Geithner: We Are "Going To Be" Concerned About Deficits

In an effort to pretend that Obama is concerned about deficits, Timmy Geithner said the following:

“No one is going to be more concerned about future deficits than we are."

Tell me why they are not concerned today but instead they are "going to be" concerned at some point in the future. A poor choice of words or a tricky way of telling the truth? I don't have any doubt that it's the latter.

Pravda: American Marxism "Happening with Breath Taking Speed"

It's a sorry state of affairs when the Pravda says that the U.S. is descending into Marxism with breathtaking speed.

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Ouch. If there ever was a wake up call to Americans, this is it. Obama will completely revolutionize the U.S. in a second term if there were to be one.

Democrat Chrysler Dealers OK; GOP Not So Lucky

Gateway Pundit has an update on Dealergate. It appears that, of the Chrysler dealerships that were closed, approximately 99% of political donations were to the GOP. In other words, you had to be absolutely horrendous to be closed if you donated to Democrats.

I don't think Americans would like what's going on here if the story were to get out.

Would Sotomayor Even Make Cut as Regular Juror?

Andy McCarthy at National Review has an excellent point. Based on Sotomayor's public statements about her superior judgment as a Latina, she probably would not even be able to qualify as a regular juror.

Obama OKs Black Panther Voter Intimidation

Career Justice Department officials who filed a civil complaint against members of the Black Panther Party for wielding nightsticks and using racial slurs to prevent whites from entering voting booths were told by Obama's political appointees to drop the case.

Career lawyers pursued the case for months, including obtaining an affidavit from a prominent 1960s civil rights activist who witnessed the confrontation and described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation" that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago.

Alas, Obama believes this is justice. Intimidation only works against minorities. Chicago thuggery? You decide.

Feds Screw Banks One More Time

The Fed has shifted the goalposts yet again on the banks - this time just in the last couple weeks, which means that banks are going to have to raise even more capital on top of the useless excess capital they just finished raising. As financial services analyst Tom Brown explains,

If what the (Wall Street) Journal is reporting is true, the Fed has succeeded in making a truly asinine, costly regulatory process even more asinine and costly than it was before. Which is saying something.

...First of all, if history is any guide, regulators’ loss assumptions for the next two years will end up being way too high and its estimated PPNR for the banks way too low. Yet despite these overly conservative assumptions, regulators are still requiring that banks build capital to levels that are materially in excess of what the Fed says it believes constitute “well-capitalized.” Don’t ask me why the government keeps insisting on moving goalposts. The stress test is best understood if you simply assume that everything the government does is irrational, or soon will be. The whole idea behind the stress test, and banks’ post-test action plans, has never made sense. This latest change, if true, makes the process crazier than ever.

Governments are not successful at running businesses - in any way, shape or form. Very few people in the government, including Obama, have any clue whatsoever what makes the economy work. And somehow we are supposed to be comfortable handing over even more of our economy to the government?

US Dollar Plummetting: Does Obama Know Why?

The dollar is cracking (down 10% over last month) and will continue to do so as long as Obama keeps his asinine budget plans. Here's the problem: the revenues they're taking in are $3.6 trillion, but Obama's spending plans call for $5.4 trillion in spend. Thus a $1.8 trillion deficit.

A year ago, Obama criticized Bush for excessive spending, this is when the deficit was barely noticeable:

We’re like that cousin who always comes over and never seems to have a job. You know that guy who always has new rims on his car.

Maybe Obama hasn't checked lately but his car seems to have a souped-up engine, a new paint job, new rims, and a Kool-glo around the license plate. For our country's sake, I wish he were out of a job.

Coke Can Cause Paralysis? You decide

Greek researchers have determined that drinking too much cola can cause hypokalemia which can cause paralysis in our muscles. Really?

First of all, I don't doubt what they found in this study, that two women, one who drank 3 liters/day, and another, who drank 7 liters/day experienced muscle fatigue after months of drinking these high levels of cola.

But I've gotta question a couple of things here. First whoever has time to drink 7 liters/day of anything has to be sitting on their behind a lot - this is going to cause fatigue. Second, too much excess in anything is probably bad for you. For example, everyone knows that eating fruits and vegetables are good for you right? Yes, but eating too much may not be. According to Dr. Ben Kim:

I have not met a single strict fruitarian of more than two years who didn't have significant health challenges. The most common challenges are dental decay, osteoporosis, wasting of muscle tissue, inability to maintain a healthy weight, chronic fatigue, skin problems, thinning hair, weakening nails, and excessive irritability.

The last problem I have in this study is that coke has been around for over a hundred years. There are literally billions of examples of case studies that says drinking a coke is just fine. Just look around you. Now here's this one Greek study that found that two women got sick after drinking coke all day long, and we're supposed to take it seriously?

Next they'll find that drinking a case of beer/day is bad for you.

Gov Crist Breaks Tax Pledge

It's stories like this one about GOP Gov. Charlie Crist that make me cringe. It's tax-raising Republicans like Crist and Schwarzenegger who make the GOP unpopular - Democrats are expected to do stuff like this, but with some of the "favorite son," "moderate" Republicans, it's hard to tell the difference. This is why no one should listen to those who advoctate Crist-like "moderation."

Shocker: NPR Hates The Goode Family

Unsurprisingly, NPR hated The Goode Family, which premiered last night on ABC. I thought it was funny and could be absolutely hilarious with just a bit of refinement.

It seems the real problem is that it shows the pure comedy of many liberal policies. Given that liberals don't find their own policies that amusing, it's not surprising they might be offended.

Update on Chrysler Dealers

Gateway Pundit has an update on the political thuggery that was involved in the Chrysler dealership closings. As I said before, I thought this was only possible in Stalinist Russia, not in the U.S.

Pelosi: Government to Review "Every Aspect of Our Lives?"

Give Nancy Pelosi credit - she is telling us exactly what her intentions are. On speaking about the environment, she said the following:

"We have so much room for improvement," she said. "Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory ... of how we are taking responsibility."

Take that in slowly...every aspect of our lives...

10-Year Bond Yield a Bad Omen?

The WSJ explains that investors are now demanding higher yields on U.S. Treasuries.

Treasury yields leapt again yesterday at the long end, with the 10-year note climbing above 3.7%, its highest close since November. Treasury yields had stayed low, and the dollar had remained strong, as long as investors were looking for the safest financial port amid the post-September panic. But as risk aversion subsides, and investors return to corporate bonds and other assets, investors are now calculating the risks of renewed dollar inflation.

They have cause to be worried, given Washington's astonishing bet on fiscal and monetary reflation. The Obama Administration's epic spending spree means the Treasury will have to float trillions of dollars in new debt in the next two or three years alone. Meanwhile, the Fed has gone beyond cutting rates to directly purchasing such financial assets as mortgage-backed securities, as well as directly monetizing federal debt by buying Treasurys for the first time in half a century.

