, the highest unemployment states are mostly liberal states with high levels of taxation and unionization. Those with the lowest unemployment rates are conservative states with low levels of taxes and unionization.

I don' think that's a coincidence. The exception is in the Carolinas, which although generally conservative, also have high unionization rates (lots of manufacturing activity such as textiles).

Juan Williams Rips Obama

Liberal news analyst Juan Williams rips Obama for dismantling the very popular and highly successful voucher program in DC's public schools. Why? Because he's in bed with the liberal NEA and they don't like to have their monopoly on education challenged.

The reckless dismantling of the D.C. voucher program does not speak well of the promise by Obama to be the “Education President.”

Obama wants to be known as a lot of things that he's not - a tax cutter, fiscally responsible, strong on national security, bipartisan, strong on education... The problem is that Obama is a Potemkin village - and now even a few liberals are even calling him out on these issues.

Obama: I Was Wrong; Bush Was Right on Columbia

Obama has changed his stance and has now come out in favor of the US-Columbia Free Trade Agreement. As a senator, Obama vigorously opposed this agreement, as he did most free trade agreements (Cafta, South Korea, Chile, Nafta). Now he's come out in favor of the same agreement that Bush pushed so hard to pass (but couldn't as Dems blocked him).

Hey, I don't care who came up with the idea (Bush), and I'll forgive Obama's initial resistance to the idea. Just like I didn't oppose when Clinton sponsored Nafta in 93 (10 years after Reagan initally tried to pass the bill), we have to let bygones be bygones if it's good policy. I applaud Obama's admitting he was wrong (not verbally of course, but through actions).

Hopefully Obama will now come out and endorse free trade for our own continent.

*Update*
According to StoptheACLU.com, Obama is now doing an about face on 2 other free trade agreements as well, with Panama, and South Korea, all of which he has opposed in the past. Maybe he's learned some Econ 101 from one of his economic advisors. Whatever the reason, let's go for it.

And if we can get him to change and now endorse the Bush tax cuts as well - that's change I could live with!

CIA Confirms Waterboarding Thwarted Attack

Just as Obama changes his mind to say he is open to prosecution of those who allowed the CIA to use harsh interrogation techniques, the CIA confirms that the use of waterboarding on Khalid Sheik Mohammed thwarted a planned attack on Los Angeles.

California Board: Ethanol Worse than Petroleum?

The California Air Resource Board says that ethanol is not a solution to global warming and might actually be worse for the environment than oil.

As they see it, corn is no better – and might be worse – than petroleum when total greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions are considered. Such a declaration, to be considered later this week by the California Air Resources Board, would be a considerable blow to the corn-ethanol industry in the United States.

Is anyone tired of this environmental silliness yet?

TALF Participant Executives May Be Subject to Compensation Limits

Obama's Treasury Department seems to have changed its mind on the Term Loan Asset-Backed Facility to help rid financial institutions of asset-backed loans. Executives of firms who participate might have compensation limits after all. From WaPo:

Treasury Department lawyers have determined that firms participating in a $1 trillion program to relieve banks of toxic assets could be subject to limits on executive compensation, contradicting the Obama administration's previous public position, according to a report to be released today by a federal watchdog agency.

Ha - I don't think the weak demand for this "solution" is going to improve any time soon...and some people thought Paulson was incompetent...

Obama Caves to Radical Left: Open to Bush Prosecution

Obama gave into his Radical Left base and is now willing (or it's "up to the attorney general") to prosecute members of the Bush administration who might have instructed the CIA on harsh interrogation techniques.

I frankly hope Obama does try to prosecute Bush officials - not because they're guilty - but just because it will show the world how very radical Obama is to prosecute former officials who were entirely within the constitutional rights (per previous court opinions) simply for political fun. This would be a three-ring circus overreach that should destroy any ounce of credibility that Obama might have left.

Northern Trust: Still No Word on TARP Repayment

Nearly two months after the faux outrage over Northern Trust's sponsorship of a PGA tournament in February, the bank still has not been "granted permission" to repay the TARP funds which it doesn't want and doesn't need. Its president and CEO Frederick Waddell said:

"...we are continuing our dialogue with the Federal Reserve, in accordance with the prescribed process, to proceed on our objective of redeeming the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Capital Purchase Program preferred stock as quickly as prudently possible."

