Despite Spending Bill "Success"; Obama Poll Numbers Continue Downward Spiral

Sorry, is this a dig? I meant it to be a dig. My bad. So sorry Mr. President. Just reporting the facts, sir.

From RasmussenReports.com:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index for Saturday shows that 37% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing as President. Twenty-three percent (23%) of voters Strongly Disapprove to give Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of +14 (see trends).

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

Hmmm. Maybe because only 37% of Americans support the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Spending "stimulus" Generational Theft Act of 2009?

It's amazing how the bipartisan-party-of-hope-and-change with astronomical opening day support has slipped so far in just over two weeks.

Play ball!

The Nelson/Collins "Amendment" to CRAAP Spending "stimulus" Bill; Slightly Less Expensive CRAAP You Can Believe In

This is the garbage they settled on? 3 "Republican" Senators sold their souls to Liberal totalitarianism over this? 3 "Republican" Senators mortgaged our future over this?

Here's what they saved. Here is the Great Compromise!

$108,084,500,000. That's $108 Billion or roughly 12% of the original Senate version of the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Spending Bill of 2009.

Just last week, Sen Ben Nelson (D-NE) had this to say: "We need to sit down and see who owns these projects. We need to keep (the bill's cost in check) and see if we cant change around what's underneath that to create more jobs."

Yet in this CRAAP "compromise" with the sell-out Collins (and Snowe and Specter), they didn't eliminate anything that won't actually create any new jobs, they just lowered some numbers here and there.

Sen. Collins tries to defend herself and save face to Fox News. She said if the CRAAP returns from Senate/House conference with the same about of garbage she will vote against it. Huh? Why did you vote for it this time then?

By Democrat Logic and Democrat Math (I know, oxymoronic, right!) the exaggerated cost of this CRAAP is necessary to create the jobs and bring us out the "natural catastrophe" fire and brimstone cataclysmic Armageddon economy that we'll face without it.

So by that logic, won't this actually create fewer jobs? I thought they were going to take out the CRAAP of the bill which was not going to create jobs.

They didn't take anything out, they are just paying less.

By Obama-rithmatic, then, they are creating 12% fewer jobs.

This equates to roughly 500,000 fewer jobs in Obamanomics. And about 140,000 fewer jobs using the CBO estimates.

End result? We're spending $800 Billion - $1 Trillion to create somwhere between 1 million and 3.5 million jobs, despite no guarantee from anyone that a single job will be created and that our Vice President reminded us we have a 30% of complete failure.

Or between $230,000/job in Obamanomics or more than $500,000/job using the CBO's estimates.

This is beyond astounding, beyond outrageous.

This is "shameful" and "irresponsible", Mr. President.

It is, very much, an abomination.

Welcome to ObamaNation, America. This is the change you asked for.

Michelle Malkin has more.

Your Weekly Radio Address From President Obama; Now It's A "Natural Catastrophe"; Gives a Shout Out To Maine Senators

The Sky is Falling! The End is Near! We're All Gonna Die! It's the worst disaster since the plague... Fire & Brimstone!

...President Apocalypto must be using "hope" to cheer us up about the economy again.

More Pork and Bull and Babble we don't believe in anymore.

Transcript from The White House

Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands. (My note: less than 2% of Congressional Republicans will vote for the bill. 3 out 191)

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. That was, after all, what last November's election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come. But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now.

Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care. Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place. We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great. They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who've lost their jobs. And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That's what is at stake with this plan: putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. Let's show them that we are. And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you.

***

"Natural catastrophe"? Like Kentucky in the ice storms? Oh wait, we're not supposed to mention that.

Thanks for the shout outs to Senators Snowe and Collins from Maine and Dick Lugar from Indiana.

We also like Robert "Peter Griffin" Gibbs apocalyptic warning/threat yesterday to the Maine Duo, Senator Spector and others in his Doom and Gloom: The Briefing Room Edition.

That's not "old politics" or "more of the same at all" is it? No, not the Obama White House. No politics here.

President Obama Thanks Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter For Their "Patriotism"

So, let me get this straight. By not supporting the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Spending Bill which will do little to stimulate the economy and barely create any jobs, and mortgage our future and Steal A Generation; that makes me unpatriotic.

And I thought I was just a traitor for voting against "hopenchange".

Maybe the NY Times sees this as patriotic, but we don't.

