I’ll be writing on this later in the week but I wanted to share this with everyone first. It’s kinda hard to swallow everything the President has said the last few months about health care after watching this.
-DK
Politics
Originally I was going to post only a few of these from Laura Hollis’ new column but I couldn’t find only two or three that were the best. Each and everyone of these is important and shouldn’t be missed. I couldn’t have written it any better:
“Obama has now been in office 100 days. Let’s review his record, shall we? So far, the Bringer of Hope, Change, Peace, Administrative Transparency, Bipartisanship, Fiscal Responsibility, International Admiration, Multilateral Accord, and generally Unprecedented Competency has:
1.     Insisted that his administration would have strict rules about lobbyists.
2.     And then changed his mind.
3.     Nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, and then accepted Daschle’s withdrawal after it was discovered that Daschle owed over $100,000 in back taxes.
4.     Nominated Tim Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury. Geithner was confirmed despite revelations that he owed $25K in back taxes.
5.     Nominated Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson for Secretary of Commerce, only to have Richardson withdraw because of controversy over campaign financing.
6.     Nominated U.S. Senator Judd Gregg for Secretary of Commerce, who later withdrew over fundamental disagreements with Obama over his economic policies and plans to politicize the U.S. Census by bringing it under White House control.
7.     Nominated pro-abortion Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Sebelius received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from notorious late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller.
8.     Nominated Hilda Solis to be Secretary of Labor, who was confirmed despite revelations that her husband owed back taxes.
9.     Nominated Harold Koh to be legal adviser to the State Department. Koh advocates “transnationalism,” a theory that calls for considering other countries’ laws when interpreting American legal disputes.
10. Nominated Dawn Johnson, former legal counsel for the National Abortion Rights Action League, to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen is perhaps best known for her argument before the Supreme Court that abortion should be legal because unwanted pregnancy was tantamount to involuntary servitude.
11. Appointed an African-American Attorney General who has called America “a nation of cowards” on matters of race.
12. Promised that his any bill signed by him would be reviewable for at least five days before signing it.
13. And then signed a $787 billion “stimulus” bill without providing five days for the public to review the 1100+ page document.
14. Oh, and this also applied to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
15. And the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.
16. And the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009.
17. And the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.
18. And the Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2009.
19. (While we’re on the subject…) …promised that his “stimulus” bill would contain no pork barrel spending.
20. Signed the “stimulus” bill with billions of dollars in pork barrel spending.
21. Assured Caterpillar workers that his economic “stimulus” would save their jobs, only to be contradicted by Caterpillar’s CEO, who advised that more layoffs were coming.
22. Took over an American car company and kicked out its CEO.
23. Promised “green” cars, even though they are money-losers for the automakers, American demand for them is not substantial and, due to complex state and federal regulations, many Americans can’t get them.
24. Announced a plan to take the United States $10 trillion dollars into debt in the next 10 years.
25. Launched a failed policy to help homeowners who purchased houses they could not afford.
26. Informed banks that took TARP money that they would be prohibited from repaying the money.
27. Moved to nationalize banks by taking common (voting) stock in them.
28. Supported legislation that would permit the federal government to set the salaries of executives in the private sector.
29. And tax them at 90%, a textbook violation of Article One of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against Ex Post Facto laws and Bills of Attainder.
30. Sent the Dow Jones plummeting virtually every time he opened his mouth to announce another policy, program, or initiative.
31. Proposed nationalizing the American health care system, a program that has resulted in skyrocketing costs and rationing everywhere it has been tried.
32. Insulted Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of England with the return of the bust of Winston Churchill, cheap gifts, and ineptitude during his visit to the United States.
33. Insulted England generally when a low-level State Department employee said that England was “nothing special,” that they are “just the same as the other 190 countries in the world” and they they “shouldn’t expect special treatment.”
34. Bowed obsequiously before the King of Saudi Arabia.
35. Informed the German-speaking Austrians know that they speak “Austrian.”
36. Apologized for American “arrogance” in Strasbourg, France – a country where nearly 10,000 American servicemen and women are buried at Normandy American Cemetery alone.
37. Handed over control of the American financial system to an international consortium of foreign bankers.
38. Went to Europe to ask for assistance for a war in Afghanistan, and got nothing.
39. Received an economic chastisement from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
40. Failed to impress French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
41. Prompted the President of the European Union to call his economic policies “the road to hell.”
42. Proposed international control over nuclear fuel.
43. Promised that he would support Armenia in its claims of historical genocide.
44. And then didn’t.
45. Revoked the “Mexico City Policy,” freeing up federal monies for agencies that counsel or provide abortions in foreign countries
46. Signed a presidential memorandum authorizing the expenditure of federal funds to destroy distinct human individuals so that their genetic material can be used for scientific experimentation.
