◼ Rasmussen Reports, which administered the poll, found that while the media may treat the Tea Party movement as a fringe element in society, voters across the nation "feel closer to the Tea Party movement than they do to Congress.”
The pollster asked likely voters: “Who has a better understanding of the problems America faces today -- the average Tea Party member or the average member of Congress?”
Fifty-two (52) percent said the average Tea Party member would know better, while only 30 percent favored the average member of Congress.
I'm surprised Congress scored that high.
In the same survey, respondents were asked, “Who is more ethical -- the average Tea Party member or the average member of Congress?”
A surprising 46 percent said the average Tea Party member was more ethical, with 27 percent choosing instead the average member of Congress. Another 18 percent said they were unsure....
In fact, the numbers hewed closely to the 47-26 plurality that finds the views of the average Tea Party member to be closer to their own than that of the average member of Congress. That includes a full 28 percent of Democrats.
Wednesday, March 31
The public sector is killing the private sector
◼ ...As USA Today recently noted, federal employees make on average almost $8,000 more than their private-sector counterparts. When you add in benefits, the gap spreads to about $30,000. State and local government workers make around the same as private-sector counterparts, but their health and retirement packages mean they make significantly more in the end....
As government increases, so does its reach into the lives and wallets of Americans in every walk of life. Instead of being public servants working at critical tasks, they have become the taskmasters — and increasingly unaccountable for their actions. Every mandate creates a new bureaucracy, and every bureaucracy creates a human cost when it comes time to cut it back. This is an increasingly dire cycle for Americans who value their independence and liberty.
As government increases, so does its reach into the lives and wallets of Americans in every walk of life. Instead of being public servants working at critical tasks, they have become the taskmasters — and increasingly unaccountable for their actions. Every mandate creates a new bureaucracy, and every bureaucracy creates a human cost when it comes time to cut it back. This is an increasingly dire cycle for Americans who value their independence and liberty.
Labels:
Economy
planned to kill a law-enforcement officer, then use homemade bombs to attack officers who attended the funeral.
Gee. Sounds familiar.
Sounds like Bill Ayres and Bernadine doesn't it?
But they're all cute and shit, they're liberal, so, give them kudos and make some noise about this guy. Oh well, who knows, in 30 years maybe he'll be best buddies with a President.
◼ Militia Chief's Mistrust Festered, Friends Say
Portrait Emerges of Man Who Despised Authority; Undercover Agent Played a Role in Probe
The point? It's not ok. It was not ok for Ayres to do what he did. And it is not ok to excuse it away.
Sounds like Bill Ayres and Bernadine doesn't it?
But they're all cute and shit, they're liberal, so, give them kudos and make some noise about this guy. Oh well, who knows, in 30 years maybe he'll be best buddies with a President.
◼ Militia Chief's Mistrust Festered, Friends Say
Portrait Emerges of Man Who Despised Authority; Undercover Agent Played a Role in Probe
The point? It's not ok. It was not ok for Ayres to do what he did. And it is not ok to excuse it away.
Labels:
Ayres
Tuesday, March 30
"the most underreported, biggest Washington takeover in history."
◼ Obama Steps Up Confrontation White House Seeks to Rally Supporters With Aggressive Tone Against Opponents
Democrats attached to the bill a major overhaul of student-lending laws, which eliminated a federal subsidy for private tuition lenders, federalized most student loans and plowed the savings into expanded federal higher education aid. Republicans say the bill will destroy the private student-lending market.
Mr. Alexander, the Tennessee Republican, called the student-loan move "really brazen" and "the most underreported, biggest Washington takeover in history."
Democrats attached to the bill a major overhaul of student-lending laws, which eliminated a federal subsidy for private tuition lenders, federalized most student loans and plowed the savings into expanded federal higher education aid. Republicans say the bill will destroy the private student-lending market.
Mr. Alexander, the Tennessee Republican, called the student-loan move "really brazen" and "the most underreported, biggest Washington takeover in history."
Labels:
Democrats,
Party Politics,
Pay ATTENTION,
Power,
Serious shit
Monday, March 29
Star Parker Running for Congress?
◼ Star Parker Running for Congress? Yay!
In this month’s issue of World magazine, editor Marvin Olasky says Parker is running for U.S. Congress against Rep. Laura Richardson. It’s about time.
IAMS Pet Photo Contest!
◼ COASTAL LIVING - Send us photos of your pets at the beach! We want to see your pets having fun at the beach or in the water. In June, we'll feature three of our favorite reader-submitted photos and stories from our Pet Photo Contest, sponsored by Iams. Winners will receive a gift package including a year's supply of Iams pet food. Click here for how to submit.
Sunday, March 28
SoHumBorn Sunday - the series continues
◼ SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company - RedHeadedBlackbelt
...As he lifts the mug to his mouth something goes past the front window. It takes his brain a few seconds to get a hold on what he just saw, but his gut understands immediately, and responds with a nauseating roll. His heart is pounding so hard he can feel it throughout his whole body. The man had been bent over, as if to pass below the ledge of the window, but he hadn’t been low enough. The blue jacket with the three gold letters across the back seared into his brain, causing physical pain.
His first thought is to run. In his mind a thousand thoughts fly around like birds trapped in a greenhouse. Running isn’t going to help. They’re at his house. They know who he is....
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
...As he lifts the mug to his mouth something goes past the front window. It takes his brain a few seconds to get a hold on what he just saw, but his gut understands immediately, and responds with a nauseating roll. His heart is pounding so hard he can feel it throughout his whole body. The man had been bent over, as if to pass below the ledge of the window, but he hadn’t been low enough. The blue jacket with the three gold letters across the back seared into his brain, causing physical pain.
His first thought is to run. In his mind a thousand thoughts fly around like birds trapped in a greenhouse. Running isn’t going to help. They’re at his house. They know who he is....
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
Labels:
SoHumBorn
Saturday, March 27
Hey don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone
◼ Obamacare's Chickens Coming Home To Roost Already
Numerous companies already have announced enormous financial write-downs related to Obamacare's cutback of subsidies for prescription drug benefit programs for retirees.
These subsidies, while characterized by Democrats as "loopholes," actually saved the government money because it cost less to subsidize private drug programs than for the government to provide the same benefit through Medicare:
This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."
As explained at Volokh Conspiracy the write-downs must be taken immediately:
The writedowns are in response to the loss of a tax-free subsidy for providing prescription drug coverage to retirees. Several years ago, Congress decided it was better to induce corporations to provide prescription drug coverage for retirees than to have the costs paid by Medicare, so it enacted a tax-free subsidy, while still allowing companies to take a tax deduction for the coverage . Under the health care reforms Congress just enacted, however, the deduction will be eliminated in 2013.
Why are the companies announcing these changes? And why now if the tax change does not take effect until 2013? Because failure to do so could get the companies in trouble with the SEC. Under standard accounting rules, companies are supposed to take the charge in the quarter in which the tax law change is enacted, not when it takes effect. Because the first quarter ends Wednesday, more writedown announcements may be forthcoming.
If these were just financial write-downs, the Democrats would not care.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
In my original post, I wondered why these companies had not spoken out sooner, when it could have done some good. I suppose this is the answer: they know how vindictive the Democrats are. The Democrats' reaction would have been even more hostile (and more dangerous to the companies' well-being) if they had dared to blow the whistle on Obamacare before Congress voted.
Reality bites.
◼ Poetic Justice: DemCare Starts Destroying Health Care Benefits for Two Million Union Members Starting in Just Nine Months
What no one appears to be pointing out is that DemCare specifically targets private sector union members first. Because of the dizzying new regulations imposed by the new law, "industrial concerns [and/or] those with unionized employees, say the end of the deduction could force them to ... curtail or even cancel them [health benefits]," according to The Los Angeles Times. That's right: most union retirees will have their cushy plans slammed by DemCare through changes in the tax code.
Which unions will be hardest hit?
• The Communication Workers of America, whose website doesn't bother to mention the impending disaster. Telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T will be forced to slash upwards of two billion in health benefits to retirees.
• The United Auto Workers, specifically at manufacturers like Deere and Caterpillar.
• The United Steelworkers, through diversified manufacturers like 3M.
• The Sheet Metal Workers International Union.
• The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) union.
And many, many more.