Mr. Obama called Ms. Collins and Mr. Specter, as well as Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, another Republican expected to support the deal, to acknowledge they were acting against pressure from their party and, one official said, to thank them for their patriotism in helping advance the bill at a critical time.

This is not surprising, considering Vice President Biden thinks tax cuts are also unpatriotic.

Unless of course you work for Obama.

Remember: A tax cheat was confirmed, the tax cheat hired a lobbyist and violated the ethics rule, another lobbyist was hired that violated the ethics rule, a tax cheat withdrew her nomination, another tax cheat withdrew his nomination. Then a nominee violated House ethics rules and is married to a tax cheat.

Joe Biden Gaffe Of The Day; 30% Chance Stimulus Will Do Nothing.

Even if we do it right, there's a 30% chance the CRAAP won't work. Well said, Joe.

Michael Steele's Weekly Republican Radio Address, Speaks Against "Stimulus" Spending Bill, Nobody Has Yet To Figure Out "Fish Barriers"

Transcript:
"This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads.

"For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

"All of us -- Republicans and Democrats -- agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages.

"The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that's how you stimulate the economy.

"But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good.

"When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it. And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted.

"Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. You've heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund... 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?

"That's why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer.

"But voting 'no' is not enough... and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We've offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.

"The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If you're married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why don't we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family?

"Good ideas... lots of them... all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress.

"Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America.

"But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

"Thanks for listening."

Support the RNC.

Rahm Emanual Will Oversee 2010 Census, Congressional Redistricting, Eternal Obama Socialism Voting Majority At Stake

This cannot be good.

Secretary of the Census will now report to Rahmbo "Dead Fish" Emanuel instead of Commerce Secretary designee Judd Gregg, a Republican.

Think about it. The Census is used, among other things, for redistricting of congressional districts.

Remember, the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Spending bill includes $1 Billion dollars "to minimize undercounting of minorites" in the 2010 Census.

Now why do you suppose Liberals would have to make sure they know where every single minority lives? Because they actually care about that? Or because they want to make sure groups like ACORN get them to vote for Obama in 2012?





In another disgusting display of the Obama-mania media, the NY Times had this warning/reminder in Wednesday's editorial page.

The census is used to allocate federal aid to states and draw electoral districts. Given all that, one would think that the White House would be paying more attention. It isn’t. A director of the census, who must be confirmed by the Senate, has yet to be named.

In his confirmation hearing, Mr. Gregg must explain what he would do to get the 2010 census back on track. Before that, Mr. Obama must choose a competent director and pledge his administration’s full support to spend whatever is necessary to salvage the count.

This is not good. Not good at all.

Obama Promises Terror Victims Families That His Top Priority Is Protecting America

The President used another "charm" offensive on the families of victims of 9/11 and the USS Cole bombing.

Certainly, we congratulate the President for being the first of three on the job since the Cole bombing to meet with the families.

However, we remain skeptical of his real motivation. That's not to imply that he doesn't care about the families, per se, we just do not agree with his national security policy thus far.

Gary Swenchonis, who lost his son in the USS Cole attack, has this to say:

• Why attend a meeting when you already know the inevitable outcome. And President Obama has already signed the order to close Gitmo, and a request to stop the trials. Which they did. With only one judge who had the strength, courage and conviction to stand up for the murdered sailors and say that al-nashiri's arraignment would go forward. So anyway I asked the aide if he would please get my letter to Obama instead. He said he would if I faxed it. I had wrote Obama a letter the previous week pleading with him to change his mind. I faxed the letter later that same day. I knew that I would have to tell my wife later on when we got home that our murdered son's trail had become a victim of petty politics. And that she would be upset and hurt yet again.

Please, support Gary's fight for justice.

Fox News reported:

Obama promised the roughly 40 family members who attended that the meeting would be the first of many.

Some of the victims' relatives said they welcomed Obama's gesture. Still, they aren't entirely convinced that his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, where terrorism suspects are being detained, and halt legal action on their cases is the right thing to do.

Obama has expressed concerns about the fact that detainees have been held for years without trial. He has signed an executive order to close the facility within a year while the administration reviews other options for seeing that the detainees get their day in court.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk S. Lippold, commanding officer of the Cole at the time of the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing, said he was disappointed when he first learned of the decision and remained skeptical. He also faulted Obama for not consulting the families ahead of time.

"In principle, his reason for closing it may be good," Lippold, a defense
adviser to Military Families United, told reporters after the hourlong
meeting. Lippold said Obama's stance is "well-intentioned, but the problem I have remains that we still don't have any procedures" for what will become of the terror suspects after the detention center is closed.

