Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Polls and more

Post Racial or Black Spoils System?

Barack Obama found his first sermon at Jeremiah Wright's church so inspiring he quoted from it for his book, The Audacity of Hope: "WHITE FOLKS' GREED RUNS A WORLD IN NEED." But when he took his first step on the national political stage during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, HE TOOK A DIFFERENT TACK FOR THE MASSES WATCHING ON TELEVISION: "THERE'S NOT A BLACK AMERICA AND WHITE AMERICA AND LATINO AMERICA AND ASIAN AMERICA; THERE'S THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA."

SO WHICH BARACK OBAMA IS THE REAL ONE? The one who had no qualms attending with his wife and young daughters the church of a race-baiting minister whom Obama called his moral compass, or the one who downplayed race during the campaign and promised to unite us all as Americans, regardless of the color of our skin?

After two and one-half years of the Obama presidency, the real Barack Obama has emerged: one who hands out tax dollars, pushes policies, and formulates rules and regulations TO GIVE PREFERENCE TO BLACK AMERICANS….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/obamas_racial_spoils_system.html

The irony of this is while Obama is giving government handouts to blacks, they need it more because these same policies have hurt black Americans in the private economy more.

Obama’s Defining Moment

There comes a time and a point in history which indelibly define a President. Oftentimes the event may not be of major import in the greater scheme of things but the management of it is of such prominence that the success or failure in the handling of the issue is permanently attached to the individual. Such a moment has happened to Barack Obama. HIS INCOMPETENCE, INABILITY TO LEAD, PREVARICATIONS, PETULANCE AND IMMATURITY IN THE DEBT CEILING CRISIS HAVE INDELIBLY CREATED AN IMAGE OF ABJECT FAILURE IN THE MINDS OF A CRITICAL MASS OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE GLOBE. He will never be able to overcome the portrait that has been etched in too many minds.

BARACK OBAMA'S ONLY INTEREST IN THE DEBT CEILING DEBATE WAS TO RAISE THE BORROWING LIMIT SUFFICIENTLY TO GET BY THE NEXT ELECTION, and as a cudgel to denigrate the Republicans. His concern was not for the American people and the impact of overwhelming national debt, nor an impending and inevitable credit downgrade. Rather, he was determined that raising the debt ceiling would not become an issue during the presidential campaign. Thus, spending cuts created out of whole cloth, combined with tax increases aimed at stoking the embers of class envy, were bandied about by his party in order to justify an increase in the debt ceiling of $2.4 Trillion.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/08/obamas_failed_presidency.html

I will disagree with one point here. Obama’s didn’t just have one interest (getting the debt ceiling raised beyond the next election) but a second one as well. The gyration the Democrats went through was to try to blame the Republicans for any failure in the process.

So How’s That Hopey-Changey Thing Working Out For Obama?

…As one result, not only did Obama's overall job approval sink to 40%, lowest of his 923 days in office.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national survey of likely voters out Sunday night REVEALED A SHARP JUMP IN THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WHO FIND THIS DEMOCRATIC CHIEF EXECUTIVE TO BE "TOO CONFRONTATIONAL" IN HIS NATIONAL LEADERSHIP APPROACH.

NEARLY ONE IN THREE (30%) NOW SAY THAT ABOUT THE MAN WHO WAS GOING TO CHANGE WASHINGTON'S HARSH PARTISAN ATMOSPHERE. That's the highest percentage in 16 months and UP NINE POINTS IN JUST FOUR WEEKS.

On his first day in office more than a trillion dollars ago in 2009, 64% CALLED OBAMA A GOOD OR EXCELLENT LEADER. THAT NUMBER HAS SINCE SLID TO 42%. Those who consider him a poor leader have increased to 41%.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/debt-deal-boehner-mcconnell-obama-reid.html

The polls are not good for President Obama. Even more worrisome is the state of the independent voter mention in the next story.

The Numbers Don’t Look Good For President Obama

Gallup is the gold standard when it comes to approval ratings for presidents, so last week's assessment by the polling company of the president's standing in the public SURELY SHOCKED THE OBAMA LOYALISTS WHO THOUGHT THAT THE BATTLE OVER THE DEBT CEILING HAD ALLOWED THEIR GUY TO SHINE.

Certainly he had every chance to make his case to the public, with press conference after press conference and a prime-time speech to boot….

….That only 13 percent of Republicans applauded Obama wasn't all that surprising. The president's harsh and hyperpartisan rhetoric had guaranteed that the GOP faithful would give up on the man from "Hope and Change."

THE UNDERWHELMING SHOWING AMONG DEMOCRATS WHERE 72 PERCENT SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT WAS SOMETHING OF A SHOCK. Gallup didn't provide the breakdown of African-American Democrats versus all others, but that underwhelming 72 percent has to be lifted by his still high standing in the black community.

