Released Gitmo Detainees Rebuilding Al Qaeda

Can everyone now agree that releasing terrorists from Gitmo is a terrible idea? These are not innocent people who accidentally missed a wrong turn and ended up on the Afghanistan battlefield.

GMAC Gets More Money on Third Bailout

Obamanomics. Nuff said.

Daily Telegraph Gives Obama an F

Toby Harnden, of the Daily Telegraph, slams Obama, giving him an F for failing to protect Americans. (Obama, a very humble man, gives himself a B+).

What's interesting from the article is that this is the third Yemeni connection to a US terrorist attack this year. The first one killed a military recruiter in Arkansas, the second was the Fort Hood massacre, and now this one. Furthermore, two of the masterminds in Yemen of this attack were actually released from Guantanamo over a year ago. And now is Obama thinking about sending another 90 Gitmo detainees back to Yemen? Hmmm.

Read Obama's reportcard.

Governor Paterson's Entourage

When I read that NY Governor Paterson had a security force protecting him, I thought - fair enough, and I assumed it might be 2 or 3 guards.

Boy was I wrong - he has 200! This is more than the entire force of state troopers in Long Island!

What a waste of taxpayer money.

Obama: Tired and Exhausted After 1 Year

I guess the perma-campaign is starting to wear on the man. Funnily enough, I saw John McCain in an interview over the weekend, and I thought he looked great! Who woulda thunk?

Dutch Hero Wants More Money

I think everyone agrees that Jasper Shuringa acted heroically on that Northwest terrorist flight. And it is definitely his right to ask for money from the highest bidder. Interviews do take time (and time is money) and who knows - maybe this is his one chance in life to cash in. I don't know his financial situation. I'm sure many will complain about it, but I don't have a big problem with this. Just seems like it doesn't happen too often.

New Security Measures Are Absurd

So another Al Qaeda-trained terrorist tries to blow up a plane and we need new security measures. Fair enough. But from what I've read so far, the measures that have been taken are ridiculous. They're absurd, amusing, and scary all at the same time if they are true.

Some airlines are prohibitting passengers from leaving their seats one hour before landing - just for this one hour time period. OK - I get it. This crazy nut case got out of his seat, went to the bathroom to plan everything, and then tried to detonate a bomb to blow up the plane about an hour before the landing. I suppose the presumption is that if he's not allowed out of his seat, during this one-hour period then this never could have happened.

How stuuuuuuuupid is that? I guess if he gotten our of his seat 2 hours prior then there would be a new restriction for staying in your seat for 2 hours, instead of one hour.

The other equally crazy restriction is that now passengers are not allowed to have anything on their laps during the final hour of flight. This especially includes pillows and blankets because that it was the terrorist used to shield his bomb. Nuts! Again, couldn't he have tried this half-way through the flight, and couldn't he have attempted to hide everything under a trench coat to get around this rule?

The problem with these new restrictions is that they assume the next guy will try something EXACTLY the same way as the last one. What if the next terrorist beats someone with his i-Pod? Will all I-pods be banned?

I know it sounds crazy, but I have a better solution: profile passengers. C'mon - we all know who we're looking for. Does anyone really believe that a 80 year old Japanese woman should be checked just as often as a 25 year old man from the middle east? An even more radical solution is if a father of a crazy nut son says his son is talking about blowing up American planes - then don't issue him a visa!

Obama: Unlimited Assistance to Fannie, Freddie

In a typical Obama move to control the mortgage industry and remove any pretense of financial responsibility, his administration promised unlimited aid to Fannie and Freddie, even if it costs another $1,000,000,000,000.00 (yes, there are a lot of zeros in a trillion). Oh, and the pay czar also removed the compensation limits for the senior executives - because of course, they are Democrats.

What this means is that Fannie and Freddie have no requirement to either underwrite responsibly or operate efficiently. Obama officially calls the shots in the mortgage industry.

And of course, it was announced on Christmas Eve - the same day Washignton took over the healthcare industry. Hugo Chavez would be extremely proud.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Too Many Lawyers in Congress Pass Healthcare Reform

Ever wonder how we end up with the largest spending bill in US history that 65% of the American public do not want? Ever wonder why we're following the healthcare models of Canada and the UK when it's hard to find citizens from those countries that say good things about their system? Well, other than corruption and bribery by our president, there is another reason. It's not the doctors that are voting for it. It's the lawyers. The number of lawyers in congress outnumber the number of doctors 40 to 1.