The White House said the meeting was the first the USS Cole victims have had with a president.

Lippold said the meeting was very emotional, and that the discussion largely focused on how to deal with the detainees, the impact of the decision on trials and what it would mean to the U.S. image abroad.

He said he expected the families would be asked for input after the 120-day review period.

"I'm looking forward to working with them as we have never had an opportunity as families to help shape policy when it comes to keeping our nation safe," Lippold said.

John Clodfelter, an Air Force veteran who lost his son, Kenneth, on the USS Cole, said he went into the meeting with a negative attitude.

"I didn't vote for the man," he said, still emotional hours after the meeting. "But ... the way he conducts himself, the way he talks, you can't help but believe him."

Clodfelter also expressed frustration with the lack of a trial for al-Nashiri eight years after the attack.

"We should have already had this man tried and executed if that's what the case is," he said. "I can't imagine an American that's in one of our prisons for eight years without anything being done for him."

Sally Regenhard, who lost her son, Christian, during the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on New York's World Trade Center, said the families had a good experience with Obama.

"He said that he's going to make sure that justice is done regarding the terrorists," she said in a telephone interview. "And we'll have an open line of communication with the White House regarding the family members. That's revolutionary."

"He assured us that he wants the same things that we want," Regenhard added.

Like Swenchonis, not everyone is thrilled.

The NY Post reports:

Retired Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches - whose firefighter son Jimmy died at Ground Zero - was ticked off when Obama ordered those actions. Riches last month visited Gitmo and attended the trial of Khalid Sheikh Muhammed and other alleged 9/11 plotters, who stood up and admitted their guilt.

"We saw these people face to face. I want to tell the president what happened at Gitmo. That these detainees were laughing about what they did. I wish these trials were on TV. Americans would be outraged."

"I don't want what happened to my son happen to anyone else," Riches said.

For the sake of these families, we hope the President is sincere in his efforts to bring these murderers to justice.

"Stimulus" CRAAP Will Most Likely Pass, Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter Sell Souls To Liberals

As expected, traitorous "Republican" Senators Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins and Arlen Specter sold out to Liberals and their Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) "stimulus".

What's more frightening than anything else we've discussed during the past couple weeks is that the $800 Billion or $900 Billion or whatever raises the bar of future legislation.

Besides being questionably effective -- the CBO reported this week that the package will actually hurt the economy more than if Obama and Pelosi did nothing! -- this bill sets a new standard of spending for Liberals to fall back on in weeks, months and years to come.

Don't fool yourself; this is only the beginning of wild, radical spending on pork, payback to voting blocks and an effort to change American Democracy into a Socialist, totalitarian regime.

Just watch. Wait. And See.

Via Breitbart:

WASHINGTON (AP) - With job losses soaring nationwide, Senate Democrats reached agreement with a small group of Republicans Friday night on an economic stimulus measure at the heart of President Barack Obama's plan for combatting the worst recession in decades.

"The American people want us to work together. They don't want to see us dividing along partisan lines on the most serious crisis confronting our country," said Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of three Republican moderates who broke ranks and pledged their votes for the bill.

In addition to Collins, Republican Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe of Maine pledged to vote for the legislation.

Whatever the price tag, the compromise marked a victory for the new president, who has veered between calls for bipartisanship and increasingly strong criticism of Republicans in recent days. And it indicated that Democratic leaders remain on track to deliver a bill to the White House by the end of next week.

Yeah, right bipartisan. Thanks again Olympia, Susan and Arlen. 3 Republican votes out of both houses of congress, less than 2% of Republicans, will, in fact provide Democrats with talking point fodder will they will, in fact, claim "bipartisan" support.

OBAMA CAUGHT SAYING ACORN AND FRIENDS WILL SHAPE HIS PRESIDENTIAL AGENDA

Via Free Republic.

Michael Steele Cleans House at th RNC; Asks Entire Staff To Resign

Now this is the kind of bold, fresh change you can believe in!

Think about, the Republican party was destroyed, beaten and silenced by the election results of 2006 and 2008.

Clearly, something is amiss in the ranks. A fresh start, a fresh conservative vision and a fresh conservative plan may be exactly what we need.

If only we could do this to the entire House and Senate too!

Or at least Senators Snowe, Collins and Specter.

