Obama off to a bad start

What’s new Today 

Story #1 looks at the latest Rasmussen generic Republican vs Democrat and finds the difference +10% for the Republicans.  #2 is a demonstration of the desperation in the Obama camp.  #3 has the third straight poll that has Romney ahead of Obama.  #4 is a reminder of how many things have gone wrong for the president.  It seems the hope and change of 2008 looks like a farce from the view of 2012.  #5 talks about Obama’s likeability.  The question is whether it will hold up after a few months of negative campaigning.  I don’t think it will.  #6 is a list of the green job promise that Obama has failed to deliver on. 

Today’s thoughts

Why has Harry Reid not been able to bring a budget to the floor of the Senate for over 1000 days yet he can find time to bring the Buffet Rule to a vote even though no one expects it to pass? 

Dick Cheney hasn’t had a change of heart regarding Barack Obama.  He sees a second term for Obama as a disaster for the United States. 

How has been a greater embarrassment to the United States?  James Hansen acting like a hooker for climate change or the Secret Service Officers who hired the hookers in Colombia?

Geithner’s comments that Obama’s economic policies have been “remarkably successful” reminds me of the old joke, “Other than that, how did you like the play Mrs. Lincoln?”

1.  Generic Congressional Poll

Republicans, as they have for nearly three years now, continue to lead Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot, this time for the week ending Sunday, April 15.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters would vote for the Republican in their district’s congressional race if the election were held today, while 36% would choose the Democrat instead. This is the largest gap between the two parties since the beginning of 2011. It also doubles the gap found a week ago when the Republican led by five points, 45% to 40%...

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/mood_of_america/generic_congressional_ballot

This is probably an outlier, but it certainly reinforces the 5-6 percentage point lead by the Republicans as being accurate.  This is not good news for the Democrats.

2.   Lefties try to crash Romney event

Progressive activists stormed the Franklin Institute this evening. They clashed with tea-party organizer Don Adams, who blocked them from entering. It was a wild, tense scene, just minutes before Mitt Romney appeared here. Adams, who is the man at the door in this video of the incident, tells NRO that the “nasty” exchange is an example of what Romney will face this fall.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/296219/lefty-activists-crash-romneys-tea-party-robert-costa

Lefties always seem extreme, but this seems to indicate a sense desperation. 

3.  And perhaps this is the reason for Desperation

The first Gallup tracking poll shows that Mitt Romney, after having emerged from an at-times brutal primary process, holds a slight lead over President Obama, 47 percent v. 45 percent. That must be disconcerting to those on the left, who believe that Obama is nearly a lock for re-election.

He’s clearly not.

To make matters worse for the president, 2012 will — in the words of former Clinton aide William Galston – be a “referendum, not a choice.” But most ominously for Obama is this paragraph:

Obama is no longer the master of his fate. During the 2008 campaign, Obama could and did seize the initiative in the face of unexpected events. His agile response to the mid-September financial meltdown propelled him into a lead that he never surrendered. In 2012, by contrast, he will be at the mercy of events that he cannot control. The Supreme Court will decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act. A military confrontation between Israel and Iran would put the administration in the no-win situation it has struggled to avoid, with incalculable consequences for our national security as well as our politics. If job creation returns to the strong pace of the late winter and remains there through the fall, he will be reelected with room to spare. But if the middling March employment report is a harbinger of things to come, the electorate’s evaluation of his performance will be harsh, and the road to reelection very steep indeed.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/04/16/obama-no-longer-master-of-his-fate/

The problem with this statement is that the “strong pace” it refers to isn’t really a strong pace.  People react to the numbers, but the unemployment numbers buoyed up by people leaving the workforce will be dragged down if hiring picks up and people come back into the workforce.  In other words, more jobs could equal more unemployment. 

4.  What’s going wrong for President Obama?  All of the Above

… The Obama campaign problems go beyond the tone-deaf community-organizer politics on the stupid Buffett Rule, the Rosen flap, and the naughty boys at the Secret Service. It's all of the above -- and then some. It's the stupid stimulus, which is turning into a real bust now that all those female schoolteachers are losing their jobs. It's the corrupt green energy swamp, where the latest scandal has green corporate officers loaning themselves the company green. It's the war on Big Oil, just as we are entering a new era of fossil-fuel exploration. It's the death sentence on Big Coal just as coal is getting priced out of the market by fracking natural gas. It's the utter stupidity of ObamaCare when everyone knows it's going to raise health care costs.

How many issues can you get wrong in four years, Mr. President? Are you going for the Guinness Book of Records?

Chuck Todd didn't mention the Trayvon Martin case and the unjust overcharging of accused murderer George Zimmerman. I don't know whose brilliant idea this was, whether the Justice Brothers' or the Obama campaign's, but it contains nothing but land mines for the president. What does it say to the white working class if they can't defend their neighborhoods against teenage hoodies without permission from Reverend Al Sharpton? What does it say to Latinos when it seems that the Democrats will always side with blacks against "white Hispanics"? The president and his people are sending a message to independent voters that they'd better not put a foot wrong on race, or their lives will be ruined like George Zimmerman's….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/04/mr_president_its_all_of_the_above.html#ixzz1sIKnAzky

For six months Romney was getting hammered by his rivals for the Republican nomination.  The fact that Obama has dropped so quickly against Romney once Santorum dropped out of the race is the bottom line here.  Obama has so many problems that the chance for him to be reelected is almost zero. 

5.   How likable is Barack Obama?

Very likable, it seems, at least in contrast to his GOP rival. According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released a few days ago, Americans by a more than 2-to-1 ratio say the president is more "friendly and likable" than Mitt Romney.

Many Republicans, and especially conservatives, can find these numbers hard to credit. Some note that the poll sampling favors Democrats and thus artificially inflates the president's numbers. Still others have come to dislike President Obama so much that it makes them suspicious when they read numbers indicating they are in the minority.

The focus on likability is a mistake. It's a mistake, first, for Democrats if they believe likability will be enough for Mr. Obama to win re-election come November. It's even more of a mistake for those Republicans who believe that the only way to defeat the president is to get fellow Americans to dislike him as much as they do.

At its core, the confusion over likability has to do with an inability to see the world as the other side sees it. Hilary Rosen gave us a perfect example of this phenomenon recently when she suggested that Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life." The folks at the White House immediately threw Ms. Rosen under the bus: They feared the administration would be tarred with the same unwitting arrogance Ms. Rosen exhibited when she failed to see how her remarks might be viewed by millions of American women who have made the same choice as Mrs. Romney.

Republicans ought not make this mistake with Mr. Obama…

…Now, the president's likability doesn't mean Mr. Romney shouldn't go on the offensive. It does mean he ought to attack hardest where Mr. Obama is at his weakest: his failed policies. For all the carping about Mr. Romney, this part he gets. We can see it reflected in both his embrace of the opportunity-oriented Republicanism of Wisconsin's Paul Ryan—and his repeated refrain that Mr. Obama is simply "in over his head."…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304432704577348122137533942.html?mod=opinion_newsreel

The Republicans need to attack the President with his own words (something they appear to be doing very well so far).  A video of a promise or a stance he took in 2008 and then talking about his current position.  Obama cannot win voters if he has to keep explaining why it could be worse or why after almost four years he hasn’t solved the problem.  It’s a losing position for even a likeable guy.  

 

6.   Green Jobs: More broken promises

A recent lengthy report by Reuters confirms what many conservatives have long known: President Obama's promise to create millions of so-called "green jobs" has been a colossal and expensive failure.