◼ Obamacare Broke Medicare Part D – Seniors Losing Coverage; Update: Everyone Losing! Unintended consequences.
The list is growing. You don't know what you've got til it's gone. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID.
Do you agree?
◼ A Word to the Weary
The future holds the final, systemic crash of the New Deal and Great Society....
Social Security is running deficits now. Its collapse is a matter of actuarial fact, not opinion. The Congressional Budget Office just released a report that says the national debt will reach 90% of our gross domestic product by 2020… and the CBO usually under-estimates the effects of economic slowdown on federal tax revenue. Two years ago, the CBO thought Social Security would not be in the red until 2019. Five years ago, Barack Obama’s party confidently assured us the program would remain solvent for decades. These people have always been wrong. They just compounded their errors with trillions of deficit spending from a bill none of them read....
The task awaiting us at the ballot box is difficult, but not impossible. Laws have no magical, talismanic power – if they did, we wouldn’t need law enforcement. We can change laws. We can dissolve any body that tells us otherwise. No one can hold us down in our national deathbed. We are instructed to worship the political traditions of the 1940s, 60s, and 70s, when vast and eternal departments of limitless appetite and wretched inefficiency were constructed. Our birthright as Americans includes a far older, stronger tradition from 1776, which teaches us that only our liberty is eternal.
There’s no reason a country with vast natural resources, tended by a bold and innovative people, should suffer double-digit unemployment and capital flight. A compassionate nation, whose daily industry has done more for the downtrodden than every utopian scheme combined, has no reason to lower its head in shame, and tolerate the extraction of “charity” at gunpoint. The veterans of bloody wars against lawless tyranny should not accept a system that makes fools of the industrious. A great people, who live in reverence of equality, require no lists of class and racial enemies from opportunistic politicians.
This is the hour for passion and reason, not anger and disgust. The strength to restore our prosperity lies in the muscle and imagination of citizens who have been programmed to think of themselves as sheep, by those who seek power as their shepherds. The time for averting a painful disaster is short… but the most amazing chapters of American history were written in the last seconds before midnight.
It’s time for us to be amazing again. I hope you find that as invigorating as I do.
The future holds the final, systemic crash of the New Deal and Great Society....
Social Security is running deficits now. Its collapse is a matter of actuarial fact, not opinion. The Congressional Budget Office just released a report that says the national debt will reach 90% of our gross domestic product by 2020… and the CBO usually under-estimates the effects of economic slowdown on federal tax revenue. Two years ago, the CBO thought Social Security would not be in the red until 2019. Five years ago, Barack Obama’s party confidently assured us the program would remain solvent for decades. These people have always been wrong. They just compounded their errors with trillions of deficit spending from a bill none of them read....
The task awaiting us at the ballot box is difficult, but not impossible. Laws have no magical, talismanic power – if they did, we wouldn’t need law enforcement. We can change laws. We can dissolve any body that tells us otherwise. No one can hold us down in our national deathbed. We are instructed to worship the political traditions of the 1940s, 60s, and 70s, when vast and eternal departments of limitless appetite and wretched inefficiency were constructed. Our birthright as Americans includes a far older, stronger tradition from 1776, which teaches us that only our liberty is eternal.
There’s no reason a country with vast natural resources, tended by a bold and innovative people, should suffer double-digit unemployment and capital flight. A compassionate nation, whose daily industry has done more for the downtrodden than every utopian scheme combined, has no reason to lower its head in shame, and tolerate the extraction of “charity” at gunpoint. The veterans of bloody wars against lawless tyranny should not accept a system that makes fools of the industrious. A great people, who live in reverence of equality, require no lists of class and racial enemies from opportunistic politicians.
This is the hour for passion and reason, not anger and disgust. The strength to restore our prosperity lies in the muscle and imagination of citizens who have been programmed to think of themselves as sheep, by those who seek power as their shepherds. The time for averting a painful disaster is short… but the most amazing chapters of American history were written in the last seconds before midnight.
It’s time for us to be amazing again. I hope you find that as invigorating as I do.
Labels:
Doctor Zero
Friday, March 26
And so it begins
◼ ZeroCare will cost AT&T Inc. $1 billion in first-quarter costs.
“Companies like AT&T, that have large employee bases, are going to have higher health-care costs and, therefore, lower earnings unless they can negotiate something or offer less to their employees,” said Chris Larsen, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. in New York.
Health-care costs may shave as much as $14 billion from U.S. corporate profits, according to an estimate by benefits consulting firm Towers Watson. AT&T employed about 281,000 people as of the end of January.
AT&T previously received a tax-free benefit from the government to subsidize health-care costs for retirees, who would otherwise be on a Medicare Part D plan. Under the new bill, AT&T will no longer be able to deduct that subsidy.
“As a result of this legislation, including the additional tax burden, AT&T will be evaluating prospective changes to the active and retiree health-care benefits offered by the company,” the carrier said in the filing.
You get that? We WERE subsidizing health care costs already. DESPITE being told what an evil nation we were. NOW, something that was working, isn't - and businesses suffer further.
Meanwhile:
◼ (Official) FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT HITS NEW RECORD: 12.2%...
◼ Personal Income Drops Across USA...
◼ Supply fears start to hit Treasuries; Worries about demand after poorly received bond auctions...
It takes alot to kill a country. But it looks like we are doing it.
◼ Obamacare's Chickens Coming Home To Roost Already
Numerous companies already have announced enormous financial write-downs related to Obamacare's cutback of subsidies for prescription drug benefit programs for retirees.
These subsidies, while characterized by Democrats as "loopholes," actually saved the government money because it cost less to subsidize private drug programs than for the government to provide the same benefit through Medicare:
This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."
As explained at Volokh Conspiracy the write-downs must be taken immediately:
If these were just financial write-downs, the Democrats would not care.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
In my original post, I wondered why these companies had not spoken out sooner, when it could have done some good. I suppose this is the answer: they know how vindictive the Democrats are. The Democrats' reaction would have been even more hostile (and more dangerous to the companies' well-being) if they had dared to blow the whistle on Obamacare before Congress voted.
Reality bites.
◼ Poetic Justice: DemCare Starts Destroying Health Care Benefits for Two Million Union Members Starting in Just Nine Months
“Companies like AT&T, that have large employee bases, are going to have higher health-care costs and, therefore, lower earnings unless they can negotiate something or offer less to their employees,” said Chris Larsen, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. in New York.
Health-care costs may shave as much as $14 billion from U.S. corporate profits, according to an estimate by benefits consulting firm Towers Watson. AT&T employed about 281,000 people as of the end of January.
AT&T previously received a tax-free benefit from the government to subsidize health-care costs for retirees, who would otherwise be on a Medicare Part D plan. Under the new bill, AT&T will no longer be able to deduct that subsidy.
“As a result of this legislation, including the additional tax burden, AT&T will be evaluating prospective changes to the active and retiree health-care benefits offered by the company,” the carrier said in the filing.
You get that? We WERE subsidizing health care costs already. DESPITE being told what an evil nation we were. NOW, something that was working, isn't - and businesses suffer further.
Meanwhile:
◼ (Official) FLORIDA UNEMPLOYMENT HITS NEW RECORD: 12.2%...
◼ Personal Income Drops Across USA...
◼ Supply fears start to hit Treasuries; Worries about demand after poorly received bond auctions...
It takes alot to kill a country. But it looks like we are doing it.
◼ Obamacare's Chickens Coming Home To Roost Already
Numerous companies already have announced enormous financial write-downs related to Obamacare's cutback of subsidies for prescription drug benefit programs for retirees.
These subsidies, while characterized by Democrats as "loopholes," actually saved the government money because it cost less to subsidize private drug programs than for the government to provide the same benefit through Medicare:
This wholesale destruction of wealth and capital came with more than ample warning. Turning over every couch cushion to make their new entitlement look affordable under Beltway accounting rules, Democrats decided to raise taxes on companies that do the public service of offering prescription drug benefits to their retirees instead of dumping them into Medicare. We and others warned this would lead to AT&T-like results, but like so many other ObamaCare objections Democrats waved them off as self-serving or "political."
As explained at Volokh Conspiracy the write-downs must be taken immediately:
The writedowns are in response to the loss of a tax-free subsidy for providing prescription drug coverage to retirees. Several years ago, Congress decided it was better to induce corporations to provide prescription drug coverage for retirees than to have the costs paid by Medicare, so it enacted a tax-free subsidy, while still allowing companies to take a tax deduction for the coverage . Under the health care reforms Congress just enacted, however, the deduction will be eliminated in 2013.