Everyone knows about supply and demand - if you supply a ton of it, prices go down. This is going to happen to treasuries, meaning that yields will spike. (If you're keeping track, the 10 year is up 150 basis points year-to-date). The only thing that can prevent it is some fiscal discipline in Washington. And with Democrats intending to spend trillions of dollars on their favorite social welfare programs, higher yields are a near certainty. I just hope people wake up to this fact before we hit double digit interest rates.

Obama Congratulates Self; Compares to FDR

Obama is ready for his legacy; just put him down next to FDR already. Or so he tells us.

"I would put these first four months up against any prior administration since FDR," Obama said. "We didn't ask for the challenges that we face, but we don't shrink from them either."

"If you look in the dictionary under 'grace under fire,' it will say Barack Obama," he said.

Are you kidding?!? This is the president writing his own narcissistic legacy already?

Two Thumbs Up for The Goode Family

I'm watching The Goode Family on ABC right now and it is pretty funny - it covers just about every liberal issue under the sun. The WSJ reviewed it this morning here.

Obama Still Claims Job Creation

According to Obama, he "created or saved" 150,000 jobs. He did create half that many, but unfortunately, they are all government workers. And it only cost $1 trillion so far. From Red State.

Exxon CEO: Non-Oil Based Fuels 100 Years Away

Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said that, despite the government's desires, there are simply no viable fuel alternatives for the vast majority of our energy for decades - or even 100 years.

But heck, who knows better - the CEO of the largest oil company in the U.S. or Obama?

Know What?: Cheney's Winning

There's been a lot of back and forth between Dick Cheney and Barack Obama. A lot of people are wondering: why is Cheney speaking out against our current president? Why doesn't he just go away? Everyone knows he's unpopular.

Unpopular yes. But effective. As Pat Buchanon points out, Dick Cheney is actually winning this battle against the ever popular Barack Obama.

Want proof? Look at Pelosi's plummeting approval rating. Ever since she opened up her mouth about water boarding, this has happened. And all because one man decided to challenge her publicly. Cheney:1 Pelosi:0.

Want more? Look at the US Senate, dominated by democrats. This group just voted 90 to 6 to go against Barack Obama and decline his funding to close Guantanamo. To close Guantanamo! Cheney:1 Obama:0.

I don't think Cheney cares very much about his own popularity. But he does care about the safety of America. And polls show that most Americans agree with him.

So before you go tell Cheney to shut his mouth: don't you actually agree with him? You're not alone. A majority of Americans do.

Obama Considering a Host of New Taxes

Hmmm. If you're interested read on. I guess his campaign promise was pretty close. Instead of taxing the top 5%, it might be the top 95%. Oh well - he inherited it - ya, ya, we know.

Sounds like most of us will be working for the man in a few months. He's is one step closer to uniting the country.

Mortgage Modification Problems

The genesis of the financial crisis was caused by people getting mortgages who should not have received them. Now, the WSJ explains, modifications for these people brought on by political pressure is resulting in much worse than expected re-defaults.

Fitch found that a conservative projection was that between 65% and 75% of modified subprime loans will fall delinquent by 60 days or more within 12 months of having been modified to keep the borrowers in their homes. This is an even worse result than previous reports by federal regulators. Even loans whose principal was reduced by as much as 20% were still redefaulting in a range of 30% to 40% after 12 months.

This study has to come as a blow to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which has invested a great deal of political capital in the modification thesis. It also means that to the extent that public money has guaranteed any of these loan modifications, the taxpayer will be an even bigger loser.

The government wrong on its projections? Shocking...but I'm sure they'll be right next time with their health care and cap-and-tax systems.

Chrysler Shenanigans?

Gateway Pundit has an interesting post on some of the Chrysler dealers that are being closed vs. those that are allowed to stay open. The results are being compiled and analyzed for statistical significance, but would it surprise anyone if those that were allowed to stay open were largely Democrat donors and those that were taken away were GOP donors?

Elections sure do have consequences (probably the same thing that Germans in the 1930s were saying)...

Racism Causes Obesity in Blacks

Anyone see this crazy study? At Boston University they studied weight trends among black women and found that some of the women had gained more weight than others. Who's to blame? You guessed it. White people. The study showed that those who gained the most weight said they had been discriminated against the most. Hmmmm.

Yvette Cozier, the doctor in charge of this survey said she was interested in knowing if factors other than diet and exercise could explain why black women are heavier than white women. According to Yvette:

It is useful for us in America to just understand that racism hasn't gone away. It's gotten better, but it's still here.

Imagine what Cozier might have said if Obama had lost. To say that obesity is caused by racism would mean that a majority, or at least a large percentage of Americans are racist. I find this insulting. But some people make a living on racist propaganda, and if they found out tomorrow that racism didn't exist, their whole way of life would dry up.

Obama Praised Burris Who Offered Bribe for Senate Seat

First long-time Obama buddy Blagojevich tried to sell his senate seat for money. But just as corrupt is Obama buddy, (now Senator) Roland Burris, who offered the bribe in the first place. He offered to write a check! And the FBI have this on tape. First I'll ask, does anyone remember when Obama offered his support to his friend Burris during the whole corrupt process? Now it's definite that Burris is just as guilty as Blagojevich. Will Obama say anything? After all, this is the senate, and this is his former seat, where he knew and was friends with all the players involved.

After all that has come out of this, I'm beginning to wonder if Obama is actually clean in this whole affair. His shady connections suggest that he might not be.

Sotomayor: Judges Make Policy

Obama has chosen his new Supreme Court justice - Sonya Sotomayor, who believes strongly that it is the judges that make law and policy in this country.

A true radical for the courts, but of course, any opposition by Republicans will be explained as a hatred of hispanics and women.

*Update*
Human Events has two important points about Sotomayor: 1) she believes in racism, as long as we discriminate against whites; and 2) rather than relying on law, she believes that judges need to "consider their experiences as women and people of color" to help make decisions. (The Constitution appears to be an arbitrary nuisance.)

Maryland's Millionaires Disappear

The WSJ notes that since the state of Maryland imposed its new millionaire tax last year, one-third of all millionaires in the state have disappeared. No doubt a good part of that is economic related, but many have also picked up and left the state.

Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."

One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.

All of this means that the burden of paying for bloated government in Annapolis will fall on the middle class. Thanks to the futility of soaking the rich, these working families will now pay Mr. O'Malley's "fair share."

Let it be a lesson to all governments who want to dictate higher taxes for a select group of citizens.

NY Starbucks Bombed

A New York City Starbucks was bombed this morning in a blast similar to those at the British and Mexican consulates recently. Although no leads have been mentioned in the media, there has been a lot of anti-capitalist anger at Starbucks both for its global reach and its purported (though unsubstantiated) claims of donations to Israeli causes.

Perhaps DHS needs to revise its warning to be on the look out for "Left-wing extremists" - people like Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright and the like...