From Fox News:

Michael Steele, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, has asked the entire staff to resign, FOX News has confirmed.The move signals Steele's plan to reshape the party, which was trounced at the polls in 2006 and 2008.

As a black man from Maryland, a traditionally Democratic state, Steele has already brought a new face to the party.

The RNC has about 100 staff members, many of whom have been told that their last day on the job will be Feb. 15, a Republican source told Politico, which reported the story Thursday morning.

Some aides may stay on, the source said, but several senior aides who were expecting the changes voluntarily submitted their resignations soon after Steele's election last week.

President Obama's new team made a similar request at the Democratic National Committee.

Steele, a former Maryland lieutenant governor, won the chairmanship last Friday. In his first speech as chairman, he pledged to bring change in an effort to re-establish the GOP presence in the Northeast and win elections in regions across the country.

"It's time for something completely different, and we're gonna bring it to them," he said in his acceptance speech. "Get ready, baby. It's time to turn it on."

Sen. Feinsten Questions Stimulus: "I reserve the right at the end of the day to vote against a package that does put those jobs out there.”

Thank goodness this Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Act is imploding from within.

Let's hope Senator Feinstein and other Democrats see the error of their ways and start over. Although, we completely disgree with Ms. Feinstein on tax cuts, anyone speaking out against the CRAAP is okay by us!

From KTVU:

WASHINGTON -- Convinced tax cuts will not stimulate the nation’s economy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein spoke out Friday against President Barack Obama's economic recovery package.

“I’m going increasingly concerned about the bill as to whether it is really going to be a stimulus,” she told fellow Senators during a debate of the bill. Feinstein then roiled through a litany of California’s financial woes.

“I come from a state which has more people unemployed today than the population of over a dozen states,” she said. “A state where the bread lines are growing, Where the need for assistance is growing. Where the state has a huge deficit. Where counties are unable to fund their operating maintenance. Where all capital projects have stopped and where the state now furloughs employees.”

“I think as we dither, Rome burns.”

Feinstein said her issue with the bill is the tax cuts included. “What in my view a stimulus is, is not candidly speaking a tax package,” she said. “I do not believe in this economy tax cuts are simulative… I worry
about this economy. The point of this package is to get jobs out to the people. So I reserve the right at the end of the day to vote against a package that does put those jobs out there.” . While Feinstein spoke out against the package, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada was trying to rally support for it.

Rangel Sets Modern Day Ethics Record For Ethics Violations! Still No Ethics Probe From Speaker Pelosi

We have been calling out Speaker Pelosi for months on her blatant hypocrisy and double standards.

From Doug Ross:

Who says Congress is inefficient? The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee -- Charlie Rangel (D-NY) -- just set a new record.

He is now the subject of at least 32 simultaneous ethics issues or investigations. The Sunlight Foundation announced that it discovered 28 mysterious asset transfers by Rangel that come on top of a number
of other ongoing investigations.

• The Sunlight Foundation found 28 instances since 1978 in which Rangel hid (or "failed to report") asset transfers of values between $239,026 and $831,000 as House rules required.


• Rangel failed to disclose $75,000 in income from a vacation rental property he owned in the Dominican Republic. After the tax "mistake" was discovered, he first blamed his wife, then his accountant and finally the fact that he didn't speak Spanish.


• In violation of New York City statutes, he secured four rent controlled apartments, three to serve as luxury living quarters at bargain-basement prices.

• He abandoned his Mercedes in the House parking garage.

• He had his campaign committee "funnel $80,000 to his son for performing little or no work on a Web site."

• He killed a tax increase that would have hurt one of his major donors.

As of yesterday Rangel believed that his ethics troubles were drawing to a close.He gloated, "I think that next Tuesday you will see a break in this and as soon as the Ethics Committee organizes they ought to be able to dismiss this."

***

Republicans had asked Mr. Rangel to step down last September.

Speaker Pelosi's initial response was in defense of Rangel, whom she called "a very distinguished member of the House of Representatives".

Less than a week later, Speaker Pelosi quietly asked Rangel to step aside.

In November, Pelosi said a House Ethics Committee report would be finished and released by January 3rd.

But then in early December, Pelosi said that she "I don't foresee" him losing his post.

On January 3rd, Rangel again denied any wrongdoing... ...and the report was nowhere to be found.

Rangel continues his chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee in the new, 111th Congress.