Why are the companies announcing these changes? And why now if the tax change does not take effect until 2013? Because failure to do so could get the companies in trouble with the SEC. Under standard accounting rules, companies are supposed to take the charge in the quarter in which the tax law change is enacted, not when it takes effect. Because the first quarter ends Wednesday, more writedown announcements may be forthcoming.
If these were just financial write-downs, the Democrats would not care.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
In my original post, I wondered why these companies had not spoken out sooner, when it could have done some good. I suppose this is the answer: they know how vindictive the Democrats are. The Democrats' reaction would have been even more hostile (and more dangerous to the companies' well-being) if they had dared to blow the whistle on Obamacare before Congress voted.
Reality bites.
◼ Poetic Justice: DemCare Starts Destroying Health Care Benefits for Two Million Union Members Starting in Just Nine Months
What no one appears to be pointing out is that DemCare specifically targets private sector union members first. Because of the dizzying new regulations imposed by the new law, "industrial concerns [and/or] those with unionized employees, say the end of the deduction could force them to ... curtail or even cancel them [health benefits]," according to The Los Angeles Times. That's right: most union retirees will have their cushy plans slammed by DemCare through changes in the tax code.
Which unions will be hardest hit?
• The Communication Workers of America, whose website doesn't bother to mention the impending disaster. Telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T will be forced to slash upwards of two billion in health benefits to retirees.
• The United Auto Workers, specifically at manufacturers like Deere and Caterpillar.
• The United Steelworkers, through diversified manufacturers like 3M.
• The Sheet Metal Workers International Union.
• The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) union.
And many, many more.
Labels:
Economy,
Sim City 2000 the revolt,
ZeroCare
Thursday, March 25
Obama's promised civilian national security force
◼ Obamacare prescription: 'Emergency health army'
Force subject to 'involuntary calls to active duty' during 'public crises
President Obama's recently passed health-care reform legislation includes a surprise for many Americans – a beefing up of a U.S. Public Health Service reserve force and expectations that it respond on short notice to "routine public health and emergency response missions," even involuntarily.
According to Section 5210 of HR 3590, titled "Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps," the force must be ready for "involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises."
The health-care legislation adds millions of dollars for recruitment and amends Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204), passed July 1, 1944, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is one of the seven uniformed services in the U.S. However, Obama's changes more than double the wording of the Section 203 and dub individuals who are currently classified as officers in the Reserve Corps commissioned officers of the Regular Corps.
Force subject to 'involuntary calls to active duty' during 'public crises
President Obama's recently passed health-care reform legislation includes a surprise for many Americans – a beefing up of a U.S. Public Health Service reserve force and expectations that it respond on short notice to "routine public health and emergency response missions," even involuntarily.
According to Section 5210 of HR 3590, titled "Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps," the force must be ready for "involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises."
The health-care legislation adds millions of dollars for recruitment and amends Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204), passed July 1, 1944, during Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is one of the seven uniformed services in the U.S. However, Obama's changes more than double the wording of the Section 203 and dub individuals who are currently classified as officers in the Reserve Corps commissioned officers of the Regular Corps.
Labels:
DMissoni,
Fascism in our time,
ZeroCare
Wednesday, March 24
In their expansionary phase, people to go out, seek risks and fend for themselves
◼ The passage of the health care law shows that the US empire is declining because it illustrates the fact that people expect the state to take care of them, David Murrin, the co-founder of Emergent Asset Management hedge fund manager, told CNBC.
And there, Eric and anon, is what we are objecting to in a nutshell. It isn't about comparing Obama to Hitler, or anon's favorite accusation, racism. It is, purely and simply about the dumbing down and weakening of strong creative innovative people. The polarization is between those who want the Nanny State, and fail to recognize the price they will pay for their cradle to grave care, and those who want their freedom, with all its 'sham, drudgery and broken dreams.'
And there, Eric and anon, is what we are objecting to in a nutshell. It isn't about comparing Obama to Hitler, or anon's favorite accusation, racism. It is, purely and simply about the dumbing down and weakening of strong creative innovative people. The polarization is between those who want the Nanny State, and fail to recognize the price they will pay for their cradle to grave care, and those who want their freedom, with all its 'sham, drudgery and broken dreams.'
Tuesday, March 23
70% of likely voters consider themselves angry at the policies of the federal government
◼ Rasmussen: 49% want states to sue to stop ObamaCare
Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters favor their state suing the federal government to fight the requirement in the new national health care plan that every American must obtain health insurance.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 58% of voters not affiliated with either major party favor such lawsuits. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Democrats are opposed.
As many as 14 states already have plans in the works to do just that. They plan to attack the program at its weakest Constitutional point, the individual mandate, but will also look at other grounds. The undoing of the individual mandate would unravel the entire bill; without a way to force the young and healthy to buy comprehensive insurance they don’t need, premiums will skyrocket as must-insure regulations come into effect, and Democrats will reap a whirlwind of anger at the ballot box for the next several cycles.
Ironically, the only age demographic that doesn’t support suing to stop ObamaCare is the youngest, 18-29 year olds. Even 21% of Democrats favor such lawsuits, as well as 14% of liberals...
70% of likely voters consider themselves angry at the policies of the federal government completely controlled by their party, including 48% who are “very angry.” That comprises 67% of men, 73% of women, more than two-thirds in every age demographic, 73% of independents, and 50% of Democrats.
◼ Rasmussen
Forty-nine percent (49%) of U.S. voters favor their state suing the federal government to fight the requirement in the new national health care plan that every American must obtain health insurance.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Republicans and 58% of voters not affiliated with either major party favor such lawsuits. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Democrats are opposed.
As many as 14 states already have plans in the works to do just that. They plan to attack the program at its weakest Constitutional point, the individual mandate, but will also look at other grounds. The undoing of the individual mandate would unravel the entire bill; without a way to force the young and healthy to buy comprehensive insurance they don’t need, premiums will skyrocket as must-insure regulations come into effect, and Democrats will reap a whirlwind of anger at the ballot box for the next several cycles.
Ironically, the only age demographic that doesn’t support suing to stop ObamaCare is the youngest, 18-29 year olds. Even 21% of Democrats favor such lawsuits, as well as 14% of liberals...
70% of likely voters consider themselves angry at the policies of the federal government completely controlled by their party, including 48% who are “very angry.” That comprises 67% of men, 73% of women, more than two-thirds in every age demographic, 73% of independents, and 50% of Democrats.
◼ Rasmussen
Labels:
Approval ratings,
DMissoni,
Rasmussen
Monday, March 22
Cowboy up
◼ firenancypelosi.com
The site initially aimed to raise $402,010 in 40 hours, but that amount increased as it passed that goal less than halfway through its fundraising efforts. As of this posting, the total had reached $430,501.
Donators are invited to give as little as $40, but as much as $400.
New Goal: $842,010 in 40 Hours to Win 40 Seats
Labels:
DMissoni,
FirePelosi
Sunday, March 21
Hell to Pay
◼ What will happen to Obama and the Democrats in the polls now? -- Althouse
◼ Its The Freedom, Stupid! Tell The Progressives You Want Your Freedoms Back -- Yid With Lid
◼ Up next: court challenges -- HotAir
◼ AMERICA’S DAY OF WRECKONING -- Atlas Shrugs◼ link
◼ The Stupak Double Cross -- RedState
◼ The Beginning and the End -- Sake White
◼ Christian Medical Association: ObamaCare Lacks Conscience Protections -- DBKP
◼ America socializes healthcare -- The Reference Frame
◼ When Hope Is the Hardest Thing -- The Other McCain
◼ That Dog Won't Hunt - eliminate the Blue Dogs -- PAC
◼ Congressman King Slams Healthcare Bill -- New Zeal
◼ Its The Freedom, Stupid! Tell The Progressives You Want Your Freedoms Back -- Yid With Lid
◼ Up next: court challenges -- HotAir
◼ AMERICA’S DAY OF WRECKONING -- Atlas Shrugs◼ link
◼ The Stupak Double Cross -- RedState
◼ The Beginning and the End -- Sake White
◼ Christian Medical Association: ObamaCare Lacks Conscience Protections -- DBKP
◼ America socializes healthcare -- The Reference Frame
◼ When Hope Is the Hardest Thing -- The Other McCain
◼ That Dog Won't Hunt - eliminate the Blue Dogs -- PAC
◼ Congressman King Slams Healthcare Bill -- New Zeal
Labels:
The Experiment is Over,
ZeroCare
SoHumBorn Sunday: Tooth Fairy
◼ SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
The latest in the series, at RedheadedBlackbelt.