Netanyahu to Obama: Screw You; We're Building

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu defied Obama's demand to stop building settlements by saying thanks but no thanks. I think Israel knows it's not going to get any help from Obama, who insists on negotiating with Hamas. Netanyahu is also smart enough to know that if he wants to save his country from armageddon, it needs to strike Iran very soon - without the help of the U.S.

Obama: Upholding Values Will Protect Us From Terrorists

It appears that "upholding our values" is enough to keep terrorists from killing us. I'm still not sure what values America didn't uphold. Is he referring to Jimmy Carter with the Beirut bombing? Or perhaps Bill Clinton with the U.S.S. Cole Bombing or the African bombings or the 1993 World Trade Center attack?

Obama Belittles Supreme Court

As pointed out by Jay Nordlinger, Obama took a step that no president in recent memory has taken by belittling the Supreme Court and discounting their decisions because they were appointed by Republicans.

“The Supreme Court that invalidated the system of prosecution at Guantanamo in 2006 was overwhelmingly appointed by Republican presidents.”

Since when did that matter? Is he saying that the justices are nothing more than partisan, political hacks like himself and therefore, their decisions shouldn't be valid? Nordlinger continues:

I don’t remember a president’s talking this way: about the party affiliations of presidents who appointed Supreme Court justices. I don’t recall a president’s describing a Court that way. Been following politics for a while. And I’ve never heard an important presidential national-security speech that sounded so much like a campaign speech — even in the midst of an actual campaign.

Obama constantly criticizes the Bush Administration - it is a daily event. Very rarely has Bush ever criticized previous administrations for their decisions, nor has Clinton. But Obama brings a new level of partisan hatred to the White House - despises Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and everything about them. And now he's saying that the Supreme Court's decisions are also not important because they were appointed by Republicans.

What a uniter!

The U.S. Did Not Elect This President Obama

As the U.S. is on the verge of losing its AAA rating and the dollar on the precipice of collapse, I can't help but think that this Barack Obama was not elected. Instead, it was the facade of the tax-cutting, responsible government Obama that was elected president. Of course, many of us knew that it was just a facade, but no matter - he fooled enough people.

Does anyone really think Obama could win if he campaigned on ballooning the size of government, creating a deficit so large that it would add another $25,000 in debt for every man, woman and child and that even after this debt, the economy would still be in shambles - as well as increasing taxes on everyone and everything, nationalizing the financial industry and the health care system and apologizing to the entire world for the evils of the U.S. both past and present?

I don't think so.

Bush's Gitmo Vindication

Despite all his empty rhetoric, Obama has come to realize what Bush knew all along - the Guantanamo terrorists are very dangerous and it will be nearly impossible to transfer them into the U.S. or to any foreign country, none of whom will accept them. From the WSJ:

Yet for all of his attacks on the Bush Administration, which he accused of making "decisions based upon fear rather than foresight," Mr. Obama stuck with his predecessor's support for military commissions, adding some procedural bells and whistles as political cover to justify his past opposition. For the record: Both the left and right, from the ACLU to Dick Cheney, now agree that the President has all but embraced the Bush policy.

Mr. Obama also pledged to release at least 50 detainees to other countries -- about one-tenth the number released under President Bush -- and added that the Administration was in "ongoing discussions" to transfer them. Good luck with that: The Europeans who were so robustly against Gitmo in the Bush years have suddenly discovered its detainees are dangerous. Meanwhile, the countries that might take them, such as Yemen, can't be trusted to prevent them from returning to the battlefield, where they can kill Americans again.

...Mr. Obama's most remarkable Gitmo sleight-of-hand was on the matter of how to handle the hard cases, those who Mr. Obama said "cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people." After acknowledging this was "the toughest issue we will face" and pledging that he would not "release individuals who endanger the American people," the President proposed . . . well, he didn't really say what he'd do, except that whatever it is must be "defensible and lawful." No wonder the ACLU is in a tizzy.

Mr. Obama called all of this a "mess" that he had inherited, but in truth the mess is of his own haphazard design. He's the one who announced the end of Guantanamo without any plan for what to do with, or where to put, KSM and other killers. Now he's found that his erstwhile allies in Congress and Europe want nothing to do with them. Tell us again why Gitmo should be closed?

Undersecretary of Defense: Gitmo Terrorists Coming to the U.S.

Michele Flournoy, Obama's new Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, defied the Congress yesterday by saying that the terrorists at Gitmo will be coming to the U.S., whether they like it or not. Should be a crowd pleaser if Obama mentions that in his speech today. From Red State.

Chrysler Bankruptcy Hurt Retired Teachers, Police

As the WSJ explains, it appears that Obama crossed the Rubicon with the Chrysler bankruptcy by disregarding fundamental contracts of secured creditors. As a result, many pension funds such as the Indiana State Police Fund, lost millions of dollars.

Far from being speculators, these funds represent retired public employees, including cops and teachers. The funds paid a premium to buy "secured" status, only to discover that they were politically outranked by the United Auto Workers in the White House hierarchy.

"In the past, to be 'secured' meant an investor was 'first in line' in the event of a bankruptcy and 'non-secured' creditors would receive value after secured-creditors were paid," Mr. Mourdock says. "In the Chrysler bankruptcy, however, secured creditors received $.29 on the dollar even as non-secured creditors received higher values and ended up with a 55% ownership of the new company, which is fundamentally wrong and a dangerous precedent to the capital markets."

We've worried that the Chrysler sandbagging would discourage bond investment. And, sure enough, Mr. Mourdock says that from now on no funds under his control will invest in the secured debt of "General Motors, other manufacturing companies, or those insurance companies who have or will be receiving bailout funds." Given the recent actions by the feds, he adds, "the risk is too great for any prudent investor to accept."

California Soundly Defeats Ballot Initiatives to Raise Taxes

It's a bit late in the day, but in case you haven't heard, California shot down all five ballot measures designed to raise taxes and/or increase spending. The only measure that passed was to limit government pay if there was no balanced budget.

Hmm. According to Democrats (and those select Colin Powells), the country wants higher taxes and more spending. No wonder Obama campaigned falsely on cutting taxes.

Dems Want Bailout of Minority Broadcasters

Another day, another desired bailout - this time of minority-owned broadcasters. According to House Majority Whip James Clyburn (SC),

“While many jobs are at stake, a more important principle — the government’s fundamental interest in promoting a diversity of voices, including service to underserved communities — is severely threatened.”

Forget for a second that the diversity angle is a canard because the message at most of these stations is the same message delivered every day at CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, et. al. More importantly, every broadcaster in the country (except for Rush Limbaugh) is in serious financial trouble because of an advertising slowdown. But I suppose Obama is in the mode of selecting winners and losers in our economy and the Democrat message seems to be that you will be rescued only if your skin is a certain color.

Chrysler Dealers Being Taken; Given to Others

This is very troubling. Many Chrysler dealers are having their dealerships taken from them with no compensation in return and then given to others at no cost.

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as “new,” nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately 0,000. [sic]) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory.

Hard to believe this can happen in America.