This also answers the question as to why Obama will never pass tort reform.

A Christmas Ornament Only Obama Would Love

A Mao ornament had his proper place on the Christmas tree. Of course, a White House spokesman claims no one knew it was even there.

...Kind of like Obama had no idea Jeremiah Wright was spewing hate speech for the past 20 years.

Obamacare Rammed Through By Cowards

The Democrats plan on ramming Obamacare through the Senate on Christmas Eve at 9 pm. Peter Wehner sums up this historic achievement:

This health-care bill may well be historic, but not in the way the president thinks. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen anything quite like it: passage of a mammoth piece of legislation, hugely expensive and unpopular, on a strict party-line vote taken in a rush of panic because Democrats know that the more people see of ObamaCare, the less they like it.

The other interesting point is that Democrats have apparently attempted to make this legislation permanently binding, meaning that no Congress could ever repeal it. If this were constitutional, why wouldn't the majority make every law permanent and non-repealable? Sen. DeMint brought up this point.

Obama: Free-Fallin!

What a difference a year makes. One year ago today, Obama's approval rating was +28. Today, it's fallen to -21. 49 approval rating points down the drain.

One can argue that people had an unsustainably high rating of Obama a year ago, just based upon euphoria, and nothing else. One could also argue that today's extremely low opinion has come on the back of this week's pork-laden healthcare bill and that in months to come, people will slowly forget about this. But what I find remarkable is that 49% of the American people have changed their views dramatically about President Obama in one year's time. 49%!

And he hasn't even begun raising taxes yet! Yet is the operative word.

All the Oprah Specials in the world will not get himself out of this mess.

No Solar Panels in My Desert

Environmentalists have long championed solar panels as our savior (forget that it would take 1000 square miles of them to produce the same energy as a 5-acre nuclear power plant).

But now environmentalists say they don't want to disturb the Mojave Desert's natural habitat and don't want solar panels there. Sen. Diane Feinstein is planning a bill to close the desert to any solar panels.

No windmills along the coast, no drilling where there's oil, and now no solar panels in the desert. Don't be surprised if Congress proposes we find a place for them up in Alaska.

Dem Senator: Majority of Americans Are Nazis

Radical Left-wing nutcase Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says essentially that the 200 million Americans who oppose Obamacare are Nazis.

This is your Democrat party today.

Goldman Threatens to Move Employees to Spain

Goldman Sachs said that it may move up to 20% of its 5,000-employee London workforce to Spain in light of the UK's decision for a massive incremental tax on bankers.

I hope Goldman does it - it will provide a valuable lesson to governments that there is always a tipping point when tax increases provide less revenue. I think we're going to be there in the U.S during Obama's term. If people don't leave the country, they will change compensation structures or simply quit working altogether.

Klobuchar Misses the Point Entirely

I was watching Chris Wallace interview Senators Conrad of North Dakota and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and was struck by one particular exchange:

WALLACE: ... Senator, don't Democrats run a considerable political risk when you're going to pass major legislation with no bipartisan support over what seems to be almost a 2-1 opposition from the American people?

KLOBUCHAR: Do you know what the poll numbers were on Medicare when they voted for Medicare decades and decades ago? Like 28 percent of the people favored it. Now 96 percent do.

Umm, anyone see a problem with this? Senator Klobuchar is using Medicare as her shining example of a government-run program. Medicare is about to go bankrupt and everyone knows this. Maybe any program that has a 96% approval rating (if her number is correct) should be scrutinized for precisely that reason.

Obamacare to Pass; Premiums to Skyrocket

With the buyout of Sen. Ben Nelson's vote, it looks like Obamacare will pass. Like electricity prices, health premiums will "necessarily skyrocket," to take a line from the man who is proud of that fact.

Sadly, the American public no longer has a voice in how it lives (or dies) - the nation is governed by radical Leftist dictators.