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
He’s filling two large duffle bags, she’s watching, her mouth a pinched line of worry.
Things have been tight… well more than tight really. They’ve been living on borrowed money, rotating which bills get paid. It’s made them both tense & that tension has leaked out into the whole family. Even the dog seems nervous. They just can’t wait any more.
In this life, smart people protect themselves by building a buffer wall between themselves, and the actual comsumer. The moment when money is traded for the fruits of their labor is the most acutely dangerous time in an entire season of peril....
The latest in the series, at RedheadedBlackbelt.
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
Labels:
SoHumBorn
Saturday, March 20
Friday, March 19
Whatever happened to
Obama's dog?
Emanuel’s continual F-bombing is also well documented, if not exactly surprising. During the campaign, according to the book, Rahm told Bill Clinton to "stop acting like the fucking hack-in-chief." Even Bo, the Obamas’ dog, was a recipient of Rahm’s rage. "A few weeks after the first family got a dog, Rahm Emanuel ripped into Bo, whose household accidents were consuming valuable presidential time in cleanups." Alter reports Rahm saying, "I’m going to kill that fucking dog." In one meeting with a junior staffer, Rahm apparently yelled: "Take your fucking tampon out and tell me what you have to say."
Read more: ◼ Newsweek Columnist Alter’s White House Book Details Obama on ‘Teabaggers
Emanuel’s continual F-bombing is also well documented, if not exactly surprising. During the campaign, according to the book, Rahm told Bill Clinton to "stop acting like the fucking hack-in-chief." Even Bo, the Obamas’ dog, was a recipient of Rahm’s rage. "A few weeks after the first family got a dog, Rahm Emanuel ripped into Bo, whose household accidents were consuming valuable presidential time in cleanups." Alter reports Rahm saying, "I’m going to kill that fucking dog." In one meeting with a junior staffer, Rahm apparently yelled: "Take your fucking tampon out and tell me what you have to say."
Read more: ◼ Newsweek Columnist Alter’s White House Book Details Obama on ‘Teabaggers
CBO: MEDICARE FIX WOULD PUSH HEALTHCARE INTO THE RED
Boehner asks Pelosi for 'call of the roll' on final vote...
Challenges Could Drag Out Votes...
HATCH WARNS HOUSE: 'If those people think they're only going to vote on this once, they're nuts'...
CATERPILLAR: Bill would cost company $100M -- in the first year alone!
'Expands IRS Power'...
NOONAN: Now for the Slaughter!
House Leaders Work to Defuse 11th-Hour Fight Over Medicare Reimbursements...
SEN. MCCONNELL: More Medicare cuts, more taxes AND taxpayer funded abortion in new bill...
Obama: Our fates are tied...
IMPEACH?
BIDEN: 'We're going to control the insurance companies'...
Claims Healthcare Will HELP Stem Democratic Losses in Nov...
100,000 Calls Per Hour To Congress...
Obama endorses immigration blueprint...
Won't Rule Out Using 'Slaughter' on Immigration Or Other Bills...
House Dems drop 'deem and pass'...
PELOSI FLASHBACK: We Don't Have The Votes To Pass The Senate Bill...
SOURCE: They're going to vote for the 'fix it' bill, before voting on Senate-passed bill. They're going to vote against it, before voting for it...
Whoa! Obama actuary CAN'T analyze bill in time...
Boehner asks Pelosi for 'call of the roll'...
President Heads to Hill...
Health Vote and the Constitution...
Obama promises broken in final bill...
House Leaders Work to Defuse 11th-Hour Fight Over Medicare...
Hatch: House Dems 'Nuts' to Think Sunday Vote Settles It...
CBO: MEDICARE FIX MAKES IT RED...
Rules Committee meeting descends into chaos...
VIDEO: Key House Dem Declares: 'There Ain't No Rules Here ... We Make 'Em Up As We Go Along'...
◼ drudgereport.com
Challenges Could Drag Out Votes...
HATCH WARNS HOUSE: 'If those people think they're only going to vote on this once, they're nuts'...
CATERPILLAR: Bill would cost company $100M -- in the first year alone!
'Expands IRS Power'...
NOONAN: Now for the Slaughter!
House Leaders Work to Defuse 11th-Hour Fight Over Medicare Reimbursements...
SEN. MCCONNELL: More Medicare cuts, more taxes AND taxpayer funded abortion in new bill...
Obama: Our fates are tied...
IMPEACH?
BIDEN: 'We're going to control the insurance companies'...
Claims Healthcare Will HELP Stem Democratic Losses in Nov...
100,000 Calls Per Hour To Congress...
Obama endorses immigration blueprint...
Won't Rule Out Using 'Slaughter' on Immigration Or Other Bills...
House Dems drop 'deem and pass'...
PELOSI FLASHBACK: We Don't Have The Votes To Pass The Senate Bill...
SOURCE: They're going to vote for the 'fix it' bill, before voting on Senate-passed bill. They're going to vote against it, before voting for it...
Whoa! Obama actuary CAN'T analyze bill in time...
Boehner asks Pelosi for 'call of the roll'...
President Heads to Hill...
Health Vote and the Constitution...
Obama promises broken in final bill...
House Leaders Work to Defuse 11th-Hour Fight Over Medicare...
Hatch: House Dems 'Nuts' to Think Sunday Vote Settles It...
CBO: MEDICARE FIX MAKES IT RED...
Rules Committee meeting descends into chaos...
VIDEO: Key House Dem Declares: 'There Ain't No Rules Here ... We Make 'Em Up As We Go Along'...
◼ drudgereport.com
-21
◼ The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll
Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove.
◼ Rasmussen: Obama more disliked than Bush?
Thursday, March 18
more than 16,000 additional agents, auditors and other workers just to enforce all the new taxes and penalties
◼ Obamacare Bill Turns the IRS Into the Secret Police -- Yid With Lid
They will be sort of like Barack Obama's not so secret health insurance police.
“If the Democrats’ health care bill becomes law, the IRS could have to hire more than 16,000 additional agents, auditors and other workers just to enforce all the new taxes and penalties,” said Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI). “It is a dangerous expansion of the IRS’s power and reach into the lives of virtually every American.”
Under the Individual Mandate Tax (IMT) provision in the bill, the part that forces you to purchase Obamacare whether you want it or not, the progressive Democrats make the IRS the chief enforcer for a new government-run health insurance system.
The IRS would be in charge of verifying that every American taxpayer has obtained acceptable health coverage for every month of the year. If the IRS determines that a taxpayer lacks acceptable insurance for even a single month, then the IRS would impose a new tax on that taxpayer, even auditing the taxpayer and could assess interest and penalties on top of the tax. This is an unprecedented new role for the IRS – one that will inject the federal government even further into the lives of American families. The bill also gives the IRS some new "teeth" to strike fear in the hears of the people with, including:
And then the Pièce de résistance:
The IRS is barred from imposing these taxes and penalties on illegal immigrants
They will be sort of like Barack Obama's not so secret health insurance police.
“If the Democrats’ health care bill becomes law, the IRS could have to hire more than 16,000 additional agents, auditors and other workers just to enforce all the new taxes and penalties,” said Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI). “It is a dangerous expansion of the IRS’s power and reach into the lives of virtually every American.”
Under the Individual Mandate Tax (IMT) provision in the bill, the part that forces you to purchase Obamacare whether you want it or not, the progressive Democrats make the IRS the chief enforcer for a new government-run health insurance system.