In other words, we can't get out of this damn TARP maze. For all you who think the government does not want a direct equity stake in all these banks on the cheap, think again. The federal government now seems to view the TARP as a way to play Tony Soprano with the most profitable companies in the U.S. and thereby fund their grand spending wish lists.

The WSJ summed it up best:

Giving Barney Frank more voting power is more likely to induce panic than restore confidence.

Unfortunately, Obama just caused another panic attack with this back door nationalization scheme.

Joke of the Day: Obama to Cut $100 Million

Obama has just outlined plans for $4 trillion in new spending in his budget. Now he calls a cabinet meeting to tell them that they need to cut $100 million from their budgets.

Unfortunately, this was no joke...$100 million. Now he will say he cut the fat from the budget...

*Update*
Meanwhile, Obama asks for another $100 billion to give to the IMF (which has proven to be about as efficient as the UN)...

Were Bank Stress Tests Really Leaked?

A blog site named Turner Radio Network claims to have seen the leaked results from the bank stress tests and says that the results are "very bad."

I'm extremely skeptical about the claims. Still, let's go back to the point of the stress tests: is it to add this type of speculation to an industry that only needs a rumor to collapse? If that's the point, then the government seems to be achieving its objective. On the other hand, if the results show strength, then just release the results now instead of saying that they "may" release results in early May. What confidence does this inspire? Once again, a clueless and incompetent government...

*Update*
Sure enough, the financials got clobbered today in the market, despite pretty good earnings across the board from major banks - all because of worries about this idiotic and useless "stress test" schemed up by a few incompetents in Washington.

Government Wants More: May Convert Bank TARP to Equity

True, banks are in the process of reporting much better than expected earnings this quarter. True, the government already has a pretty good return (8%+ when factoring in warrants) on its preferred bank investments, but now it wants even more.

The Obama administration wants to convert its TARP funds into common equity so that it can participate in the upside and therefore generate billions more in returns.

Why not just force every company in the country to give the government an equity stake for nothing? That's the way the mafia used to do things.

Bank Stress Tests Are An Idiotic Idea

One of Tim Geithner's first "major initiatives" was to "stress test" the banks to see who might require more capital under extremely pessimistic hypothetical scenarios. As bank analyst Tom Brown explains, these stress tests: 1) are built on a false premise that banks are hoarding capital rather than lending, 2) are poorly explained by the administration by implying that a bank either "passes" or "fails," and 3) might actually cause bank failures for no good reason.

One of the biggest canards perpetrated by both the media and the administration is that the financial crisis is due to the "lack of regulation" and that the banking sector needs more "stress tests" to see how healthy they really are. Someone please remind these folks that the financial industry is arguably the most heavily regulated industry in the country. Bank regulators and examiners have been performing stress tests on a regular basis for decades, yet somehow this new Geithner/Obama sponsored stress test is supposed to really tell us which banks might fail if certain adverse conditions prevail over the next two years. If the examiners are useless, then let's do away with them and stop wasting money. How absurd.

But one thing is for sure - if the stress test scheduled to be released in May shows any bank to have even a slightly questionable future in the most pessimistic, dire scenario, the Feds might as well take the bank over today because the result will be a near-certain run on the bank within days. And the bank will have Geithner and Obama to thank for this brilliant idea.

Obama, Clinton Silent As Ortega Rails Against U.S.

Socialist Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega spent 50 minutes railing against the evil United States and all Obama and Hillary Clinton could do is sit there, take a few notes and remain silent.

When our President and Secretary of State are afraid to defend their own country against attacks from dictators across the globe, it says all you need to know about their true core beliefs. (Yes, Obama likely agrees with Ortega in many ways.)

*Update*
Obama does defend himself. From Gateway Pundit:

"To move forward, we cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements. I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old. Too often, an opportunity to build a fresh partnership of the Americas has been undermined by stale debates. We've all heard these arguments before."

Shameful. It's about time Obama was honest with the American people - just tell us that you agree with all these anti-American sentiments.

Barney Frank Wants In on Muni Bond Insurance

The WSJ explains that Barney Frank, the financial wizard in Congress, wants the government to get into the municipal bond insurance business (think the risks of MBIA and Ambac, but with the efficiency of the DMV).

