Wikileaks Giving Aid to Taliban to Track Down US Allies

It's official - the Taliban says that, thanks to the Wikileaks data dump, they are going to track down and kill the informants named. The news site must be quite proud to have that type of power.

2.4% GDP Growth

For a recovery, Q2's GDP growth of 2.4% was downright pathetic. For this type of recession, growth should be in the 5-7% range. And as usual, it was below analyst expectations.

It shouldn't be a surprise, though, since virtually no one in the Obama administration has any private sector experience whatsoever.

How To Determine Your New Obama Tax Burden

This calculator is very useful if you want to see how much extra money Obama and the Democrat Congress will be stealing from you and your family beginning in 2011.

Obama Poll Disaster

According to Real Clear Politics, Obama's composite approval-disapproval score is at its lowest point of his presidency.

Americans are waking up to the realities of radical Marxism.

Tax Cheat Geithner: Let Bush's Tax Cuts Expire

Tim Geithner, who couldn't care less about tax rates because he doesn't pay them, advises as "the responsible thing to do," to raise taxes by letting Bush's tax cuts expire.

Geithner - the responsible one...

Obama Backed Libyan Bomber Release

With word leaking that Obama secretly supported the release of the Libyan Lockerbie bomber, I don't think it's inappropriate to ask which side he's on anymore.

Kerry Avoids Taxes; Parks Yacht in RI

The liberal Senator from Massachusetts doesn't like paying taxes as much as he likes passing them for others to pay. The Boston Herald learns that he and his wife Theresa park their 76-foot yacht in Rhode Island instead of Massachusetts in order to save on taxes.

John Edwards was right - there are two Americas - one for those who write laws and one for the rest of us.

WaPo: Whites Don't Like Obama Because They're Racist

This is really getting old and it gives some indication as to why newspaper circulation is dropping like a stone. From Gateway Pundit:

And yet, with midterm elections just a few months away, the so-called white vote looms large, an angry and vindictive political force. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday showed that President Obama’s approval ratings have reached “a new low among whites, at 40 percent, with his positive marks dipping under 50 percent for the first time among white college-educated women.”

Does race have anything to do with it? You betcha.

...Amazing, really, how people from German, Irish, English, Italian, Polish, French, Welsh, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian and Russian backgrounds can land on American shores and coalesce around a racial category concocted solely to exploit others.

Meet the great unifying, post-racial presidency where race worries are a thing of the past.

Against the People: Only 23% Say Government Has Consent

In a damning indictment of Obama's ramming through unpopular policies in an unlawful manner, only 23% of Americans say that the government has their consent.

Obama: I Got Us "Out of this Mess"

The Liar in Chief has another unbelievable whopper when he said, "my policies got us out of this mess."

The rest of the speech was typical - we can't go back to the "policies of the past," ie. low unemployment, high growth and low taxes.

We need Obamanomics, with high unemployment, high taxes, massive regulation, major government intervention, low growth and only minimal freedoms.

Statist Dream: Ten New Financial Regulatory Bureaucracies

Obama's liberal must be thrilled. The "financial overhaul" bill passed Congress and the government gets ten new oversight agencies to impact every nook and cranny of the financial sector. Let's just hope they do as great a job as they have done with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Just to show how extensive and unwieldy this bill is, JP Morgan has over 100 teams reviewing various parts of the bill. Even Chris Dodd says he has no clue how it's all going to work.

I have a feeling that the only banks who will be able to manage through this bill are companies that are too big to fail...

Irony: Unions Hire Non-Union Employees at Minimum Wage to Picket

What do you do when you can't inconvenience your own union members to stand and picket? A lot of unions are hiring unemployed workers at minimum wage to do it for them.

"For a lot of our members, it's really difficult to have them come out, either because of parking or something else," explains Vincente Garcia, a union representative who is supervising the picketing.

So instead, the union hires unemployed people at the minimum wage—$8.25 an hour—to walk picket lines. Mr. Raye says he's grateful for the work, even though he's not sure why he's doing it. "I could care less," he says. "I am being paid to march around and sound off."

When unions hire people at minimum wage, it's simply helping out another American who is down on his luck and needs a job. If a company does it, however, it's "anti-worker." That's liberal thinking for you.

Greenspan: Obama Should Raise Everyone's Taxes

Alan Greenspan, husband of liberal commentator Andrea Mitchell, and former Fed chairman whose easy monetary policy is partly to blame for both the stock market bubble and the housing bubble, is now advising Obama to "let all of Bush's tax cuts expire."