A few highlights from the report:

·         Since 2009, the wind industry has lost 10,000 jobs, even as the energy capacity of wind farms has almost doubled. By contrast, the oil and gas industry have created 75,000 jobs since Mr. Obama took office.

·         "A $500 million job-training program has so far helped fewer than 20,000 people find work, far short of its goal." The program was so bad that "the Labor Department's inspector general recommended last fall that the agency should return the $327 million that remained unspent." They didn't. And now, the department "remains far short of its goal of placing 80,000 workers into green jobs by 2013."

·         According to the Labor Department's own figures, the push for so-called "green jobs" has been an abysmal failure. "By the end of 2011, some 16,092 participants had found new work in a "green" field, according to the Labor Department - roughly one-fifth of its target."

The article also highlights the degree to which Obama's big jobs promises have fallen flat. For example, in 2008, Obama promised that "investing" $150 billion taxpayer dollars would create 5 million jobs over 10 years….

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/04/15/reuters-obamas-green-collar-jobs-have-been-a-bust

This is the reason Obama doesn’t want to talk about his record or his promises from 2008.  And it is the reason Romney doesn’t need to go negative, he only has to go truthful.

It's a deal!!!

Desperation

The Washington Post and a number of US news sites are reporting THAT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TWITTER USERS HAVE UNFOLLOWED PRESIDENT OBAMA AFTER BEING DELUGED BY TWEETS ON FRIDAY REQUESTING THEY CONTACT REPUBLICAN LEGISLATORS OVER THE DEBT CEILING ISSUE. According to The Post:

Obama’s official 2012 campaign Twitter account announced to its 9.4 million followers that it would begin publishing the Twitter account names of House Republicans. Over the course of the day, @BARACKOBAMA SENT OUT AROUND 100 TWEETS.

Not everyone was enamored. The account stood at 9.366 million followers by 6 p.m., a loss of more than 30,000 followers. THE WHITE HOUSE’S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT, @WHITEHOUSE, WAS ALSO PUBLISHING TWEETS AT A RAPID-FIRE PACE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
One would have thought the leader of the free world might have better things to do with his time than spam Twitter with highly partisan tweets that quickly became a major annoyance, the online equivalent of receiving voluminous amounts of junk mail through the post.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100099148/barack-obama%e2%80%99s-vulgar-twitter-spamming-campaign-is-a-classless-act-of-desperation-by-the-us-president/

I thought Obama’s team was supposed to be the masters of using the social networking. It appears a desperate man does desperate things.


GDP Report Shatters Illusion of Jobless, Productivity-Packed Recovery

It's hard to overstate how much today's GDP report blew up our understanding of the recovery. THE RECESSION WAS DEEPER THAN WE KNEW, AND THE ECONOMY IS WEAKER THAN WE THOUGHT. We weren't making new jobs, because we weren't making new things, period. The economy grew less than 1% in the first half of 2011.

Yesterday, analysts thought the economy was expanding by 2.5% a year. This morning, they learned GDP GREW BY ONLY 1.6% IN THE LAST FOUR QUARTERS. This is a remarkable discovery. It's the difference between thinking we're expanding at a decent, if disappointing, pace, and knowing we're growing around half our historical norm…

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/gdp-report-shatters-illusion-of-jobless-productivity-packed-recovery/242761/

The economy is a disaster. Spending is a disaster. Obama is a disaster.

Biden: Landlord to the Secret Service

THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE DOES MORE THAN PROTECT VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. — THE AGENCY ALSO PAYS HIM RENT.

Since April, Mr. Biden has collected more than $13,000 from the agency charged with protecting him and his family for use of a rental cottage adjacent to the waterfront home he owns in a Wilmington, Del., suburb.

Mr. Biden, listed not as vice president in federal purchasing documents but as a “vendor,” is eligible for up to $66,000 by the time the government contract expires in the fall of 2013, the records show.
Officials say the arrangement came about when a previous tenant moved out of the cottage and the Secret Service moved in.

Edwin M. Donovan, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Office of Government and Public Affairs in Washington, said THE AGENCY PAYS $2,200 IN RENT PER-MONTH, THE SAME AMOUNT A PREVIOUS TENANT HAD PAID BEFORE MOVING OUT.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jul/31/biden-charging-secret-service-cottage-rental/

Somehow this doesn’t seem kosher.

Lessons from the Debt Increase

…DEMOCRATS SEEM ESPECIALLY UNHAPPY. They could have avoided the fight in the first place by raising the debt ceiling in the lame duck session in December, when they had large majorities in both houses of Congress.

But they decided not to. REID'S COMMENTS THEN SUGGESTED THAT HE EXPECTED THE ISSUE TO SPLIT THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS, PITTING THE LEADERSHIP AGAINST THE 87 TEA PARTY-SYMPATHIZING FRESHMEN. The leaders would have to agree to a tax increase in order to get a deal, with a party schism like the one that followed George H.W. Bush's agreement to a tax increase in 1990.

That didn't happen. Instead Reid abandoned his demand for a tax increase. The reason, I think, is that he hasn't had a 50-vote majority for a tax increase in the Senate, just as Senate Democrats haven't been able to pass a budget….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/07/gop-wins-when-fight-over-cuts-not-more-taxes#ixzz1TkHIbCrd

We have another example of absolutely horrid Democratic tactics in congress. We saw it in the Obamacare fight with bribes to Democratic Senators and now we’ve seen it with most of the Democratic posturing designed not to solve the problem, but blame the Republicans.


Winners and Losers

The debt ceiling fight is over. The White House and congressional leaders have settled on a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, enact immediate spending cuts and, our favorite part, create a super-commission designed to trim the federal budget further by the end of the year.

The political stakes for this fight were massive — and it produced a number of winners and losers. OUR TAKE ON THE BEST AND THE WORST IS BELOW.

WINNERS

MITCH MCCONNELL...
THE TEA PARTY...
BHO...
CBO...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-debt-ceiling-deal-winners-and-losers/2011/07/31/gIQAHl7FmI_story.html

Go to the link to read all about it and see who the author declares as losers in the deal.


How the Tea Party won the debt fight

The Tea Party came under fire from all sides Friday after House conservatives nearly brought down Speaker John Boehner’s debt-limit bill. John McCain went to the Senate floor to mock Tea Partyers as “hobbits,” and DEMOCRATIC REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN SAID TEA PARTY REPUBLICANS “ARE UNFIT FOR GOVERNING.”

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEKEND MAKES. The reported debt-limit deal appears to be a victory for the Tea Party. It includes AROUND $1 TRILLION IN SPENDING CUTS AND CREATES A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF CONGRESS TO RECOMMEND CUTS OF $1.2 TRILLION MORE. If Congress does not approve those additional cuts by year’s end, automatic spending cuts go into effect. The package sets an important new precedent that debt-limit increases must be “paid for” with commensurate cuts in spending. According to Sen. Rob Portman, a former White House budget director, IF WE CUT A DOLLAR OF SPENDING FOR EVERY DOLLAR WE RAISE THE DEBT LIMIT, WE WILL BALANCE THE BUDGET IN 10 YEARS — something that even the Paul Ryan budget would not achieve. And all this is accomplished with no tax increases….

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-tea-party-hobbits-won-the-debt-fight/2011/07/31/gIQALMrCmI_story.html

What a difference a year makes. This time in 2010, the Democrats controlled everything. They had passed Obamacare just 4 months before and although there was unsettling news in the wind, Nancy Pelosi proudly announced the Democrats would retain control of the House. Spending was the word of the day. Today, all that has changed.