President Obama Clueless On Banking

Is President Obama as clueless as he appears when it comes to banking? Well, according to Tom Brown, President of Bankstocks.com, he's even moreso. According to Tom:

President Obama’s ignorance of how banking works seems to be nearly encyclopedic. He accuses the banks he spoke with Monday of playing a big role in causing the credit crunch. For the most part, they did not. (The main culprits have all long since collapsed.) He says the big banks should be grateful for the “extraordinary assistance” they received from the government. But except for Citi, none of the big banks even wanted the money. He keeps pushing this misbegotten Consumer Financial Protection Agency. But the effect of the CFPA would be to constrict credit, not expand it. His understanding of reality seems to be upside down and backwards.

It’s also a jarring to hear the President talk about the “extraordinary commitment” he expects lenders to now make. The last time the government wanted that kind of concerted effort from the lending industry, things didn’t turn out so well. Then, the goal was the expansion of home ownership—everyone from President Bush to Barney Frank was all for it—and the key tool banks used to get there was an emphasis on subprime lending. I don’t need to remind you how that ended.

So first he's clueless on healthcare, and now financials too? Oh well - these two sectors only represent 35% of GDP.

Copenhagen Summit to Be Snowed In?

Contrary to popular belief, Denmark does not receive very much snow. In fact there have only been 7 white Christmas's over the past 95 years. Amazing but true. Actually, in speaking with one Dane recently, he thought that Denmark hadn't seen a white Christmas since 1982.

How ironic then, is it that this year's global warming meeting in Copenhagen will see some snow - one forecast is predicting heavy snow today!

But hey, this doesn't mean that warming isn't happening. We all know that next December it will be 80 degrees and sunny.

**UPDATE**
Definitely not all fun and games for the activists. Stories about them waiting in the freezing cold on Monday and Tuesday. Other stories today about snow and ice on the roads in Denmark.

Leftist Teacher Suspends Student For Crucifix Drawing

A Taunton, Mass. schoolteacher suspended an eight-year old child for drawing a crucifix. The drawing was an assignment to create something that reminded the students of Christmas.

Christ was deemed offensive to the radical Leftist teacher.

Obamacare Closer to Passing; Drops "Medicare Buy-in"

Unfortunately, Lieberman got his wish and the Senate dropped the "Medicare buy-in" and public option - for now. What this means is that Obamacare will likely pass the Senate.

But mark my words - when the House and Senate send a few members to reconcile the bills in committee, there will be government control of the health care sector when all is said and done. And of course, it will obliterate the federal budget and any facade of spending responsibility.

A V Shaped Recovery, But Government Slowed it Down

Economists Brian Westbury and Robert Stein argue that we are indeed in a 'V' shaped recovery and are projecting 4-4.5% growth through 2010. They say that the growth should be much higher after the dramatic recession, but government got in the way.

While the pessimists keep looking for things to worry about--seasonal adjustment factors, sales tax receipts--we are forecasting real GDP will grow in the 4% to 4.5% annual rate range at least through 2010. We also expect the unemployment rate to fall consistently in this next year as well. Unfortunately, government spending and stimulus is costing jobs and growth. The economy would be doing even better, and unemployment would be lower if government had stayed out of the way.

I guess that prognosis is good news, but I question the staying power of any recovery. Despite the fact that this recession was almost as bad as that which Reagan inherited, I don't think growth will get anywhere close to the average 5.3% growth we saw for the three years from 1983 to 1985. Tax rates are increasing, regulation is increasing, and the assault on capitalism is increasing. I hope our government gets a change of heart, but that's like Elin or Hillary hoping their husbands stop looking at other women.

Al Gore's Officially On the Clock

In a recent speech, Al Gore said:

there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.

First a 75% chance is pretty high. Second, if he's right, I think that means that ocean levels will rise, and most of mankind will be underwater by 2014-2016.

Just for the record, most climatologists don't agree with Gore's made-up figures. Seems climatologists are much more comfortable with predicting conditions on a 50 year basis. That way, if they're wrong, 50 years is a long time to forget. However, if people predict the end of the world in five years, they'll usually come out looking like idiots.

Let's see if he's right. He's on the clock.

Clinton: Iran Outreach Has Yielded "Very Little"

At least Hillary is being honest when she says the U.S. dovish policy towards Iran has produced nothing...

LATimes: On Second Thought, Better To Do Nothing on Healthcare

According to the LATimes, it turns out that Obamacare won't do anything to cut costs and it's better to do nothing at all than pass this bill.