Obama Liberates The Terrorists and Then Meets With Families of Those Murdered By The Terrorists

The Pentagon's senior judge dropped charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri late Thursday, despite last week challenging the President on his Guantanamo policy.

Today, Obama is hosting 9/11 families and USS Cole families at the White House and he will explain why he’s dropping the charges against against a man who murdered their friends and family.

He will then defend his decisions in a photo-op -via Move America Forward.

More from ConservativeXpress and Gateway Pundit.

Krauthammer: "Obama Age Begins With Perhaps Greatest Frenzy Of Old Politics"; "Thought the Awakening Would Take 6 Months. It Took 2 1/2 Weeks"

This is priceless. The Obama Presidency in a nut shell.

From The Washington Post (bold is mine)

The Fierce Urgency of Pork
By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, February 6, 2009; A17

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

Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill.

And so much for the promise to banish the money changers and influence peddlers from the temple. An ostentatious executive order banning lobbyists was immediately followed by the nomination of at least a dozen current or former lobbyists to high position. Followed by a Treasury secretary who allegedly couldn't understand the payroll tax provisions in his 1040. Followed by Tom Daschle, who had to fall on his sword according to the new Washington rule that no Cabinet can have more than one tax delinquent.

The Daschle affair was more serious because his offense involved more than taxes. As Michael Kinsley once observed, in Washington the real scandal isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. Not paying taxes is one thing. But what made this case intolerable was the perfectly legal dealings that amassed Daschle $5.2 million in just two years.

He'd been getting $1 million per year from a law firm. But he's not a lawyer, nor a registered lobbyist. You don't get paid this kind of money to instruct partners on the Senate markup process. You get it for picking up the phone and peddling influence.

At least Tim Geithner, the tax-challenged Treasury secretary, had been working for years as a humble international civil servant earning non-stratospheric wages. Daschle, who had made another cool million a year (plus chauffeur and Caddy) for unspecified services to a pal's private equity firm, represented everything Obama said he'd come to Washington to upend.

And yet more damaging to Obama's image than all the hypocrisies in the appointment process is his signature bill: the stimulus package. He inexplicably delegated the writing to Nancy Pelosi and the barons of the House. The product, which inevitably carries Obama's name, was not just bad, not just flawed, but a legislative abomination.

It's not just pages and pages of special-interest tax breaks, giveaways and protections, one of which would set off a ruinous Smoot-Hawley trade war. It's not just the waste, such as the $88.6 million for new construction for Milwaukee Public Schools, which, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, have shrinking enrollment, 15 vacant schools and, quite logically, no plans for new construction.

It's the essential fraud of rushing through a bill in which the normal rules (committee hearings, finding revenue to pay for the programs) are suspended on the grounds that a national emergency requires an immediate job-creating stimulus -- and then throwing into it hundreds of billions that have nothing to do with stimulus, that Congress's own budget office says won't be spent until 2011 and beyond, and that are little more than the back-scratching, special-interest, lobby-driven parochialism that Obama came to Washington to abolish.

He said.

Not just to abolish but to create something new -- a new politics where the moneyed pork-barreling and corrupt logrolling of the past would give way to a bottom-up, grass-roots participatory democracy. That is what made Obama so dazzling and new. Turns out the "fierce urgency of now" includes $150 million for livestock (and honeybee and farm-raised fish) insurance.

The Age of Obama begins with perhaps the greatest frenzy of old-politics influence peddling ever seen in Washington. By the time the stimulus bill reached the Senate, reports the Wall Street Journal, pharmaceutical and high-tech companies were lobbying furiously for a new plan to repatriate overseas profits that would yield major tax savings. California wine growers and Florida citrus producers were fighting to change a single phrase in one provision. Substituting "planted" for "ready to market" would mean a windfall garnered from a new "bonus depreciation" incentive.

After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell -- and that this president told better than anyone.

I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks.

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

The Sky Is Falling! President Armageddon Continues Politics of Fear Over Hope, Blames Congress, Calls Them "Irresponsible"

"...if we drag our feet and fail to act, this crisis will turn into a catastrophe. We'll continue to get devastating job reports like today's—month after month, year after year." -- President Obama 2/6/09

Source Breitbart

Obama signed an executive order today create an outside panel of experts to help steer the economy out of a tailspin. Great, more buereaucracy, more cooks in the kitchen. But anyway...

President Armageddon continued his doom and gloom fear mongering in an effort to pass the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) "stimulus". Today he has introduced a new strategy, blaming Congress for being "irresponsible", while he continues to vote "present".