The Economy, the MSM and IPAB

An easy way to help the economy

ALMOST 190,000 JOBS COULD BE CREATED BY 2013 IF OFFSHORE DRILLING RETURNS TO PRE-SPILL LEVELS, according to a study sponsored by two oil trade groups, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

The study, conducted by Quest Offshore Inc., found THAT IF PERMITS FOR EXPLORATION AND DRILLING RETURNED TO HISTORIC LEVELS, AND IF BACKLOGGED REQUESTS WERE GRANTED, 400,000 JOBS COULD BE SUPPORTED ACROSS THE UNITED STATES WITH A GDP INCREASE OF $45 BILLION BY 2013.

“The president says he wants ideas for putting Americans back to work right now,” said Jack Gerard, API president, during a conference call today. “So we urge him, again, to take a look at policies that will encourage oil, and domestic gas development.”

The offshore oil and natural gas industries suffered losses in 2008 due to the economic recession, the moratorium on deepwater drilling, and slowdowns in permits issued for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The study’s authors claim tens of thousands of jobs have been lost due to the downturn…

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/12/oil-trade-groups-drilling-deregulation-could-create-190000-jobs/#ixzz1RtvI8lva

And not only would jobs be created, but imports of foreign oil would decline, strengthening the dollar and tax receipts to the government out increase helping reduce the deficit. This is a win/win/win proposals and the only thing standing in its way is an almost religious ideology of the left that looks at fossil fuels as evil.

The MSM self destructs

Among the most myopic of the various factions within the American ruling class is what is generically known as the mainstream media. OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS IT HAS BECOME PAINFULLY OBVIOUS THAT AS A GROUP THEY ARE DETERMINED TO SELF-DESTRUCT WHILE WILLING TO ACCOMMODATE, PROMOTE, OR AS NECESSARY, TURN A BLIND EYE TOWARDS THE DEVASTATING POLICIES OF THE LEFT that will be the catalyst for their potential demise.

A majority of the media chooses, either deliberately or out of ignorance, to obscure the reality that the American Left and Barack Obama are destroying the viability of the economy and culture, and ultimately their own future and standard of living.

This lack of coherence was never more manifest than the media's slavish fawning over an unknown, but politically correct, Barack Obama in the 2008 election. THEIR CONTINUED LOYALTY DESPITE HIS MYRIAD FAILINGS, HIS PALPABLE DISINTEREST IN THE JOB OF PRESIDENT AND HIS OBSTINATE DEDICATION TO DISASTROUS POLICIES REVEALS THEIR IDEOLOGICAL BLINDNESS. Meanwhile the landscape of the once mighty journalism community is one of utter devastation brought about in great part by their overt liberal bias and this kind of sycophantic behavior over the past twenty plus years.
Among many examples of this unreported decline and fall are:

THE NEW YORK TIMES Company, often considered the bellwether of the national media, has REDUCED ITS LABOR FORCE BY 47% (6,600 JOBS) SINCE 2000. THE AVERAGE DAILY CIRCULATION FOR THE TIMES HAS DROPPED BY OVER 20% (226,000 READERS) DURING THE SAME PERIOD. The Company has been liquidating as many assets as possible in order to stay afloat -- they now have few viable assets left to sell.

THE WASHINGTON POST, the other most influential newspaper in the country, has seen its AVERAGE DAILY CIRCULATION DROP BY 30% (237,000 READERS) SINCE 2000. More devastating has been the plummet in print advertising revenue which has dropped by over 55% since 2000. They too have made major reductions in their labor force….

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/terminal_media_delusion.html

Technology is driving this as well, but you don’t see these problems in the WSJ.

Five Signs of American Decadence

In the last few decades, our country has spiraled downward into decadence in ways that are genuinely threatening the continuance of the American Dream.

1) OUR LEGAL SYSTEM IS BROKEN: There's nothing just about our legal system anymore. Liberals have pushed the idea of a "LIVING CONSTITUTION," which means nothing more than implementing left-wing policies and calling it constitutional law. Every constitutional case is now decided by the number of judges who still believe in the Constitution that happen to be on the bench for the trial. Laws are no longer applied equally either. If the people running the government don't like certain laws, say against illegal immigration, they simply refuse to enforce it….

2) UNSUSTAINABLE LEVELS OF SPENDING: we have a 1.5 TRILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT, A 14 TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT, AND 100 TRILLION DOLLARS IN UNFUNDED SOCIAL SECURITY/MEDICARE OBLIGATIONS AND IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT WE COULD LOSE OUR AAA CREDIT RATING IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. Not only has this issue been discussed so often that people's eyes glaze over when you bring it up yet again, but there are nations in Western Europe, with similar financial problems, that are staving off defaulting on the money they owe only because other nations are propping them up in a way that would be unfeasible for a nation the size of the United States….

3) DEMONIZATION OF SUCCESS: We live in a country where half the country pays no income tax and the unemployed get almost two years on unemployment; yet WE HEAR AN ENDLESS PARADE OF ASSAULTS ON CORPORATIONS, ON THE RICH, ON ANYBODY WHO HAS MADE A SUCCESS OUT OF HIMSELF. You want to find "greed" in America? Then look at the people who are complaining about "greed." GREED ISN'T A RICH GUY WANTING TO KEEP MORE OF THE MONEY HE'S EARNED; IT'S SOMEONE DEMANDING THAT HE GET AN EVEN BIGGER SHARE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY….

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2011/07/12/5_signs_of_american_decadence/page/full/

This is an article well worth reading.

Has Obama failed? Or is it the left?

…. OBAMA HAS FAILED, BUT THE IDEOLOGY MUST GO ON. Obama's biggest achievement was kicking off the Tea Parties, possibly the most serious threat to left-liberalism of the past thirty years. Movement conservatism has always been limited by its connection with Northeastern elitists, while the Neocons, though much more effective, appealed to an urban university-oriented following. But HERE WE HAVE AN ACTUAL MIDDLE-CLASS, MIDDLE-AMERICAN MOVEMENT, ENLIGHTENED, INFORMED, AND OUTRAGED -- THE DARKEST NIGHTMARE OF ANY THINKING LEFTIST. And who created it? Obama and none other. It would take a lot of accomplishments to outweigh that single error, and Obama can't show any. His gimcrack auto company scheme worked only with aid of bogus paperwork. His "health-care reform" will not outlast judicial testing. His attempt to revive the New Deal as a solution to 21st-century problems is a sour joke to millions of unemployed. He is racing for the exits in Afghanistan, the leftist "good war," like a scalded rat. And now his deeply corrupt Justice Department is blowing up in his face. I've said all along that he would spend his last two years overwhelmed by the problems he created in his first two, and it is coming to pass in detail.

THE FACTS OF THE CASE ARE THAT OBAMA HAS REVEALED THE HOLLOWNESS OF LIBERALISM. He had it all his own way the first half of his term, and was able to push through the complete left-wing domestic agenda in all its Keynesian, Newer Deal glory. It went nowhere -- as anyone could have predicted -- and that is the end of it.

But here's the thing: from the liberal point of view, Obama does not exist as a separate entity, but only as a momentary expression of the liberal dogma. Liberalism will still exist long after Obama is gone -- or so they hope. SO IF IT COMES DOWN TO A CHOICE BETWEEN THE MESSIAH ON ONE HAND AND THE CREED ON THE OTHER, THE MESSIAH HAS TO GO. (I need scarcely point out that this is the traditional fate of messiahs -- false ones in particular.)