First, why is the Bush tax cut the starting point in history? Tax rates go up or down every single presidency. Why don't we say we should "let GHW Bush's or Clinton's tax increases expire?"

The truth is that Greenspan's long tenure in Washington has turned his head to liberal mush. He also says that the problem is "a decade of major increases in federal spending and major tax cuts.” Let's get this straight - after all of this spending and tax cutting under Bush, the deficit was still only 1.2% of GDP in 2007. It wasn't until the Democrat-passed "tax rebates" and Obama's $3 trillion in spending, as well as the Democrat-caused recession that caused the deficit to balloon to $2 trillion in 2010.

Sure, Bush spent too much - but to say this deficit was caused prior to 2008 is so completely absurd that I wouldn't be surprised if Greenspan's wife wrote out his script for him. Who is this guy kidding??

Let's allow Americans to vote - keep your taxes at current rates and cut Obama's radical spending increases or destroy the middle class completely and give it all to Obama's chosen people?

Obama: Health Insurers Must Now Provide "Free" Services

Yesterday Obama laid out new rules intended to begin the elimination of private health insurance altogether. The rules require health insurers who sign up new members to provide "free" services to its members.

For adults, the list of covered services includes mammograms, colonoscopies and other cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, counseling for tobacco use and certain types of pre-natal care. For children, it includes pediatric visits, vision and hearing screening, developmental assessments, immunizations and obesity screenings.

Insurers say the changes won't be free to consumers since plans will have to raise premiums overall to offset the cost of covering these services. The Obama administration estimates that the changes will increase the cost of premiums by an average of 1.5% a year.

My question is, why stop there? Why not require them to give away all health care for free?

More Affirmative Action Hidden in Financial Regulation Bill

You would have thought that race relations in America were better than ever. After all, we've just elected an african-american president, right?

Not according to Obama, who evidently believes that more affirmative action policies are needed. They've recently snuck an affirmative action clause into the financial regulatory bill. Not surprising, considering this is Obama we're talking about.

By the way, anyone see Beck a couple nights ago where he talks about Black Liberation Theology including Jeremiah Wright's parish. If you watched the show, you'll know it's pretty scary stuff. Also, you'll know where Obama is coming from.

AP Screws Up Limbaugh Comments on Steinbrenner

The AP is nothing if not clueless. This is what they passed off as Rush Limbaugh's sincere views on George Steinbrenner:

Radio commentator Rush Limbaugh has weighed in with his own view of George Steinbrenner, saying "that cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires."

The New York Yankees owner died Tuesday at age 80. On his show, Limbaugh also said Steinbrenner also fired "a bunch of white guys as managers left and right."

What the AP missed was the context, in which Limbaugh was parodying Jesse Jackson's comments of Cleveland Cavaliers' owner and the Lebron James situation, as well as the Black Panthers' Malik Zulu Shabazz's comments about white people. Not surprising that the AP missed the context because they never reported on either story.

Heartbreak: Crist's Appointee, Lemieux, Endorses Rubio

George Lemieux, the Senator from Florida who was appointed by Charlie Crist, endorsed Marco Rubio for the Senate to replace him. Interesting.

Chart of the Day: Unemployment Under GOP vs. Democrat Congresses

Since Democrats took over Congress for the first time in over a decade in 2006, we have seen many of their job killing programs, from hiking minimum wage rates to higher tax rates, more regulation and Obamacare. The results speak for themselves.

Usain Bolt Avoids UK on Higher Taxes

Usain Bolt has decided not to compete in the UK because of their overly punitive 50% tax rate. Not only have Britain's politicians recently increased the top tax rate from 40% to 50%, but they've also increased it for athletes. They now have to pay British taxes as a % of their worldwide income. So if Bolt competes in a dozen events this year and two are in the UK, he'd have to pay 17% of his income at the top British rates, whereas previously, he would have only had to pay 2 weeks at the top rate (or 4%). Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia has also been seen less in the UK for the same reason.

This is precisely why higher tax rates do not mean higher income. When will politicians learn?

DOJ Now Supporting Voter Fraud?

John Fund has a summary of the damning case against Obama's DOJ for its potential active encouragement of voter fraud:

As expected, he [J. Christian Adams] claimed that Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli, an Obama appointee, overruled a unanimous recommendation by six career Justice attorneys for continued prosecution of members of the New Black Panther Party on charges of voter intimidation in an incident I detailed here yesterday. But Mr. Adams leveled an even more explosive charge beyond the Panther case. He testified that last year Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes made a jaw-dropping announcement to attorneys in Justice's Voting Rights section. She said she would not support any enforcement of a key section of the federal "Motor Voter" law -- Section 8, which requires states to periodically purge their voter rolls of dead people, felons, illegal voters and those who have moved out of state.

