Obama Pitches Socialism To Black Caucus

Whether it's European socialists at The Brandenburg Gate, Muslims in Cairo, or race-baiting Congressmen in Washington DC, Obama knows that anywhere you go in the world, the cheapest way to get applause is to bad mouth the United States. In response to the mystery world leader not understanding why we don't want to be like Europe, Daniel Hannan said it best; The European Union has a charter that begins with the words “His Majesty, the King of the Belgians.” Ours begins with "We, The People." I know which one I prefer.

Date Night Denmark; Obama Chooses Legoland, Tivoli Gardens Over Iranian Threat, Afghan War

Steve Chapman from The Chicago Tribune

With two wars, a battered economy, an overextended budget and a health care battle to attend to, he shouldn't be bothering himself lobbying the International Olympic Committee over where some athletic events will take place seven years from now...

The bad news is that this means it's already been decided. Just like Bill Clinton not risking his reputation on going to North Korea unless a deal was hammered out, there's no way Obama goes to Copenhagen if he hasn't been assured that Chicago will win the bid. Read the rest here

Don't You Wish Your Leader Sounded Like This

Instead of this...

Run Roland! Run!

He does a good Debbie Halvorson impersonation.

Obama On Kanye; He's A Jackass

ACORN Officials In Baltimore Fired; Offered To Help Undercover Camerman Setup Child Prostitution Ring

In the past, if you were a pimp and wanted a government loan for setting up a brothel of child prostitutes from El Salvador, and naturally wanted to avoid paying any taxes on your new enterprise, there was no one that you could turn to for help. Until now. Pretty funny, until you think about the $5.2 billion that Obama gave to Acorn in the stimulus bill. When is the mainstream media going to get out of bed with this dangerously unqualified, inexperienced, inept, corrupt administration? Read more here

We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg, Pennsylvania November 19, 1863

NEVER FORGET

Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.
--President George W. Bush

There is no diplomacy with Bin Laden or the Taliban regime.
There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror.
Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must.
--British Prime Minister Tony Blair

War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.
--President George W. Bush

We're going to find out who did this and we're going after the bastards.
--Sen. Orrin Hatch

Shovel Ready - How It Was. Where It Was

To watch the steel structures of new Twin Towers pierce New York's skyline floor-by-floor – after all New York has been through – would be to experience one of the greatest moments in modern history." — Nicole Gelinas | New York Post 5/18/04

From The Twin Towers Alliance
We, the undersigned, share the belief that nothing could be more inspiring to our people, or disheartening to our enemies, than Twin Towers, at least as tall as before in every respect, soaring above Ground Zero. Read the rest here

Obama’s Legal State Department Adviser: Impose Sharia Law on America. In Other News, Somali Islamists Chop Off Hands Of Mogadishu 'Thieves'

Read more here and here

White House; Greenjob Post Created Specifically For Van Jones

From Politico

A White House official conceded that Jones “was not as thoroughly vetted as other administration officials,” though the official suggested it had more to do with the relatively low level of Jones’s job than with the power of his patrons.

There was little immediate talk of possible successors to Jones, largely due to the sense he would be difficult to replace in an advisory post designed specifically for him, due to his past work in promoting green jobs.

So he's not important enough to be vetted properly, yet important enough to have a position created specifically for him. I guess that makes about as much sense as anything else in this administration.

Rachel Maddow; 'Incredibly Shrinking Republican Party'

Some quotes from Rachel's Thursday show: "Incredibly shrinking republican party," "not in good shape," and "minority faction." Let's check with Rasumssen Reports to see if we can find any evidence.
Obama Approval Rating
Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.
Obama Approval Index
33% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -8
Health Care
53% Oppose President’s Health Care Plan, 44% Favor
Generic Congressional Ballot Tuesday, September 08, 2009
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 44% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent.
2009 New Jersey Governor Race
Chris Christie (R) 46%
Jon Corzine (D) 38%
2009 Virginia Governor's Race
Robert McDonnell (R) 51%
Creigh Deeds (D) 42%
Trust on Issues Surveys of 1,000 Likely Voters September 4-7, 2009
Education
Republicans 40%
Democrats 45%
Health Care
Republicans 44%
Democrats 44%
Social Security
Republicans 41%
Democrats 43%
Taxes
Republicans 48%
Democrats 40%
Economy
Republicans 47%
Democrats 39%
National Security
Republicans 51%
Democrats 39%
Iraq
Republicans 47%
Democrats 37%
Abortion
Republicans 44%
Democrats 37%
Government Ethics
Republicans 35%
Democrats 34%
Immigration
Republicans 45%
Democrats 33%

Ok, thats all the Rachel Maddow I can take for one day. Well maybe just one more picture...
Enchanting...