This is why Obama has been stung so badly by such deep thinkers as Halperin, Rich, and Maher. They are performing a salvage job, assuring that there will be plenty of daylight between Obama and liberalism by the time November 2012 rolls around. We will hear a lot more of it before then, covering all of the administration's policies, everything Obama has ever touched. It is their own version of the stab in the back legend -- EVERYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR OBAMA, THAT CENTRIST, THAT MODERATE, THAT TRAITOR. Revolutions always eat their own -- the moderate social democrat Aleksandr Kerensky was a hero in early 1917 only to flee Russia one step ahead of the Bolsheviks six months later. Obama is undergoing he same process as regards his own failed revolution.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/the_left_starts_to_dump_obama.html

Expect to see a lot more of this before November 2012. The left will distance itself from Obama more and more as it becomes apparent that Obama is a loser.

Is Obama relevant?

….OBAMA SEEMS INCAPABLE OF MOVING PUBLIC OPINION, AT LEAST AMONG PEOPLE WHO DON'T ALREADY AGREE WITH HIM. You can tell his handlers have noticed because his talking points have become top-heavy with jargon freshly minted from focus groups: corporate jet owners, "winning the future," raising revenue instead of raising taxes, etc.

Similarly, HIS SHOPWORN RHETORIC HAS BECOME MORE DESPERATE. On July 5, he said of the debt-ceiling negotiations, "IT'S MY HOPE … THAT WE'LL ALL LEAVE OUR POLITICAL RHETORIC AT THE DOOR." The next day he insisted that "THE DEBT CEILING SHOULD NOT BE … USED AS A GUN AGAINST THE HEADS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO EXTRACT TAX BREAKS FOR CORPORATE JET OWNERS, for oil and gas companies that are making billions of dollars because the price of gasoline has gone up so high."

WHEN OBAMA SAYS PEOPLE SHOULD DROP THEIR POLITICAL RHETORIC, HE MEANS EVERYONE ELSE….

…. But even as Obama has been forced to put aside his understanding of what governing means, Clinton's point is still valid. When it comes to getting the deal done, it's very difficult to go around the presidency, and it's very easy for the president to declare victory even after a failure. OBAMA MAY NOT BE BRINGING MUCH TO THE TABLE, BUT IT REMAINS HIS TABLE — BECAUSE IT CAME WITH THE OFFICE.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg-obamashrinkage-20110712,0,417379.column

Obama is basically history barring a miracle in the next 15 months. But like a pothole on the street, you have to navigate around it until you can get it fixed.

Hume sees parallels of Fast and Furious and Watergate

Although it hasn’t gotten much mainstream media attention, the Operation Fast and Furious scandal COULD RANK UP THERE WITH THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION COVER-UP OF THE WATERGATE BREAK-IN, according to Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume.
During the web exclusive “Panel Plus” segment of “Fox News Sunday,” Hume said that this scandal begs the question of what Obama Attorney General Eric Holder knew about Operation Fast and Furious and when did he know it.

“THIS IS A REAL SCANDAL,” HUME SAID. “AND ONCE AGAIN, WE HAVE THE CLASSIC QUESTION OF WHAT DID THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, FOR EXAMPLE, KNOW? WHEN DID HE KNOW IT?”

Hume likened Obama’s handling of the scandal to that of Nixon’s handling of Watergate, which ultimately resulted in Nixon’s resignation.

“This Obama Justice Department reminds me of nothing so much as the Nixon Justice Department,” he said. “YOU HAVE THE SCENT OF HIGH-LEVEL KNOWLEDGE OF SERIOUS WRONGDOING AND YOU HAVE THE SMELL OF COVER-UP AND I THINK THE STENCH OF COVER-UP ON THIS GUN-RUNNING OPERATION IS VERY STRONG INDEED.”

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/10/hume-obama-handling-of-fast-and-furious-reminiscent-of-scandal-plagued-nixon-doj/#ixzz1RtYBpjbp

Remember, Nixon didn’t know in advance about Watergate, but he did conspire to cover it up. I wonder if Woodward is working on this one?


Michele Bachmann: Hate on the left

… Why the hate? The SECULAR FEMINIST WORLD VIEW WAS BUILT AROUND MULTIPLE DESTRUCTIVE CULTURAL LIES: motherhood is a barrier to self-actualization, orthodox religion traps women unhappily in the home, and the only real path to power and happiness is exploding, not upholding, traditional religious values. Yet a mother of five (with 23 foster children), happily married in a Christian family, and who proudly espouses the very traditional values most repugnant to the academic feminist Left is a leading candidate for the most powerful office in the world. SHE IS A LIVING REFUTATION OF THEIR FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS, AND — LIKE SARAH PALIN — SHE MUST BE DESTROYED….

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/271682/first-sarah-palin-now-michele-bachmann-david-french

The pathetic bantering by the left about any conservative woman who dares to look like a presidential contender seems to be almost a virulent form of misogyny.

Stimulus spending

Paul Krugman now says that some kinds of Keynesian stimulus spending just aren’t as effective as other kinds. Specifically, he suggests, aid to state and local governments (to enable them to keep government workers in their jobs) is a sort of second-class stimulus:

So what happened to the stimulus? Much of it consisted of tax cuts, not spending. Most of the rest consisted either of aid to distressed families or aid to hard-pressed state and local governments. THIS AID MAY HAVE MITIGATED THE SLUMP, BUT IT WASN’T THE KIND OF JOB-CREATION PROGRAM WE COULD AND SHOULD HAVE HAD. [E.A.]

Hmm. That’s not what I remember him saying back in 2009. In 2009, if I remember right, job-preserving aid to state and local governments was almost the most important thing in the world. Let’s see … searching … searching … Sorry I’m a little rusty … searching … whoops, hit the Times paywall … searching … ah, yes:

Now the centrists have shaved off $86 billion in spending — much of it among THE MOST EFFECTIVE AND MOST NEEDED PARTS OF THE PLAN. IN PARTICULAR, AID TO STATE GOVERNMENTS, WHICH ARE IN DESPERATE STRAITS, IS BOTH FAST — BECAUSE IT PREVENTS SPENDING CUTS RATHER THAN HAVING TO START UP NEW PROJECTS — AND EFFECTIVE, BECAUSE IT WOULD IN FACT BE SPENT; plus state and local governments are cutting back on essentials, so the social value of this spending would be high. [E.A.]

I can’t find the part where he says “but in two years if it doesn’t work I’ll say it just wasn’t the right kind.”

http://dailycaller.com/2011/07/12/krugman-i-didnt-mean-that-stimulus/#ixzz1RuZNffXT

Here are some other “questionable” views of the stimulus. “

So then you get the argument, well, this is not a stimulus bill, THIS IS A SPENDING BILL. WHAT DO YOU THINK A STIMULUS IS? (Laughter and applause.) That’s the whole point. No, seriously. (Laughter.) That’s the point. (Applause.) Barack Obama 2/5/09 Williamsburg speech.

BHO was quite certain that any kind of spending was good and he proved his belief by the way he has been spending. However, it doesn’t seem to have worked.

“Let me say that unemployment insurance… is one of the biggest stimuluses (sic) to our economy. Economists will tell you, this money is spent quickly. It injects demand into the economy, and it’s job creating. It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name.” Nancy Pelosi June 2010
Nancy did this knee slapper last year.