-19!

A new low for Obama, according to Rasmussen. Is the mirage finally over?

Clinton Judge: ACORN Has "Right" to Taxpayer Money

Apparently, a criminal organization like ACORN can not be denied funds by Congress, according to a Clinton-appointed judge.

Yup, supposedly they have a constitutional right to taxpayer funds...

Baucus Gives Girlfriend $14,000 More of Taxpayer Money

Dem Sen. Max Baucus gave his girlfriend a $14,000 raise and took her on a boondoggle to Southeast Asia, all courtesy of the U.S. taxpayers.

If I recall correctly, Paul Wolfowitz was forced to resign even though he publicly recused himself from any salary decisions related to his girlfriend, which was out in the open.

Federal Gov't Workers Make 77% More Than Private Sector

There used to be a day when working for the government meant low pay but a cushy job and benefits and absolute job security. That was then. Now, the average federal government employee makes over $71,000, or 77% more than the $40,000 that the average private sector employee makes. Likewise, the number who make over $100,000 has jumped by 19% during the recession.

And if you have had the opportunity to meet the number of incompetent individuals who work in the federal government, your head would spin. It has become a completely outrageous bloated welfare state.

Canadian Paper Argues For One-Child Policy

Canada's national newspaper has called for the adoption of China's one-child policy worldwide. Interestingly, it also seems to believe that Christianity is a "fundamentalist" religion.

None will work unless a China one-child policy is imposed. Unfortunately, there are powerful opponents. Leaders of the world's big fundamentalist religions preach in favor of procreation and fiercely oppose birth control. And most political leaders in emerging economies perpetuate a disastrous Catch-22: Many children (i. e. sons) stave off hardship in the absence of a social safety net or economic development, which, in turn, prevents protections or development.

Government Won't Allow Wells Fargo to Repay TARP

Financial services analyst Tom Brown has some good advice to the government if they want banks to start lending again - get off the backs of healthy institutions. He uses Wells Fargo as an example:

Wells came through the credit crunch as strongly as any large institution. Yet the company must feel as if it’s been singled out to appear in some banking-industry version of The Twilight Zone. Its nightmare began, recall, in October of last year when Dick Kovacevich was summoned to Washington (along with heads of nine other big banks) and told that Wells would take $25 billion in TARP money, whether it wanted it or not. Which, as Kovacevich pointed out at the time, it did not.

No matter! Down Wells’s throat the $25 billion went anyway.

Keep in mind that despite huge reserve building, Wells Fargo remains profitable. It's Tier 1 capital ratio is 10.6% (6.0% is considered "well capitalized") and its results have shown that the government's "stress tests" from last year are far off the mark.

Unfortunately for the U.S. economy, Wells Fargo is one of the largest and most successful lenders in the country (and one of the handful still financing new transactions). The government is actively preventingit from lending more.

Kentucky GOPer Higdon Wins in Overwhelmingly Dem District

In a Kentucky district that is overwhelmingly Democrat by a 2-1 margin, GOP state senate candidate Jimmy Higdon was able to nationalize the race by making it a referendum on the Democrats in Washington.

The result: Higdon won by 12 points.

House Votes To Triple Taxes on Carried Interest

Pelosi and her Democrat friends in the House voted to change the tax structure on carried interest for the private equity business from capital gains to ordinary income, which would nearly triple the effective tax rate on the industry and cripple the whole concept of carried interest.

Not good for an industry that is already having major problems. But then again, Obama and Pelosi are not known for their business acumen.

Hillary Pollster Stimulated by $6 Million

The stimulus plan helped "save or create" lots of profit for Hillary Clinton's pollster Mark Penn, who benefited to the tune of $6 million. See, the stimulus plan did work for some people.

What Obama Wants Taught in School

Obama's safe schools czar is about as radical as they come. This is apparently what Obama and his pals would like schools to be teaching. Warning: graphic language.

Shocker: Swine Flu Virus Actually Mild

So the H1N1 virus is relatively mild after all. Once again, the government stirs up the people into crisis mode in order to drum up support for Obamacare needlessly.

