Another Memorial Day: Another Day of Golf for Obama

Nile Gardiner from Britain's Daily Telegraph is appalled about Obama playing golf on a day that is supposed to be reserved for our fallen soldiers, especially as three wars are currently going on. He says he can't even imagine how skewered David Cameron would have been if he even considered playing golf on Remembrance Sunday (their Memorial Day). He's equally surprised that no major newspaper has reported on it in the US. (Hey, I guess we're used to pretty poor judgement from our President, not that that's any excuse for his aloofness and his recurring bad judgement.)

I guess this is a CHANGE from our last president.

Obama. Ugggh.

MN Dem Governor Votes in Favor of Voter Fraud

The legislature of Minnesota passed legislation that would require voters to cast votes legally by showing identification, which is supported by the overwhelming majority of Minnesota residents.

Minnesota's Dem Governor Mark Dayton vetoed the bill, voting in effect, for the advantage Democrats hold from voter fraud on election day.

Dems on SEC Approve Whistleblower Rewards

Litigators, start your engines. The SEC narrowly approved a measure that will encourage, through cash rewards, company employees to rat out the companies they work for.

While I'm fully in favor of correcting illegal or immoral behavior, the number of cases against innocent companies is virtually guaranteed to skyrocket because of the new rule.

Obama's Budget Bill Rejected 97-0

Obama has finally managed to unite both republicans and democrats. They defeated his bill 97-0.

I have to admit - it was a piece of garbage.

Unemployment Up; GDP Still Stinks

Obamanomics is working as expected: after spending to the point of near insolvency with no slowdown in sight, we keep getting awful economic news. GDP has "unexpectedly" slowed to 1.8%, jobless claims were "unexpectedly" up by 10,000 and personal consumption "unexpectedly" slowed to 2.2%.

But I'm sure that four more years of Obama's policy will help tremendously.

Day 2: Obama's European Trip - Ping Pong and Wine!

So while the US is under pressure to find a solution to our debt crisis (of his own making), Obama continues with his European vacation. What did he do yesteday? signed some guestbooks, played ping pong with David Cameron, drank $1,000 wine, and he fumbled a toast to the queen.

He also made a shout-out to the people of Joplin Missouri devasted by tornadoes.

States to Ask Banks For Bigger Extortion Payment

State attorneys general said that the $5 billion settlement offer from big banks to settle problems with robo-signing flaws in the mortgage was "woefully inadequate."

Let's forget for a second that no one to my knowledge has been evicted from his home who was current on his mortgage payments, but rather there were issues related to documentation. Meanwhile, many delinquent homeowners have been living in homes rent-free for 12 to 18 months.

This slush fund will do nothing for the multi-trillion-dollar housing market. It will however, give politicians the ability to dole out privileges for a special chosen few. And it will, of course, be money that will ultimately be paid by bank customers. Unfortunately, when politicians have never worked in the private sector, they don't realize that you can't have an economic recovery while holding the banking system hostage at the same time.

US Ravaged by Tornadoes, Floods, and Wildfires; Obama Off to Ireland

What's the definition of aloof? This picture should be next to the word in Webster's dictionary.

I'd say that aloof is when the rest of the world is looking at the brutal damage done by tornadoes, floods, and wildfires in the US, and we have a President flying to Dublin, sipping guiness in a pub, only to court Irish-American voters in an election taking place in 18 months. (Obama only discovered that he had Irish roots in 2007 when he decided to run for president, according to the Boston Globe.)

Maybe aloof is when a President's wife takes a private jet to Spain and parties like it's 1999 with actors and celebrities in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression (in her husband's own words).

Some might say aloof is when a President declares war on a nation on a Friday and then takes his family on a vacation to Rio the next day, without any explanation.

Others might believe aloof is when a President has played 70 golf times in a two-year span where he has waged war in three nations and American soldiers have died.

Obama. Uggh.

Egypt is Disintegrating. Obama Supports Uprising

Wonder if Obama has a clue here. Egypt is falling into an abyss. Great move by Barack to support the uprising.

Homeowners Build Homemade Dams to Protect Houses

There are a few amazing pictures here that show the ingenuity of people trying to protect their homes from floods.