Sebelius downplays importance of IPAB

Testifying before the House Budget Committee on Monday, Secretary of Health and Human Services KATHLEEN SEBELIUS DOWNPLAYED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEDICARE INDEPENDENT PAYMENT ADVISORY BOARD, which has been touted in the past by the administration as a central part of the strategy for containing the program's long-term costs.
Republicans have attacked the 15-member board of health care experts as a rationing panel that would have sweeping powers to impose changes to the program if Congress doesn't keep Medicare spending growth at certain targets.

Sebelius spent most of her opening statement explaining other changes to Medicare under the national health care law, before DESCRIBING IPAB AS A MERE "BACKSTOP MECHANISM" IN CASE THOSE CHANGES DON'T ACHIEVE THE NECESSARY COST SAVINGS. Under questioning from Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Sebelius said "IPAB is irrelevant" if Congress does its job.

Her downplaying of the importance of IPAB SUGGESTS A RECOGNITION THAT IT HAS BECOME A POLITICAL LIABILITY, WITH EVEN SOME DEMOCRATS NOW CALLING FOR ITS REPEAL. President Obama made IPAB a key part of his April speech laying out his budget vision, not only touting it, but calling for it to be strengthened….

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/07/sebelius-downplays-importance-ipab

IPAB—you’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the coming year.

Wisconsin and other liberal nightmares

Charlie Cook lays out a grim future for Democrats in the US Senate


http://www.nationaljournal.com/video-charlie-cook-looks-into-senate-s-future-20110228


Here’s a video when Charlie explains the obvious.



Walker warns missing Democrats

REPUBLICAN GOV. SCOTT WALKER ON MONDAY GAVE ABSENT DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS AN ULTIMATUM TO RETURN TO WISCONSIN within 24 hours and vote on a proposal to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state would miss out on a debt restructuring.

Walker stepped up the pressure on 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state to avoid a vote on the bill as he prepared to unveil on Tuesday a two-year state budget that he said cuts $1 billion from funding to local governments and schools.

What began as one small state trying to rewrite the rules of labor relations has blown up into what could be THE BIGGEST CONFRONTATION WITH AMERICAN LABOR UNIONS SINCE THEN PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN FIRED STRIKING AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS IN 1981.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/28/us-wisconsin-governor-idUSTRE71R51620110228

Teachers and other government employees are going to be fired and it's going to be the Democrat's fault.  But don't expect to hear that fact on the MSM.


Obama slapped down by the Wisconsin Governor’s office

Gov. Scott Walker on Monday afternoon responded to comments President Barack Obama made earlier in the day about the protests in Madison:

Walker's office issued this statement:

"I'M SURE THE PRESIDENT KNOWS THAT MOST FEDERAL EMPLOYEES DO NOT HAVE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR WAGES AND BENEFITS WHILE OUR PLAN ALLOWS IT FOR BASE PAY. AND I'M SURE THE PRESIDENT KNOWS THAT THE AVERAGE FEDERAL WORKER PAYS TWICE AS MUCH FOR HEALTH INSURANCE AS WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR IN WISCONSIN. AT LEAST I WOULD HOPE HE KNOWS THESE FACTS.

"Furthermore, I'm sure the President knows that we have repeatedly praised the more than 300,000 government workers who come to work every day in Wisconsin.

"I'm sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn't acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another."

http://nation.foxnews.com/gov-scott-walker/2011/02/28/obama-gets-smackdown-gov-walker


Wow! This one is a devastating blow to President O. Sometime simply stating the facts can destroy a liberals arguments.



High Speed Insolvency

“Generations hence, when the river of time has worn this presidency’s importance to a small, smooth pebble in the stream of history, people will still marvel that its defining trait was a mania for high-speed rail projects. This disorder illuminates the progressive mind. . . . TO PROGRESSIVES, THE BEST THING ABOUT RAILROADS IS THAT PEOPLE RIDING THEM ARE NOT IN AUTOMOBILES, WHICH ARE SUBVERSIVE OF THE DEFERENCE ON WHICH PROGRESSIVISM DEPENDS. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. AUTOMOBILES ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO THINK THEY—UNSUPERVISED, UNTUTORED, AND UNSCRIPTED—ARE MASTERS OF THEIR FATES. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.”

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/02/27/high-speed-to-insolvency.html


Don’t you just love George Will? He basically shows you why the automobile is so despised by leftist. It obviously is a subversive instrument of the right.



Unstoppable: The Runaway Federal Budget

The General Accounting Office is preparing to drop a devastating financial report on Congress, identifying hundreds of billions in government waste due to “duplication, overlap, and fragmentation.” Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) is not surprised. “Go study that report,” he advised Trish Turner of Fox News. “It will show why we’re $14 trillion in debt. Anybody that says we don’t look like fools up here hasn’t read the report. We don’t know what we’re doing.”

More precisely, every aspect of a gigantic bureaucracy does only what it knows, unto eternity. I read about this report right after I watched the movie Unstoppable, in which Denzel Washington and Chris Pine try to halt a runaway locomotive that so huge and powerful it simply obliterates everything in its path. Government bureaucracies are all runaway trains.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=42061

If you’ve seen the movie, President Obama is the Engineer who jumps off the train to switch the tracks after failing to connect his airbrakes. He is unable to get back on and the train becomes a time bomb heading to a population center.



Union Power, By the Numbers

Responding to my piece, Jonathan Chait writes that unions are paltry players compared to the big, bad business lobby when it comes to buying influence in Washington and state capitols.

HERE ARE THE TEN LARGEST DONORS IN U.S. POLITICS AS OF FEBRUARY 7, according to OpenSecrets.Org:

ActBlue: $51 million

AT&T: $46 million

AFSCME: $43 million

National Association of Realtors: $38 million

Goldman Sachs: $33 million

American Association for Justice: $33 million

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: $33 million

National Education Association: $32 million

Laborers Union: $30 million

Teamsters Union: $30 million

THAT’S FIVE UNIONS TO TWO BUSINESSES AND THREE OTHER GROUPS. Five out of ten is half, by my always-suspect English-major math. And who are those other groups? ACTBLUE IS A DEMOCRATIC CLEARINGHOUSE, THE TRIAL LAWYERS ARE SUPER-LOPSIDEDLY DEMOCRATIC, AND FOUR OUT OF FIVE OF THE REALTORS’ TOP CAMPAIGN-CASH RECIPIENTS ARE DEMOCRATS.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/260943/union-power-numbers-kevin-d-williamson

It’s fun to have these kinds of arguments. The left will have some way to spin this as the corporations “way outspend” us poor little unions.



Civility: Liberal style

Keep calm and carry on, right? Only if you’re on the right and are a member of the Tea Party movement. Otherwise, THERE’S A WHOLE OTHER SET OF RULES TO PLAY BY.

On Monday, Milwaukee AM 620 WTMJ radio host Charlie Sykes detailed an encounter between DEMOCRATIC STATE REP. GORDON HINTZ, WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN BUSTED IN A PROSTITUTION STING, and Republican State Rep. Michelle Litjens, in which the rules of civility were completely ignored after a vote to “engross” a state budget repair bill.

“After the vote to engross, HE TURNS TO A FEMALE CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN, WHO IS ALSO FROM THE OSHKOSH AREA, LOOKS AT HER AND SAYS, ‘YOU ARE F—ING DEAD,’” Sykes said. “He didn’t say ‘f—ing,’ he said the whole thing. He says to a female colleague, ‘You are f—ing dead.’”

http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/28/prostitute-patronizing-dem-wisconsin-state-represent-to-female-gop-colleague-you-are-fucking-dead/#ixzz1FLamGPIk

Another liberal reveals his true stripes. But you have to wonder about his electorate. How in the world did he get reelected when he had previously been busted in a prostitution sting?