47. Nominated Harry Knox, a gay activist who referred to the Catholic Church as a “discredited army of oppression,” to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
48. Threatened to revoke “conscience” protection for American medical professionals who do not wish to take part in abortions.
49. Been spanked by the Vatican, which rejected the appointment of Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to the Vatican because of her pro-abortion views.
50. Killed a federally funded scholarship that rescued 1700 students a year from the District of Columbia’s abysmal public schools and allowed them to attend private schools like Sidwell Friends, the school his own daughters attend, as a political payoff to the teachers’ unions.
51. Embarrassed himself by insulting the Special Olympics on national television.
52. Announced nearly a billion dollars in aid for Hamas, a terrorist organization committed to the destruction of Israel.
53. Virtually ignored a long-range missile launch by Communist dictator Kim Jong Il.
54. Sent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Russia with a “reset” button that actually said “overcharged.”
55. Through Clinton, informed the Chinese that human rights violations would not be an impediment to trade.
56. Nominated Leon Panetta, someone with no intelligence experience, to run the CIA.
57. Banned the term “war on terror” and substituted “overseas contingency operations.”
58. Through his DHS Director Janet Napolitano, replaced the words “terrorist attacks” with “man-caused disasters.”
59. Promised to close the terrorist holding facility on Guantanamo Bay
60. Released a report from his Department of Homeland Security, revealing that his administration thinks the real threats to American safety and security are returning American veterans, American conservatives, American advocates of limited government, defenders of the United States Constitution (particularly the Second Amendment), and Americans united for the protection of human life.
61. Released CIA memoranda revealing interrogation techniques used to extract information about planned terrorist acts against the United States.
62. Promised that members of the intelligence community who kept the country safe from terrorist attacks for the past eight years would not be prosecuted.
63. And then changed his mind.
64. Stated the U.S.’ intention to attend Durban II
65. And then changed his mind. (OK, he gets points for this flip-flop.)
66. Announced that the U.S. would seek a seat on the utterly discredited “Human Rights Council” of the United Nations.
67. Endured an anti-American diatribe from a Daniel Ortega, a Communist dictator, and said virtually nothing in rebuttal.
68. Glad-handed Hugo Chavez, the de facto dictator of Venezuela.
69. Supported new ways to implement the same objectives as the radioactive “Fairness Doctrine” to reduce the impact of talk radio.
70. Pretended not to know anything about the nearly 1 million Americans protesting high taxes and out-of-control spending at the April 15th tea parties.
71. Wants to increase taxes for people making charitable contributions.
72. Downplayed the role of Christian beliefs as foundational to the country.
73. Announced that he would be taking over credit card companies’ interest rate policies, as well.
74. Proposed new “cap-and-trade” regulations on emissions, which would cripple many American energy companies, and are projected to cost the average American family over $3000 a year in additional energy costs.
75. Supported the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation which would deny union members the right to secret ballots in union elections.
76. Took his wife out to dinner on Valentine’s Day. In Chicago. Via Air Force One.
77. Flew a chef in from St. Louis to make pizzas.
78. Hosted gala events at the White House on Wednesday nights.
79. Glared, snapped at or otherwise chastised reporters who dare to challenge the party line or deviate from the day’s scripts.
80. Displayed an embarrassing dependence upon his Teleprompter.
81. Supported legislation that would institute mandatory “voluntary” service.
82. Used Mexican gangs and their terrorist activity to threaten lawful gun ownership in the United States, despite evidence refuting his specious claims.
83. Asked Georgetown University to cover up visible signs, seals and references to Jesus Christ during his speech there. (And isn’t it interesting? The absence of those references, coupled with stained glass backdrop here, make Obama look like the religious leader.)
84. Allowed Air Force One to be flown low over Manhattan, accompanied by an F-16 – for a photo opportunity. (Hey – your plane, your responsibility.)
85. through 99. Has left at least that many positions unfilled in Treasury, State, Defense, Education, and Health and Human Services. (Okay, I am cheating, but come on – isn’t 86 enough???)
100. And finally, still refuses – to release his long-form birth certificate, his passports, his college or his law school records.
When I started this column, I thought it would be impossible to find anything close to 100 disastrous decisions in as many days. Wrong. Wasn’t our last President accused of being a spendthrift, bumbling, out-of-touch, elitist idiot? If any other President made this many blunders or potentially catastrophic errors, the press would be circling the White House with torches.  As it is, the sum total of their defense of Obama seems to be “Nyah, nyah, nyah, Bush was bad.” So, let’s see, because Bush was a cowboy, Obama can be a cowboy who can’t ride? Because Bush spent ridiculous amounts of money and left us in debt, Obama should spend more and leave us utterly bankrupt? Because Bush was viewed as a buffoon in Europe, Obama is justified in being viewed as a pompous ignoramus? This President is anti-life, anti-business, anti-entrepreneur, anti-capitalist and anti-American. If this is the “change” that’s been forced down our throats in the first 100 days, I seriously question whether we can survive the remaining 1361.”