Dimon Criticizes TARP

Courtesy of bankstocks.com, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan had some words about TARP yesterday. In fact, if you read what Dimon has said about it in recent months, he has had some criticism, but he basically deemed it necessary for the sake of our banking system. Thus, he credits government with acting

bravely and boldly in a very difficult environment.

Fair enough, but he goes on to criticize all of Obama's requirements that came with TARP. Some have criticized the executive comp requirement especially for a bank like JP Morgan who never needed the money anyway. Dimon went on to talk about the limits on hiring that Obama's administration has set for foreign H1-B workers. (Now banks are not allowed to hire foreigners). Dimon called this a:

complete and utter disgrace.

USA open to skilled foreigners? Think again. Obamanomics at its best.

The New Thug Community Organizers

Red State summarizes the article from the WSJ this morning about Bruce Marks and his community organizing / agitation ways to get banks to submit to his demands on mortgage relief. And yes, he agrees that it is outright "terrorizing of bankers."

Obama's Smokescreen Savings on Nationalizing Student Loans

Obama and his Democrats will take up the topic of nationalizing the student loan industry today. They claim that they will "save taxpayers" $94 billion by "reducing subsidies" paid to private lenders. This claim is yet another lie in the pantheon of falsehoods coming from this administration. From DowJones Newswires:

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the policy change could save taxpayers $94 billion over the next decade. That money would then be reinvested in federal grants for lower-income students to help offset the cost of going to college.

OK, so the "savings" will be redistributed to those the government deems worthy. But the interesting thing is that these savings are actually the interest income on the loans paid to the lenders for taking the risk of the loan. It's the lender's profit - not subsidies. If we characterize this as savings, then the federal government could "save" $5 trillion if it nationalizes the entire financial industry. Better yet, if it nationalizes the entire economy, we could "save" even more. The problem here is obvious - a new entitlement to Obama's Chosen People and if and when the loans go bad, we taxpayers get screwed. Sounds like another deal we can't refuse...

Pro Choice? Only For Babies, Not Automobiles

Another freedom stolen by Obama with the passage of extremely restrictive, limiting auto mileage rules. According to the AP:

Some soccer moms will have to give up hulking SUVs. Carpenters will still haul materials around in pickup trucks, but they will cost more. Nearly everybody else will drive smaller cars, and more of them will run on electricity. The higher mileage and emissions standards set by the Obama administration on Tuesday, which begin to take effect in 2012 and are to be achieved by 2016, will transform the American car and truck fleet.

I have to hand it to Obama - he is transforming the country from his view of an evil, selfish, capitalist empire to something that suits his beliefs - a weak, totalitarian, bloated welfare state with limited freedoms for the individual citizen. ObamaLand.

Harry Reid in Trouble

Wow - if the election were held today, Democrat Senator Harry Reid would lose in a huge landslide. Can't be reassuring to the most powerful Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

But it's still early - and let's face it - there are a lot of ways to win (or steal) an election.

Obama to Punish Good Credit

Those that pay their bills on time should normally rewarded, and historically that has been the case, at least in the world of credit cards. But now under the Obama administration: times they are a changin:

Now Congress is moving to limit the penalties on riskier borrowers, who have become a prime source of billions of dollars in fee revenue for the industry. And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

Anyone ever hear of brain food in the white house?

Obama's Right - Let's Find Common Ground on Abortion

One thing that Obama is good at is political rhetoric. In his Notre Dame speech, Obama stressed finding the "common ground" on abortion. But as Greg Johnson points out, there is little common ground here...unless, of course, he means that we should only kill one out of every two babies instead of every one. I find it ironic that Obama also stressed the greatness and the righteousness of the Civil Rights movement in the country, while he denies the most basic civil right to a baby that was born by mistake.

If The Media Doesn't Report a Crime, Is it Still a Crime?

The NY Times willfully withheld a story of constant illegal coordination between the fraudulent ACORN and the Obama leading up to last year's election. Admittedly, the Times withheld the story out of fear that it would hurt Democrats.

If this were any credible news organization, maybe it would make sense to make it an issue, but let's be serious. The NY Times ceased being anything but an arm of the Democrat party a long time ago. We have also seen the same sweeping under the rug from just about every news organization in the country during the election. If anyone reported the truth about Obama, he would have lost in a landslide.

Obama: More Gullible Than Carter on Iran

Obama says he expects a response from Iran on his "diplomatic outreach" related to halting its nuclear program by the end of the year.

And no, this is not a joke - or it's not intended to be one anyway.

ND's Board of Trustees' Obama Connections

Frank Walker points out how Obama was invited to Notre Dame to give a speech. In short, Notre Dame has become just like every other university in the country - a school run by a liberal Board of Trustees (many with very close ties to Obama) that are frankly at direct odds with the teaching of the university's principles.

In conclusion, a review of the Board of Trustees at Notre Dame does NOT reveal a particularly strong Catholic identity. There are board members whose actions and associations put them in a position directly at odds with Church teaching and in line with the Obama administration. At the Notre Dame board we see a group of well-connected well-heeled individuals from all sectors of society, and at the most prominent levels.

One might rightfully ask why these trustees aren't removed if they are at odds with the university's ideals. Unfortunately, as many schools have found out (most prominently at Dartmouth among bloggers), it is not always easy for trustees to be ousted as it's not exactly a democratic process.

Biden Offers Info On VP Secret Bunker

Joe Biden decided to volunteer the location of the VP's secret bunker. How's that for competence in a VP?

High Tax States Losing the Rich

With Obama's class warfare rhetoric at a fever pitch, some states are starting to take their ques to hike taxes on their wealthiest and most productive citizens. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore explain in the WSJ why "soaking the rich" does not work because the wealthy are either leaving high tax states or simply reducing their incomes to move into lower brackets.

Updating some research from Richard Vedder of Ohio University, we found that from 1998 to 2007, more than 1,100 people every day including Sundays and holidays moved from the nine highest income-tax states such as California, New Jersey, New York and Ohio and relocated mostly to the nine tax-haven states with no income tax, including Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire and Texas. We also found that over these same years the no-income tax states created 89% more jobs and had 32% faster personal income growth than their high-tax counterparts.

Did the greater prosperity in low-tax states happen by chance? Is it coincidence that the two highest tax-rate states in the nation, California and New York, have the biggest fiscal holes to repair? No. Dozens of academic studies -- old and new -- have found clear and irrefutable statistical evidence that high state and local taxes repel jobs and businesses.

Finally, there is the issue of whether high-income people move away from states that have high income-tax rates. Examining IRS tax return data by state, E.J. McMahon, a fiscal expert at the Manhattan Institute, measured the impact of large income-tax rate increases on the rich ($200,000 income or more) in Connecticut, which raised its tax rate in 2003 to 5% from 4.5%; in New Jersey, which raised its rate in 2004 to 8.97% from 6.35%; and in New York, which raised its tax rate in 2003 to 7.7% from 6.85%. Over the period 2002-2005, in each of these states the "soak the rich" tax hike was followed by a significant reduction in the number of rich people paying taxes in these states relative to the national average. Amazingly, these three states ranked 46th, 49th and 50th among all states in the percentage increase in wealthy tax filers in the years after they tried to soak the rich.