IT WAS THE VERDICT OF THE INDEPENDENTS, HOWEVER, THAT REALLY MUST HAVE ROCKED THE WHITE HOUSE and the Chicago gang that had so carefully crafted the president's endless loop of buzz words about "balance," "compromise" and the "adult in the room": ONLY 34 PERCENT OF THESE VOTERS SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT.

Thirty-four percent of the great middle-of-the-road-undecided-open-to-the-best-man-and-argument Americans. To quote the Bob Dylan song, "Things have changed."

THESE NUMBERS ROLLED IN BEFORE THE PUBLIC GOT WORD THAT THE ECONOMIC GROWTH RATE HAD DIPPED AGAIN TO A SCARCELY VISIBLE 1.3 PERCENT IN THE LAST QUARTER….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/07/signs-failure-emerging-obamas-poll-numbers#ixzz1TmtFlMDY

Numbers like these are poison, not just to Obama, but to the Democratic Party as well. When a team rolls up a losing streak like they have, the fans quit coming to the games. And that means a depressed turnout for the Democrats in 2012.

Who won? I’ll have a Spot of TEA

IF A GOOD POLITICAL COMPROMISE IS ONE THAT HAS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE TO HATE, THEN LAST NIGHT'S BIPARTISAN DEBT-CEILING DEAL IS A TRIUMPH. The bargain is nonetheless better than what seemed achievable in recent days, especially given the revolt of some GOP conservatives that gave the White House and Democrats more political leverage.

THE BIG PICTURE IS THAT THE DEAL IS A VICTORY FOR THE CAUSE OF SMALLER GOVERNMENT, arguably the biggest since welfare reform in 1996. Most bipartisan budget deals trade tax increases that are immediate for spending cuts that turn out to be fictional. This one includes no immediate tax increases, despite President Obama's demand as recently as last Monday. THE IMMEDIATE SPENDING CUTS ARE REAL, IF SMALLER THAN WE'D PREFER, AND THE LONGER-TERM CUTS COULD BE REAL IF REPUBLICANS HOLD CONGRESS AND CONTINUE TO ENFORCE THE DEAL'S SPENDING CAPS.

The framework (we haven't seen all the details) calls for an initial step of some $900 billion in domestic discretionary cuts over 10 years from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline puffed up by recent spending. IF THE CUTS HOLD, THIS WOULD GO SOME WAY TO ERASING THE FISCAL DAMAGE FROM THE OBAMA-NANCY PELOSI STIMULUS. This is no small achievement considering that Republicans control neither the Senate nor the White House, and it underscores how much the GOP victory in November has reshaped the U.S. fiscal debate.
No wonder liberals are howling. THEY HAVE COME TO BELIEVE IN THE UPWARD SPENDING RATCHET, UNDER WHICH ALL SPENDING INCREASES ARE PERMANENT. NOT ANY MORE….

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903341404576480653492061150.html?mod=rss_opinion_main

That last paragraph is very important. Obama and the Democrats have proceeded as if the 25% spending level by the feds was permanent; hence the call of revenue increases. God bless the TEA Party. 
Why we should reelect President Obama (Satire)

I think we really have a winner as president, don’t you? BARACK OBAMA HAS BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB RUNNING THE COUNTRY, ALWAYS OUT THERE DOING… STUFF. LOTS OF STUFF. BIG STUFF. PRESIDENT STUFF. We’re lucky we have this guy, and it should be an easy decision to keep him around for another four years.

Now, there are people who say Obama has done an awful job. They go on and on about how he has no idea what he’s doing in the Middle East and cite all these statistics that show how bad the economy is, and it’s all rather dreary and depressing. No one needs that. Plus the suggestion that Obama has done a bad job as president is ludicrous. Quick question: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYONE GO UP TO OBAMA AND SAY, “I WOULD LIKE A DOZEN TULIPS”? NO, OF COURSE NOT. NO ONE THINKS HE’S A FLORIST. IT’S CLEAR FROM THE JOB HE’S DOING THAT HE’S THE PRESIDENT. SO HOW BAD A JOB COULD HE BE DOING AS PRESIDENT IF IT’S SO EASILY RECOGNIZABLE THAT HE IS THE PRESIDENT? LOGIC, PEOPLE.