Thank you Laura Hollis. – DK
You can find the entire Wednesday Chronicle by visiting The Patriot Post’s website found here.
“[I]n this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” –Benjamin Franklin
Capitalism? Oh my!: “I’m worried if you think if [Goldman-Sachs paying back its federal loan early is] a good thing. Are they doing this because of financial stability or might they be talking about that, simply to get out from under the thumb of the federal government and be allowed to go back to running the business the way they want to run it as opposed to the way the government wants them to run it?” –NBC’s Matt Lauer to Christina Romer on Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers
Foreign law: “I frankly don’t understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law. Why shouldn’t we look to the wisdom of a judge from abroad with at least as much ease as we would read a law review article written by a professor?” –Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg **”If we’re relying on a decision from a German judge about what our Constitution means, no president accountable to the people appointed that judge and no Senate accountable to the people confirmed that judge. And yet he’s playing a role in shaping the law that binds the people in this country.” –Chief Justice Roberts
“Last week Obama told the planet on his Dixie Chick America Sucks Euro-Tour that ol’ bigheaded America is not and has never been a Christian nation. … America’s not a Christian nation? Well, it’s not a Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim (yet) or Tai Chi nation. I know Barack is auguring for the USA to become an Obamanation, but heretofore from what I’ve read regarding our founders’ beliefs and original intent for this experiment in self-government, this Republic has a massive intentional Judeo-Christian bent to it and not a religiously neutral one. Stevie Wonder can see that.” –columnist Doug Giles
-DK
Today I thought I would share with my readers the #1 conservative journal of record, The Patriot Post. After reading their mission, purpose and objectives you’ll get an astute sense of what this wonderful organization is all about. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they email out The Monday Brief, The Wednesday Chronicle, and The Friday Digest. Each one of these is filled with commentary, opinion, analysis, and information. If you have a few extra minutes please subscribe to their mailing list and receive some of the best writings and commentary in your mailbox, you won’t be disappointed.
‘The Monday Brief is a quick-reading survey of commentary and essays, short excerpts covering a wide range of topics of interest to constitutional conservatives to start the week off on the right foot! The Wednesday Chronicle is an informative and entertaining selection of one-line historic quotes, current commentary (Left and Right) and humor. And finally The Friday Digest is a comprehensive weekly summary narrative featuring: THE PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE, the essay of the week by Mark Alexander, followed by a mostly serious, sometimes irreverent narrative summary and analysis of the week’s news, policy and opinion in four sections, GOVERNMENT & POLITICS, NATIONAL SECURITY, BUSINESS & ECONOMY and CULTURE.’ [The Patriot Post (PatriotPost.US)]
Beginning today and continuning every week, I will post a few sections from The Wednesday Chronicle (which happens to be my favorite part) to share with my readers. Most of them are portions of columns from conservative columnists with a short bit of commentary afterwards. Enjoy!
From the supremely arrogant America-hater-in-chief: “In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” –Barack Obama **”One should remind Mr. Obama and the Europeans how America has ‘shown arrogance’ by saving Europe from itself innumerable times in the 20th Century. World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the wars in the Balkans were largely resolved by American blood, treasure, and leadership. One can be ‘dismissive, even derisive’ toward Europeans because they pretty much caused those conflicts and then dithered, for the most part, until those arrogant Americans had to step in to clean up their mess. Much of the problems of the Third World, including the rise of Islamo Fascism, can be laid at the doorstep of European colonial practices, including the chaotic and often bloody process of decolonialization that took place starting with the end of World War II. Africa is a butcher shop and the Middle East is a cockpit of terror and war, not because of American ‘arrogance’, but European stupidity when it ran those two places.” –columnist Mark Whittington
Moral relativism: “[O]ne of the great strengths of the United States is — although as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation; we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values.” –Barack Obama on our nation, which was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and values ++ “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country.” –Barack Obama to the Turkish Parliament **”The most significant event connected to the Islamic faith that has shaped the character of the United States was the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.” –author Robert Spencer
Logical fallacies: “We have 32 people being murdered by guns every day in this country. If peanut butter or pistachio nuts or spinach killed that number of people once in one day, they’d be pulled by the FDA.” –Michael Wolkowitz, member of the board of trustees for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence **Apply that logic to alcohol or automobiles and see where it gets you.
-DK
Anger over the AIG bonuses has risen and sort of fallen the last few days, but my anger is still rising over another issue. Never mind that these bonuses have been public knowledge for almost a year, never mind that Chris Dodd (who received $281,000 in campaign contributions from AIG) on the instruction from the White House inserted the bonus protection clause into the porkulous bill moments before it’s final vote and then lied later saying he was shocked that AIG could do such a thing, and never mind that Timothy Geithner lied when he said he didn’t know of the bonuses until March 10th even though he was asked about them by congress on March 3rd.