The IRS would be in charge of verifying that every American taxpayer has obtained acceptable health coverage for every month of the year. If the IRS determines that a taxpayer lacks acceptable insurance for even a single month, then the IRS would impose a new tax on that taxpayer, even auditing the taxpayer and could assess interest and penalties on top of the tax. This is an unprecedented new role for the IRS – one that will inject the federal government even further into the lives of American families. The bill also gives the IRS some new "teeth" to strike fear in the hears of the people with, including:
IRS agents verify if you have “acceptable” health care coverage
IRS has the authority to fine you up to $2,250 or 2 percent of your income (whichever is greater) for failure to prove that you have purchased “minimum essential coverage”
IRS can confiscate your tax refund
IRS audits are likely to increase
IRS will need up to $10 billion to administer the new health care program this decade
IRS may need to hire as many as 16,500 additional auditors, agents and other employees to investigate and collect billions in new taxes from Americans Nearly half of all these new individual mandate taxes will be paid by Americans earning less than 300 percent of poverty ($66,150 for a family of four). There goes that less than $250,000 thing the POTUS promised.
And then the Pièce de résistance:
The IRS is barred from imposing these taxes and penalties on illegal immigrants
Labels:
ZeroCare
What race are you? HUMAN
Forms required by the State of California:
What is your ethnicity? Please check ONE
___ Hispanic or Latino
___ Not Hispanic or Latino
No other options.
Answer: American. Human.
What is your Race:
___ American Indian or Alaskan Native
___ Chinese
___ Japanese
___ Korean
___ Vietnamese
___ Asian Indian
___ Laotian
___ Cambodian
___ Hmong
___ Other Asian
___ Hawaiian
___ Guatamalan
___ Samoan
___ Tahitian
___ Other Pacific Islander
___ Filipino/Filipino American (I guess they get the American designation)
___ African American or Black
___ White
WHITE. No breakdown ___ Russian, ___ English, ___ Scottish, ___ Irish. ___ Norwegian, ___ German, ___ Israeli. ___ French, ___ Australian, ___ Canadian, ___ Swedish, ___ Danish, ___ Greenlander___ Italian, ___ Dutch..... no. Just WHITE. Not even "Caucasian" anymore. Fair's fair. If you are going to break it down, do it for everyone.
Most everyone I know is a mix, sometimes of 5 or six of any of these categories.
What are you? And what is your answer? No matter what it is - it should be AMERICAN. HUMAN RACE.
◼ In pandering to skin-deep identity politics and exacerbating race-consciousness, (U.S. Attorney General Eric) Holder has given the rest of us a golden opportunity to stand up, identify “our people” and show the liberal poseurs what post-racialism really looks like.... - Michelle Malkin
What is your ethnicity? Please check ONE
___ Hispanic or Latino
___ Not Hispanic or Latino
No other options.
Answer: American. Human.
What is your Race:
___ American Indian or Alaskan Native
___ Chinese
___ Japanese
___ Korean
___ Vietnamese
___ Asian Indian
___ Laotian
___ Cambodian
___ Hmong
___ Other Asian
___ Hawaiian
___ Guatamalan
___ Samoan
___ Tahitian
___ Other Pacific Islander
___ Filipino/Filipino American (I guess they get the American designation)
___ African American or Black
___ White
WHITE. No breakdown ___ Russian, ___ English, ___ Scottish, ___ Irish. ___ Norwegian, ___ German, ___ Israeli. ___ French, ___ Australian, ___ Canadian, ___ Swedish, ___ Danish, ___ Greenlander___ Italian, ___ Dutch..... no. Just WHITE. Not even "Caucasian" anymore. Fair's fair. If you are going to break it down, do it for everyone.
Most everyone I know is a mix, sometimes of 5 or six of any of these categories.
What are you? And what is your answer? No matter what it is - it should be AMERICAN. HUMAN RACE.
◼ In pandering to skin-deep identity politics and exacerbating race-consciousness, (U.S. Attorney General Eric) Holder has given the rest of us a golden opportunity to stand up, identify “our people” and show the liberal poseurs what post-racialism really looks like.... - Michelle Malkin
Labels:
Just disgusting
a conscious re-engagement, and a rejection of dropping out
◼ Reality, What A Concept
-- the American people are becoming increasingly re-engaged with politics: -- The Tea Party has a certain paradoxical quality – a mass movement of self-reliant individuals, etc. But Brooks and Lind are wrong: It represents a conscious re-engagement, and a rejection of dropping out. That’s why the left is rattled.
-- the American people are becoming increasingly re-engaged with politics: -- The Tea Party has a certain paradoxical quality – a mass movement of self-reliant individuals, etc. But Brooks and Lind are wrong: It represents a conscious re-engagement, and a rejection of dropping out. That’s why the left is rattled.
Labels:
Tea Party
Wednesday, March 17
Apparently, there was a devastating earthquake in Hawaii that we all somehow missed.
◼ If there were a Nobel Prize for Gaffetastic-ity… -- Malkin
◼ Obama: “The Louisiana Purchase would cover an earthquake in Hawaii”? -- HotAir
This moment, from Bret Baier’s interview on Fox News with Obama, might just be one of the biggest “WTF?!” moments from Obama’s presidency yet. Obama is either completely making things up, living in an alternate reality, or really, really confused.
◼ Obama Not Worried About “Procedural Rules” like “Deem and Pass” for Health Care -- abcnews
◼ Obama and Baier and “process” and Hawaiian earthquakes -- neoneocon
Baier gave a lesson in what reporters should have been doing right along when interviewing Obama: actually asking him tough questions and relevant follow-ups. If anyone in the MSM had done this sort of thing during the campaign, Obama might not have been elected and we would not be facing the mess we’re in right now.
◼ Bret Baier Pummels President Obama Commentary, Videos & Transcript of Bret Baier's Interview of President Obama -- Yid With Lid
Baier's interview of President Obama should be shown to the impostors at the other networks, so they can learn how to conduct an interview. Now we can understand why Fox News gets 3x the ratings of the other networks. Bret showed the rest of the press how to do it from now on if they want to be considered real journalists. I doubt very highly that the President will risk a rematch with Fox
◼ Obama gets nasty
◼ PUZZLING STATEMENT: OBAMA SAYS ‘LOUISIANA PURCHASE’ WILL HELP WITH THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAWAII --Breitbart: h/t: Pat
◼ OUTFOXED AGAIN -- Dr. Sanity
◼ Obama: “The Louisiana Purchase would cover an earthquake in Hawaii”? -- HotAir
This moment, from Bret Baier’s interview on Fox News with Obama, might just be one of the biggest “WTF?!” moments from Obama’s presidency yet. Obama is either completely making things up, living in an alternate reality, or really, really confused.
◼ Obama Not Worried About “Procedural Rules” like “Deem and Pass” for Health Care -- abcnews
◼ Obama and Baier and “process” and Hawaiian earthquakes -- neoneocon
Baier gave a lesson in what reporters should have been doing right along when interviewing Obama: actually asking him tough questions and relevant follow-ups. If anyone in the MSM had done this sort of thing during the campaign, Obama might not have been elected and we would not be facing the mess we’re in right now.
◼ Bret Baier Pummels President Obama Commentary, Videos & Transcript of Bret Baier's Interview of President Obama -- Yid With Lid
Baier's interview of President Obama should be shown to the impostors at the other networks, so they can learn how to conduct an interview. Now we can understand why Fox News gets 3x the ratings of the other networks. Bret showed the rest of the press how to do it from now on if they want to be considered real journalists. I doubt very highly that the President will risk a rematch with Fox
◼ Obama gets nasty
◼ PUZZLING STATEMENT: OBAMA SAYS ‘LOUISIANA PURCHASE’ WILL HELP WITH THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAWAII --Breitbart: h/t: Pat
◼ OUTFOXED AGAIN -- Dr. Sanity
...regular and reserve Officers, scholarships, loans, obligated service, individual contracts, training centers...
Lurking within the recently-released Reconciliation bill is a brand new corps of government workers.
Page 911 of the 2010 Reconciliation PDF. Section 2231.
‘‘Subpart XII-Public Health Workforce
2 ‘‘SEC. 340L. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE CORPS.
3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-There is established, within
4 the Service, the Public Health Workforce Corps (in this
5 subpart referred to as the ‘Corps'), for the purpose of en-
6 suring an adequate supply of public health professionals
7 throughout the Nation. The Corps shall consist of-
8 ‘‘(1) such officers of the Regular and Reserve
9 Corps of the Service as the Secretary may designate; ...."
It's not Nationalized Health Care. It's a Health Corps! ...given that Nancy Pelosi and her indefatigable army of legislative word processors would have to invert their language through the Scwarschild Radius of a black hole in reverse entropy just to approximate honesty...not far off labeling this "Health Corps" provision as approaching mandatory volunteerism....