Has Anyone Ever Seen Rachel Maddow And Elvis Costello Together?

If she could get Elvis to appear on her show it'd be like Geraldo opening Al Capone's vault, the moonlanding, and who shot JR all rolled into one. A veritable ratings bonanza.

Obama Lied; Congressional Research Service Says Illegals WILL Receive Health Care

CRS CITES THREE IMMIGRATION LOOPHOLES IN HR3200
taken from Center for Immigration Studies

NO LIMITATION ON ACCESS
NO VERIFICATION SYSTEM
CARE EXTENDED TO "MIXED STATUS FAMILIES"

Open access to Insurance Exchange: HR 3200 contains no provisions preventing illegal immigrants from participating in the Health Insurance Exchange that is to be created, including the government-run "public plan" that will be available through the federally-run and federally-subsidized Exchange.

According to CRS: "Under H.R. 3200, a 'Health Insurance Exchange' would begin operation in 2013 and would offer private plans alongside a public option…H.R. 3200 does not contain any restrictions on noncitzens—whether legally or illegally present, or in the United States temporarily or permanently—participating in the Exchange."

No verification mechanism: Democrats point to language in the House bill that says illegal immigrants cannot get benefits. While that may be technically accurate, it is far from the truth.

The fact is that the statement is meaningless because the bill contains no verification mechanism to ensure that illegal immigrants do not receive benefits. Democrats defeated amendments in two congressional committees to close this loophole, including amendments that would use the very same verification mechanism that already exist in statute for other federal programs. Why not include the same verification mechanisms in this bill as already exist for other federal benefits programs? Without the requirement that there be a verification mechanism or a specific verification mechanism provided in statute, the Commissioner could determine that the eligibility requirements could be met either without verification or with as little as a signed attestation.

According to CRS: "Some have expressed concerns that since H.R. 3200 does not contain a mechanism to verify immigration status, the prohibitions on certain noncitizens (e.g, nonimmigrants and unauthorized aliens) receiving the credits may not be enforced. However, others note that under §142(a)(3) of the bill, it is the responsibility of the Health Choices Commissioner (Commissioner) to administer the "individual affordability credits under subtitle C of title II, including determination of eligibility for such credits."

Family eligibility for affordability credits: Section 242(a)(2) of the bill provides that "[e]xcept as the Commissioner may otherwise provide, members of the same family who are affordable credit eligible individuals shall be treated as a single affordable credit individual eligible for the applicable credit for such a family under this subtitle." This suggests that if one member of a family is legally eligible, every family member will be considered eligible. This is significant in terms of numbers — the Pew Hispanic Center estimated that there are almost two million families in the United States where illegal immigrant parents have U.S.-born children. That does not include other "mixed status families" - one legal parent, one illegal parent and illegal child, etc.

According to CRS: "There could be instances where some family members would meet the definition of an eligible individual for purposes of the credit, while other family members would not. For example, in a family consisting of a U.S. citizen married to an unauthorized alien and a U.S. citizen child, the U.S. citizen spouse and child could meet the criteria for being a credit-eligible individual, while the unauthorized alien spouse would not meet the criteria. H.R. 3200 does not expressly address how such a situation would be treated. Therefore, it appears that the Health Choices Commissioner would be responsible for determining how the credits would be administered in the case of mixed-status families."

In 2005, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that up to 3 percent of the 30,000 individuals called for jury duty from voter registration rolls over a two-year period in just one U.S. district court were not U.S. citizens.

If they can get on the list and show up for something as masochistically tedious as jury duty, you can damn well better believe they’ll find their way onto a government health care plan.