It sounds like a great idea to politicians in California, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island - dictate a higher rate on a small percentage of the population that doesn't have the numbers to repel the idea. Who wouldn't love the idea of forcing someone else to pay more taxes? Unfortunately, these states are going to be left looking like today's European states - with huge social welfare programs and no one left to pay for them. Meanwhile, those businesses that used to be large employers will have left for Texas or some other tax-friendly state.

Advice to Republicans: Look at NJ

I believe that many Republicans continue to take the wrong message from these last two electoral defeats. After 2006, the GOP decided that moving more toward the center was the right move, and they compromised on policy. They even nominated a true middle of the road, quasi-independent candidate, in John McCain. Look where it got them. Again after 2008, many in the GOP continue to think that moving more left will win them votes.

Unlikely.

My advice: look at NJ polls right now. Both GOP candidates are out-polling Democratic Governor Corzine. Republicans just need to hold their ground, and stick with core principles like smaller government, lower taxes, and freedom. Many Republicans believe that they need to compromise with Obama on increasing taxes, nationalizing healthcare, and limiting free trade.

If Republicans can move back to their core conservative beliefs, they will clean up in 2010. If they move more to the center, they will alienate the base even more. Simple as that.

Stronger Insurers Want Nothing To Do With TARP

There was much ado about several insurers getting approval to participate in TARP last Friday. But according to the WSJ, the strongest of the companies, including Prudential and Ameriprise, have decided to reject the funds. Can anyone blame them? Only the weakest of financial companies would want to be impregnated by the U.S. government.

Axelrod: Miss California is a Dog

What class! What post-partisanship! Obama's top advisor David Axelrod calls Miss California a dog. This is what the Obama team thinks of the 200 million+ Americans who oppose gay marriage (supposedly so does Obama, but Axelrod's comment indicates otherwise).

Thugs.

Dead People Getting Payback for Supporting Dems

They have long supported Democrats by wide margins. Now dead people are starting to get their payback in the form of stimulus checks. From Gateway Pundit.

Protectionism: Cluelessanomics

US cities and states, urged by Obama, to buy American, are rejecting Canadian-manufactured products. What happened to repairing American relations abroad?

The reason this whole thing is absurd is that while some are forced to buy American, a huge part of Obama's stimulus package benefits foreign companies. Obama is a big proponent of wind energy for example. Does he know that 5 out of the top 6 wind turbine manufacturers are NOT American? Take road infrastructure: does he know how many American cement companies there are in the top 10 in the United States? Can't be more than one.

It's crazy. Companies will buy American if American companies have the best and/or the cheapest products. If not, they'll go elsewhere. To force people to buy products is un-American, and probably a waste of money in my book.

Obama Rips Capitalism, Emphasizes Service at ASU

As is now the custom, Obama ripped capitalism during a graduation speech at Arizona State University.

“It is clear that we need to build a new foundation — a stronger foundation — for our economy and our prosperity, rethinking how we educate our children, and care for our sick, and treat our environment,” Obama told about nine-thousand graduates clad in maroon gowns on the school’s football field and thousands more in the stands of Sun Devil Stadium.

To urge graduates away from a life of mere financial gain — what he called a “me-first approach to life” — he made the case that material success alone “can’t be the central thing.”

“Just ask Bernie Madoff,” he said.

Hmm...so if you want to become a successful, wealthy businessman through hard work, you are essentially a fraud and a criminal like Madoff. Nice - what an awe inspiring speech to hear a president rip our country and our way of life. Here area couple of other uplifting paragraphs:

We've become accustomed to the title of "military super-power," forgetting the qualities that earned us that title - not just a build-up of arms, or accumulation of victories, but the Marshall Plan, the Peace Corps, our commitment to working with other nations to pursue the ideals of opportunity, equality and freedom that have made us who we are.

We've become accustomed to our economic dominance in the world, forgetting that it wasn't reckless deals and get-rich-quick schemes that got us there; but hard work and smart ideas -quality products and wise investments. So we started taking shortcuts. We started living on credit, instead of building up savings. We saw businesses focus more on rebranding and repackaging than innovating and developing new ideas and products that improve our lives.

DHS Pulls "Right Wing Extremism" Memo

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano fits in well to the Obama administration - completely incompetent. First she releases an incendiary report about potential right-wing extremism, including military veterans - without any support for the claims. Then she spends the next week defending the report. Now she withdraws the report, saying it did not follow the proper process and should not have been released. From the Washington Times.

Who Wins in Credit Card Changes?

As Congress' credit card Bill of Rights works its way through the Capitol, it's hard to find the clear-cut winners and losers. Depending upon the final rules, I am betting that those most in need of credit are going to get hurt. Or perhaps it's just a measure to create additional clarity for consumers, but are there really any consumers out there who don't know that if they default, their rates can skyrocket? Or that a 0% teaser rate is only good for the stated amount of time?

Today's WSJ picks up another related matter. Retailers are pushing for the ability to give discounts to those who pay with cash, which practice today conflicts with many of the card company contracts. I'm in favor of this because I believe a store owner should be allowed to create any pricing structure he so desires - and if the card companies don't like it, they can choose not to accept that retailer as a client. Obviously this would help those who pay cash and hurt either those who pay with credit cards or the credit card companies or banks themselves.

Ultimately there are winners and losers to all of these changes, some of whom undoubtedly will not be what Congress expects (ie. those who need credit probably won't be able to get it). Why is it that Congress should be picking these winners and losers in the first place?

Gitmo Photos: Credibility is Already Lost

We have to ask ourselves, "What in the world was Obama thinking" when he demanded that Gitmos photos be released to the public. He's already apologized to the world for US actions over the past 1, 5, 10, 250 years. The release of photos would have been the ultimate apology to the whole world, and an admittance that the US is really a horrible nation. Obama had been advocating releasing these photos for months.

Now he suddenly has thought it through and has seen the light? Is that it? Or does he think this is something that will hurt him politically, and this is why the change in thought. To me, the damage is already done. Yes, it's great that he's ultimately come to the correct conclusion, but it's also pretty carelessly zany and thoughtless that he believed this was a great idea in the first place.

Maybe it's part of Obama's being - where it takes the guy time to figure out what's wright and wrong - as in the 20 years it took him to figure out Jeremiah Wright. Hey - I welcome both instances where he ultimately comes to the Right conclusion.

But can we be blamed if we believe that this is just a politically calculated decision and that the inner Obama still believes deep down that we should still release the photos?

SEC May Charge Countrywide's Mozilo

Angelo Mozilo may be charged by the SEC with fraud and insider trading, allegedly selling stock based on some nefarious information foretelling the doom of the stock.