What sent me over the ledge was the ridiculous, pompous, and irresponsible 90% tax on the AIG bonus recipients congress voted on and approved last week. Most Americans will not realize the significance that this unbelievable action has on future societies. Congress taxing individual citizens, the founding fathers must be rolling in their graves. The rights of the individual were ransacked and trampled on by a bunch of lying and arrogant miscreants sitting in Washington. If this is enacted, it will undoubtedly be brought to court, costing the US taxpayers far more than $165 million.
And where was Obama in all of this? As his poll numbers continue to fall, he goes on a late night talk show, acting like a celebrity and insulting 2.5 million Special Olympians. Excuse me Mr. President – but you are not a celebrity. Trying to drum up support from your 18-24 year old fan base will not erase the problems facing our nation. You should go back to Washington, tell congress to quit shredding the constitution, and get back to work. By the way – here’s a person with much more class than you:
-DK
“I want President Obama to Fail.”
It’s been almost two months since conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh uttered these words over the air waves. This set the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party into a firestorm of controversy where they lambasted Limbaugh for having the audacity to wish the president to fail. How could someone say they wanted the President to fail when the country is in such a dire state of affair? They immediately began calling Limbaugh the leader of the Republican Party in hopes of swaying public support towards the democrats and ruining Limbaugh’s radio program. These vial attempts were unsuccessful; they actually backfired since most Americans wanted the administration to concentrate on the economy instead of attacking a radio host. Not to mention Limbaugh’s radio audience grew substantially since he initially made these comments.
Rush believes that the policies that Obama is pushing will not stimulate the economy or create new jobs but will actually deepen the recession and run the economy into the ground. So when someone wishes the president’s policies to fail what are they actually saying? “I support the president and want him to succeed; I just want his policies to fail.” This doesn’t make any sense at all.
It’s extremely interesting reading and listening to the response from the Democratic Party at these comments. Somehow it’s un-American to disagree with the President and wish his policies to fail. Isn’t this what the democrats have been doing and saying about President Bush the last eight years? Most notably they wanted Bush to fail in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Fox News poll taken in August of 2006 right before the election showed that 32% of the country and 51% of democrats wanted President Bush to fail.
And today it was reported that on the morning of September 11th, 2001 before the attacks, democratic strategist James Carville told reporters that he wanted President Bush to fail. Of course soon after the attacks were reported, Carville rescinded his comments. But that doesn’t erase the fact that he wanted the President to fail then just like Limbaugh wants the president to fail now. The hypocrisy is astounding.
What’s wrong with wanting a president to fail? Isn’t that democracy? If everyone is supposed to support the president and not wish his policies to fail shouldn’t we have a King Obama instead of a President Obama? Like I said earlier, to wish a president’s policies to fail is to wish a president to fail. Republicans seem to think that it’s a little extreme to say things like this but all true fiscal conservatives should want President Obama’s policies to fail.
-DK
The last few weeks have been filled with rhetoric from the democrats in Washington claiming that the stimulus bill needed to be passed because the country was slipping into a financial crisis not seen since the Great Depression. Not only is this incredibly inaccurate but it is also incredible irresponsible. This past Saturday, Bradley Schiller wrote a superb column in The Wall Street Journal titled: “Obama’s Rhetoric Is the Real ‘Catastrophe’” basically calling out Barack Obama on his fear-mongering. He believes that our current economic woes are more similar to the 1981-1982 recession. He writes:
“In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That’s a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost — fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now. Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude. In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. This was reflected in unemployment rates. The latest survey pegs U.S. unemployment at 7.6%. That’s more than three percentage points below the 1982 peak (10.8%) and not even a third of the peak in 1932 (25.2%).”
He goes on to compare the GDP of this year and last year with that of the early 80′s and the Great Depression:
“Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose in 2008, despite a bad fourth quarter. The Congressional Budget Office projects a GDP decline of 2% in 2009. That’s comparable to 1982, when GDP contracted by 1.9%. It is nothing like 1930, when GDP fell by 9%, or 1931, when GDP contracted by another 8%, or 1932, when it fell yet another 13%.”
Mr. Schiller goes on to compare automobile sales and bank failures. He contends and I agree that scaring people into votes and support for a ridiculous “stimulus” bill is bad politics and bad economics.
As we sit right now, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been signed into law. It’s impossible for anyone to know at this juncture whether the bill will work or not. President Obama has essentially bet his entire presidency on its success. If after two years things haven’t improved, then it’s going to be a sorrowful election for the democrats come 2010.
-DK
