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Monday, August 31, 2009

Harry Reid Bullies Nevada Newspaper

Unpopular Democrat Sen. Harry Reid last week told a senior manager of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he "hopes the paper goes out of business." For a politician whose constituents read the newspaper and many of whom work for the paper, this is both bizarre and outrageous. Why? Apparently because Reid doesn't like articles that are critical of him. Publisher Sherman Frederick responded in an op-ed yesterday.

No citizen should expect this kind of behavior from a U.S. senator. It is certainly not becoming of a man who is the majority leader in the U.S. Senate. And it absolutely is not what anyone would expect from a man who now asks Nevadans to send him back to the Senate for a fifth term.

If he thinks he can push the state's largest newspaper around by exacting some kind of economic punishment in retaliation for not seeing eye to eye with him on matters of politics, I can only imagine how he pressures businesses and individuals who don't have the wherewithal of the Review-Journal.

Looks like Reid is learning the ways of Obama well.

Obama's Approval Dip - -7%!

Rasmussen tracks two figures - those that just plain approve (less the disapprovals), and then those that strongly approve (less the strong disapprovals). The plain approvals hit an all-time low today, at -7% (yesterday was at -5%). If you analyze both statistics - one thing is apparent - he's lost whatever republican support that he had 8 months ago. Also, he's losing the independents in droves. Obama still has a core of 30% who strongly approve of him and most of these people are hard-core left wingers. This core percentage will only break if Obama starts annoying the liberals, and it's usually the last group of people to go, but when healthcare is denied, this group will crack too. What's amazing to me is how quickly the moderates and independents have turned on him. What's also incredible is that the percentage of Americans who strongly disapprove of him is approaching GW's 43% level (41% today) at the end of his presidency.

A presidency in trouble? It looks to be the case.

"One of the Brightest Leaders I Have Ever Met"

Sometimes you hear someone speak and you wonder what planet they live on. This is true for many Democrats, particularly in Congress. Dem Rep. Diane Watson of California clearly falls into this category. She not only praises Cuba's healthcare system, but calls Fidel Castro "one of the brightest leaders I have ever met."

And these idiots are responsible for making our laws and want to direct our lives.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

WaPO: CIA Techniques Were A Huge Success

The Washington Post even says that the CIA interrogation techniques were so successful that they turned terrorists into intelligence assets:

After enduring the CIA's harshest interrogation methods and spending more than a year in the agency's secret prisons, Khalid Sheik Mohammed stood before U.S. intelligence officers in a makeshift lecture hall, leading what they called "terrorist tutorials."

Not good for terrorists...which is why Obama needs to prosecute the CIA and outlaw these tactics in the future.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Rangel "Forgets" to Report Millions in Income

Another Democrat crook. We all knew that the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Charlie Rangel had his own Geithneresque tax problems. But now it appears he neglected to report $3 million in income.

Any other citizen would be thrown in jail for years, but Rangel won't even be forced to resign as one of the most powerful spenders of taxpayer dollars. Hey, it's the Democrat way.

FL Gov. Crist Picks New U.S. Senator

Charlie Crist picked a successor to retiring GOP Sen. Mel Martinez. He chose Crist's own former chief of staff, George LeMieux. I know nothing about him, but Left-wing Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) had this to say about LeMieux:

"Governor Crist has reached out to a man I have come to know and respect a great deal. I worked closely with George on the issue of establishing a paper trail for Florida voting machines, as well as other issues, and always found him to be a man of great integrity and intelligence."

Hmm...seems like this pick is going to be a disaster.

The Kennedy - Bill Ayers Connection

On the passing and burial of Ted Kennedy, I think interesting to remind everyone that Obama's good buddy Bill Ayers had a connection of sorts with the Kennedys. In fact, Ayers dedicated his book, Prairie Fire, to a list of radicals including Sirhan Sirhan, who was of course, Robert F. Kennedy's assassin. I'm guessing the media won't bring that point up this week.

Obama, Clinton Still Want Zelaya in Power

After all the information has come out that Zelaya was attempting to seize control of Honduras and turn it into a totalitarian state like Venezuela and Cuba, thereby prompting an order from the Honduran legislature and Supreme Court to remove him, Obama and Clinton still apparently want the Marxist back in power.

U.S. State Department staff have recommended that the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya be declared a "military coup," a U.S. official said on Thursday, a step that could cut off as much as $150 million in U.S. funding to the impoverished Central American nation.

Diplomats said that the United States had held off making the formal determination to give diplomacy a chance to yield a negotiated compromise that might allow for Zelaya's return to power.

Absurd.

Don't Allow Massachusetts to Steal Kennedy's Seat

Deval Patrick has come out again and said he now supports a change in Massachusetts law, so that HE can appoint a new senator, rather than having a democratic election. So to be sure, he's against having a democratic election and would prefer to appoint someone in the interim which would clearly give that appointee a clear advantage in the run-off.