Is Democracy Viable?

Those who see hope in the Middle East uprisings seem to assume that they will lead in the direction of freedom or democracy. There is already talk about the "liberation" of Egypt, even though THE BIGGEST CHANGE THERE HAS BEEN THAT A ONE-MAN DICTATORSHIP HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP THAT HAS SUSPENDED THE CONSTITUTION.


Perhaps the military dictatorship will be temporary, as its leaders say, but we have heard that song before. What we have also heard, too many times before, is the assumption that getting rid of an undemocratic government means that it will be replaced by a freer and better government.

History says otherwise. AFTER RUSSIA'S CZARS WERE REPLACED BY THE COMMUNISTS, THE GOVERNMENT EXECUTED MORE PEOPLE IN A DAY THAN THE CZARS HAD EXECUTED IN HALF A CENTURY. It was much the same story in Cuba, when the Batista regime was replaced by Castro and in Iran when the Shah was replaced by the Ayatollahs.

It is not inevitable that bad regimes are replaced by worse regimes. But it has happened too often for us to blithely assume that overthrowing a dictator means a movement toward freedom and democracy

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/03/01/is_democracy_viable_109065.html


Some common sense from Thomas Sewell.



A Look at what you can expect with Obamacare

Their requests have been rejected by regional health authorities who were accused of operating covert “blacklists” to restrict dozens of treatments to save money.

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered more than 80 cases in which desperately sick NHS patients have been refused the cancer drugs their doctor sought, in the four months since a £200 million fund was introduced to stop health authorities rationing treatments.

The fund was a key move by the Coalition so that those suffering from cancer would never again be refused drugs on grounds of cost.

Ministers were responding to years of anger over a system which meant patients were unable to secure life-extending drugs because central NHS rationers had decided the treatments were not “cost effective”.

Announcing the fund last summer, Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, promised to end “the scandal” of cancer patients being refused the drugs that their doctors sought, because of restrictions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8349297/Cancer-sufferers-refused-life-extending-drugs-despite-Government-pledge.html

2012 winning the future

Not what the Democrats had in mind

No wonder the Democrats hate and fear Sarah Palin

Well, speaking of last night, that was a tough speech to sit through and try to stomach because the president is so off base in his ideas in how it is HE BELIEVES GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO CREATE JOBS. Obviously, government growth won’t create any jobs. It’s the private sector that can create the jobs. His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF, you know, “Winning the Future,” and I thought OK, that acronym, spot on. There WERE A LOT OF WTF MOMENTS THROUGHOUT THAT SPEECH.”

http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/01/whoa-sarah-palin-on-obamas-wtf-speech-wtf-was-right-on-video/

I don’t think this is what the Obama speech writers had in mind when they plagiarized this little ditty. And once again, Sarah Palin becomes a political master of using language to make a point.



A detailed look at the Rand Paul spending bill

Want to save $500 billion this year? Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has a way to do it.

Is it realistic? Maybe not every part of it, but have a look below and judge for yourself. ....

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH...............................$1,283,000,000. (23%)

Notes: The Government Printing Office is abolished.

JUDICIAL BRANCH......................................$2,434,000,000. (32%)

AGRICULTURE............................................$42,542,000,000. (30%)

The Agriculture Research Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Resources Conservation Service, and Foreign Agricultural Service are abolished. The Forest Service gets a $1.2 billion haircut.

COMMERCE...................................................$5,322,000,000. (54%)

National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is cut by $857,000,000.

DEFENSE.......................................................$47,500,000,000. (6.5%)

EDUCATION..................................................$78,000,000,000 (83%)

Only the Pell grant program survives.

ENERGY............................................................$44,200,000,000 (100%)

The Defense Department takes over all of Energy's remaining functions (nuclear waste, for example) and about $18 billion of its budget.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES..............$26,510,000,000. (26%)

Notes: FDA is cut by $230,000,000; Indian Health Service is cut by $650 million; CDC is cut by $1.17 billion; NIH by $5.8 billion......

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/2011/01/detailed-look-rand-paul-spending-bill#ixzz1CEjb5XGR


Well worth the read. I especially like cutting out the energy department completely and most of the education department. Both of left wing sacred cows that really don’t help the country.



We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it

TWO OF THE CENTRAL PROMISES OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL LAW ARE UNLIKELY TO BE FULFILLED, Medicare's independent economic expert told Congress on Wednesday.

The landmark legislation PROBABLY WON'T HOLD COSTS DOWN, AND IT WON'T LET EVERYBODY KEEP THEIR CURRENT HEALTH INSURANCE if they like it, CHIEF ACTUARY RICHARD FOSTER TOLD THE HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE. His office is responsible for independent long-range cost estimates. . . .

Foster was asked by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., for a simple true or false response on two of the main assertions made by supporters of the law: that it will bring down unsustainable medical costs and will let people keep their current health insurance if they like it.

On the costs issue, "I would say false, more so than true," Foster responded……

McCLINTOCK: "The other promise... was the promise that if you like your plan, you can keep it. True or false?"

FOSTER: "Not true in all cases."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCT4GhKaleCpy570YTLr9p7nq54Q?docId=7a1abd4a6937454f90aa34acf72c9870

Obamacare is unraveling. It was sold under false pretenses, evaluated by the CBO with questionable assumptions, and pushed through congress using bribery and threats to House and Senate members.



Economic ignorance and the Democrat agenda

President Barack Obama is very insistent on the need to “save American jobs.” The spending and THE BUY AMERICAN PROVISIONS OF HIS MASSIVE STIMULUS PACKAGE, APPROVED BY CONGRESS IN FEBRUARY, WERE MEANT TO “CREATE OR SAVE” MILLIONS OF U.S. JOBS. “Saving jobs” was also the stated goal of his recent pledge TO ELIMINATE TAX ADVANTAGES FOR COMPANIES THAT DO BUSINESS OVERSEAS. But instead of saving American jobs, Obama’s new corporate tax is apt to worsen what is already the highest unemployment since 1983 and make America’s companies even less competitive in the global marketplace.

Last spring, partly in response to the anti-bailout tea parties that were sweeping through the country on and around the April 15 tax deadline, the president announced that he plans to simplify the tax code. That sounds like a worthwhile goal, but it turns out that FOR OBAMA, SIMPLIFICATION MEANS TAXING PREVIOUSLY UNTAXED INCOME.

For instance, the proposal targets what executives consider to be a lifesaving feature of an otherwise depressing corporate tax code: PERMISSION TO INDEFINITELY DEFER PAYING U.S. TAXES ON INCOME EARNED OVERSEAS. According to the Obama administration, this practice keeps $700 billion or more of American corporate earnings in overseas accounts, beyond the taxman’s reach.

The president also wants to overhaul WHAT HE DESCRIBES AS A “MUCH-ABUSED” SET OF TAX REGULATIONS KNOWN AS THE “CHECK-THE-BOX” RULES. These regulations give companies some latitude in deciding where their subsidiaries will be taxed and make it easier for multinationals to transfer money between countries. The result, which Obama frowns upon, is that many companies have placed their offshore subsidiaries in low-tax countries.