"These numbers demand action. It is inexcusable and irresponsible to get bogged down in distraction and delay while millions of Americans are being put out of work. It is time for Congress to act," Obama said bluntly.

"The American people did not choose more of the same," Obama said. "They did not send us to Washington to get stuck in partisan posturing, or to turn back to the same tried and failed approaches that were rejected in the last election. They sent us here with a mandate for change, and the expectation that we would act."

He's still campaigning! Not leading!

Yesterday, in a Washington Post opinion, President Chicken Little said:

"By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression."

Well, the numbers are out and while certainly far from good news, they confirm that President Apocalypto needs to tone down the rhetoric just a tad.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, and
catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent.

With cost-cutting employers in no mood to hire, the unemployment rate bolted to 7.6 percent in January, the highest since September 1992.

Factories slashed 207,000 jobs in January, the largest one-month drop since October 1982.

Charles Krauthammer writes in today's Washington Post:

"Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill."

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Mitt Romney to Obama: As Chief Executive You Can't Vote "Present"; Gives the President An Economics 101 Lesson

Well said Mr. Romney. See you on the campaign trail in 2012!

From CNN:

It's his job to set priorities. I hope for America's sake that he knows that a chief executive can't vote "present." He has to say yes to some things and no to a lot of others.

As someone who spent a career in the private sector, I'd like to see a stimulus package that respects the productivity and genius of the American people. And experience shows us what it should look like.

First, there are two ways you can put money into the economy, by spending more or by taxing less. But if it's stimulus you want, taxing less works best. That's why permanent tax cuts should be the centerpiece of the economic stimulus.

Second, any new spending must be strictly limited to projects that are essential. How do we define essential? Well, a good rule is that the projects we fund in a stimulus should be legitimate government priorities that would have been carried out in the future anyway, and are simply being moved up to create those jobs now.

As we take out nonessential projects, we should focus on funding the real needs of government that will have immediate impact. And what better place to begin than repairing and replacing military equipment that was damaged or destroyed in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan?

Third, sending out rebate checks to citizens and businesses is not a tax cut. The media bought this line so far, but they've got it wrong. Checks in the mail are refunds, not tax cuts. We tried rebate checks in 2008 and they did virtually nothing to jump-start the economy. Disposable income went up, but consumption hardly moved.

Businesses aren't stupid. They're not going to invest in equipment and new hires for a one-time, short-term blip. What's needed are permanent rate cuts on individuals and businesses.

Fourth, if we're going to tax less and spend more to get the economy moving, then we have to make another commitment as well. As soon as this economy recovers, we have to regain control over the federal budget, and above all, over entitlement spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This is more important than most people are willing to admit.

There is a real danger that with trillions of additional borrowing --from the budget deficit and from the stimulus -- world investors will begin to fear that our dollars won't be worth much in the future. It is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the value of the dollar. That means showing the world that we will put a stop to runaway spending and borrowing.

Fifth, we must begin to recover from the enormous losses in the capital investment pool. And the surest, most obvious way to get that done is to send a clear signal that there will be no tax increases on investment and capital gains. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be extended permanently, or at least temporarily.

And finally, let's exercise restraint in the size of the stimulus package. Last year, with the economy already faltering, I proposed a stimulus of $233 billion. The Washington Post said: "Romney's plan is way too big." So what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?

In the final analysis, we know that only the private sector -- entrepreneurs and businesses large and small -- can create the millions of jobs our country needs. The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government.

Lindsey Graham Finally Makes Sense; Articulates What The Real Stimulus Should Be; This Is Exactly What We Are Talking About; Tax Cuts Vs Spending

Another Republican Conservative's Balls Have Just Dropped.

Maddow DARES To Criticize Ronald Reagan? MSNBC And Rachel Maddow Are Hateful, Vile, Disgusting UnAmerican Slime The Liberal Media Has Crossed The Line

All Americans, not just Conservatives must watch this. She must be silenced. This is hurtful to America. Seriously.

WARNING: "Sick Bag" required.

Pun (Unintentionally) Intended: Rachel Maddow truly is a "Sick Bag".



Rachel Maddow. The anger you incite in Americans is perverse, arrogant, wrong and hateful.

You and anyone who watches your vile show or listens to your amateurish radio show can all pack up your things and move the hell out of America!