Obama to Israel: Give Up Your Land

In a major move by Obama, he is demanding that Israel go back to its borders prior to 1967. Bye bye Jerusalem.

I suppose it doesn't matter politically to Obama - Jewish Americans will still support him.

Obama and Osama Both Praised Muslim Uprisings

It's true. Osama wanted these middle-eastern dicators gone, as that would help radical Islam. But why does Obama also support it?

Anyone find it strange that he's supporting Al Qaeda backed groups in the Middle East?

Obama Shuts Out Boston Herald on "bias" charge

Obama is crying again about how the media treats him unfairly. This time it's the Boston Herald who was refused access to Obama's exclusive fund-raiser. Evidently Obama is angry that the Herald included a front page op-ed on March 8th, written by Mitt Romney. Here are the comments from White House spokesman Matt Lehrich:

I tend to consider the degree to which papers have demonstrated to covering the White House regularly and fairly in determining local pool reporters...My point about the op-ed was not that you ran it but that it was the full front page, which excluded any coverage of the visit of a sitting US President to Boston. I think that raises a fair question about whether the paper is unbiased in its coverage of the President’s visits.

Interesting. The Herald has been one of the biggest critics of Mitt Romney, but it appears they were fair enough to him to allow him to publish his op-ed a couple of months ago. To me, this shows an element of fairness. On the other hand, the Boston Globe is not exactly "unbiased" in their coverage of President Obama either.

On the one hand, it's the President's right to allow whomever he wants at his private events, however it doesn't display fairness in my opinion and it gives the impression that he has something to hide. The fact that this President cannot bring himself to allow equal access to a newspaper because they might disagree with him says something about him. This President prefers to do the talking, while others do the listening. He doesn't like to be challenged - and this is why he agreed to debates on all the major networks during the last election cycle except to Fox News. It was the same President who also refused to sit down with BP's CEO during the oil spill fiasco.

That's Obama. Ugggh.

Obama IRS to Political Donors: We Know Where You Live

Obama and his Democrat buddies are doing everything possible to intimidate group political donations, though of course, he still loves that cash from unions and liberal non-profits. First it was the Disclose Act, which failed to pass Congress. Next it's talk of an "executive order" requiring any business that wants to do business with any federal agency to disclose all those donations. Now, Obama's getting the IRS involved. From the WSJ:

In the crossroads, er, cross-hairs, are nonprofit groups that register under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code and spent millions on political advertising in the last election cycle. Big donations to those groups, the agency now says, should have been subject to gift taxes and may be owed retroactively. In a letter to one donor, the IRS noted that it "had received information that you donated cash to . . . an IRC Section 501(c)(4) organization . . . and your contribution should have been reported on your 2008 federal gift tax return."

The letters are especially odd since the purpose of the gift tax has traditionally been used in coordination with the estate tax, to prevent people from avoiding the tax by divesting their wealth before they die. Contributions to 501(c)(4)s aren't a routine death tax avoidance mechanism, and the contributions now under scrutiny are a pittance compared to overall gift tax revenues. So, hmmm, what could be the reason to start asserting the provision now, and only against a handful of high-profile political donors?

All this is done in the name of "transparency," which is a nice way of saying, we know where you live. The real goal is to intimidate business and big donors from giving money to Republicans.

...Unleashing the IRS is an especially nasty turn.

Goodbye Mitch Daniels

The process of eliminating serious GOP candidates is getting easier by the day. Last week, one of Mitch Daniels' judicial nominees in the Indiana Supreme Court, was the deciding vote in a decision that said citizens have no rights whatsoever with respect to police intrusions into their homes, reasonable or unreasonable. World Net Daily agrees.

Best & Worst States For Business

Chief Executive magazine posted its best and worst states for business survey recently. Not surprisingly, the worst 5 states are all well known for their union power, high taxation and high spending characteristics. Politicians are starting to realize that businesses can move from state to state, just like people.

Top5:
1) Texas
2) North Carolina
3) Florida
4) Tennessee
5) Georgia

Worst 5:
46) Michigan
47) New Jersey
48) Illinois
49) New York
50) California

Bye Bye Newt

Based on what I've read here about Newt's appearance on the Sunday morning talkshow circuit and his criticisms of Paul Ryan's budget plan to bring spending back into historical norms, I would just say, "Bye bye, Newt."