Republican Lawmakers Respond To Obama's Request For Input On Health Care Legislation

That was fast. Be careful what you wish for, Barry. John Boehner says no republicans have been invited to White House to meet with Obama on health care since April. So much for transparency, so much for televised meetings on C-SPAN. So much for an end to politics as usual, so much for reaching across the aisle, so much for bipartisanship. Obama's attitude over the break (remember the "I don't want the folks who created this mess to do a lot of talking, just get out of the way speech?)shows he has no intention of working with republicans or compromising on health care and made it very clear in his speech last night. Republicans over the last 5 months have offered nearly 800 pieces of legislation and amendments, with every last piece being rejected.

Wait A Second - Who's In Charge Of Tort Reform?!?

Kathleen Sebelius served from 1977 to 1986 as a lobbyist and executive director of the Kansas Trial Lawyers' Association. So Obama has chosen a former industry lobbyist to run tort reform.That sounds about right. Read more at the WSJ

NBC: Parents Who Object to Obama’s Speech Aren’t Smart Enough to Raise Their Kids

Perhaps John Harwood would prefer it if the State raised the children instead. Panic is setting in, and it's not coming from the right.

Israel Announces 6 Month Settlement Freeze

Apparently this will go into effect after the construction of the 455 they announced last week. An attempt to appease the settlers, the Palestinian Authority, and the US, this will no doubt satisfy none of the parties involved. The belief in the PA sitting down and contributing anything consequential to the process simply because Netanyahu agreed to a settlement freeze, is hallucinatory at best.

Appeasing Obama is a dangerous one way street. His recent declarations that American foreign policy should be rooted in "modesty and humility" and his apologies for an approach that too often sought to "dictate policy" while "failing to listen" seem to apply to everyone except Israel. A recent Smith Research poll taken on behalf of The Jerusalem Post shows that just 4% of Israeli Jews believe Obama's policies to be pro-Israel' a poll that, amazingly, was conducted before Gibbs' declaration last week that Obama "does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and urges it to stop."

In exchange for putting a halt to construction, Israel wants the PA to end the incitement against Israel in the PA media and education system - the effect and policing of which appear complicated and difficult to assess, and is possibly a delaying tactic while the construction of the 455 settlements goes forward. A delaying tactic that Obama has permitted the Iranians to exploit by allowing them to continue enriching uranium during nuclear talks, essentially 'dribbling out the clock' while the existential threat to Israel continues unchecked. Those 96% of Israelis seem to understand the urgency of the situation best, perhaps they're the ones Netenyahu should be acknowledging.

Obama's Lesson

White House Releases Text Of Obama's Speech To Students
Of course there's nothing wrong with this speech. The initial criticism the Obama Administration drew was from the lesson plan. That was wrong on two counts: First, the fact that a lesson plan even existed was illegal. Federal law expressly forbids the Secretary of Education or any officer from exercising "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system." Second is the fact that he attempted to slip in a lesson plan so ridiculously biased and indoctrinating as one that requires students to write letters to themselves asking how they can 'help the president'. It's not difficult to see how this, coming on the heels of school officials apologizing for showing Oprah and Demi Moore's 'I pledge allegiance to Obama' video, would make people a little wary.

Had he not included an illegal, self serving lesson plan from the beginning, people would perhaps be a whole lot more eager and accepting of what is, after all, a positive message. Simply another example of Obama's arrogance trumping his better judgement. Just like when he talked for 55 minutes on health care, then used the last 5 minutes of his news conference calling the Cambridge Police Dept. stupid, sabotaging his own message at the same time. Time and time again his arrogance gets in his way and prevents him from getting his own message across. A lesson that Obama seems incapable of learning.

Read the law at http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/20C48.txt

Radical, Repugnant, Retired. Good Riddance

Obama 'Green Jobs' Adviser Van Jones Resigns Amid Controversy
Here's his resignation letter;

I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today. On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.I have been inundated with calls - from across the political spectrum - urging me to "stay and fight." But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future. It has been a great honor to serve my country and my President in this capacity. I thank everyone who has offered support and encouragement. I am proud to have been able to make a contribution to the clean energy future. I will continue to do so, in the months and years ahead.

Wow. What a crybaby. On the "eve of historic fights" he bails. Because some republicans were mean and used "lies and distortions". As if he really wasn't the 46th person to sign the 911 truth petition. As if he didn't really refer to Senate republicans as assholes. Or call George Bush a crackhead, complete with a little skit. Of course he was really fired, which makes his parting shot all the more feeble and absurd.