Barney Frank's track record as a financial analyst is, shall we say, mixed. The House Financial Services Chairman said for years that a collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would pose zero risk to taxpayers. For most people, a mistake of that magnitude would trigger introspection, if not humility. But not the sage of Massachusetts. He's cooking up another fantastic subsidy -- and like the last one, he swears taxpayers won't feel a thing.

...Mr. Frank believes state and local governments are paying too much when they issue debt because rating agencies don't give them the ratings Mr. Frank feels they deserve...

If Mr. Frank really believes that state and local governments have been forced to overpay for this insurance, one has to assume his federal program would charge lower premiums and so undercut its private-sector competitors. The government can charge low premiums without putting taxpayers on the hook, he argues, because the risk of default is so low.

This is a terrible idea. Once local municipalities get into trouble, as the WSJ notes, they are much more likely to default on bondholders than make the difficult decision of raising taxes or cutting spending. After all, the federal government is going to bail out bondholders anyway.

The federal government probably overpays for everything from sinks to uniforms (or at least pays a higher price than it costs the manufacturer to make), but it's not a good idea for the government to get into the business of making these goods either.

Former Top Bush Official: Publication of CIA Memos "Unbelievable"

A former top official in the Bush administration blasted Obama for releasing classified memos about CIA interrogation techniques and called their release "unbelievable."

"This is totally unnecessary. … Publicizing the techniques does grave damage to our national security by ensuring they can never be used again — even in a ticking-time- bomb scenario where thousands or even millions of American lives are at stake."

“I don't believe Obama would intentionally endanger the nation, so it must be that he thinks either 1. the previous administration, including the CIA professionals who have defended this program, is lying about its importance and effectiveness, or 2. he believes we are no longer really at war and no longer face the kind of grave threat to our national security this program has protected against.”

War? What war? This is a criminal nuisance now.

Somali Pirate To Be Tried in U.S. Courts

A Somali pirate will be tried in New York. Obama seems intent on establishing a new precedent of granting rights previously enjoyed by U.S. citizens to terrorists of all stripes - and paying their legal fees as well...

As was the case with the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, terrorists are now simply criminals and we are going to fight them through the courts. Somewhere out there Bin Laden is applauding.

Obama Administration Violating NSA Eavesdropping Rules

Yesterday we find out that Obama is torturing Gitmo inmates. Today we find out that his NSA is intercepting phone calls and emails illegally. Where are the Democrats who were screaming murder when the Bush adminstration was in charge? Quite ironic.

Repaid TARP Funds to Become Obama Slush Fund?

In a CNBC interview this morning, Democrat Governor Jon Corzine confirmed my worries about the TARP funds when they are repaid by banks. When asked whether banks such as Goldman Sachs should be "allowed" to repay the TARP funds, Corzine said that they should - and it would then allow the government to use the repaid money for other programs such as mortgage modifications (buying homes of delinquent borrowers) and elsewhere.

I'm now torn on whether I want the banks to repay TARP funds. On the one hand, the less government involvement in business, the better (proven time and again from Amtrak to GM). On the other hand, today's TARP program is making good money for taxpayers, so we're actually getting a good deal. Once the funds are returned and they go into the Obama Slush Fund to be used as he sees fit within the extremely broad parameters set by the Treasury, it's going to be a guaranteed money flush to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.

This is going to be another great example of how new government programs, however well intentioned, ultimately morph into giant mounds of waste.

Gitmo Inmate: Abuse Worse Under Obama

Since liberals are so quick to believe everything that terrorists say, they must find the recent comments from former Guantanamo inmate Mohammed al-Gharani bewildering. According to him, he has been suffering abuse from the guards, which only started "about 20 days" before Obama became President and has become an "every day" incident since Obama took over.

Hmm.

Toomey to Challenge Specter

Conservative Republican Pat Toomey will challenge Arlen Specter for his Senate seat in Pennsylvania in 2010. This is a win-win for conservatives. Either Toomey displaces Specter (although they both will have a reasonably tough fight to win), or Specter fights for his life between now and then and becomes more conservative between now and then.

Hopefully conservatives will learn from the Lincoln Chafee disaster in Rhode Island - trying to pick a Republican because he might be liberal enough to win Democrats is not a strategy for success.