I'm not really a fan of Mozilo, but he founded Countrywide 40 years ago in 1969 and spent his entire life slowly building one of the largest mortgage banking companies in the U.S. Like all successful CEOs, he sold some stock a couple years ago and made a lot of money. In the end, Countrywide had a business model that was not sustainable through a 100-year flood like the one we had during the latest financial crisis. As a result, Countrywide was sold to Bank of America in 2008. Do his stock sales prove that he was willfully withholding knowledge that the company was doomed to fail? Of course not. But the SEC needs more scapegoats and Mozilo is the perfect candidate. I can think of much better villains sitting in the U.S. Capitol though.

Newspapers Get Tax Cuts in Washington

The Washington governor has approved tax cut to help the newspaper industry. Wait a second - if tax cuts help save or even create new jobs, why not pass along this type of tax cut to the entire economy?

Obama's Parent Company Loses Money!

Bertelsmann Ag is the parent company of Random House, which employs Barack Obama for his books. The company paid Mr. Obama $2.5 million in book royalties last year - this is well documented. It's also well documented that Mr. Obama wants to limit salaries of wealthy bankers, because he deems it unfair that these guys make big salaries while their companies are losing money. Well what about his company?

UPDATE: Bertelsmann reported their first quarter earnings yesterday and they reported a loss of $78 million. Wow! It was not reported how much Random House may have lost during the quarter, but Random House was the weakest of all Bertelsmann's divisions last year.

Key question then: Will Obama return his salary? Or shouldn't his salary at least be limited (by his own reasoning at least?) Wouldn't this $2.5 million be considered excessive especially when his company is losing money and will probably be laying off workers? Of course I understand that Obama has sold books and thus the royalties, but can't we say the same for many bankers - many have great performance but were singled out by Obama because their trading desks suffered.

A little bit hypocritical? You decide.

EPA Memo Questions Greenhouse Effects

Environmentalists and Democrats can't be happy with this confidential memo from the EPA. From Hot Air:

An EPA finding last month that greenhouse gases are a danger to public health rests on dubious assumptions and could have negative economic impacts, a memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) warned.

...“In the absence of a strong statement of the standards being applied in this decision, there is concern that EPA is making a finding based on…’harm’ from substances that have no demonstrated direct health effects,” the memo says, adding that the “scientific data that purports to conclusively establish” that link was from outside EPA.

It probably doesn't matter. As with matters of economics and taxes, Democrats don't follow facts when dealing with environmental matters.

Democrats Want to Tax Employee Health Benefits

Just as the Democrats are introducing their "optional" federally-run government health care program, they decide that it makes sense to tax private employer-paid health care. From the WSJ:

The idea of taxing employee health-care benefits to raise money for an overhaul of the health system is gaining strength in Congress, although it drew criticism from Barack Obama when he was campaigning for president.

Experts lined up Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee and said it is one of the best ways to pay for a health-care overhaul. Many top Democrats support the concept.

Right now, employers and their employees don't pay taxes on health benefits. In 2010, this effective tax exemption will represent a loss of some $297 billion in federal tax revenue, according to the Lewin Group, a health-policy consulting firm.

That figure is catching the attention of Congress because it needs to find a way to pay for the health-care overhaul sought by Mr. Obama. A comprehensive plan that would include coverage for those now without insurance is expected to cost about $1.2 trillion over 10 years. So far, the government has identified where it will get about half of that sum.

While this might make sense as part of a move to provide a greater market-based competitive health care system, this move by the Democrats would only quicken the pace to fulfill Obama's dream of Stalinist health care for all. And of course, it would also give them another item to tax.

Jobs Report: Obama Keeps on Hiring

Corporate America has been laying workers off during the downturn, to attempt to preserve profitability. 2 million workers have lost their jobs since January (-2%)

Obama's government isn't feeling the pain though. The federal government has hired another 79,000 (+3%) workers since January. They've also received +2% raises.

I guess we knew from his inauguration that He would be immune from this recession.

Woman Who Died in 1967 Gets Rebate Check

As Michelle Malkin points out, the "stimulus" funds isn't exactly a model of efficiency. An 83 year-old man whose mother died in 1967 opened a $250 check from the government intended for her. Let's hand over our entire health care sector to Congress - they will definitely save us money...

An Obama-Free Graduation at Notre Dame for Some Seniors

Many Notre Dame students have decided not to attend their own graduation ceremony because of the invitation of Obama, who is pro-abortion and voted in favor of infanticide while in the Illinois State Senate.

Good for them. It strikes me as odd that a school whose biggest single issue is supposedly the dignity of innocent human life would invite a radical in terms of abortion views - even if he is president. I wouldn't even expect this from a liberal Jesuit school like Boston College.

50% of AZ GOP Say McCain "Out of Touch"

According to faux Republicans like Colin Powell, John McCain style Republicans are the party's savior. (Never mind that Powell didn't believe the GOP's ideal candidate was worthy of his support.) But 50% of Republican voters in Arizona say that McCain is out of touch with Republican values.

Interesting. I'm fairly certain that Arizonans will vote him back into the Senate, but it is fascinating that Republicans have a different pulse than what the liberal media believe they are thinking, ie. there is no hand-wringing over trying to become more like Democrats.

Obama: Definition of No Class

Obama proves his complete lack of class when he laughs at a joke about Rush Limbaugh as the 20th hijacker, but was so strung out on drugs that he missed his flight.

Once again, I suppose this is free speech - you can make fun of conservatives as much as you want. I'm just very surprised that a U.S. president would laugh at the joke. Total lack of class. What else do you want from the "post partisan" president who is out to "change the tone in Washington?"

*Update*
The British even found Obama's reaction "astonishing." From Gateway Pundit.

Obama Threatens CA if They Don't Increase Union Pay

The Obama administration has threatened to withhold California's stimulus funding if the state doesn't increase they pay of unionized health care workers that the state previously cut as part of its state budget.

Hmm. Clearly unconstitutional but another example of thug politics. Let's see if Schwarzenegger caves.

The Coming Health Care Nationalization

Lest anyone think that the nationalization of health care will actually save money and will be limited, consider these other programs that were also intended to be limited. From the WSJ:

When Medicare was created in 1965, benefits were relatively limited and retirees paid a substantial percentage of the costs of their own care. But the clout of retirees has always led to expanding benefits for seniors while raising taxes on younger workers.

In 1965, Congressional actuaries expected Medicare to cost $3.1 billion by 1970. In 1969, that estimate was revised to $5 billion, and it actually came in at $6.8 billion. That same year, the Senate Finance Committee declared a Medicare cost emergency. In 1979, Jimmy Carter proposed limiting benefits, only to have the bill killed by fellow Democrats. Things have gotten worse since, and Medicare today costs $455 billion and rising.

Medicaid was intended as a last resort for the poor but now covers one-third of all long-term care expenses in the U.S. -- that is, it has become a middle-class subsidy for aging parents of the Baby Boomers. Its annual bill is $227 billion, and so far this fiscal year is rising by 17%.