You clearly want Socialism, Communism, and Totalitarianism. Then take your vile pig face and pack up your sh*t and move to Europe. Move to Afghanistan. Move to China. Move to Soviet Russia. Move anywhere where you will be silenced by vicious, violent, anti-Woman radical Socialist who you so endear.

F*** You Rachel Maddow! You are more vile and disgusting and unpatriotic than Chris Matthews could ever hope to be!

Who the hell do you think you are, Rachel Maddow! You are NO ONE! You are not even a speck on the historical radar. How dare you!

Pork 2.0: Stimulus in A Nut Shell! 50 Reasons To Reject The Economic and Recovery (CRAAP) Act

We've commented on much of this already, but here is the Congressional Radical Anti-America Pork (CRAAP) in a nutshell.

And it stinks. It stinks like a pig. It sticks like a pig stuck in a "fish barrier".

From National Review (comments by us):

VARIOUS LEFT-WINGERY:

1. $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts

Gimme a break. It's Payback.

2. $380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program

This is Congress-speak for socialized medicine/national healthcare; not to mention the abortion debate. Choice comes prior to conception people!

3. $300 million for grants to combat violence against women

Not a bad program, everyone is against violence in any form, but not "stimulus"!

4. $2 billion for federal child care block grants

The Federal Government should not be in the business of child care.

5. $6 billion for university building projects

Don't they have billions and billions of dollars in endowments for this stuff?

6. $15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships

Again, no one is against student loans, but not "timely, targeted, and temporary" stimulus.

7. $4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion to provide “youth” summer jobs for people up to the age of 24

Hitler youth. 'Nuff said.

8. $1 billion for community development block grants

Stimulus for buying votes; nothing for economy or job creation.

9. $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”

ACORN. 'Nuff said.

10. $650 million for digital TV coupons, including $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”

See related.

POORLY DESIGNED TAX RELIEF:
11. $15 billion for business-loss carry-backs

12. $145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits

Not sure what this is, but it sounds like Socialisam

13. $83 billion for the earned income credit

DEFINITELY more welfare.

STIMULUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT:

14. $150 million for the Smithsonian

Again, cute and nice, but not stimulus.

15. $34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters

Can we get a Commerce Secretary first?

16. $500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities

aka Socialized Medicine/National Health Care

17. $44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters

Department of Agriculture? Is that important?

18. $350 million for Agriculture Department computers

Why the departmental-ism? What about the Interior?

19. $88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building next year

What?

20. $448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters

Can't argue with the cause, but $Half a $Billion?

21. $600 million to convert federal auto fleet to hybrids

Appeasement to the radical, leftist, "green", environmental, hypocritical liars.

22. $450 million for National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Didn't Obama say he wants to curb NASA spending? Oh, right this is the "climate change" aspect of NASA.

23. $600 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

More bogus Al Gore funding.

24. $1 billion for the Census Bureau

This one is big. This is the one that wants to ensure "accurate census counts of minorities".

Our translation: Let's make sure we know where all the blacks and hispanics and illegal immigrants live so we can get ACORN to register them to VOTE FOR SOCIALISM "CHANGE".

INCOME TRANSFERS:
25. $89 billion for Medicaid

Socialized Medicine/National Healthcare.

26. $30 billion for COBRA insurance extension

Socialized Medicen/National Healthcare.

27. $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits

The more we make them reliant on the government, the more socialist, communist, and totalitarian we get and that's exactly what we want. Let the people shirk all personal responsibility and become beholden to the socialist government and we will rule them for decades. Just saying.

28. $20 billion for food stamps

The more we make them reliant on the government, the more socialist, communist, and totalitarian we get and that's exactly what we want. Let the people shirk all personal responsibility and become beholden to the socialist government and we will rule them for decades. Just saying.

PURE PORK:
29. $4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Whatever.

30. $850 million for Amtrak

Complete and utter business failure. Never has made money, never will. Privatize the rails, and maybe we have a chance.

31. $87 million for a polar icebreaking ship

Radical environmentalist payback.

32. $1.7 billion for the National Park System

Radical environmentalist payback.

33. $55 million for Historic Preservation Fund

???
34. $7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”

Convert the Bible Belt into government-dependant Liberals through ACORN-like "community organizer" Totalitarian rhetoric.

35. $150 million for agricultural commodity purchases

Again with the agriculture mumbo jumbo. More vote buying!

36. $150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”

More CRAAP!

RENEWABLE WASTE:
37. $2 billion for renewable energy research

Radical Environmentalist appeasement...yawn.