Obama Approval Rating at +3

Most of the media are still reporting Obama's approval rating in the 60's. While most of these polls don't differentiate between those who strongly approve of the president and those who kind of approve of the job he's doing, Rasmussen does. And because they do a daily poll, it's fairly easy to track.

According to Rasmussen, Obama's strong approval minus strong disapproval rating is now at +3. This was at +28 the day after his inauguration. Most polls simply look at the total approval minus total disapproval, and if we look at this figure it has gone from +35 to +11 in less than 3 months.

I'll say what I've been saying since his election in November: Obama will never be as popular as he was on inauguration day.

Did Obama Cause More Hijackings?

The media has given Obama credit for the Navy SEAL rescue of an American hostage taken by Somali pirates. Now the pirates have taken four more ships. Given that the media and the Left blamed President Bush for worldwide terrorism, I think it's appropriate to ask the question the media would be asking of any Republican in such a position - is Obama to blame for the hijackings?

Government Hit Job on Conservatives

The DHS put out a 9-page memo on the danger of violent "right wing" groups. No, they didn't mention any group specifically - just "right wing" extremists. Michelle Malkin is outraged.

Could it be a coincidence that the report is released the day before the massive tax day "tea parties," where hundreds of thousands are expected to protest Obama's socialism? The message is clear - even these "tea parties" are nothing more than right wing extremists who hate the country.

This is truly propaganda designed to crush any dissent whatsoever. How quickly the "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" mantra disappeared...

Shocker: Kim Jong Il to Boycott Nuclear Talks

In an astonishing development, Kim Jong Il has decided to boycott the proposed nuclear talks and restart his nuclear plant.

I just can't understand why this is happening - Obama is now president. He told us that the world would love us if we just elected him.

Now Obama Administration Believes Banks Are Great Investment

Apparently the Obama Administration believes so strongly that the bank assets are undervalued (or will be if banks are forced to sell at rock bottom prices that the Public-Private Partnership is pushing) that ordinary investors should be allowed to purchase a piece of the action themselves.

The idea is that these investments, akin to mutual funds that buy stocks and bonds, would give ordinary Americans a chance to profit from the bailouts that are being financed by their tax dollars. But there is another, deeply political motivation as well: to quiet accusations that all of these giant bailouts will benefit only Wall Street plutocrats.

The administration seems to have forgotten (or more likely, are well aware of) one minor detail: the TARP funds given to banks are huge boons to the U.S. treasury with almost zero risk. To suggest that the money given to banks is going to cost the taxpayers a dime is a flat-out lie.

Israeli President: "We'll Strike" Iran

After Iran rejected Obama's calls for negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, Israeli President Peres seemed determined to take matters into Israel's own hands. From Debka:

Sunday, Israeli President Shimon Peres told an Israeli radio interviewer that if President Barack Obama's diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from going nuclear failed, "We'll strike him," referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

President Bush failed to halt Iran's program by succumbing to the European "diplomacy route" and there's no doubt Obama will not succeed in his deterrence efforts either. It now appears that Israel has to stand alone as to whether it wants a nuclear Iran or not.

Vatican Blocks Kennedy as Ambassador to Vatican

The Vatican has blocked (or strongly discouraged, since they can't technically prevent the U.S. from doing so) the appointment of pro-abortion ambassador nominee Caroline Kennedy. Apparently the Obama administration has already floated several nominees, but they are all pro-abortion and thus rejected by the Vatican.

I don't know if the vacancy to the Vatican will ever be filled - I'm not sure Obama knows any pro-life people.

Thickening Arctic Ice

US military data show that over the past 6 months to a year, the Arctic ice has shown significant thickening.

This data corresponds with Harvard astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon's (among several others) research that show a lack of sunspot activity, reflecting a much cooler earth. The worry is that this is the exact type of sun activity that began the Little Ice Age during the 1600s.

It's time to get past this global warming b.s. The climate has been cooling despite the supposed threat of global warming and is frankly a much more dangerous outcome.

Why Aren't Universities Managed by Government?

Paul Kengor at The American Thinker has a thought provoking post about universities and how they have escaped scrutiny from high costs, high salaries and wasteful spending despite receiving billions of dollars from Uncle Sam. With the recent TARP funding, many Americans seem to have no problem with any new law pertaining to the TARP recipients, whether or not the bank wanted or needed the money in the first place. Restrictions on pay? Fine. Restrictions on sales or training events in Las Vegas? Fine. 90% tax rates on bonuses? Fine.