Why all the hubbub? As the Boston Globe reminds us:

The Democratic-controlled Legislature in Massachusetts in 2004 changed state law to require special elections and prevent then-Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican, from naming a replacement had Senator John F. Kerry won the presidency.

And now Massachusetts Dems want to change it back!

Let's tell Deval Patrick to keep his good 'ol boy Chicago-style politics in Chicago, and out of Massachusetts. Contact him at 617-725-4005, or email him here.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Jordan Cleansing Army of Palestinians

King Abdullah of Jordan, whose country is made up of approximately 50% Palestinians, is purging his regime and army of the unwanted race in favor of Arabs.

I thought the whole problem in the Middle East was about the plight of the poor Palestinians?

Prison Inmates Get Stimulus Checks

Approximately 2,200 prison inmates who received stimulus checks will be allowed to keep them. That should help stimulate the economy.

Can't wait for government-run health care.

Ezekiel Emmanuel's Health Care Views

The WSJ has a good profile on Ezekiel Emmanuel, brother of Obama's Chief of Staff. Ezekiel believes that real medical cost savings can only come from...not giving medical care to patients who need it. (Death panel anyone?)

"Vague promises of savings from cutting waste, enhancing prevention and wellness, installing electronic medical records and improving quality of care are merely 'lipstick' cost control, more for show and public relations than for true change."

True reform, he argues, must include redefining doctors' ethical obligations. In the June 18, 2008, issue of JAMA, Dr. Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the "overuse" of medical care: "Medical school education and post graduate education emphasize thoroughness," he writes. "This culture is further reinforced by a unique understanding of professional obligations, specifically the Hippocratic Oath's admonition to 'use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment' as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of cost or effect on others."

"...In the next decade every country will face very hard choices about how to allocate scarce medical resources. There is no consensus about what substantive principles should be used to establish priorities for allocations," he wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 19, 2002. Yet Dr. Emanuel writes at length about who should set the rules, who should get care, and who should be at the back of the line.

The government will decide, of course.

Court Rejects "Geithner Defense" in IRS Case

It seems as though Geithner's defense of "Turbotax missed my errors" doesn't work for the IRS.

A federal court rejected an attempt by two Ohio residents to use the so-called TurboTax defense that Timothy Geithner relied on to help win Senate confirmation as U.S. Treasury Secretary.

The U.S. Tax Court in Washington rejected an appeal of accuracy-based penalties assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on Kenneth and Linda Hopson, who claimed they relied on tax-return preparation software that failed to detect income they had omitted from their 2006 federal tax returns.


I guess John Edwards was right about his two Americas - one for the politicians and one for everyone else.

Stealing Kennedy's Seat

It looks like MA Governor Deval Patrick wants to CHANGE Massachusetts law to allow him to appoint a replacement to Senator Kennedy (RIP). Some might say that Patrick wants to STEAL KENNEDY'S SEAT. For frame of reference, this was the law prior to 2004, but was overturned in 2004 and said a special election must now decide a vacated seat.

Why was this 2004 law enacted in the first place you might ask? Well let's go back to 2004. Mitt Romney was Governor. Massachusetts democrats did not want a Republican Governor appointing someone to a Senate Seat (if it were vacated) and so they changed the law to preempt this from ever happening. Thus, they decided that a better course of action is if a special election take place withing 145-160 days. Pretty sneaky? You bet. But I actually favor the idea as these "special appointees" are ripe with corruption -as can be seen with the Obama/Blogojevich/Burris back door triumvirate deal which wreaked havoc in Illinois.

Now the tides have turned again - with the ever popular Democrat Governor Deval Patrick in power. Democrats, once again want to have things their way, and Patrick has said he is now in favor of RE-CHANGING THE LAW AGAIN to suit the Massachusetts Democratic Party. He wants his appointee, just like what they had in Chicago. I guess that makes sense - Patrick may have learned a thing or two from bosom buddies Obama and Blogojevich.

Sneaky? Corrupt? Only in Massachusetts.... and Chicago.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The Ted Kennedy Legacy

Powerline has a few thoughts on Ted Kennedy's most important legacy, for better or for worse: his destruction of highly qualified Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and the subsequent replacement of Bork with Anthony Kennedy. This likely led to the nomination of liberal justice David Souter by George H.W. Bush, as well as the attempted character assassination of Clarence Thomas.

On another note, I find it amusing that people keep talking about the Kennedy brothers as if they were monolithic. Frankly, Ted couldn't be further from JFK (or RFK for that matter) in his policy views.

I sense Paul Wellstone II coming - and the ensuing Communist Health Care Takeover Act of 2009 in Kennedy's name. RIP.

Panetta Resigning?

Red State says that there is a credible rumor that CIA Director Panetta has already resigned. He is apparently furious that Obama has decided to prosecute CIA employees for protecting America in order to please the loony Left.

Reston, VA Townhall Erupts; Moran Forces Protesters Out

Last night at a healthcare townhall meeting in Reston, VA, which was hosted by your friendly SEIU thugs and featured Jim Moron and Howard Dean, the meeting apparently "descended into chaos" according to the Examiner. Patricia Murphy said it was "better than Jerry Springer."