I think Newt has caught the DC syndrome, trying hard to make people in the media and the Left like him. Well, I hope he's enjoying life in the private sector.

The Coming Post Office Bailout

The US Postal Service is a typical government agency. While revenue has been falling off a cliff for several years due to fax machines, email and more efficient competitors, the Post Office continues to pass through huge wage and pension increases to its union members. From the WSJ:

The odds of a multibillion-dollar rescue package went way up this week when Postal Service management reported a $2.2 billion loss for the first quarter, more than 25% higher than last year despite the economic recovery. It now appears that the $15 billion line of credit the feds have offered USPS will be used up by the end of this year, with low odds on ever being paid back.

If that isn't ugly enough, the Postal Service expects $42 billion in additional losses over the next four years...

If this were a private business, the obvious response to these losses would be urgent cost-cutting to avoid insolvency. Instead, Postal Service management recently concluded negotiations offering the 205,000-member American Postal Workers Union a new four-and-a-half-year contract that will provide a 3.5% pay raise over three years, dole out automatic cost of living wage hikes after 2012, and expand no-layoff protections.

Obviously, government agencies are not private businesses. They don't care about P&Ls or efficiency since the taxpayers will pick up the tab. They've never dealt with layoffs, so they don't know where to begin unless someone forces it upon them.

Texas Official: Feds Started Wildfire

A Texas official criticized the federal government for actually starting the wildfire for which Obama is now refusing to help the state (his punishment for the state not voting for it either in the Democrat primary or the general election).

No Bounce For Obama

According to Rasmussen, after a few days of higher job approval ratings for Barack Obama, he's now come back to earth.

I thought the Osama bounce would last a little longer. I have a feeling someone might be continually reminding us of the incident for months and maybe even years to come, lest we forget.

Is Romney Already Finished?

Mitt Romney was my preferred candidate in 2008. By far, he had the best understanding of the American economy - and probably still does among the candidates. But as the WSJ and the National Review point out, the health care plan he signed in Massachusetts is a complete disaster and yet he fails to admit it was a mistake.

Costs are rising in Massachusetts, price controls are in the offing, and the plan is losing popularity. We understand that Romney does not feel that he can flip-flop on what he had touted as his signature accomplishment in office. But if there is one thing we would expect a successful businessman to know, it is when to walk away from a failed investment.

Romney is still going to be a tough candidate, but we now need someone who is adamantly opposed to government-run health care - whether on a national or local level. I don't think Romney is that guy.

Obama DOJ Demands More Subprime Loans to Poor

It seems that Team Obama has forgotten about the mortgage problems over the last few years. Instead, they are reprimanding banks that are not lending enough to poor black people that can't afford to pay them back.

Sadly, this isn't a joke.

Watch out: Irish Government Raids Private Pensions

First Argentina and now Ireland. Governments are not hesitating to steal private retirement funds to fund their government largesse.

Watch out if Obama gets his way. It can happen here.

Effects of Government-run Health Evident in Mass.

If Romney wants any chance at dethroning Obama in 2012, he needs to run away from RomneyCare - and fast. While he is right in saying that the Democratic legislature changed many provisions and left him with a much-worse bill, he still seems to endorse it. As the WSJ notes, the results are pouring in - and they are awful.

A new survey released yesterday by the Massachusetts Medical Society reveals that fewer than half of the state's primary care practices are accepting new patients, down from 70% in 2007, before former Governor Mitt Romney's health-care plan came online. The average wait time for a routine checkup with an internist is 48 days. It takes 43 days to secure an appointment with a gastroenterologist for chronic heartburn, up from 36 last year, and 41 days to see an OB/GYN, up from 34 last year.

None of this is surprising, though it does dismantle the liberal nostrum that a new entitlement will somehow reduce health spending. When government subsidizes something, you get more of it, which means higher demand for insurance and health-care services. Combined with insurance regulations that suppress innovation and competition, this reality helps explain why Massachusetts premiums are among the highest in the U.S. The current physician shortage was inevitable without new doctors.