Read more of this thing at your own discretion. The next heading after the Public Health Corps is Adapting The Workforce to Evolving Health Care Needs, which I take to mean, in the double speak legal jargon of phraseology and policyspeak, that you and your job skills will adapt to the needs of the Health Care Corps, not the other way around. We are living, after all, in the era Hunter S Thompson labeled as The Age of Confusion, Ruled By The New Dumb....
◼ ObamaCare's New Public Health Workforce Corps American Thinker ht/HFDean
It's never been about Health Care. It's not even about Health Insurance.
◼ To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
◼ The real story behind that 'reconciliation bill'
Page 911 of the 2010 Reconciliation PDF. Section 2231.
‘‘Subpart XII-Public Health Workforce
2 ‘‘SEC. 340L. PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE CORPS.
3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.-There is established, within
4 the Service, the Public Health Workforce Corps (in this
5 subpart referred to as the ‘Corps'), for the purpose of en-
6 suring an adequate supply of public health professionals
7 throughout the Nation. The Corps shall consist of-
8 ‘‘(1) such officers of the Regular and Reserve
9 Corps of the Service as the Secretary may designate; ...."
It's not Nationalized Health Care. It's a Health Corps! ...given that Nancy Pelosi and her indefatigable army of legislative word processors would have to invert their language through the Scwarschild Radius of a black hole in reverse entropy just to approximate honesty...not far off labeling this "Health Corps" provision as approaching mandatory volunteerism....
Read more of this thing at your own discretion. The next heading after the Public Health Corps is Adapting The Workforce to Evolving Health Care Needs, which I take to mean, in the double speak legal jargon of phraseology and policyspeak, that you and your job skills will adapt to the needs of the Health Care Corps, not the other way around. We are living, after all, in the era Hunter S Thompson labeled as The Age of Confusion, Ruled By The New Dumb....
◼ ObamaCare's New Public Health Workforce Corps American Thinker ht/HFDean
It's never been about Health Care. It's not even about Health Insurance.
◼ To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 202 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010.
◼ The real story behind that 'reconciliation bill'
Labels:
ZeroCare
Tuesday, March 16
Jobsgate
◼ Specter Opens Door on White House Felonies American Spectator h/t: Wild
It's complicated. And (F)Gibbs is dodging.
• September 27, 2009 -- The Denver Post reports that Obama White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina allegedly offered a job in the Obama administration to ex-Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff if Romanoff dropped his planned primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. Romanoff refuses comment and runs anyway.
• February 18, 2010 -- Philadelphia TV anchor Larry Kane reports that on his just taped Comcast show, he had asked Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, who is challenging incumbent Senator Arlen Specter whether it was true that the Obama administration had offered Sestak a job if he would withdraw from his primary challenge to Specter. Sestak answers "yes," specifically saying the offer came from someone in the White House and that he, Sestak, turned down the offer. Sestak refuses to name who it was that made the offer. Two hours later, Kane calls the White House, plays them the tape, and asks for comment. The White House never calls him back.
• February 22, 2010 -- In a column here in this space, both the Sestak and Romanoff stories are reported with new information: to offer jobs for favors is in fact a federal crime, and Sestak is in effect accusing the Obama White House of doing just that, just as the Denver Post, months earlier, effectively reported the same activity with Romanoff....
• March 11, 2010 -- Seventeen days later Major Garrett yet again, as Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) makes news that he has written a letter to White House Counsel Robert Bauer, demanding an investigation of Sestak's charge.
"I don't have anything additional on that," Gibbs responds.
"Are you ever going to have anything additional on that?"
"I don't have it today," Gibbs said.
• March 12, 2010 -- Eighteen days later, yet again Gibbs responds to Major Garrett by saying: "I don't have any more information on that."
Meanwhile, in Colorado, Democratic Senate candidate Romanoff is apparently now hiding under his bed. Denver's KHOW talk radio host Peter Boyles invites Romanoff on-air to discuss the Post story with me and find out exactly what Romanoff knows and when he knew it. Romanoff's campaign refuses the opportunity to let the public in on these behind-closed door dealings, saying the issue is "old news."
Not quite.
Days after Romanoff dodges Boyles and myself, Senator Arlen Specter says that if anyone gets such an offer -- and in this case that would be Romanoff in Colorado and Sestak in Pennsylvania -- and didn't report it, they could go to jail for committing a felony.
Stunningly, this would presumably also include anyone on the Obama White House staff who knew one of their colleagues had offered such a job -- which is to say committed a crime -- and didn't report it.
It's complicated. And (F)Gibbs is dodging.
• September 27, 2009 -- The Denver Post reports that Obama White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina allegedly offered a job in the Obama administration to ex-Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff if Romanoff dropped his planned primary challenge to incumbent U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. Romanoff refuses comment and runs anyway.
• February 18, 2010 -- Philadelphia TV anchor Larry Kane reports that on his just taped Comcast show, he had asked Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak, who is challenging incumbent Senator Arlen Specter whether it was true that the Obama administration had offered Sestak a job if he would withdraw from his primary challenge to Specter. Sestak answers "yes," specifically saying the offer came from someone in the White House and that he, Sestak, turned down the offer. Sestak refuses to name who it was that made the offer. Two hours later, Kane calls the White House, plays them the tape, and asks for comment. The White House never calls him back.
• February 22, 2010 -- In a column here in this space, both the Sestak and Romanoff stories are reported with new information: to offer jobs for favors is in fact a federal crime, and Sestak is in effect accusing the Obama White House of doing just that, just as the Denver Post, months earlier, effectively reported the same activity with Romanoff....
• March 11, 2010 -- Seventeen days later Major Garrett yet again, as Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) makes news that he has written a letter to White House Counsel Robert Bauer, demanding an investigation of Sestak's charge.
"I don't have anything additional on that," Gibbs responds.
"Are you ever going to have anything additional on that?"
"I don't have it today," Gibbs said.
• March 12, 2010 -- Eighteen days later, yet again Gibbs responds to Major Garrett by saying: "I don't have any more information on that."
Meanwhile, in Colorado, Democratic Senate candidate Romanoff is apparently now hiding under his bed. Denver's KHOW talk radio host Peter Boyles invites Romanoff on-air to discuss the Post story with me and find out exactly what Romanoff knows and when he knew it. Romanoff's campaign refuses the opportunity to let the public in on these behind-closed door dealings, saying the issue is "old news."
Not quite.
Days after Romanoff dodges Boyles and myself, Senator Arlen Specter says that if anyone gets such an offer -- and in this case that would be Romanoff in Colorado and Sestak in Pennsylvania -- and didn't report it, they could go to jail for committing a felony.
Stunningly, this would presumably also include anyone on the Obama White House staff who knew one of their colleagues had offered such a job -- which is to say committed a crime -- and didn't report it.
Labels:
DMissoni,
Obama. All the President's Men
The ObamaCare Lies Thicken in Ohio
◼ The ObamaCare Lies Thicken in Ohio from NetRightNation
Take a look at Obama's remarks from yesterday in Strongsville, Ohio. The lies that he gets away with are amazing!
Obama says: "My proposal would bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and for the federal government. So, Americans buying comparable coverage to what they have today, I already said this, would see premiums fall by 14 to 20 percent. That's aren't my numbers, that's what the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says. For Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, how many people get insurance through your jobs right now, raise your hands. Well a lot of those folks, its your employer, it estimated, would see costs could fall by as much as 3,000 percent. That means they could give you a raise."(President Barack Obama, Remarks of President Barack Obama, Strongesville, OH, 3/15/10)
Here's the thing though, Dick Durbin doesn't believe it. And guess what, there is video saying so:
According to Durbin: "Anyone Who Would Stand Before You And Say Well, If You Pass Health Care Reform, Next Year's Health Care Premiums Are Going Down, I Don't Think Is Telling The Truth. I Think It Is Likely They Would Go Up, But What We're Trying To Do Is Slow The Rate Of Increase." (Sen. Durbin, Floor Remarks, 3/10/10)
Oh, and Obama endorsed a bill that would raise premiums... That's right, Obama Endorsed Senate Dems' Bill That Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. "CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law." (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09
Is anyone going to call him out on this?