If a meeting sponsored by the SEIU in one of the most reliably liberal districts in the country doesn't have overwhelming support for the plan, then it's got to be in trouble.

The CBO Debt Estimate Is Much Too Low

Obama's reappointment of Bernanke was an attempt to mitigate the budget shock and awe whereby federal debt is expected to be $2 trillion higher than what Obama estimated just a few months ago. And as the WSJ points out, the $9 trillion figure is still unrealistically low.

Many of the current budget assumptions are laughably implausible. Both the White House and CBO predict that Congress will hold federal spending at the rate of inflation over the next decade. This is the same Democratic Congress that awarded a 47% increase in domestic discretionary spending in 2009 when counting stimulus funds. And the appropriations bills now speeding through Congress for 2010 serve up an 8% increase in domestic spending after inflation.

Another doozy is that Nancy Pelosi and friends are going to allow a one-third or more reduction in liberal priorities like Head Start, food stamps and child nutrition after 2011 when the stimulus expires. CBO actually has overall spending falling between 2009 and 2012, which is less likely than an asteroid hitting the Earth.

Oh, and the CBO $9 trillion estimate assumes that 28 million Americans will be hit by the AMT, that every American's taxes increase when the Bush tax cuts expire, that there is no health care bill or other Democrat entitlement program, and that we get back to significant economic growth next year. But of course, Obama is "very concerned" about deficits. Right. Chalk it up to another ridiculous lie, the only thing Obama can do well.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fiscal Situation Deteriorates; Obama Admin. Blames Bush

OK, so the U.S. is going to have worse unemployment, worse deficits and worse economic growth than estimated just a few months ago. Why? According to Obama economic advisor Christina Romer:

"This recession was simply worse than the information that we and other forecasters had back in last fall and early this winter."

I prefer this simple explanation: "Obama's policies have screwed things up far worse than even we thought."

AFL-CIO Chief Named NY Fed Chairman

Denis Hughes, head of the AFL-CIO in New York, was named Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Columbia University President Lee Bollinger was named Vice Chairman.

Hmm...two leftists in charge of the NY Fed Bank. I'm skeptical to say the least.

Africa Asks For Climate Change Reparations

A mere $67 billion per year. That is all that African nations are asking for to help them deal with the potential fallout of "global warming."

That's right - it has nothing to do with their own corrupt governments - they're poor because of global warming. I'm sure Obama will be happy to oblige - once he upgrades his brother from the 8x10 hut he's living in.

Fed Gov't Should Follow Rhode Island's Lead

The Rhode Island state government said that government workers will have to take off 12 days of unpaid leave next year as a way to reduce the budget deficit.

Will anyone even notice their absence? I doubt it - except for reduced traffic perhaps. The Federal government should do the same thing...except of course, that the Feds only need to print a few more dollars to make its ends meet.

Monday, August 24, 2009

White House to Oversee New Interrogation Unit

A new unit is being formed that will interrogate suspected terrorists - and of course, the new unit will be overseen by the White House.

I feel much safer now that Obama cronies will be present - and be more willing to prosecute our own CIA employees than Al Qaeda.

Obama: Please Respect My Girls

Obama has asked the media that they not take pictures of his two girls. I can understand this, and I agree for the most part. Will the media listen?

They haven't respected Sarah Palin's children.

Mueller Excoriates Scotland Over Prisoner Release

FBI Director Robert Mueller sent a scathing letter to Scotland's Secretary of Justice Kenny MacAskill over his decision to release the only prosecuted terrorist in the Lockerbie attack.

I applaud Mueller for calling out the worthless Scot, but I'm afraid that the majority party in Congress (and even the President) agree with this type of legal "empathy" when it comes to dealing with terrorists - even if they can't afford to say so explicitly in this case.

Obama's Grievance With Gov. Paterson

Obama aides were apparently upset with NY Dem Gov. Paterson when he alleged that he was doing poorly because Americans were racists and Obama would be the next victim.

I think the real reason Obama aides are upset is that every time an unpopular governor (Paterson, Deval Patrick) uses the race card, it gets diluted for when Obama supporters use it.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Rasmussen: Obama Spread at -14

According to the latest Rasmussen poll, Obama has fallen to a new all-time low: a negative spread of strongly approve to strongly disapprove of -14.

I'm not sure how much worse it can get since I would guess that 20-25% of his supporters are so enchanted with him that they will always approve of him.

Friday, August 21, 2009

NY Gov. Paterson: You're All Racists

NY Democrat Governor David Paterson says that he has problems in his state because New Yorkers are racists. Expect to hear similar statements from Deval Patrick of Massachusetts soon.

They're following their dear leader.

Charlie Gibson to Cindy Sheehan: "Enough Already."