Is Obama Unbeatable?

Pretty hard to write that headline, as the statement is ridiculous. That said, most democratic pundits and their right-hand men, the mainstream media, seem to be pushing that story, with the hopes that it will come true.

I was reminded of this last night as I was watching Fox and someone asked Democratic Fox contributor, Kirsten Powers, "Which candidate doesn't Obama want to run against?"

Powers responded:

"No one on the GOP list is keeping Obama up at night...it's such a weak field."

Wow! After the past 30 months, where Obama has made one mistake after another (after another after another), and the unemployment rate having risen from 6% to 9% since The Great One's election, I would have considered the President himself, a weak candidate. But that's how people perceive things now. People seem to be forgetting George H. W. Bush's 91% approval rating 20 months before the 1992 election and how he lost it. Things will be a little different for Obama as the media clearly will back him regardless.

But I also think the democratic punditry and Obama himself, might be under-estimating a few of these dark horses. After seeing the first GOP debate, I was actually impressed with 3 candidates: Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and Herman Cain. The only one who really turned me off was Pawlenty. And while I believe Ron Paul would make Obama's head spin in a debate, I still think Obama's biggest opponent might be himself.

I hope Obama goes into 2012 with that same "I AM UNBEATABLE" attitude that I have been seeing so much of over the past week. I believe, based upon what I've seen over the past three years, that he will. I also believe that this will be his downfall and that's what the rest of the country and I are counting on. A weak candidate who thinks he's great - what could be worse than that?

Muslims Attack Christian Churches in Egypt

Another 12 killed and 200 wounded. Obama again supported the wrong people.

Think he's wrong in Libya too, but that's just me.

No Osama Bump for Obama's Poll Numbers

With the death of Osama, I expected Obama to be a short term beneficiary in the poll numbers. According to Rasmussen, which has historically been one of the best predictors, there has been a tiny bump, from -15% in approval ratings to -13.

I am surprised by this, but maybe I'm underestimating the American public a little. My belief is that the media has been going completely overboard in their coverage, in part because this is a real news event, but also in part to pump up Obama's ratings and make him seem more palatable from a foreign policy perspective as they get geared up for 2012. I thought that a significant part of the American public would look more favorable upon Obama over the next month or so, because of this event. In the long run, I don't think anyone would really change their view toward Obama but I really thought that in the short run, Obama may finally have persuaded some of those who don't like him.

Guess I was wrong.

Harsh Interrogations Led to Bin Laden Capture

Obama took the credit for capturing Osama Bin Laden, but he forgot to mention that, according to officials, it was the harsh interrogations at secret CIA prisons that provided the leads to his capture. It was these interrogations, of course, to which Obama was vehemently opposed.

Obama Admin Now Intimidating Healthcare CEOs

If anyone wants a glimpse into how Obama likes to run the economy, take a look at this article from the WSJ, which explains how HHS secretary Sebelius is using a favorite tactic to force change - intimidation.

Forest Labs entered into a federal plea agreement in September over misconduct in its marketing of antidepressants Celexa and Lexapro. The allegations were among a rash of government suits claiming that marketing to doctors common among drug companies amounted to fraud against Medicare and Medicaid. The charges were odd given their implication that major companies would be dumb enough to try to hoodwink their biggest customer. The charges also had a political flavor as an attempt to blame drug companies, rather than the fee-for-service design of the federal programs, for runaway costs. But some companies including Forest chose to settle rather than engage in extensive litigation.

Only after a federal court ratified the deal in March did HHS drop its intent-to-ban bomb. Mrs. Sebelius unearthed a dusty provision in the Social Security Act that allows officials to bar executives of health companies from doing business with the government when the firms are guilty of criminal misconduct.

The feds have rarely invoked this awesome power, given the potential for coercive abuse. But Mrs. Sebelius seems bent on making it more common policy and says she can employ it even against executives who had no knowledge of an employee's misconduct. A year ago Mrs. Sebelius used it to dismiss the CEO of a small drugmaker in St. Louis.

Don't support Obamacare? Watch out - the government will shut you down and run you out of business.