Take a look at Obama's remarks from yesterday in Strongsville, Ohio. The lies that he gets away with are amazing!
Obama says: "My proposal would bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and for the federal government. So, Americans buying comparable coverage to what they have today, I already said this, would see premiums fall by 14 to 20 percent. That's aren't my numbers, that's what the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says. For Americans who get their insurance through the workplace, how many people get insurance through your jobs right now, raise your hands. Well a lot of those folks, its your employer, it estimated, would see costs could fall by as much as 3,000 percent. That means they could give you a raise."(President Barack Obama, Remarks of President Barack Obama, Strongesville, OH, 3/15/10)
Here's the thing though, Dick Durbin doesn't believe it. And guess what, there is video saying so:
According to Durbin: "Anyone Who Would Stand Before You And Say Well, If You Pass Health Care Reform, Next Year's Health Care Premiums Are Going Down, I Don't Think Is Telling The Truth. I Think It Is Likely They Would Go Up, But What We're Trying To Do Is Slow The Rate Of Increase." (Sen. Durbin, Floor Remarks, 3/10/10)
Oh, and Obama endorsed a bill that would raise premiums... That's right, Obama Endorsed Senate Dems' Bill That Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. "CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law." (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09
Is anyone going to call him out on this?
Sunday, March 14
Hide the decline.
◼ The Toyota Pedal – From the Absurd to the Crooked -- Snork Calling BS on ToyotaGate. at Blogmocracy
[T]he trend of the total number of unintended acceleration complaints to NHTSA over the years.
2000: 1415
2001: 1345
2002: 1460
2003: 1446
2004: 1426
2005: 1112
2006: 878
2007: 876
2008: 456
2009: 251
2000: 1415
2001: 1345
2002: 1460
2003: 1446
2004: 1426
2005: 1112
2006: 878
2007: 876
2008: 456
2009: 251
Labels:
Apollo Alliance,
DM,
Gov
More in the series - SoHumBorn Sunday: Cheap Lesson
◼ Cheap Lesson
exerpt: ...When they see a pale starlit figure walking up they road, both of them experience a sick clench of panic from their bowels to their throats. The realization that it’s their buddy settles one fear, but heightens another. He waves and jogs toward them as they stop and get out of the truck. He says that when he pulled down to the river he stopped next to another truck he thought was the buyer. Then these two guys he’d never seen before jumped up on either side of his truck. They had guns and told him to get out. When he did they checked and made sure the weed was in the truck then drove off down the river bar in the two trucks....
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
exerpt: ...When they see a pale starlit figure walking up they road, both of them experience a sick clench of panic from their bowels to their throats. The realization that it’s their buddy settles one fear, but heightens another. He waves and jogs toward them as they stop and get out of the truck. He says that when he pulled down to the river he stopped next to another truck he thought was the buyer. Then these two guys he’d never seen before jumped up on either side of his truck. They had guns and told him to get out. When he did they checked and made sure the weed was in the truck then drove off down the river bar in the two trucks....
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
Friday, March 12
Forget Reading They're going to pass it without Voting on it.
◼ “House Democrats appear set to pass Senate bill without voting on it” -- Protein Wisdom
a trick only Capitol Hill could dream up: approving the Senate bill without voting on it.
Reached for comment, James Madison rolled over in his grave so he could fart dust in the general direction of Nancy Pelosi.
◼ RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It -- Doug Ross
Constitutional attorney Mark R. Levin asks, "They're going to present a rule, issued by her committee as chairman, that says that the House already adopted the Senate bill when we know it didn't?"
This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...
This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.
And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.
Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!
Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.
...It would be government by fiat... meaning there would be no law... the mere discussion by officials in this government is such a grotesque violation of the actual legislative function of Congress [that it] puts us... at the brink. At the brink.
...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!
a trick only Capitol Hill could dream up: approving the Senate bill without voting on it.
Reached for comment, James Madison rolled over in his grave so he could fart dust in the general direction of Nancy Pelosi.
◼ RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It -- Doug Ross
Constitutional attorney Mark R. Levin asks, "They're going to present a rule, issued by her committee as chairman, that says that the House already adopted the Senate bill when we know it didn't?"
This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...
This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.
And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.
Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!
Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.
...It would be government by fiat... meaning there would be no law... the mere discussion by officials in this government is such a grotesque violation of the actual legislative function of Congress [that it] puts us... at the brink. At the brink.
...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!
Thursday, March 11
Another series - Life in Humboldt County
◼ Behind the Curtain 1
◼ Behind the Curtain 2 – Living in a Smokin’ World
◼ Behind the Curtain 3 – Family Home to Grow House
◼ Behind the Curtain 4 – No Names, No Faces, No Friends
◼ Behind the Curtain 5 – Trimmer Wisdom
◼ Behind the Curtain 6 – Earth Moves, Truth Surfaces
◼ Behind the Curtain 7 – Traveling and Trimming
◼ Behind the Curtain 8 – 24 Hours Notice
◼ Behind the Curtain 9 – An Idyllic Life, An Ambiguous Death
◼ Behind the Curtain 2 – Living in a Smokin’ World
◼ Behind the Curtain 3 – Family Home to Grow House
◼ Behind the Curtain 4 – No Names, No Faces, No Friends
◼ Behind the Curtain 5 – Trimmer Wisdom
◼ Behind the Curtain 6 – Earth Moves, Truth Surfaces
...“Yeah, that was a big one alright,” as he leaned in lowering his voice. “I mean, how’s everything?” he said with a wink motioning to the greenhouse behind the barn. “You think I don’t know how hard it is to make ends meet ranching? You don’t think Sam up the road doesn’t have a room like that in his own barn? Yes, conservative, Republican, John Birch Society card-carrying, cattle-rancher, Sam.”...
◼ Behind the Curtain 7 – Traveling and Trimming
“Hang at the Plaza and you’ll hook up. Everyone needs help,” the young man explained. “Watch out for the tweakers though, they’ll take your stuff and worse,” he added, looking at Squirrel.”
“The locals don’t like us,” a young girl, obviously pregnant, said, accepting the joint from Birch.
“We’re the new migrant worker,” said the driver, pulling up in front of the Big Blue Café on the Plaza.
◼ Behind the Curtain 8 – 24 Hours Notice
Joel handed the notice to Nicole and headed for the garage through the kitchen. “Did they have to tape it to the front door?” he asked to the air, throwing up his hands.
“California State law says that landlords must give 24-hours notice to inspect the premises,” Nicole read from the terms of their lease, following close behind. “What time is it?”
◼ Behind the Curtain 9 – An Idyllic Life, An Ambiguous Death
...His little cabin was tucked purposefully away. Away from the road, people, curiosity, and everything else that made it increasingly impossible to make a living with an indoor grow in town....
◼ Behind the Curtain 10 – Pot-polluting the Picture Postcard
...Jake and Eric began the task of cleaning up the rubbish. The area overlooking this picture postcard view was dirtied with a sea of venting tubes, drip irrigation lines and plastic covered in a scattering of white vermiculite. A dozen blue plastic children’s wading pools were everywhere, the vessels of plants now confiscated....
Tuesday, March 9
What have we been saying all along?
h/t:furry
NO. We should never pass something like this with out fully knowing what is in it.
NO. We should never pass something like this with out fully knowing what is in it.
Bad news
◼ Culled out - Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy
The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation's oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.
This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is "fluid" and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn't issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.
That's a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.
◼ United We Fish Fishing interests rally to to protest oppressive management of saltwater fisheries
◼ Angling For Access News Archive
PEOPLE -- Speak out!
Labels:
DMissoni,
Economy,
Just disgusting,
Mad As Hell,
SPEAK UP
CENSORING
◼ SENATE WARNS EMPLOYEES TO AVOID THE DRUDGE REPORT
TARGETS: FOX, Talk Radio, Drudge, any dissent. Must. Be. Killed.
Labels:
1984,
CENSORSHIP,
DMissoni,
Fascism in our time
Monday, March 8
GREAT NEWS!
Most Transparent President Ever Has Bar Records Redacted This Week, Leaving Only Traces of His Existence Some Betamax Videos and a Fraternity Pin - Director Blue
the Illinois Bar has decided to partially redact what little public information it had available... perhaps The New York Times or Glutes Sullivan could reassign a cub reporter from the Sarah Palin detail in Wasilla to find out what has just happened here?