Wouldn't you know it that Cindy Sheehan, the posterchild of patriotism for the Left and the Media when she was protesting President Bush, is now getting old and needs to shut up when she's protesting Obama. According to Charlie Gibson of ABC News:

It's such a sad story. Martha Raddatz [of ABC News] wrote a terrific book about one battle that took place in Iraq, and it was the battle in which Cindy's son was killed. And you look at somebody like that and you think here's somebody who's just trying to find some meaning in her son's death. And you have to be sympathetic to her. Anybody who has given a son to this country has made an enormous sacrifice, and you have to be sympathetic. But enough already.

Obama's Philosophy: You're Stupid

Rich Lowry sums up Obama's governing philosophy very well: he thinks Americans are all stupid.

Obama Plummets to 45% Approval; S&P Rallies

Obama now gets a 45% approval according to Zogby. No president in history has ever seen his popularity drop so fast.

Interestingly, Jim Cramer on CNBC yesterday showed a chart comparing the S&P 500 with Obama's approval ratings. The correlation was uncanny - as soon as Obama's numbers started going down, the S&P started going up. From Seeking Alpha:

Cramer has found a direct correlation between two charts: that of the S&P 500 and Obama's disapproval rating, and both have been rising at the same pace since March. This is no coincidence; many of Obama's lofty proposals, such as cap and trade legislation, forced arbitration for unions and healhcare reform are not seen as business-friendly. Now that many of these reforms are off the table, the stock market is breathing a sigh of relief.

Not very surprising at all...keep in mind - Cramer is a liberal and he used to love Obama.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Obama Says Healthcare All About Him

What's wrong with this statement today by Obama?

"I think early on, a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, 'Look, let's not give him a victory, maybe we can have a replay of 1993, '94, when Clinton came in, he failed on health care and then we won in the mid-term elections and we got the majority. And I think there are some folks who are taking a page out that playbook."

Amazingly, Obama is so arrogant that he believes that the debate is about Obama and not about the destruction of one-sixth of the U.S. economy.

Kennedy Tries To Get Own Law Reversed

Ted Kennedy is urging the Massachusetts legislature to overturn a law he insisted they pass in 2004 to prevent a governor (then Mitt Romney) from appointing a U.S. Senator who becomes unable to serve. The law forced a special election instead of allowing the governor appointment. Now that Democrat Deval Patrick is governor, Kennedy wants the legislature to change the law again so that Democrats don't lose their crucial 60th filibuster-proof vote during the time it takes to hold an election.

Greenpeace Leader Explains Leftist Philosophy

Greenpeace leader Gerd Leipold explains that he lied about many climate change claims because he had to get people's attention.

He then goes on to say that economic growth needs to be reduced dramatically to save the planet.

Leipold said later in the BBC interview that there is an urgent need for the suppression of economic growth in the United States and around the world. He said annual growth rates of 3 percent to 8 percent cannot continue without serious consequences for the climate.

That explains Obama's policies in a nutshell.

The Texas Health Care Reform Solution

If we want a reduction in the cost of insurance premiums, let's look at Texas' health care reforms. From the American Thinker:

In an Op-Ed published in the San Francisco Examiner earlier this month, Texas Governor Perry points out that in 2003 the state implemented laws that shielded health care providers from trial lawyers "anxious to make a quick buck."

"We capped noneconomic damages at $250,000 per defendant, or up to $750,000 per incident, while placing no cap on more easily determined economic damages, such as lost wages or costs of medical care due to injury.

"We ended the practice of allowing baseless but expensive lawsuits to drag on indefinitely, requiring plaintiffs to provide expert witness reports to support their claims within four months of filing suit or drop the case...

"Changes were seen immediately, and continue to be felt. All major liability insurers cut their rates upon passage of our reforms, with most of those cuts ranging in the double-digits. More than 10 new insurance carriers entered the Texas market, increasing competition and further lowering costs.

"As a result, Texas doctors have seen their insurance rates decline by an average of 27 percent.

"The number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas has skyrocketed by 57 percent."

More doctors, better care and lower costs. If this is what Obama and Pelosi truly want, we know how to achieve it.

Obamacare Preview: Single Payer For College Loans

The WSJ makes an appropriate case of what will come with Obamacare by reviewing the recent actions in the student loan market, which the government is in the process of socializing.

As in health care, intervention in the education market has gone hand-in-hand with rising costs. While government accounts for 41% of health-care spending, the feds guarantee or issue roughly 80% of student loans, subsidizing the rates and also offering a slew of grant programs. Not by coincidence, higher education costs have risen much faster even than in the health-care market. From 1982 through 2007, college tuition and fees increased 439% in nominal dollars, almost triple the rise in median family income, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Soon the government will own the entire market, as private lenders with government guarantees become outlawed and private lenders can't compete with a cut-throat rate from Uncle Sam.

Along with outlawing government-backed loans issued by private lenders, the bill also strengthens the power of the "public option" versus pure market loans. Mr. Miller ramps up so-called Perkins loans to $6 billion from $1 billion, offering a fixed rate of 5% for borrowers who had largely been using the private loans. For another category of federal loans, Mr. Miller allows students to enjoy a variable rate if interest rates fall, and a cap in the event that they rise. This kind of heads-borrowers-win, tails-taxpayers-lose offer will be difficult for a private company to match.