Obamanomics: We Will "Spend Our Way Out"

I can sum up Obama's speech on the economy easily:

It's all Bush's fault... I'm trying to restore fiscal responsibility... We must continue to "spend our way out of this recession." Oh, and just for good measure, I created 1.6 million jobs so far...

This is the type of illogical incoherence you might expect from a 6 year-old.

Moody's: U.S. Must Prove It Can Shrink Deficit to Keep AAA

Moody's Investor Service said that the U.S. AAA rating is susceptible if it does not prove that it can shrink its deficit.

Aren't Obama's promises enough for Moody's?

NFIB Index Down; Small Business "Scared to Death" of Obama

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Index of Small Business Optimism was down 0.8 to 88.3 in November, showing that the outlook for small business is still bleak.

Interestingly, the head of the NFIB was on CNBC this morning and said that small businesses are "scared to death" of Obama's policies, including higher taxes and a health care takeover. Unsurprisingly, the NFIB was not invited to Obama's "jobs forum."

Africans Discriminate Against American Actress

South Africans are angry that an American, Jennifer Hudson, is playing Winnie Mandela in an upcoming movie. South Africans believe that only a South African black can play the role. I don't get it - isn't that why it's called "acting?" If not, I guess Mandela should really play herself.

I'm always surprised to hear about this sort of thing. Like when Dominic West, star of The Wire, said he didn't like foreigners playing Brits because "they are stealing our heroes." Or when you heard many Japanese complaining that a Chinese woman would play the role of a Geisha.

About the only place you don't see this kind of prejudice is the USA.

North Korea On Brink: Money Almost Worthless

More bad news for North Korean residents and the role model economy of the Left. North Korea has declared that each won will be worth only 1% of what it was worth just last week, effectively wiping out the life savings for North Korean residents.

But it will continue to rank highly on the Leftist scale of "equality."

EPA To Regulate Breathing, Says CO2 is Pollutant

The EPA believes it needs to begin regulating carbon dioxide emissions, which means that technically, it can regulate how many breaths a human takes.

The only logical step seems to be the banning of all exercise, which only makes people breathe more rapidly. We should really all just practice a very slow and steady breathing process all day long so as not to harm the environment.

By the way, is anyone else bothered by the fact that the EPA can do whatever it pleases in the name of the environment?

TARP Funds To Be Used For More Government Jobs

Shocking, but those TARP funds are actually not going to cost as much as expected (except for the union bailouts of GM and Chrysler). Also unsurprising is that Obama and Pelosi view this as a slush fund to "save or create" more government jobs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats have been drafting a jobs bill that would tap resources in the bailout program.

Among the proposals being considered are funding as much as $70 billion in new transportation and infrastructure projects, providing new tax credits aimed at encouraging small businesses to hire workers and providing additional aid to state governments to preserve public sector jobs…

Crooks.

Britain Criticizes Obama Decision to Pull Troops Out in 2011

Normally allies in a war are more silent with their disagreements, at least in public. But not Great Britain:

Tensions between Britain and America over the war in Afghanistan erupted into the open yesterday as the Defence Secretary questioned President Obama's decision to put a date on the start of US troop withdrawals.

In an interview with The Times, Bob Ainsworth said that the Government would not follow Washington's promise to start pulling out in 2011. "You can't put a time on it. You've got to look at conditions," he said. ...

I don't think many countries in have faith in Obama, with the exception perhaps of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, China and North Korea.

Fort Hood Soldiers Taking Training Lessons From Islamic Radical Group

Prepare to be infuriated.

It's been brought to my attention by several reliable sources that the Defense Department has brought Louay Safi to Fort Hood as an instructor, and that he has been lecturing on Islam to our troops in Fort Hood who are about to deploy to Afghanistan. Safi is a top official of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and served as research director at the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).

Read more from Andy McCarthy. Why don't we just bring in Mullah Omar to give the troops the Islamic sensitivity training they neeed?

Supreme Court May Provide Greatest Economic Stimulus Yet

Believe it or not, the Supreme Court could have the greatest effect on generating jobs and economic activity without spending a dime. As the WSJ explains, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments about whether the biggest corporate regulatory act in recent history, Sarbanes-Oxley, is constitutional.

At issue is whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, which supervises compliance with the law, violates the Constitution's separation of powers. Under the Appointments Clause, all "officers" of the United States must be appointed by the President and accountable to him—a condition PCAOB members do not meet.