But with universities, it's a different story - even though college professors are perhaps the best-paid hourly employees in the nation.

Here's a question for Senator Chuck Schumer's staff: Have you compared the wage of these folks to the custodians who clean their offices? How about professors in Feminist Studies at Cal-Berkeley or at Columbia Teachers College vs. the stiffs who prepare their food in the cafeteria? The typical tenured professor spends under 10 hours per week in the classroom, and gets at least five full months of paid vacation. No one, from the little library lady to a GM fat-cat, enjoys those perks.

I think the American Thinker nails it on the rationale for the absence of government outrage:

Alas, here's the dirty little secret: Liberal Democrats see no reason to investigate universities. Why? Because colleges serve as the popular front for advancing the left's agenda. They are essentially recruiting grounds for Democratic Party voters and activists.

Our universities are the most monolithic institutions in America. There may be more ideological diversity in the Taliban. Here are few figures:

A 2007 study by sociologists Neil Gross of Harvard and Solon Simmons of George Mason University found that liberal faculty outnumber conservatives by 11-1 among social scientists and 13-1 among humanities professors. That's consistent with a long line of surveys, which tend to find self-identified liberals around 80-90% and conservatives around 10%.

This should be no surprise to conservatives. The Left (and in fact, Leftists throughout history) has long desired control over the educational system to brainwash the young with socialist, politically correct garbage that takes years to flush from the system. Unfortunately, the Left has succeeded in its control, with the liberal National Education Association controlling public education and liberal professors and bureaucrats controlling secondary education.

It's why most Americans don't begin to turn conservative until after they've worked, paid taxes and started a family. Despite all this control, the U.S. is still generally a 50/50 country whose principles tend to lean slightly right (it's why even liberal Presidents have to run as conservatives these days). Imagine if our educational system were actually representative of the nation as a whole? Liberalism would die.

Democrats Pushing Nation to Embrace Socialism

Based on the latest Rasmussen report, Obama and the Democrats have been succeeding at convincing Americans that socialism is better than capitalism. Only 53% of Americans (though still a vast majority of Republicans) believe that capitalism is a better form of economics. From Q and O.

It's really no wonder the results have changed so dramatically since December given that the President and Congress have been demonizing capitalism for everything that has gone wrong. People forget one simple fact - when has the government proven more efficient than the private market at running anything?

Pirates in Trouble: Hillary on the Case

Hillary Clinton is going to put those Somali pirates in their place. They are "nothing more than criminals" and when we gather evidence and bring them to court, they might be prosecuted. She also said that the world needs to come together to stop them. (Perhaps we can talk to Iran and North Korea and ask for their help.)

That should be very reassuring to Americans on the high seas.

Detroit Has More Voters than Residents

Big surprise here in one of the most fraudulent voting cities in America. There are more than 200K more voters than residents here. But of course, it wouldn't be right (it might even be racist) if anyone tried to reconcile the difference or uncover the fraud.

Democrats Praise Castro

The Democrats in the Congressional Black Caucus praised Fidel Castro after meeting with him this week, calling him a "savior" and saying that many Cubans have it better than their own constituents. What else is new?

Obama Climate Advisor Looks To Engineer Climate

From Drudge Report.

The president's new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth's air.

John Holdren told the Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun's rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort.

Before the government screws up the planet permanently, perhaps it should look at the data that show the climate cooling over the past decade and continuing to cool over the next decade. This is completely absurd.

Dictators Want Their Apologies Too

With Obama back from his "I'm sorry the U.S. is so wrong" tour, dictators all around are staking their claims to an Obama apology too. From Gateway Pundit.

While he's at it, we should also probably apologize to the French for the French & Indian War, the Brits for 1776, the Russians for getting such a cheap price on Alaska, the Germans for bombing Dresden, the Mexicans for winning Texas and California (well, sort of)...

Obama Hails Bush's Iraq Success as "Extraordinary Achievment"

OK, so Obama doesn't actually cite Bush by name, but he does so implicitly by calling Iraq an "extraordinary achievement." (Yes, this is despite the fact that he said that the surge was sure to fail back in 2007 and demanded we, ahem, Bush waive the white flag). From the WSJ:

Speaking to GIs in one of Saddam Hussein's old palaces, Mr. Obama ticked off America's accomplishments in Iraq: "From getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections -- you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement."