Schip was pitched a decade ago as a safety net for poor kids, and some Republicans helped sell it as a free-market reform. But Schip is now open to families that earn up to 300% of the poverty level, or $63,081 for a family of four. In New York, you can qualify at 400% of poverty.

Any new federal health plan will inevitably follow the same trajectory, no matter how much Republican Senators might claim they've guaranteed otherwise. The Lewin Group consultants estimate that 119 million people who now have private insurance could potentially be captured by the government under the Obama public option. This is on top of the 90 million already in Medicare or Medicaid. This would guarantee a spending explosion that would over time lift federal outlays as a share of GDP into the upper 20% range or higher.

The hope of the country rests with the GOP to defeat this, as Democrats have proven to be completely reckless with the future of the U.S.

Obama vs Feherty: Media Doublestandard

David Feherty, the golf commentator from CBS is known for his wit. He's always cracking jokes. He's also known for being a patriot. Although he hails from Ireland, he's a big supporter of US troops in Iraq and visited them well before Barack Obama ever set foot in the country. But recently, Feherty has come under fire for a joke he made:

"if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.”

CBS quickly distanced themselves, indicating the Feherty's comments were "inappropriate" and they hoped "he will use better judgement in the future." Media Matters, a watchdog group, went further, calling Feherty's comments "disgusting" and demanding an apology.

Compare this with Obama's joke last night at the comedic correspondents' dinner, where he said that Dick Cheney couldn't make it because he was writing a memo entitled: How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.

Here's the issue here. It's the double-standard media has. We have one known joke-teller, always telling jokes, and when he says something a little close to the edge, the media goes nuts. Then we have Obama. A very un-funny man. You can say a lot of things about him, but joke-telling - well - he's not funny at all. Even his most ardent supporters would claim that Obama is a dullard at best. No criticism though, and in fact, Obama's joke was aimed at US policy and an actual incident where someone actually was shot.

A double-standard again? You decide. You can also decide which joke was funnier.

The Dodds: Definition of Corruption

We've heard about Democrat Sen. Chris Dodd's ethics problems, from sweetheart Countrywide loans to Irish cottage problems. But it now appears that Dodd's wife has also benefited plenty from her marriage to a Senator.

Since her marriage, Mrs. Dodd, whose name also appeared on those infamous sweetheart mortgages from Countrywide Financial, has seen her income quadruple thanks to her recruitment for lucrative positions on corporate boards, including CME Group, the world's largest futures exchange. Those jobs have enriched the Dodd household while netting Sen. Dodd's campaigns at least $40,000 in contributions, according to a published report. In addition, from 2001-04, she was a director for IPC Holdings, an off-shore company controlled by AIG; Sen. Dodd's political and financial entanglements with AIG are well documented. Today, she also is designated, as required by federal law, as the highly paid "financial expert" on two of her boards' audit committees, even though she has neither auditing nor accounting credentials or experience.

Of course, spouse benefits are in vogue these days. After all, Michelle Obama somehow landed a $400K administrative job with the University of Chicago Hospital after her husband was elected to the Senate and helped them receive a federal grant. Conflicts of interest and definitely shady.

Pelosi Knew About Waterboarding All Along

Pelosi knew everything the entire time - including waterboarding. I'm not sure how anyone could ever trust anything she says again.

Ronald Sims is Certainly No Jack Kemp

Another Obama nominee, another crook - this time at HUD. Ronald Sims apparently isn't too keen on records transparency to let taxpayers know what projects will cost. From Common Sense Junction.

Colin Powell: Fake Republican

Colin Powell claims to be a Republican. Whether you believe that or not, his advice to the GOP is ludicrous. In his eyes, the GOP needs to become more liberal and promote higher taxes and bigger government. As the WSJ points out:

According to press accounts, Mr. Powell argued that America has changed, and "Americans do want to pay taxes for services" and "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."

If the American people want to pay more taxes, nobody seems to have told the Obama Administration. There's a reason that the President ran as a tax cutter and repeats at every opportunity that he's already, in his words, cut taxes for "95% of working families." The appetite for Walter Mondale-style honesty about the consequences of huge spending increases remains low, to judge by the Administration's own rhetoric.

Colin Powell got his dream in the 2008 election, when Republicans nominated the ideal maverick Republican, John McCain. Powell supported Obama anyway. Powell seems like a decent man with a good heart. But let's face it - he screwed up the first Gulf War by not deposing Saddam and then even let him mow down his opposition in the months following the war, he was a failed Secretary of State and was also dishonest enough to allow Scooter Libby to hang while he kept the truth to himself - and he was never a Republican.

Next Supreme Court Justice Must Be Hispanic - Why?

I'm responding to the many articles written by intellectuals stating that Obama should choose a Hispanic for the Supreme Court. Why?

Why is it important for that a Supreme Court Justice speaks Spanish? Or why is it important that he/she had parents that spoke Spanish? I could see why it would make sense that our ambassador to Mexico should have the requirement of speaking Spanish, but why the Supreme Court? Aren't our laws written in English?

Some might look at the US population and say, look - it's 10% of the US population and there are no hispanics on the high court. Some would say, it's imperative because we need someone who can empathize with the hispanic point of view. Ok fine - then tell me, what is the hispanic point of view, and on which topic?

Do hispanics think differently? If so, how? Is it because they are generally more religious? If so, then the requirement should be for a religious thinker, hispanic or not hispanic, no? If it's because they're from a more blue collar background, shouldn't the requirement be for anyone, hispanic or not, from this background then? Of if it's a question of income, maybe the requirement should be for anyone worth below a certain level, but again, not sure why it has to be hispanic. Carlos Slim probably doesn't either. In Mexico, do they consider hiring judges of American ancestory for their highest court?

It is my impression that the Supreme Court justices are supposed to be the finest judges in the land - shouldn't this be the only requirement?

Answer: not in Obama's mind.

Obama Declares War On Netherlands, Ireland, Bermuda

Alright - maybe he didn't say he'd attack them with missiles, but it's apparent he will go after them economically, and he'll surely go after American companies that do business in these three axis of evil (courtesy of instapundit) nations.

The offense? Low taxes. The Dutch were a little surprised that they were singled out, as their tax rate is 25.5%, which can hardly be called low. (US is at 40% (35% fed, 5% state)). Well it is to Barack Obama.

GW declared a war on terror. Obama a war on low taxes. Watch out Singapore. You're next!

Mass. Welfare Recipients Get Free Cars

Maybe a rising tide floats all boats, but in Massachusetts, the opposite isn't true as the recession doesn't seem to be hurting welfare recipients. The state is increasing funding to a program that doles out free cars, repairs and even AAA memberships.

Free housing, free cars, free food, free tvs. Why would anyone need a job?

GOP Victory in Alexandria, VA: First in Decade

Small mercies. In the local politics of Alexandria, VA, an extremely liberal community just outside Washington, DC, two Republican-backed candidates, Frank Fannon and Alicia Hughes, defeated two Democrats to win seats on the Alexandria City Council. This is the first time since 2000 any Republican has been elected for the Council.