There's nothing more pathetic than someone who acts like an idiot, gets caught, gives a half-assed apology/explanation (he says he didn't understand what he was signing), gets fired, and then attacks the people who caught him. He should be mad at whomever is in charge of vetting at the White House. Unless, of course, nobody is. That would explain a lot.

So... Who's the asshole now, Asshole?

Krauthammer Comedy Hour Steamrolls Van Jones

Dr. Krauthammer at his finest.

Here He Flips Again

Obama Flashback: Combining Private & Public Healthcare Sectors = ‘Worst of Both Worlds’

We now have the worst of both worlds, the price gouging of the private sector and the beurocracy of the public sector. - Obama, 2006

Watch the video here

In Over His Head - Unemployment Hits 9.7%

"We gather because we have chosen hope over fear" - Barack Obama, Jan 20

"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into catastrophe." - Barack Obama, Feb 4

On January 9th, the Obama team released "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" predicting that without a stimulus plan, unemployment will reach 8.5% . With the stimulus, they predicted unemployment peaking at just under 8%. He also pledged the creation or saving of 3 million jobs. With the help of the mainstream media and a good deal of fear mongering, Obama talked us into spending $787 billion and we were rewarded with 8.9% unemployment in April. Stooges like Charlie Gibson, Lester Holt and Lisa Myers jumped on board, repeating the White House's flimsy and fabricated "saved jobs" claims.

Which takes us to today, and 9.7%. How many more times will we have to listen to Biden excuses like "The truth is, we misread the economy", or "I want to be clear about something: Less bad is not good." Becoming used to lowering expectations, Obama himself is now predicting unemployment will pass 10% this year.

So we spend $787 billion and we still go over his projection by nearly 30%? Along with the $2 trillion he added to the budget last month? Why wouldn't we trust him with health care?

College Football 2010 - GO ILLINI

It's here. The traditions, the rivalries, the bands, the cheerleaders, the tailgates, the reunions. The early morning drives, the kickoffs under the lights. Big flags, cannons, flyovers. No preseason, no playoffs, every game counts. God help me, I do love it so.

Halvorson (D-IL 11) Phones It In

Where does one begin? Managing to stay "above the fray" as she puts it, Debbie Halvorson held a teleconference on health care Thursday night. Now, telephone call in shows are wonderful things; wonderful for radio hacks and telethons. I would expect, though,that a member of the United States Congress, elected by the people and for the people, would actually have the decency and sense of duty to want to meet with the people. But I realized after listening to 2 1/2 hours of her bogus, cosmetic saleswoman sincerity and her sophomoric attempts to prove herself capable of anything other than reading off of her Pelosi issued cheat sheet, to expect anything else out of her would simply be too much.

The safety net was provided in the form of operators who pre-screened her calls, and the training wheels were provided by Dr. Mary Wakefield, (HRSA administrator, who incidentally is a not a medical doctor, but a nurse PhD) who seems to have been busy lately, tagging in for Senate whiz kids Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

A summary of the call can be found here. Some highlights: She said "wow" about two dozen times. In response to a caller's question concening "death panels" she let out a sarcastic snicker, rather unbecoming of a United States Congresswoman. When asked if she read the bill, she said she did, and in fact to prove it she mentioned that she found a typo in the bill, on page...and then she promptly forgot which page. She then recovered by asking listeners to read the bill and then call her office and tell her what page the error was on, assumedly with the first ten callers receiving a Avon Botanicals Mini Treats Gift Set.

At best, her responses were vague and rambling. At worst, considering she had the questions screened and Dr. Wakefield's assistance, they were condescendingly juvenile, showing a level of preparation one would scarcely tolerate from a grammar school debate team, much less a member of Congress.

Read the summary from the link above. Her professed understanding of the legislation appears to have serious contradictions with reality. Or perhaps, just like her flip on cap and tax, she's only telling us what she thinks we want to hear. But for now she can let out a sigh of relief because, like Ichabod Crane racing to the bridge, Halvorson is headed safely back to Washington, having successfully escaped her constituents and her responsibilities.