When the government controls an industry, it's a recipe for runaway costs. Say hello to inflation, our new best friend.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Insurance Industry Decries Democrat Plans for Information

The insurance industry fired back a response to a request from Democrats trying to intimidate and silence the industry into backing Obamacare.

Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for the American Health Insurancance Plans, said Democrats on the panel hoped to "silence the health insurance industry and distract attention away from the fact that the American people are rejecting a government-run plan" as part of President Barack Obama's planned overhaul.

This happened in Stalin's Soviet Union and the Democrats liked it so much that they've adopted the policy.

Axelrod's Former Firm Benefiting From Obamacare Push

David Axelrod's former firm still owes Axelrod $2 million in earnout payments. Axelrod's son Michael still works at the firm. And the firm is earning money for the PR push for Obamacare. From Hugh Hewitt.

I'm sure Karl Rove would have been treated the same way by the media if he were in this position...

Goode Family Cancelled; Too Left for ABC

I saw this coming the day it premiered - The Goode Family was canceled by ABC. The premiere was actually quite funny, but it made fun of liberals without end. From then on, it seemed to move slightly more to the center, with two of the characters becoming more centrist in their views. Combine its loss of edge with a Friday night audience, and it turned out a bit too dull for most viewers.

It's a shame, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Fox pick it up and make it a hit.

25% of Americans Approve of Obamacare

In a new low, CNBC just reported that only 25% of Americans approve of Obama's handling of health care. As much as I searched online, I couldn't find the actual NBC poll internals. Perhaps they were just too damning to post for all to see.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

"Obama Joker" Posters Created by Left Winger

Perhaps those Obama Joker posters aren't racist after all. They were created by a Left-winger who supports Dennis Kucinich.

Mass. Governor Approval Ratings Hit New Low

Obama's protege and good friend, Deval Patrick, hit a new all time low - with just 19% of the public approving of his performance. He will probably join Obama's Economic Council when he gets tossed out of office.

AARP Losing Membership?

The powerful lobbying group, AARP, has long been about as reliably liberal as the NAACP or the NEA. Apparently the group has lost 60,000 members in July and August for its position on Obamacare.

Obama Underwrites Brazil's Oil Drilling

As the WSJ explains, Obama is unwilling to allow oil drilling in the U.S. (even as Russia, China, and Spain drill off the coast of Florida), but he is willing to lend $2 billion to Brazil so that Petrobras can drill for oil off its own coastline.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.

I'm sure ExxonMobil would get the same cheap government-backed debt for its drilling plans if it simply asked nicely.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Specter Goes All-In For Obama & Liberals

Arlen Specter has changed his mind about his opposition to employee card check. And Obama changed his mind about fundraising for Specter. Specter is now a full-fledged, Obama/Pelosi/Reid loving liberal. From Red State.

Conservatives Outnumber Liberals in Every Single State

If liberalism is so utopian, why are there more self-described conservatives than liberals in every state in the U.S.? Yes, even in Massachusetts (barely)...

I think this is accurate as conservative ideas are largely supported by empirical data while liberalism is based largely on emotion. Or it could just be that liberals are ashamed to call themselves such - I know I would be...

Housing: Obama's New Quota Policy

In case you missed it, the WSJ had an editorial over the weekend about Obama forcing Westchester County, NY to eliminate "de facto residential segregation" by instituting a quota policy for affluent neighborhoods. HUD is expected to roll out this policy nationwide.

The Corner has a bit more color on this insane policy. I guess Obama thought that Boston's bussing policy worked so well for schools in the 70s that he wants to extend it throughout the country for housing.

Americans Say Stimulus Not Working and Won't Ever Work

According to the USA Today, 57% of Americans say the stimulus is either not working or making things work - and 60% say that it will never work even in future years.

The jig is up.

Canada Health System "Imploding;" Considers Private Insurancing

...Meanwhile in Canada, their government-run health care system is "imploding," as national doctors meet to overhaul the system. They are considering creating more competition in the insurance market by bringing in private insurers.

The Democrat stance on health care seems akin to arguing in the early 90s that communism worked well as an economic system.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Angry Mob of Protesters Attacks News Crew

A news crew was attacked with profanity and violence by an angry mob of protesters. This is the ultimate act of patriotism, right? As Caleb Howe of Red State reminds us, this is how it was portrayed back in 2006 when the mob were Leftists and the news crew was FoxNews.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Unions to Get $10 Billion If Obamacare Passes

Obama already said that unions are exempt from Obamacare changes. So why are they fighting so hard to get it passed - spending millions of dollars and sending thugs to hundreds of townhall events. As RWN points out, the union has a huge potential windfall at stake:

The answer to that question appears in the House bill on page 65, section 164 where unions are to receive a $10 billion dollar infusion of taxpayer's money to supplement their failing plans through a program called the "reinsurance plan."