While not exactly a national statement, there is no question that there is significant dissatisfaction with today's political environment, even in Democrat strongholds. Perhaps even Democrats are getting fed up with talk of higher taxes and increased spending...

Obama Now Owns Gitmo Inmates

As the WSJ explains, by pandering to the Left and the Europeans on shutting down Gitmo, he now has very few options on what to do with many of the inmates. Many of them are going to end up somewhere in the U.S., perhaps even with the rights of U.S. citizens in the court system.

The not-so-minor problem is that even states that send leftists to Congress don't want to host Gitmo-II. Think California, where Alcatraz could be an option. The abandoned San Francisco Bay prison has Gitmo's virtue of relative isolation -- but Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, claims it is a national treasure. The terrorist-next-door problem is also rising to a high boil in Kansas politics, given that Fort Leavenworth is being eyed too.

More urgently, the Administration risks losing all control once enemy combatants set foot on formal U.S. soil, which the courts could determine entitles the terrorists to the same Constitutional protections as U.S. citizens. One federal judge has already ordered that 17 detainees -- the Uighurs, a Chinese ethnic minority -- be released domestically. Another judge has ruled that the Supreme Court's 5-4 Boumediene decision, which granted detainees the right to file habeas petitions in U.S. courts, extends to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where the military is holding three times as many prisoners as Guantanamo.

n his Boumediene dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts indicted the majority's "set of shapeless procedures to be defined by federal courts at some future date," and was he ever right. How will judges prevent the public disclosure of classified material? What about Miranda rights, or evidence obtained under battlefield conditions?

Obama does not want to be known as a wartime president and he will definitely be getting his wish.

It's Official: ACORN to Help Run Census

ACORN, Obama's favorite rabble rousing, community agitator and vote fraudster group, is in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau to help conduct the 2010 census.

Don't worry folks - there won't be any fraud here to help stuff extra Democrat districts.

Senate to Expand Mortgage Credit to Subprime Borrowers

The Senate apparently isn't happy with the number of subprime borrowers to default on their mortgages and can get a free bailout, courtesy of us taxpayers: a new bill will cure that.

The Senate bill would expand eligibility. For example, the program currently bans participants who intentionally defaulted on the mortgage or other substantial debt. The Senate bill would narrow that prohibition to defaults within the last five years.

So now it appears that those who purposely default will also be eligible. How nice. Get ready folks - in the near future we will be bailing out the FHA to the tune of several hundred billion dollars to pay for your neighbors' mortgages.

PS - the bill also spends $5 million to study the cause of the financial crisis. Perhaps if they did that first, they wouldn't be giving out all this additional credit to those who don't deserve it.

Green Light Bulbs Kill

The Chinese workers manufacturing these new "green" light bulbs are becoming sick "by the hundreds" due to mercury poisoning. Maybe this is why you're supposed to evacuate your home if you drop one of these light bulbs on the ground and break it.

But it's going to save our planet....

Does B of A Really Need New Capital?

Even the WSJ seems to be sending a misleading message on this one. With the rumors of the idiotic "stress test" results showing B of A requiring additional capital, the WSJ says the following:

At Bank of America, the government's findings are likely to set off a scramble over how to fill the capital hole at the nation's largest bank in assets.

The Charlotte, N.C., bank already has received $45 billion in capital from the federal government, some of it to help the bank cover losses stemming from its purchase of securities firm Merrill Lynch & Co. in January.

The WSJ says that this $45 billion is capital and implies it needs more capital when the government is now basically saying that the $45 billion was actually not "capital" but debt. The government's proposal now is to take a huge ownership in B of A by converting this $45 billion into regulatory capital. Note that they would not be giving B of A one additional cent. But Obama will get his wish - control of the two largest financial institutions in the country.

From the Godfather-esque "you have an offer you can't refuse" with the initial TARP funds to the forcing of the Merrill deal to this, we are getting a sense of the Chavez-like strong hand of government.

Requirements for Supreme Court

Given the speculation around David Souter retiring, people are focusing on Obama Supreme Court picks. He has some strict requirements but of course, they have more to do with empathy than with law. Never once has Obama said they must be a highly qualified lawyer. Instead, they must know what it means to be a poor single mother, a gay person, handicapped, etc. So for all you single poor black lesbian mothers in wheelchairs, please send in your application - you might be in for a nice cushy job.

Congress Trying to Change BCS

Congress had a productive day of hearings yesterday, in which they urged college football to change from the BCS to a playoff.

I really don't care, but even if I preferred a playoff system, is this any place for Congress to stick its big nose? Aren't there a few other issues with which they might want to concern themselves? On second thought, maybe they should focus solely on college football...

Captured Al Qeda Leader with Close Ties to Saddam

What?? Saddam has close ties to Al Qaeda leaders? Impossible according to Dems - Saddam didn't have ties to any terrorists...

Andrew McCarthy Respectfully Declines Holder's Offer

Andrew McCarthy of the National Review respectfully slammed AG Eric Holder's invitation to participate in a counterterrorism lawyer roundtable discussion.

Whatever the good intentions of the organizers, the meeting will obviously be used by the administration to claim that its policy was arrived at in consultation with current and former government officials experienced in terrorism cases and national security issues. I deeply disagree with this policy, which I believe is a violation of federal law and a betrayal of the president's first obligation to protect the American people. Under the circumstances, I think the better course is to register my dissent, rather than be used as a prop.

Moreover, in light of public statements by both you and the President, it is dismayingly clear that, under your leadership, the Justice Department takes the position that a lawyer who in good faith offers legal advice to government policy makers--like the government lawyers who offered good faith advice on interrogation policy--may be subject to investigation and prosecution for the content of that advice, in addition to empty but professionally damaging accusations of ethical misconduct. Given that stance, any prudent lawyer would have to hesitate before offering advice to the government...

The letter is outstanding.

The Racially Divisive President

There is the largest black-white divide in history over Obama's job performance. It's pretty stunning:

Those opinion differences are clear in the traditional "right track-wrong track" question, a key indicator of the public's mood. Thirty-four percent of whites say the country is headed in the right direction, while 56 percent believe it is "seriously off track." For black Americans, 70 percent say the country is headed in the right direction, with just 23 percent saying it is off track. (According to the U.S. Census, blacks make up about 13 percent of the population, while whites make up about 80 percent. The Times poll divided respondents into black and white, with no other groups reported.)

Blacks also have a more positive view than whites of the Obama economy overall. Twenty-seven percent of black respondents say the economy is "very good" or "fairly good," while 34 percent rate it "fairly bad" and 39 percent rate it "very bad." Among whites, just 10 percent call the economy "fairly good" (none say it is "very good"), while 42 percent say it is "fairly bad" and 47 percent say it is "very bad." In addition, 41 percent of blacks say the economy is getting better, while just 24 percent of whites agree.

What happened to the post-racial presidency? This is about as lopsided as it gets.