...Prior to his Iraq visit, the President was asked by a Turkish student whether his Iraq policies were fairly close in substance to George W. Bush's. "Well, just because I was opposed at the outset, it doesn't mean that I don't have now responsibilities to make sure we do things in a responsible fashion," Mr. Obama replied. We'll mark that down as a "yes."

In other words, Obama and the Democrats have no problem seeing their country fail and lose a war if it is the fault of a Republican, but they don't want to be blamed themselves. How patriotic...

Eminem Sleeping with Michelle Obama in New Video

Wow! Anyone see this one yet? Eminem, after a decade long hiatus is back bigger than ever, and even satirizing the Messiah's wife. Michelle, in the video, is depicted either as prostitute or a porn star - either fits. While Eminem is challenging the traditional boundaries, on the other hand, this is just a rapper doing what he's normally doing, spoofing on cops or calling women "Hos" or whatever. I'm sure hollywood, the media, and the like can understand this. I'm sure we won't hear anything from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or other actors or politicians.

RELAX! I'm just making this up. The video does not depict Michelle Obama in this way. Nor does he go after the Obama daughters. It's actually Sarah Palin. So that's ok. But imagine if it were Michelle Obama. Would there be outrage? I'll let you decide.

Kudos to Greg Gutfeld for picking up the story on Redeye on Fox News. One comment which I agree with (and I'm paraphrasing a little): If he's really looking for shock value, picking Sarah Palin is a poor choice. Picking on a conservative politican? C'mon - been there, done that. Going after Michelle would really have achieved shock value, but that would require real "guts" which Eminem obviously doesn't have.

New Urban Vehicle from GM and Segway

Segway and GM are introducing a new "urban vehicle," which they say will help reduce oil, reduce emissions, etc.

Where are these vehicles supposed to be driven? Anyone who drives to work understands how annoying it is to drive behind a bicycle commuter who takes up a car lane. Second, what's going to happen if this gets in an accident with an SUV? Looks like an interesting idea, but I hope they don't start showing up on the roads anytime soon.

Judge Orders Probe of Ted Stevens Prosecutors

Judge Emmet Smith has ordered a review of the prosecutors in the Ted Stevens trial for possible criminal charges.

"In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in the opening moments of a hearing.

This is why Bill Clinton had Janet Reno clean house in the Justice Department the day he entered office in 1993. There are simply too many career holdovers that want to politicize everything that enters the department. President Bush finally woke up and fired a few of the most political lawyers, but it was too little, too late. And of course, Alberto Gonzales was excoriated by grandstanding Congressmen for doing so.

Unfortunately for Stevens, he's out of his job due to the indictments and there's no way to get his reputation (or job) back.

*Update*
This is pretty damning:

Sullivan appointed Washington attorney Henry Schuelke as special prosecutor to investigate the government prosecutors for possible criminal contempt charges. Sullivan said the matter was too serious to be handled internally by the Justice Department, which, he said, took too long to investigate misconduct allegations.

The judge doesn't trust the Justice Department to handle this itself.

Save the Children: Outlaw Peanuts

Liberals in Madison, Wisconsin want to outlaw peanuts because of the potential for health issues for those who have peanut allergies. To put it in perspective, about 100 people per year die of peanut allergies. From Red State.

Financial Times: US To Allow Nuclear Iran?

The Finanical Times postulates that the U.S. may cede to Iran's desire to become a nuclear power. I'm sure that's reassuring to the Middle East.

Perhaps this is what Joe Biden was thinking when he said that there would soon be a "test" at which Obama would seemingly make the wrong choice and need our support...

$13 Billion for ACORN

Obama's favorite thug group responsible for voter fraud and intimidation, appears to be one of the huge recipients of Obama's new policies. ACORN is eligible for up to $13 billion in funding. From Doug Ross.

Obama Most Divisive in History

According to Pew Research, Obama is the most divisive, partisan President in recent history. Even the media can't go along with the "post-partisan" canard any more.

Obama's Naivete

A world without nukes? It's of course a nice idea in principle, just as is communism, if communism could exist without killing 100 million people as it did during the 20th century.