In his open letter, Sweeney said that one of the union's goals was to seek "relief for company/union funds providing pre-Medicare retiree coverage." This would be people that retired from the unions before they are eligible for Medicare. In other words, the union is looking for federal funds to relieve expenditures from his over extended pension plans.

So they spend $15 million today for $10 billion when the bill passes. Even the best Wall Street traders can't get that kind of return.

GM's Volt to Help Cause Rolling Blackouts?

The enviro-nuts are screaming with delight over GM's new Volt, which apparently can get up to 230 mpg. Unfortunately as the NY Post points out, this requires the car to be plugged in to the electric grid at least once a day - which means that if even a small fraction of households were to use the car, it would cause blackouts.

Nuclear power is a cheap, efficient form of energy - but the same folks buying the Volt will likely be protesting the building of new plants. The good news is that Florida just ok'd its first nuclear plant in decades. The bad news is that it won't be operational for at least another decade and according to banks involved in the financing, it has already been in the works for over a decade. That investment and time commitment means that it's not going to be cheap to get that electricity either.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Obama Official's Group Trying to Silence Glenn Beck

Once again, freedom of the press only applies to those that agree with Obama. "Green jobs czar" (what the heck is that, anyway?) Van Jones is co-founder of Color of Change, a group that has launched a campaign to force Glenn Beck off the air.

While companies obviously are free to opt out of advertising on Beck's program, having a group connected to an Obama official pressure companies to do so is something we would see in a totalitarian regime.

Germany and France Exit Recession....Without Stimulus

I hope Americans are paying attention. The recessions in Germany and France are over...and they didn't have to spend $787 billion in waste to do it (in fact, this fact probably helped exit the recession sooner).

Keep this in mind when Obama and Pelosi take credit for the U.S. recession eventually ending...and then tell you you need to pay up for their excessive spending.

Hillary Insults US and Nigeria in Another Gaffe

Hillary must be taking lessons from Barack Obama. Either that or her teleprompter broke down during her latest trip to Nigeria.

Hillary spoke about the problems of corruption in Nigeria, which I'm sure Nigerians adored. The problems are probably true, but nonetheless, I'm not sure the idea was to insult them. While she was at it, she also decided to take a shot at the USA, saying:

As you may remember, in 2000 our presidential election came down to one state where the brother of one of the men running for president was governor of the state. So we have our problems too.


The insinuation is 2000 election in the US was rigged. Just think there's something ugly about selling your own country out in a public discourse on foreign soil. Shows a lack of class and is insulting to all Americans. That said, we've kind of gotten used to this garbage over the past seven months. If Hillary is trying to equate the USA with Nigeria, maybe she wouldn't mind staying there a while longer.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Obama Stages Townhall Meeting

In a New Hampshire "townhall meeting" yesterday, Obama staged the whole thing. One of the girls who asked a question was the daughter of a large Obama donor and supporter.

I would not be surprised at all if this swastika sign pained on Dem. Congressman David Scott's office sign was done by Democrats to try to set up the GOP as Nazis. A Democrat did the same thing yesterday at Dem Congressman John Dingell's townhall meeting.

The real question is: can we believe anything this Administration or Congress ever says?

Obama Lies About AARP Endorsement

Obama lied about the AARP endorsing his Obamacare plan - it shouldn't be a surprise since nearly everything he says about his health care plan (and economic plan) are lies.

Still, even if the AARP had endorsed Obama's plan, who really cares? It has become so decidedly liberal in its stances that its endorsement wouldn't mean much more to mean that that of the NAACP.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Obama Finally Tells Truth...Uses Post Office As Example

Obama gave a very candid assessment of government run agencies vs. their privately run competitors:

"UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It's the Post Office that's always having problems."

Obama is correct - the government is always inefficient and screws things up. I don't know how this squares with his agenda though.

Obama: I Want To Train Your Kids!

Chuck Norris points out that under Obamacare, hidden in page 838, the government wants to train parents on how they should bring up their kids. Norris opines,

Are you kidding me?! With whose parental principles and values? Their own?


Is this a new Obama Youth Program? Dare I ask what they would call it if we were living in Germany in the 1930's?

Monday, August 10, 2009

Americans Skepticism Of Global Warming Growing

According to Gallup, a significant increase of Americans are skeptical of man-made global warming and they believe the media and Democrats have exaggerated the claims.

I wonder if the coldest summer in 100 years in most parts of the U.S. has had anything to do with it - or the fact that temperatures have declined by 0.7% since 1998.

Heck, even Pelosi seems very unconcerned about it, judging by her desire to purchase more private jets for her cronies in Congress.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Pelosi/Hoyer: Obamacare Protesters "Un-American"

The top two Democrats in the House, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, claim in a USAToday op ed that the Obamacare protesters are "Un-American."

"I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration."

That was Hillary Clinton in 2007. Now, however, the Dems want authoritarian rule - screw the American public.