FOIA Docs Show Obama Asked George Soros and Wind Energy Lobbyists to Hide European Wind Energy Program Failures - Wizbang
Heads up! Thanks, Rose, this is going to be fun. Looking forward to meeting you all.
the Illinois Bar has decided to partially redact what little public information it had available... perhaps The New York Times or Glutes Sullivan could reassign a cub reporter from the Sarah Palin detail in Wasilla to find out what has just happened here?
FOIA Docs Show Obama Asked George Soros and Wind Energy Lobbyists to Hide European Wind Energy Program Failures - Wizbang
Heads up! Thanks, Rose, this is going to be fun. Looking forward to meeting you all.
Labels:
DMissoni
Hiatus
I will be taking a hiatus for a couple of months, handing this blog over to my friend, DMissoni. I may make a post once in a while. And I'll definitely see you on the blogs: Blogmocracy, Ace, Stop The ACLU, Althouse and Neoneocon especially.
massive spending gives rise to accusations by Republicans, and people too angry even to be Republicans, that America is now controlled by "Leftists"
◼ Barack Obama seems unable to face up to America's problem
Vacuous promises of change are hostages to fortune if they cannot be delivered upon to improve the living conditions of a people. The slickness of campaigning that comes from a combination of heavy funding and public relations expertise does not inevitably translate into an ability to govern. There is no point a nation's having the audacity of hope unless it also has the sophistication and the will to turn it into action. As things stand, Barack Obama and America under his leadership do not.
◼ Obama policies projected to add $9.7 trillion to debt by 2020... National debt to be higher than White House forecast, CBO says
◼ Estimates show grim picture...
◼ CBO: Obama's Budget Underestimates 10-Year Deficit by $1.2 Trillion... *
◼ Positive Jobs Report Doesn't Ease Worries of a 'Double Dip'...
◼ Harry Reid: Only 36,000 Lost Their Jobs Today video, opens automatically (warning)
Vacuous promises of change are hostages to fortune if they cannot be delivered upon to improve the living conditions of a people. The slickness of campaigning that comes from a combination of heavy funding and public relations expertise does not inevitably translate into an ability to govern. There is no point a nation's having the audacity of hope unless it also has the sophistication and the will to turn it into action. As things stand, Barack Obama and America under his leadership do not.
◼ Obama policies projected to add $9.7 trillion to debt by 2020... National debt to be higher than White House forecast, CBO says
◼ Estimates show grim picture...
◼ CBO: Obama's Budget Underestimates 10-Year Deficit by $1.2 Trillion... *
◼ Positive Jobs Report Doesn't Ease Worries of a 'Double Dip'...
◼ Harry Reid: Only 36,000 Lost Their Jobs Today video, opens automatically (warning)
Labels:
America's Decline Under Obama,
Economy
A regular feature to be, worth your time
◼ Growing Up in SoHum Kym is salvaging SoHumBorn's posts at RedHeadedBlackbelt - No matter how you feel about pot, and for those of you who don't live in Northern California/Humboldt County/The Emerald Triangle, you'll still find these riveting - these are powerfully written, well worth reading, and thanks to both Kym and SoHumBorn. There were a number of them, and Kym is going to post them. I'll link each time.
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
If you've missed them: RedHeadedBlackbelt
◼ First: Growing Up in SoHum
◼ Second: Cheap Lesson
◼ Third: SoHumBorn Sunday: ToothFairy
◼ Fourth: SoHumBorn Sunday: Unexpected Company
◼ Fifth: Other End Of The Line (pt. 2 of unexpected company)
◼ Sixth: Bear Harbor
Sunday, March 7
Die laughing
Charles Johnson: Why I Parted Ways with the Right from DANGEROUS MINDS on Vimeo.
You gotta love the part where the interviewer starts going off about the horrible lizardy leathery-like SOB, and has to sort of take a deep breath and pull himself out of it as he realizes “lizards” are Charles’ guys.
And part where he says the “progressive” values are to “include everyone.. live and let live it’s not any of my business” – are you freaking kidding me? OMG
And 'no one who is raised in a family that goes to church is ever going to get a job…' by two proggies sitting there who would defend Obama’s attendance at Rev Wright’s cesspool as a holy thing.
It is indeed a Bizarro world.
Friday, March 5
Wednesday, March 3
Reconcile this
◼ When In The Course Of Human Events - Dan Riehl
◼ Here comes the reconciliation “nobody” is talking about; Update: Oba-kabuki lab coat props reappear; “Make your voice heard;” McConnell: “National referendum” - Michelle Malkin
◼ OBAMA ‘AMERICAN AGENDA’ FLASHBACK: DEMS SHOULD NOT PASS HEALTHCARE WITH A 50-PLUS-1 STRATEGY - Naked Emperor News
◼ Code Red
◼ Here comes the reconciliation “nobody” is talking about; Update: Oba-kabuki lab coat props reappear; “Make your voice heard;” McConnell: “National referendum” - Michelle Malkin
◼ OBAMA ‘AMERICAN AGENDA’ FLASHBACK: DEMS SHOULD NOT PASS HEALTHCARE WITH A 50-PLUS-1 STRATEGY - Naked Emperor News
◼ Code Red
Monday, March 1
Watts Up With That?
◼ A tornado free February – first time ever! h/t: Kirly
For the first time ever recorded by NOAA, there has been no tornadoes in February. This news is from the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, the world’s leading experts in tornado research. While it doesn’t tell us anything about the rest of the 2010 season, it is consistent with the lower numbers seen in 2009, which is below the average of recent years.
Meanwhile:
◼ Jonestown 2010: The Warming Cult Suicide - Blogmocracy
◼ Head of 'Climategate' research unit admits sending 'pretty awful emails' to hide data
They revealed scientists plotting how to avoid responding to Freedom of Information requests from climate change sceptics.
Some even appeared to show the researchers discussing how to manipulate raw data from tree rings about historical temperatures.
In one, Professor Jones talks about using a 'trick' to massage figures and 'hide the decline'.
For the first time ever recorded by NOAA, there has been no tornadoes in February. This news is from the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, the world’s leading experts in tornado research. While it doesn’t tell us anything about the rest of the 2010 season, it is consistent with the lower numbers seen in 2009, which is below the average of recent years.
Meanwhile:
◼ Jonestown 2010: The Warming Cult Suicide - Blogmocracy
◼ Head of 'Climategate' research unit admits sending 'pretty awful emails' to hide data
They revealed scientists plotting how to avoid responding to Freedom of Information requests from climate change sceptics.
Some even appeared to show the researchers discussing how to manipulate raw data from tree rings about historical temperatures.
In one, Professor Jones talks about using a 'trick' to massage figures and 'hide the decline'.
Labels:
Al Gore's insanity,
Global Warming?,
weather
the latest episode of "Trolling the News"
Keep buying those Ford trucks. We don't really need more than one domestic auto maker in this country, especially since American auto workers are UNIONIZED. And what with a dozen foreign auto makers selling cars and trucks in this country we have plenty to choose from. Besides it doesn't mater much considering that your Ford is made mostly of foreign made parts which were probably assembled in Mexico. So screw'em, its your money, spend it where you want. Let Government Motors workers go straight to hell. China has just surpassed the USA in auto market size. Maybe Government Motors will just move lock, stock, and barrel over there. We don't need a tax base here. We are trying to shrink the Government, not grow it.
***
Ermmmm? Seriously, anonymous? Is that what you think Obama is doing? SHRINKING the government?
Labels:
ANONYMOUS' COLUMN,
Trolling The NewsTM
Condoleezza Rice endorses Meg Whitman for Governor of California
◼ says she’ll get state ‘back on track’
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced her endorsement of Meg Whitman today, calling her a “proven leader” who will do what’s necessary to get California back on track.
“California is my home and there is only one person running for governor who can lead the way toward rebuilding our state," Rice said. She “is a proven leader who developed a small start-up company into a global economic powerhouse and encouraged entrepreneurialism at all levels of society. Meg will do what is needed to get California back on track."
"In my experiences in and out of government, I find the most effective leaders to be those who maintain a clear vision, mobilize diverse groups, and inspire them to work together in confronting the most pressing challenges,” Rice said.,,,
Labels:
California,
Meg Whitman
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