If true, Ms. Fernandes was endorsing a policy of ignoring federal law and encouraging potential voter fraud.

Read on...it seems the facts are on Adams' side.

Geithner: Really, We're "Pro Growth"

The laughable Tim Geithner gave an absurd performance today, when he said that business tax rates will remain the same and that Obama and he have a "pro growth" agenda.

"We're going to make sure that we keep at 20 percent the existing rates on dividends and capital gains," Geithner said. "We think that's good policy."

Well, except that the rates are 15% today and that dividends will rise to 40%. And that's before the incremental Obamacare 3.5% tax. So what's the big deal? They're barely tripling the rates - relax... Then Geithner had the nerve to say,

"We have a pro-growth agenda, part of that agenda is growing exports. They're central to our future. What the president (did) today is to say, 'That is important to the United States, we're going to be committed to making sure we're expanding opportunities for American businesses everywhere."

Sure, Timmy. The most anti-business, anti-free trade, pro-tax increase President in U.S. history is really pro-business. Americans believe you.

Massachusetts' Health Care "Train Wreck"

The WSJ has an interesting piece on the Massachusetts universal health care law that went into law a couple of years ago.

As events are now unfolding, the Massachusetts plan couldn't be a more damning indictment of ObamaCare. The state's universal health-care prototype is growing more dysfunctional by the day, which is the inevitable result of a health system dominated by politics.

Unsurprisingly, the state now has the highest health care premiums in the U.S., despite that it was supposed to "save money" for Mass. taxpayers. Romney really botched this one - he needs to admit that it was a mistake to sign the law and attempt to get it repealed if he is to have any chance at a serious presidential bid.

The Redistributionist Obamacare Czar

Obama knows that Donald Berwick is so radical that he doesn't even want the Senate to hold hearings on the proposed head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Instead, he's going to give him a "recess appointment" during this short 2-week Congressional recess. The following clearly shows Berwick's core beliefs:

“Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized, and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional.”

Bush Stimulus vs. Obama Stimulus - Eighteen Months Later

Around this time last year, I reviewed the Bush stimulus passed in 2003 vs. the Obama stimulus passed in 2009. Both recessions/situations were similar in that we had lost significant amounts of household wealth, experienced massive stock market declines and recessions.

The stark difference was the stock market reaction to each stimulus. You can use your own judgment as to whether the stock market is right or wrong today but the investor community has spoken quite clearly.

Over the 18-month time frame from March 2003 (1 month prior to passage of Bush's plan) through October 2004, the S&P 500 went from 835 to 1136, a gain of 36.0%.

Over the 18-month time frame from January 2008 (1 month prior to passage of Obama's plan) through July 2010, the S&P 500 went from 932 to 1023, a gain of only 9.3%.

The market has given its verdict and Obama's stimulus has been ineffective, to say the least. I should also note that the stock market continued climbing another 35% under Bush through the end of 2007. How many people are so bullish about the next couple of years under Obama?

Lockerbie Bomber Might Live Another Ten Years; BP Gets Libyan Support

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber released by Great Britain out of sympathy for his limited life expectancy, is still alive 11 months later, and the doctor who examined him (and was paid by Libya) says he might live another ten years or more.

Coincidentally, it appears that BP will be getting a new investor in the name of Libya's sovereign wealth fund, as well as a potentially lucrative, multi-billion dollar drilling contract off of Libya's coast. But the two were unrelated, I'm sure.

Google Celebrates...Frida Kahlo??

If you go to the Google website today, you will see that the firm is celebrating the birthday of Frida Kahlo. Because Google rarely celebrates holidays like Memorial Day or Presidents' Day, I assumed Frida must have been very important to the world, right?

Sure enough, Frida Kahlo was a Mexican bisexual communist artist (covering Google's major requirements for celebration, I suppose). Here is part of the entry from Wiki:

Active communist sympathizers, Kahlo and Rivera befriended Leon Trotsky as he sought political sanctuary from Joseph Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s. In 1937 initially, Trotsky lived with Rivera and then at Kahlo's home (where he had an affair with Kahlo)[4]. Trotsky and his wife then moved to another house in Coyoacán where, later, in 1940 he was assassinated.

Colorado Senate GOP Candidate Norton a Prior Hillarycare Supporter?