And the GUY HAS DONE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING HE’S PROMISED… that’s mattered. Like remember how he said HE WAS GOING TO PASS A BIG STIMULUS AND KEEP UNEMPLOYMENT FROM BEING 8%? WELL, HE PASSED HIS STIMULUS, AND NOW UNEMPLOYMENT… IS NOT 8%. It’s an entirely different number than that. If you really didn’t want 8% unemployment, well guess what: You’re not dealing with that level of unemployment. Promise kept. And look at all the work he did for it: He spent $666 billion to bypass 8%
unemployment. COULD YOU SPEND THAT MUCH MONEY? NO WAY. If I sat you down in front of a computer, logged you in to Amazon, and said, “Spend $666 billion,” it would be futile. You’d be clicking “Buy Now” until your mouse broke. BUT OBAMA DID IT; THE MAN’S GOT HUSTLE….

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/why-obama-should-be-re-elected/

Sigh, it appears unless you are a left wing extremist, the only thing you can write about Obama deserving reelection is satire.

Losing Faith

Liberals are already licking their wounds from the debt ceiling debate, wondering how it is that Republicans managed to get Democrats to abandon tax increases and shift the terms to spending cuts and entitlement reforms….

…THE LEFT DID LOSE–OR, MORE PRECISELY, IT LOST MORE THAN CONSERVATIVES DID–partly because it has failed to confront economic and financial reality.
In April, when Standard & Poor’s first warned of a possible downgrade in the U.S. credit rating, the White House reacted with denial. President Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, said that S&P’s warning was a “political judgment” that didn’t deserve “too much weight.”…

…But THE REALITY OF OBAMA’S ECONOMIC FAILURE IS FORCING DEMOCRATS TO BACK DOWN FROM TAX HIKES, just as they did when they controlled both houses of Congress in December 2010, and extended the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts anyway….

…THE DEMOCRATS DID THEMSELVES NO FAVORS BY EXAGGERATING THE REALITY OF THAT THREAT. Only some Tea Party Republicans were adamantly opposed to raising the debt ceiling under any circumstances. Yet when Democrats tried to pressure the GOP by casting the Tea Party (falsely) as “extremists” who were prepared to cast the country into default, they actually increased the Tea Party’s leverage and the GOP’s ability to force concessions.

Another reason that the Democrats did badly was they relied too heavily on Obama, who is a very poor negotiator. HIS TACTIC WAS TO USE THE MEDIA AND LEFT-WING “COMMUNITY ORGANIZING” GROUPS–LED BY VAN JONES AND MOVEON.ORG–TO PRESSURE REPUBLICANS TO COMPROMISE. Yet Obama had killed the left’s enthusiasm earlier in the debate when he pretended that he might be willing to discuss changes to Social Security and Medicare.
But finally, and most importantly, DEMOCRATS LOST THE DEBT CEILING DEBATE BECAUSE MANY, AT BOTTOM, DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR OWN IDEAS.

http://biggovernment.com/jpollak/2011/08/01/democrats-lost-the-debt-ceiling-debate-because-they-no-longer-believe-in-their-own-policies-or-their-leader/

China is still called Communist China, but China is no longer a Communist state. It has lost belief in the tenants of Communism just as the liberals seem to mouth the words, but don’t seem to actually believe what they are saying. The liberal prescriptions for the economy have failed badly and they know it. Unfortunately for them, so do the American people.

China on the brink?

The world's biggest computer components vendor plans to replace nearly its entire factory workforce with robots by 2014.

FOXCONN, WHICH MAKES KIT FOR APPLE, SONY AND NOKIA, SAID IT WOULD CUT LOOSE STAFF AND REDUCE LABOUR COSTS BY AUTOMATING SPRAYING, WELDING AND ASSEMBLING JOBS AT ITS FACTORIES IN CHINA, where harsh working conditions have been blamed for a series of suicides at the company.

According to a report on official Chinese news agency Xinhua, which quotes Foxconn founder and chairman Terry Gou, THE FIRM CURRENTLY HAS 10,000 ROBOTS WORKING ON THE PRODUCTION LINE.

FOXCONN PLANS TO INCREASE THAT NUMBER TO 300,000 OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR, AND HOPES TO HAVE 1 MILLION ROBOTS EFFECTIVELY RUNNING THE SHOW BY 2014.

It currently employs 1.2 million meat-based workers, with the majority of them based on mainland China.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/01/foxconn_1_million_robots/

It’s interesting. In Rome in 68 AD, a worker came to the emperor Vespasian with a labor saving device in the building trades (they were building the Coliseum at the time). Vespasian rewarded the worker but killed the idea so as to not take jobs away from Romans. Some people might think of this as enlightened. But I look at Roman technology and see how they failed to exploit it and bypassed what could have moved the world ahead much further earlier than we did (See Heron of Alexandria).


Just for Fun: 25 Things that You Probably Didn’t Know Had Names.

How about Dysania? We’ve all been there. Or Wamble? Another common occurrence.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/25-everyday-things-you-never-knew-had-names

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