I don't think Obama has ever played poker, because he's already showed the world his entire hand. I don't even think he's studied recent history, because if he had, he would know what happened when Jimmy Carter decided to unilaterally disarm nukes or when he decided unilaterally to pull out of South Korea. He left the North Koreans and Russians licking their chops until he later decided to support South Korea again. Nor does Obama know a thing about game theory.

The world cannot even control one country, Iran, from acquiring nukes. Well, they can, but they choose to believe that the reason Iran is building nukes is because of the strong Iranian Green Party Movement. About the only one who believes them is Obama. How, if they choose not to control one country, can they control the whole world? The only country Obama will attempt to control is the United States. I hope this one doesn't blow up in his face - no pun intended.

TARP Oversight Chair: Replace All Bank Management Teams

Elizabeth Warren, the chair of the TARP oversight funds, is lobbying to get the management teams of every single TARP-recipient bank removed. (Once again, never mind that many of the TARP recipients never wanted the funds, never needed the funds, and now are not even allowed to repay the funds.)

This is a radical and stunning, but not unexpected development from this administration and from Warren in particular. The goal here is government control of the entire financial sector to further Far Left policies, just as the government did with GM. Subservient, inefficient, government lapdogs for the banking industry is precisely what will send this country into a depression.

How this radical woman ever became TARP chair is beyond me. As longtime financial industry analyst Tom Brown pointed out back in December, Warren has called the entire lending industry a “giant credit machine that wants to eat families alive.”

Obama's World Without Nukes

After North Korea launched a long-range missile, Obama responded by calling for a "world without nuclear weapons" and that the U.S. should lead the way.

I'm sure Russia, China, North Korea and Iran will be right behind us. North Korea must be scared stiff...

Obama Bows to Saudia King

Upon meeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Obama bowed deeply, as opposed to a slight head nod upon meeting the Queen of England. It's already apparent that Obama has a bit of personal contempt for England because of their treatment of Kenyans during the colonial period.

The difference in bows is a bit strange, but at least it's better than Obama bending over grabbing his ankles and presenting himself to Abdullah the way some animals do when they're mating.

Obama: TARP Repayment Not Allowed

The WSJ argues that banks that are well capitalized and have offered to repay TARP funds are not being allowed to do so due to the administration's desire to control the banks as they are doing with GM.

Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic.

Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with "adverse" consequences if its chairman persists. That's politics talking, not economics.

...After 35 years in America, I never thought I would see this. I still can't quite believe we will sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our economy over to government.

NY Governor: Binghamton Shooting "Worst Tragedy in History of State"

NY Democrat Gov. Paterson said that the recent killings were the "worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of the state."

Hmmm...I seem to remember something back in September 2001 - can't quite recall the details...

The Guardian Ridicules Obama's Oratory Skills

The UK newspapers are much more accurate in their reporting of Obama than those in the U.S., mainly because U.S. journalists are invested in Obama's presidency. After a question from Nick Robinson of the BBC, Obama stutters his way through a nonsensical answer. And the Guardian didn't miss it.

U.S. journalists still refuse to acknowledge it, but Obama is on par or worse than 'W' without a teleprompter.

Fannie, Freddie Bonuses to Total $210 Million

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are planning to pay out $210 million in retention bonuses to employees to incentivize them to stay in their jobs.

I wonder if Obama will get his friends at ACORN to start threatening Fannie and Freddie's employees.

IMF, World Bank to Receive $1 Trillion+

The G20 announced that the IMF and the World Bank will receive over $1 trillion to play with - maybe because they have been oh-so-successful when spending money in the past. Seriously, these amounts make it seem like we're playing with Monopoly money...and with all the printing of new dollars, it seems that it's also what it's going to be worth in the future.

Obama's Aunt Zeituni: Taxpayer Dollars Hard at Work

Obama's Aunt Zeituni is an illegal alien who will continue to receive at least another year's worth of free public housing, welfare and health care, as her trial has been delayed until 2010.

Maybe Obama needs to rethink that "what you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me" biblical passage that he claims to love so much.

Netanyahu: U.S. or Israel Must Stop Iran

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu said that the U.S. needs to help prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but if it fails to do so, Israel will.