From RedState. It is interesting that Jane Norton, GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Colorado, left off of her biography her position lobbying for the AARP while they were trying to gather support for Hillarycare during 1993-94. I wonder why she forgot...

Democrat-Run Illinois is What's Next for U.S.

Illinois (in addition to California, NY and NJ) has been a Democrat-led example of budgetary disaster. They have been devotees to Obamanomics for a decade now - with disastrous consequences.

Illinois is bound for default without a federal bailout (which is almost certainly coming). Of course, the budget comptroller Daniel Hynes thinks that everything in the $25 billion budget qualifies as "essential."

“This is not some esoteric budget issue; we are not paying bills for absolutely essential services,” he says. “That is obscene.”

This is the best Obama license plate / bumper sticker I've seen by far.

AP: Obamacare Means Longer ER Lines

Obamacare will result in longer lines at emergency rooms (along with rationing and longer wait times overall).

But it's all free! Wippee!

Obama's Scary Job Chart

This is exactly what Obamanomics gets you. And yes, this is AFTER he wasted $2 trillion (or $20,000 for each U.S. household)...

Frugal Times: Obama White House Earns $38 Million

The Obama White House consists of 469 paid employees earning over $38 million. On average, this comes out to almost $83,000 per employee (not including benefits), which is more than double the average private sector salary across the U.S.

(And no, I don't buy the argument of "these people are smarter, so they deserve more..." After all, has anyone seen the return we've gotten on Obama's multi-trillion dollar spending initiatives?

Dems Jam War Funding Bill With Pork Spending

Nothing like a war funding bill that Dems use to ram through additional "stimulus" spending.

Nonfarm Payrolls Lower than Expected....Again!

Jim Cramer had a great point the other day. Who are these economists who keep missing their payroll growth on the high side? Haven't they figured out what the rest of the country has - that Obamanomics is a disaster and they should bring down their projections?

Once again, the non-farms job number was lower than expected.

Pelosi's Job Creation Formula

...more unemployment checks, according to the great economist and speaker of the House.

40 Million Swine Flu Vaccines Wasted

Is this what Democrats mean when they say Obamacare will save us money?

Obama Hated Commissions and Now He Loves Them

It seems made up - how Obama can pull a 180 in such a short amount of time, but it's true.

Here's Barack in 2008, as a candidate:

Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was - get ready for it - a commission. That's Washington-speak for 'we'll get back to you later.

Obama continued to make fun of McCain:

Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy, he continued. We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it - and that's the kind of President I intend to be.

And now 18 months later, Obama has established 4 different commissions, including one to figure out why the economy is so bad and what can be done about it. Hmmm. I'd like to be able to say that I'm surprised Obama had lied so egregiously.

Jim Cramer Slams Obama Again

Even liberal commentator Jim Cramer, who voted for Obama, has awakened to the fact that Obama is a disaster. In an piece this morning, Cramer writes:

..these days only a few hardcore-left Democrats, President Obama and Rahm Emmanuel among them, are maintaining the fiction that they are pro-growth and pro-job.

You can't be a serious businessman or even journalist and maintain the fiction any longer - Obama is an absolute horror to the economy.

WSJ: Deficit Panel Stresses Spending Cuts

I will believe it when I see it, but a majority of the "bipartisan deficit panel" seem to be saying that we need to cut spending rather than raise taxes, according to the WSJ.

Here's the surreal thing, though. The chairman of the panel, Democrat Erskine Bowles, suggested that federal tax revenue should "rise to about 21% of GDP." Under today's CBO projections, we are already above that figure - and it will grow to 26% by the end of the decade and 35% by 2035.

There's really only one good way to help reduce deficits - reverse all of Obama's policies and grow the economy.

Greenspan: Small Business in "Extraordinarily" Bad Shape

Alan Greenspan on CNBC this morning says that this mini-recovery has been driven solely by the hiring and financing by big banks (which Obama wants to destroy). Small business is in terrible shape, says Greenspan.

Perhaps Greenspan didn't listen to Obama, who said that small business has all kinds of new hiring incentives (I think he means the uncertainty, higher labor costs and the risk of having the rules changed overnight, as well as higher marginal tax rates)...

Greenspan also said the bond market is telling is that we are reaching our "borrowing capacity limits" and that Obama's proposed tax rate increases are "ill advised."

*Update*
Greenspan later added that because capital is so fungible, if the U.S. passes the existing financial regulation bill, it will definitely hurt U.S. institutions, as the capital flees to Europe and elsewhere.