*Update*
Even in liberal Massachusetts, the townhall meetings are bringing out Obamacare dissenters. I wonder if Ted Kennedy thinks they're all un-Americans up there as well.

Sebelius to SEIU: "Keep Doing What You're Doing"

So now Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary is encouraging the SEIU to keep up their good work as they assault Americans who want nothing more than to prevent a communist takeover of health care.

Who needs terrorist enemies when we have an administration like this?

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Russia Joins International Drilling Party Near Florida

Add Russia to the list of countries who will be drilling not far from the coast of Florida, courtesy of a deal with Cuba.

You have to hand it to the U.S. government and the environmentalists - tons of oil off our coast and we are letting China and Russia take it...and I'm sure they will be very worried if there are spills off of our coast. They must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Obama Tells Critics to Shut Up

Obama gave a speech in Virginia yesterday where he made clear he doesn't like debate:

“I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess.”

Translation: shut up and quit this democracy garbage. Oh, Stalin would be proud. Incidentally, I'm not sure who he's even talking about, since it was the Dems who screwed up the country with its big government programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,...)

Fannie Mae: Another $11 Billion, Please

Barney Frank and his Democrat friends' favorite Washington company, Fannie Mae, needs another $11 billion.

So while most big banks in this country have weathered the storm for the most part and are racing to pay back TARP funds, Fannie has its grubby hands out for more.

Pelosi's Congress to Spend $550 Million on Private Jets

I made a mistake earlier this week when I said that Congress was going to spend $200 million on 3 new private jets. It's actually $550 million on 8 new jets.

Republicans were booted from Congress because they spent too much. Congressional travel costs are up 65% since then. And now this.

Obama, Dems Promoting Townhall Violence?

When Obama told the Dems to instruct supporters of communist Obamacare to "punch back twice as hard" as those relatively few 170 million Americans who are in opposition to his healthcare takeover, you knew it was only a matter of time before fighting erupted.

So they have it at a townhall meeting in Florida. The question is when Dems try to squash the Constitution and limit these protests in the name of "public safety."

Brownshirt thugs - that's the Obama way.

*Update*
At a townhall meeting in St. Louis, only union thugs were allowed in, while protestors were locked outside.

Thugs - that's the Obama way...

*Update 2*
It seems that a black conservative man opposed to Obamacare was beaten and sent to the emergency room by SEIU union thugs.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Obamacare Needs Personal Bank Account Info

Nothing to see here, folks. Under Obamacare, the government gets access to your bank accounts, but it's only to help you make more timely payments for your health needs.

It's not long before the reader encounters just how far-reaching and invasive this bill really is. On page 57, under section 163, there is something that would give the government power to reach into benefits recipients' bank accounts. It is called "Administrative Simplification," and Subsection 1173A of this measure, "Standardize Electronic Transactions" has a provision (a)(2)(B) that ensures that this new governmental power:

"be authoritative, permitting no additions or constraints for electronic transactions ..." (C) "be comprehensive, efficient and robust, requiring minimal augmentation by paper transactions or clarification by further communications;" and, finally, (D) enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual’s financial responsibility at the point of service and, to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card;" ... (E) "enable, where feasible, near real-time adjudication of claims ..." (Emphasis added)

Be scared.

The Accuracy of Government Projections

The WSJ has in instructive piece about the real cost of Obamacare. Even though the CBO shows massive deficits over the next decade, that is nothing compared to what the cost will be beginning a decade from now. Further, here's a bit of background on the projected costs of Medicare when it first passed Congress in 1965:

That year, Congressional actuaries (CBO wasn’t around then) expected Medicare to cost $3.1 billion in 1970. In 1969, that estimate was pushed to $5 billion, and it really came in at $6.8 billion. House Ways and Means analysts estimated in 1967 that Medicare would cost $12 billion in 1990. They were off by a factor of 10—actual spending was $110 billion—even as its benefits coverage failed to keep pace with standards in the private market. Medicare spending in the first nine months of this fiscal year is $314 billion and growing by 10%. Some of this historical error is due to 1970s-era inflation, as well as advancements in care and technology. But Democrats also clearly underestimated—or lowballed—the public’s appetite for “free” health care.

So now - if we're off by a factor of ten, that's an additional $1 trillion deficit annually - goodbye U.S.

71% Blame Obama for Deficit

This is despite the fact that Obama mentions that "I inherited it" several times every speech. One could say that 71% of Americans believe he's lying.

Pelosi Calls Obamacare Opponents Nazis

Nancy Pelosi, by saying that Obamacare opponents are carrying swastikas into townhall meetings, is making clear what she thinks of them - she believes that are like Nazis.

She clearly has her views backwards, as the Nazis represented the government forces that tried to eliminate any dissenting viewpoints.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

"Stress Tests" Were a Waste of Time and Money

Banking analyst Tom Brown points out that the data are now confirming that the stress tests were ridiculous from the beginning and were just another example of government cluelessness and overreach.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: the stress tests were a colossal waste of time and money. The only tangible effect they had was to serve as an excuse for the government to force banks to go out and raise new capital they didn’t need, at ruinous prices.