The primary imperative for the United States and President Barack Obama is to put an end to Iran’s nuclear race, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said before his swearing-in Tuesday, adding that if the US failed to do so Israel might be forced to resort to a military strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear installations.

Sorry Ben, but don't count on anything from the U.S.

How Long Until Democrats Steal NY 20 Seat?

It appears that prior to the counting of several thousand absentee ballots in the 20th district of New York, the Democrat and Republican are in a dead heat in the special election held today. This despite strong endorsements from Obama and Biden to the Democrat candidate.

The recount will begin in two weeks. I guarantee that the Democrat lawyers and ACORN friends will find more ballots in the trunks of their cars to steal the election.

G20 Demonstrations: Much Ado About Nothing?

I'm sure there will be some exceptions to the rule, but I found the whole thing rather boring. I walked down to Bank Station today and found the whole thing closer to a carnival than a mass protest. There were a few signs and some Halloween type masks and some music going on, but all told, I saw about 4,000-5000 people around the square - not too densely packed either. Certainly didn't fear for my life or anything like you'd hear out of the media.

I did see on Sky News that a few protesters broke some windows at a local RBS branch, but really, it seemed quite calm and certainly over-hyped. I can't speak to the protests which took place at the American Embassy, but the major one was at Bank Station and not much happened.

Taliban Tells Obama Off

Obama and Hillary Clinton have come up with an ingenious idea of "reaching out to moderate Taliban." The Taliban called the idea "lunatic" and said they'll only end the war when US and other foreign troops leave.

Call me crazy, but didn't Jimmy Carter try to "reach out" to the Soviet Union. What happened? They invaded Afghanistan within 3 months.

By extending the olive branch, and freeing them from Gitmo, all Obama is doing is gaining a lot of disrespect.

Congressional Bonuses and Pay at All-time Highs

You would never know that deficits are at record levels or that Congressional approval ratings hover under the Mendoza line, certainly not by looking at record Congressional pay last year. Oh, but I'm sure we're getting great value for our money...

Charges Dropped Against Sen. Stevens

The Justice Department dropped charges against Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens after prosecutorial misconduct. Whether he was guilty or not is open to debate, but since he already lost his Senate seat from the indictment, I suppose it's a moot point. And if I were a betting man, there are many more people in Congress who should share the same fate.

Obama's Energy Policy: No Drilling

With a quiet signing of a new environmental bill that designates over 2 million resource-rich acres as off limits to oil and gas drilling, it's clear where our energy policy is going - no energy independence and more dependence on foreign oil. (Sorry, but ask any person involved in the solar and wind business and you will learn just how insignificant the total percentage of energy could actually come from these sources.)

Give Obama credit - now that he's the planner-in-chief for GM and he knows people don't want to buy their rollerskates with engines, he's going to force the price of gas sky-high to incentivize people to buy them. And of course, when it happens and people start complaining about high gas prices, it will be time to blame the oil companies again.

Obama and Security: A Contradiction

I was watching BBC this morning, before the G20 summit. They spoke about how security has never been tighter for Obama. He has 200 secret security agents protecting him, his own helicopters, a fleet of helicopters used as decoys; he has had a special fleet of cars shipped over for he and his staff as well. They spoke about how the security is unprecedented because he's the first black president and the first among any of the westernized countries, and that there are many people who would be looking to "take a shot" at him. In doing so, the media are almost giving Obama hero-like status, because just to take one step outside of his house is just so incredibly brave especially when there are so many people trying to hurt him.

At the same time, they spoke about President Obama's immense popularity, and his 80% approval ratings in Europe and especially outside of the United States.

Is there a small contradiction here? The most popular man in the history of the world has the greatest security times 7. Why is this necessary if everyone loves him? Or is the media implying in this that most people are racist and that's why this is necessary. Maybe it's that most people who don't have racist pastors for 20 years are mostly racist. Who knows, but they seem to make a big deal out of it.

I believe the president should be protected as fully as he can be at all times, but what's interesting to me is the coverage this is given, in comparison with GW Bush.

GW Bush was a hated man in Europe and no one ever made a big deal about the security, maybe because GW never made a big deal of it. With GW Bush, peace protesters wanted him dead, even nobel peace prize winners wanted him to die (that wacko from ireland - yep - google it).

Everyone's used to the double standard the media has for democrats versus republicans. This is just another example.