The board's five members are instead hired by the commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who are appointed by the President. This arrangement passed muster in a 2-1 decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, on the dubious grounds that the members were "inferior officers" and accountable to the President through the SEC. Never mind that they are not "directed and supervised" by the SEC, the traditional requirement for inferior officers.

The dissenter on the D.C. Circuit panel, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, called the case the most important separation of powers case in 20 years and said the appeals court had created a constitutional hash. Though the PCAOB "performs numerous regulatory and law enforcement functions at the core of the executive power," he wrote, for the first time in U.S. history we have "an independent agency whose heads are appointed by and removable only for cause by another independent agency."

If the Supreme Court were to overturn the act based on its unconstitutionality, this would dramatically reduce the regulatory burden on small public companies, thereby allowing resources to be redeployed in a more productive way. And without costing taxpayers a single dime, they could do more to create jobs in this country that the Democrats' trillion dollar stimulus bill.

Is NASA Involved in Climategate Scandal?

From The American Thinker. The Competitive Enterprise Institute has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with NASA three years ago to obtain its climate data, but to this point NASA has been stonewalling, saying that it "takes time" to respond.

One has to wonder whether NASA was involved in the massive fraud that has embroiled East Anglia and the global warming scientific community overall.

FHA Head: We're Not the Next "Subprime"

FHA Head Shaun Donovan says that FHA-backed loans are not the next "suprime."

“Subprime delinquencies are 240 percent higher than FHA’s for a reason,” Donovan said. “While others participated in investor-owned markets or were exposed to exotic mortgages … FHA stuck to the basics during the housing boom: 30-year, fixed rate traditional loan products with standard underwriting requirements.”

Except, of course for that pesky 3.5% down payment minimum vs. traditional minimums of 20%. This, from an agency that holds a 0.53 reserve level, even though it is required by Congress to hold a level of 2% (which is still well below traditional banks). And why shouldn't we believe Mr. Donovan? Like 92% of all Obama appointees, Donovan spent his entire career in government, but he has a Harvard degree, so he is obviously knowledgeable about private markets...

Der Spiegel: Least Truthful Address Ever

The Left-wing German daily Der Spiegel calls Obama's address the "least truthful" he ever gave.

Red State notes that he mentioned the word "victory" exactly zero times.

U.S. Military as "Enemy Camp"

At least the media now admits to how they see the U.S. military. No, the enemy isn't Al Qaeda, North Korea or Iran. It's the U.S. military (they just don't view the President as commander-in-chief I suppose, which makes sense).

Obama and Second Grade Math

Did Obama ever get past second grade math? I have my doubts. He says we need help funding his "surge" of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan which is estimated to cost $30B. Is this guy for real?

Call me crazy, but I've seen estimates that his healthcare bill would cost the US economy anywhere between $1 trillion and $3 trillion. Why not take 1% off the healthcare bill to pay for our security. Either that or he should have not spent his $800 Billion for the non-stimulus stimulus.

Obamacare's 'Opposite Land'

The Obamacare debate reminds me of that Simpsons Brazil episode where Homer believes it is Opposite Land because it is summer there during our winter. He suggested that crooks chase cops and cats have puppies in Brazil, just as Democrats argue that rising healthcare prices actually means lowering costs because taxpayers foot the bill in certain cases. The truth no longer seems to matter to either politicians or the media. From the WSJ:

CBO found that premiums in the individual market will rise by 10% to 13% more than if Congress did nothing. Family policies under the status quo are projected to cost $13,100 on average, but under ObamaCare will jump to $15,200.

Finance Chairman Max Baucus chimed in from the Senate floor that "Health-care reform is fundamentally about lowering health-care costs. Lowering costs is what health-care reform is designed to do, lowering costs; and it will achieve this objective."

The GOP has a plan that actually does lower costs, but doesn't give the government total power:

The political tragedy is that there are plenty of reform alternatives that really would reduce the cost of insurance. According to CBO, the relatively modest House GOP bill would actually reduce premiums by 5% to 8% in the individual market in 2016, and by 7% to 10% for small businesses. The GOP reforms would also do so without imposing huge new taxes.