While he’s at it, THE PRESIDENT WANTS TO RESTRICT TAX CREDITS THAT THE U.S. GRANTS COMPANIES TO OFFSET TAXES THEY PAY TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS.

http://reason.com/archives/2009/07/14/destroying-jobs-in-order-to-sa

An excellent article that lays out the simplemindedness of many liberals regarding taxation.

A new explanation of why the Democrats lost last November

We can begin by stipulating that CONGRESSMAN JIM MORAN (D-VA) is a disgusting human being. But is he this disgusting? He gave an interview to Alhurra, an Arab television network that, as AllahPundit notes, was founded as an American-supported alternative to Al Jazeera. Moran is asked about the Republican sweep, and he answers--I think--as follows:

It [the Republican successes in the 2010 elections] happened for the same reason the Civil War happened in the United States. IT HAPPENED BECAUSE THE SOUTHERN STATES, THE SLAVEHOLDING STATES, DIDN'T WANT TO SEE A PRESIDENT WHO WAS OPPOSED TO SLAVERY.

In this case, I believe, A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES DON'T WANT TO BE GOVERNED BY AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN, PARTICULARLY ONE WHO IS LIBERAL, WHO WANTS TO SPEND MONEY AND WHO WANTS TO REACH OUT TO INCLUDE EVERYONE IN OUR SOCIETY....

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/01/028217.php

It appears the left isn’t satisfied with comparing the right to Nazis. We’ve now gone back and compared them to the Democratic slaveholders during the Civil War.


Follow the money

Employees and political action committees of organizations that make up the big four special interests that own the Democratic Party contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions to the party's federal candidates in 2010.

THE TOP 20 LABOR UNIONS, FOR EXAMPLE, GAVE MORE THAN $68 MILLION IN 2010, with 94 percent of the total going to Democrats and just 4 percent to Republicans. Most of the total, 88 percent, came from PACs associated with the top 20 unions, while the remaining 12 percent came from individual union members, according to Opensecrets.org.

Similarly, liberal ideological groups, many of which are heavily funded or otherwise closely linked with INFLUENTIAL DEMOCRATIC INSIDERS LIKE GEORGE SOROS AND DRUMMOND PIKE, GAVE MORE THAN $33 MILLION TO FEDERAL CANDIDATES IN 2010. Not surprisingly, virtually all of that money went to Democrats, according to Opensecrets.org.

But tracking campaign finance is never easy because of weaknesses of the data collection system and thanks to the creativity and regularity with which individuals and organizations across the ideological spectrum find ways in which to circumvent or otherwise compromise disclosure.....

The Examiner found that MORE THAN 2,600 INDIVIDUALS WHO LISTED THEIR EMPLOYER AS ONE OF THE TOP 110 PLAINTIFFS BAR LAW FIRMS GAVE MORE THAN $7.23 MILLION IN CONTRIBUTIONS TO FEDERAL CANDIDATES in 2010. More than 96 percent of the total went to Democrats. Independent candidates actually received more contributions from these trial lawyers than did Republicans.

There is another NEARLY $2.7 MILLION IN CONTRIBUTIONS TO FEDERAL CANDIDATES IN 2010 BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE PAC, which represents the class-action lawsuit industry in the nation's capital. Ninety-seven percent of that money went to Democrats and 3 percent to GOPers

http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/special-reports/2011/01/special-report-where-cash-goes-democratic-policy-flows#ixzz1CFUcEUPB

A pretty good article which quantifies the amounts of money going from special interests to the Democrat Party.

Affirmative action scandal at US Naval Academy

Professor Bruce Fleming is not your typical US Naval Academy (USNA) Professor. HE TEACHES ENGLISH AND HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A LIBERAL. I’ve written favorably in my books about his work because he also happens to believe in speaking the truth. And by speaking the truth about THE DIRTY SECRETS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY, he has set off a fire storm.

Fleming wrote a piece last year exposing the fact that the USNA had a “two-tiered” system of admission that was designed to bring more minorities into the academy. And he began speaking to academy alumni about the lower standards. ”We’ll do anything to get non-white students,” he said, IN ORDER TO APPEAR MORE DIVERSE AND IMPROVE THE FOOTBALL TEAM. According to Fleming, THE ADMISSIONS SYSTEM IS TWO-TIERED BECAUSE MINORITY CANDIDATES HAVE LOWER TEST SCORES AND GRADES than their counterparts. In short, Fleming says that the Academy is rejecting better qualified white applicants to admit minority candidates with less impressive credentials. The USNA has been very aggressive on the affirmative action front in recent years. In 2009, Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, went so far as to say that “diversity is the No. 1 priority” at the academy. (Gee, I guess training warriors and officers is now #2).

But Fleming, who has served on the academy’s admissions board, goes even further. While white applicants are required to secure a nomination by a member of congress or other federal official, MINORITY CANDIDATES ARE SOMETIMES GIVEN WHAT HE CALLS “A PRO FORMA NOMINATION TO MAKE IT LEGIT.”…..

http://bigpeace.com/pschweizer/2011/01/27/affirmative-action-scandal-rocks-naval-academy-students-disillusioned-at-lower-admissions-standards-easier-coursework-for-minorities/

Can we tolerate affirmative action when our country’s defense is on the block?

S&P Downgrade Of Japan Roils Currency Markets

THE DOWNGRADE REFLECTS OUR APPRAISAL THAT JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT DEBT RATIOS–ALREADY AMONG THE HIGHEST FOR RATED SOVEREIGNS–will continue to rise further than we envisaged before the global economic recession hit the country and will peak only in the mid-2020s. Specifically, we expect general government fiscal deficits to fall only modestly from an estimated 9.1% of GDP in fiscal 2010 (ending March 31, 2011) to 8.0% in fiscal 2013. In the medium term, we do not forecast the government achieving a primary balance before 2020 unless a significant fiscal consolidation program is implemented beforehand.



Japan’s debt dynamics are further depressed by persistent deflation. Falling prices have matched Japan’s growth in aggregate output since 1992, meaning the size of the economy is unchanged in nominal terms. In addition, Japan’s fast-aging population challenges both its fiscal and economic outlooks. The nation’s total social security related expenses now make up 31% of the government’s fiscal 2011 budget, and this ratio will rise absent reforms beyond those enacted in 2004. An aging and shrinking labor force contributes to our modest medium-term growth estimate of around 1%.



In our opinion, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government lacks a coherent strategy to address these negative aspects of the country’s debt dynamics, in part due to the coalition having lost its majority in the upper house of parliament last summer. We think there is a low chance that the government’s announced 2011 reviews of the nation’s social security and consumption tax systems will lead to material improvements to the intertemporal solvency of the state. We even see a risk that the Diet might not approve budget-related bills for fiscal 2011, including government financing authorization. Thus, notwithstanding the still strong domestic demand for government debt and corresponding low real interest rates, we expect Japan’s fiscal flexibility to diminish.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110127-704673.html

Japan has long had the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the developed world, at approximately 200 percent of GDP. (The U.S. is around 60 percent.) This is definitely a word of warning for the USA.



Islamists Never Sneak in from Mexico

U.S. border authorities have arrested a CONTROVERSIAL MUSLIM CLERIC WHO WAS DEPORTED FROM CANADA TO TUNISIA THREE YEARS AGO AND WAS CAUGHT EARLIER THIS MONTH TRYING TO SNEAK INTO CALIFORNIA INSIDE THE TRUNK OF A BMW, according to court documents.