We all heard a lot of talk not so long ago about “zombie banks.” Not anymore. Now, instead, the banking industry has become ridiculously overcapitalized. And the people who insisted the February stress test was insufficiently severe were—and are—are kidding themselves.

By the way, where is media darling Nouriel Roubini these days?

Pelosi Orders Three New Gulfstreams

It's a bit difficult to believe that Democrats are serious about "global warming" or deficit reduction. Pelosi just ordered three new Gulfstreams to allow easier travel for Congressmen - at a cost of only $200 million.

"Mobs of Extremists" Destroying Obama's Communist Healthcare Dream

They're nothing more than "mobs of extremists" according to Democrats, showing up at townhall meetings to oppose their communist plan to takeover healthcare.

I'm surprised Obama & Co. haven't proposed to throw in jail anyone who disagrees with their plans. By the way, isn't it interesting that the most famous community organizer in the U.S. is now not so fond of community organizing?

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Obama Recognizes Ahmadinejad Government as Legit

Obama has recognized the corrupt election of Iran's Ahmadinejad as legitimate.

In all fairness, Obama has no choice. If corrupt ballot stuffing were disallowed, the Democrats would have lost many of their races in the U.S. That wouldn't be a good precedent for them to set.

Confidence Growing in Existing Health Care System

Americans have looked into the Obamacare abyss and they clearly don't like what they see. Polls indicate that more and more Americans are viewing our existing health care system as good or excellent.

The funny thing is that if "universal coverage" really were the issue, Obama could have taken a mere $30-40 billion, or 3-5% of the useless spending bill and provided universal health care coverage for everyone.

First Baby Keeps Blaming Bush For Economy

When will the First Baby in the White House finally take responsibility for his destruction of the U.S. economy? He continues to find new ways to explain that it's not his fault:

"They basically handed me a bill for $1.3 trillion and said, 'Here, fix it,'" insisted the president last week at a Town Hall Meeting in Bristol, VA. "And now they're on TV saying, why haven't you fixed it yet -- in the middle of the greatest recession since the Great Depression."

Obama must have forgotten that he was the one who signed the $900 billion boondoggle bill in February that worsened the economy. Unbelievably, he has the audacity to suggest he is a deficit hawk:

"Look, I understand the concern about debt," Mr. Obama said Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. "I'm looking at these spreadsheets every day. We dug ourselves a deep hole." And he concedes that the recovery package enacted on his watch has added to the problem.

"We're going to have to tighten our belt," he said. But he was quick to add that it cannot be done "just as the economy is coming out of recession. No economist would recommend that."

It's getting tiresome to keep repeating that Obama is nothing but a liar, but unfortunately that's the truth - and the media are still too stupid to report it.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Protests Gather Over Health Care Takeover

WND has a good article about the troubles Congressmen are having in trying to snooker their constituents into accepting a government takeover of healthcare. It's clear that this bill will only pass by diktat, not by popularity.

Obama in 2007: Would Like to Eliminate Private Health Insurance

I'll say this much for Obama - he is one of the best liars in American history. In 2007, he was very forthright about his desire to eliminate private health care insurance altogether:

I would hope that we could set up a system that allows those who can go through their employer to access a federal system or a state pool of some sort. But I don't think we're going to be able to eliminate employer coverage immediately. There's going to be potentially some transition process.

...I think that if we get a good public option, it could lead to single payer, and that's the best way to reach single payer.

(For those that aren't entirely clear: "single payer" = communist, government control.)

Wind Farms Cause Health Damage

It seems that wind farms are not only be eyesores, but they also cause health damage, according to a UK study:

Living close to wind farms can lead to a greater risk of heart disease, panic attacks and migraines, according to a study.

The farms can cause 'wind turbine syndrome', the symptoms of which also include tinnitus, vertigo and sleep deprivation, research to be published later this year claims.

Dr Nina Pierpoint, a leading New York paediatrician, says her five-year study of people living near wind turbines in the U.S., Britain, Italy, Ireland and Canada has led her to believe that they can also trigger nightmares in children and stop their brains developing properly.

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Geithner: Obama Not Ruling Out Tax Hikes on Middle Class

From Obama's ABC News:

To get the economy back on track, will President Barack Obama have to break his pledge not to raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans? In a “This Week” exclusive, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told me, "We’re going to have to do what’s necessary.”

There are a couple of interesting things here. First, ABC thinks raising taxes would be done "to get the economy back on track." Second, raising income tax rates ("letting the Bush tax cuts expire") already invalidated his thesis that Obama wouldn't raise taxes. Finally, Obama has been planning his health care disaster and carbon tax disaster for a long time, so raising taxes "to help reduce the deficit" is only applicable because Obama has taken a reasonable deficit - even with the recession - to an absurd 10-15% of GDP - the highest in American history by a huge margin.

The title of the post would be more accurate if it said something like:

"Obama's plan on track - goal of destroying American wealth in his first term succeeding"