Homer's Opposite Land is now a real place - it's where Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the Democrats live.

Obama Declares One Year Plan in Afghanistan

What do you call it when a President decides to send over 30,000 soldiers to a war-zone and at the same time says he'll be bringing them back in a year? I don't get it. Is Obama saying that the US will have won the war in a year (is he declaring victory?)? Or is he simply telling the enemy: All I can stomach is one more year. My guess is he's not planning to annihilate the enemy in a year, being that he's won the Nobel Peace Prize and all.

What I don't understand is why he would tell the enemy about his super long-term plan of one year.

One proud marine father said it best:

If I were the enemy, I would hang back until 2011.

Of course. If you thought poorly of Obama and his handling of the economy, just wait til you see his military tactics...

The Mystery of Obama and Columbia University

People are speculating: why is it that Barack Obama rarely mentions in public (or his books) anything about his time at Columbia University? Libertarian Wayne Root has his own opinion on the subject in a recent interview with Matt Welch from Reason magazine. Here's part of the excerpt from Maggie's Notebook:

[Welch] So tell us what we should know about Barack Obama that we don't?

[Root] I think the most dangerous thing you should know about Barack Obama is that I don't know a single person at Columbia that knows him, and they all know me. I don't have a classmate who ever knew Barack Obama at Columbia. Ever!

[Root] Nobody recalls him. I'm not exaggerating, I'm not kidding.

[Welch] Were you the exact same class?

[Root] Class of '83 political science, pre-law Columbia University. You don't get more exact than that. Never met him in my life, don't know anyone who ever met him. At the class reunion, our 20th reunion five years ago, 20th reunion, who was asked to be the speaker of the class? Me. No one ever heard of Barack! Who was he, and five years ago, nobody even knew who he was...I don't think anybody knew him. But I know that the guy who writes the class notes, who's kind of the, as we say in New York, the macha who knows everybody, has yet to find a person, a human who ever met him. Is that not strange? It's very strange.

Justoneminute speculates on Obama's whereabouts during this time. A very interesting read, which if you think about Obama's connections and his past, this sounds very very believable! Please give this other thread a read!

Former FDIC Chair: TARP Made Things Worse

Bill Isaac, chairman of the FDIC during the Reagan administration, saw double digit inflation and thousands of bank failures. He disagrees that the latest financial crisis was the worse since the Great Depression and says that today's TARP program made things far worse than they should have been. He's right.

GE's Immelt at State Dinner With Party Crashers

Liberal GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt was at the state dinner that the two party crashers attended.

Keep in mind that GE owns Bravo and Bravo is getting ready to air Real Housewives of Washington, DC, in which the party crashers were going to star. Hmm...

Arlen Specter's Trial Lawyer Windfall Act of 2009

In order to sue someone today, you need to have a plausible claim that the person did something wrong. Arlen Specter, facing an uphill climb in his Senate re-election fight, needs trial lawyer money badly. So he's decided that this hurdle is simply too high to reach and wants to change it. From the WSJ:

The reason has to do with the discovery process. Rightly used, discovery allows lawyers from both sides to gain access to evidence—documents, email, depositions, etc.—that support their case. In practice it can be abused, as when lawyers use discovery to go fishing for a case they don't have. And because compliance alone can be expensive and time-consuming, many companies find it cheaper to settle.

Greg Garre, a former solicitor general for the Bush administration who will testify at tomorrow's hearing, puts it this way: "If passed and signed into law, the bill would drive a truck through the Supreme Court ruling and dramatically lower the standards for pleading lawsuits."

Not only that, but as the WSJ argues, it makes it significantly easier for terrorists to charge, say the President or Attorney General to go on discovery expeditions. To Specter, this doesn't matter. He has already proven he will do anything humanly possible to win re-election.

Obama STILL Wants Marxist Returned to Power in Honduras

This is truly hard to believe. After a Honduras election that brought huge numbers out to the polls to vote in Zelaya's opposition power and met all standards of fairness, Obama apparently wants to ignore the elections and return the Marxist to power!

The senior diplomat said the United States wants to see Mr. Zelaya restored to office. But U.S. officials have previously acknowledged that the Honduran National Congress might not support his return.

Obama is definitely faithful to his socialist ideology. He will support Chavez, Castro, et. al to the end.