Said Jaziri, the former Imam of a Muslim congregation in Montreal, was hidden inside a car driven by a San Diego-area man who was pulled over by U.S. Border Patrol agents near an Indian casino east of San Diego. Jaziri allegedly paid a Tijuana-based smuggling group $5,000 to get him across the border near Tecate, saying HE WANTED TO BE TAKEN TO A “SAFE PLACE ANYWHERE IN THE U.S.” .

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/border-authorities-arrest-controversial-muslim-cleric.html

Do we need a fence on the border? Of course we do.

10 days since the shooting

Gabrielle Giffords could lose her seat

Even as REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS SHOWS SIGNS OF A NEAR-MIRACULOUS RECOVERY, with doctors on Sunday upgrading her condition from critical to serious, a little-known statutory provision in ARIZONA STATE LAW COULD ENDANGER THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN'S HOLD ON HER SEAT through what doctors say will be a protracted medical struggle.

A statute buried in Arizona law states that if a public officeholder CEASES TO "DISCHARGE THE DUTIES OF OFFICE FOR THE PERIOD OF THREE CONSECUTIVE MONTHS," the office shall be deemed vacant - at such time, a special election could be called to fill the vacancy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/17/AR2011011702542.html?hpid=topnews


This is a tough one. No one wants to let an assassin deprive the congresswomen of her seat, but she has a long recovery ahead and the people of Tucson deserve to be represented in the 112 congress.



Unions and the destruction of the public school system

KIDS AREN'T CARS" is a new short film series set for release February 1st. Using examples from the Midwest, it DOCUMENTS THE IMPACT ORGANIZED LABOR HAS HAD ON THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM, creating a one-size-fits-all assembly line model that leaves students behind and treats teachers equally, stifling innovation and improvement.

Our government education system has been spending more and more each year, yet the results have been the same. While unions demand higher spending - which of course ends up in the pockets of their members - MONEY IS NOT FIXING THE PROBLEM.

Those that have been in the trenches gave shocking interviews - stories of money grabs by adults while children are left behind.

AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF A LITERACY CLINIC IN DETROIT - where high school graduates go to learn how to read - COMPARED THE ACTIONS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD TO THE KU KLUX KLAN. "If they were sitting up there in Klan robes," she said, no one would be tolerating what is going on, but the effect is the same

 

http://townhall.com/columnists/KyleOlson/2011/01/17/new_film_documents_unions_destruction_of_public_education


Unions have their place, but it isn’t at the public trough.

Obamacare

Prognosticators are rarely held accountable in Washington, but SENATE DEMOCRATS MAY WANT TO CONSIDER HOLDING CHUCK SCHUMER ACCOUNTABLE FOR HIS ANALYSIS OF THE BENEFITS OF OBAMACARE. Last March, Sen. Schumer smugly predicted, “BY NOVEMBER THOSE WHO VOTED FOR HEALTHCARE WILL FIND IT AN ASSET and those who voted against it will find it a liability.”

Well, November has come and gone and it is safe to say THE 65 HOUSE DEMOCRATS WHO LOST THEIR SEATS IN 2010 MIGHT QUIBBLE WITH SCHUMER’S PREDICTION. Indeed, the weight of Obamacare hung like an albatross around the necks of these defeated Representatives. And the wreckage is likely not over.

This week, the House will again vote on Obamacare – this time, to repeal it. After this vote, House members will have no where left to hide on the question of repealing Obamacare. The upside – if there is one – for the far-left is only 13 of the 34 House Democrats who courageously voted against the federal government’s hostile takeover of our health care system remain. And yet, many of them are now waffling on their position.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MikeNeedham/2011/01/17/repealing_obamacare,_and_the_senate/page/full/

We will hear a lot about this over the next two years. In this case, the Democrats will be fighting to keep it while the Republicans we try to repeal it.

Progressives: Always Angry, Newly Desperate

…..Being a writer makes one a reader, and this writer is no exception. Yet try as I might last week, I couldn't find a single column blaming the American left for what Jared Loughner did in Tuscon. Not one. That is not to say that none existed. Perhaps some obscure publication or two created by some far-right fringe elements published screeds of which I am unaware. But nothing remotely compares to the avalanche of vitriol which spewed from high-profile, mainstream media sources such as the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC or Newsweek, all of which was not only easy to find, but almost impossible to avoid.

Which is precisely why I refuse to go where far too many of those on the right went last week, neatly encapsulated in THE PART OF THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH WHEN HE TOLD AMERICANS THAT "WHAT WE CANNOT DO IS USE THIS TRAGEDY AS ONE MORE OCCASION TO TURN ON EACH OTHER." With all due respect, we didn't turn on each other, Mr. President. IT WAS OVERWHELMINGLY THE AMERICAN LEFT WHICH TURNED ON ANYONE AND EVERYONE from Sarah Palin to talk radio, to the Tea party movement in particular, and conservatism in general. And anyone who equates those on the right defending themselves with those on the left attacking them—as a means of demonstrating "moral equivalence," no less—is only kidding himself….


…..What did progressives see? The 2012 election. The genuine possibility of historically unprecedented political irrelevance in less than two years. THINK LAST WEEK WAS UGLY? THAT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE 2012 ELECTION CAMPAIGN. The bet here is that by the time we reach the end, what Americans heard and saw last week will be tame by comparison. Progressive are "all in" for 2012—but unlike 2008, most Americans now know exactly who they're dealing with.

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0111/ahlert.php3


This is a very interesting commentary on what we’ve seen by the left since the shootings in Tucson. The last paragraph is prophetic. Here’s hoping we have a campaign on the issues rather than what we saw last week.

Can’t we all just get along?

A week’s worth of talk about civility is very nice. WE SHOULD BE MORE CIVIL TOWARD EACH OTHER. There’s little more depressing in life than the incivility of much public discourse. But if you take five seconds to think about it, what happened in Tucson had nothing whatever to do with unmannerly misbehavior. Quite the opposite: the morning’s events gave ample evidence of humankind’s ability to hear the immediate call to greatness, as in Daniel Hernandez’s heroic salvation of Gabrielle Giffords’s life and HOW DORWAN STODDARD GAVE HIS LIFE TO SHIELD HIS WIFE, MAVANELLE, from Jared Loughner’s spray of bullet fire.

Thus, as we continue to gather more evidence of Loughner’s schizophrenia, the continuing rhetorical calls for the need for “civility” are now turning into nothing less than cover. THEY’RE A DODGE, a means by which those responsible for the slanderous accusation that somehow the Tea Party and Sarah Palin and the right were responsible for the massacre have been excused for hurling their grievously unjust charge. FOR, YOU SEE, THEY WERE ONLY CALLING FOR A “NEW TONE,” FOR “CIVILITY,” AND WHO COULD BE AGAINST THOSE?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/257283/yup-jonah-goldberg


I remember a cartoon. In it a mother was hitting her son while she said, “Don’t (whack), Hit (whack), your sister (whack). It seems a condemnation of others while calling for more civility parallels the cartoon.

2010 Crude Oil: 50 Billion Barrels Discovered, 30 Billion Barrels Used

With the price of oil hovering above $70 a barrel for over a year -- and around $90 a barrel for several weeks -- oil exploration companies can get to work discovering rich new oil fields. In 2010, more new oil was discovered than was consumed -- and we can expect that trend to continue as long as oil stays high -- above fundamentals.

http://www.thegwpf.org/energy-news/2234-2010-crude-oil-50-billion-barrels-discovered-30-billion-barrels-used.html


So much for peak oil. Makes you wonder why the price of crude is rising so much? Speculators perhaps?