38. $2 billion for a “clean-coal” power plant in Illinois

Obama want to destroy the "clean-coal" industry!

39. $6.2 billion shall be for the Weatherization Assistance Program

Uh....what?

40. $3.5 billion shall be for energy efficiency and conservation block grants

Payback for the "climate change" industry.

41. $3.4 billion shall be for the State Energy Program

Payback for the "climate change" industry.
42. $200 million shall be for state and local electric-transport projects

Payback for the "climate change" industry.
43. $300 million shall be for energy-efficient appliance rebate programs

Payback for the "climate change" industry.
44. $400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments

Payback for the "climate change" industry.
45. $1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries

Should this not be up to the battery manufacturers? Their respsonsibility? Private companies and private enterprise produce better products at a cheaper price than government ever has.

46. $1.5 billion for green technology loan guarantees

Payback for the "climate change" industry.
47. $8 billion for innovative technology loan guarantee program

48. $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects

Payback for the "climate change" industry.

49. $4.5 billion for electricity grid

Payback for the "climate change" industry.

REWARDING STATE IRRESPONSIBILITY:
50. $79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

Senator Harry Reid Promises To "Burn The Midnight Oil" Over Stimulus Debate; Adjourns Senate at 9:04 P.M.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid adjourned the United States Senate tonight at 9:04 P.M.

You Big Tease!

From Fox News:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor said that lawmakers will be "burning the midnight oil" Thursday night to complete the stimulus bill.Reid said he is hopeful that the Senate will achieve consensus and agree to a bill "we feel good about" in the next "12 hours." He argued that if there were reports that the Senate stimulus bill was failing, the stock market may crash Friday morning.

Reid told reporters Thursday he believes he has the 60 votes to pass the existing bill being debated, and made clear that the bipartisan group does not speak for the leadership or the president.

Maybe he decided to change his mind so they can have a more partisan, more democratic debate at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow when they reconvene to discuss the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Act.

"They cannot hold the president of the United States hostage," he said. "And if they think they can rewrite this bill ... they've got another thing coming."

Maybe not. Can they just put us out of our misery and stop spewing their BIPARTISAN CRAAP!

Obama Panics Over Stimulus, Seeks Help From His Best Friend And Top Campaign Contributor -- The Media

The President is officially in full panic mode over the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) "Stimulus" bill. Clearly, public support has dropped as Americans become more familiar with the CRAAP and Obama has fired back using his secret weapon -- his old media buddies who get a "tingle running down their leg" and want to "have sex" with the President.

First, there was yesterday's media blitz which backfired as it became the "apologize for Daschle" circus.

Then, he wrote a biased, factually incorect and misleading op-ed in today Washington Post.

Tonight, in an address to House Democrats on a retreat in Williamsburg, VA (now, now, the Republicans had one as well... though both should have been cancelled in the midst of our apocalyptic, dire, doom and gloom economic crises that Obama is warning us about) Obama used the pwer of the media to arrogantly defend his policies and attempt to lie, cheat and deceive the American people.

The address to Congress was originally going to be private and untelevised, however, the Obama team cleverly changed course just yesterday to enable America to once again hear the hypocritical rantings of the President in his defense of his CRAAP.

Fox News reports:

President Obama issued Democrats a call to action on the economy Thursday night, pushing his plan for a mix of spending and tax relief while accusing some of the bill's critics of "phony arguments and petty politics."

Obama was speaking to partisan crowd of House Democrats at a retreat in Williamsburg, Va., and while praising the House for already passing his stimulus bill, he made a thinly veiled jab at Republicans for having "come to the table with the same tired arguments and worn ideas" that helped to cause the current economic crisis.

But despite taking a sometimes humorous tone with his fellow Democrats, Obama hardly failed to underscore the potentially dire consequences of inaction.

Without swift passage of his stimulus bill, Obama said, "an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe."

Admittedly, the Republicans may be using "petty politics" but that because this CRAAP stinks! Still, the Democrats and Obama have shown NO COMPROMISE, they have been EVERY BIT MORE PARTISAN in this CRAAP debate!

Is Obama really this arrogant and naive to think Americans are really this stupid?

Sadly, we think he is...

Labor Secretary May Have More Problems Than Just Taxes, Did She Break Congressional Ethics Rules?

Remember, President Obama promised the most transparent and ethical administration in history .

Via Heritage's The Foundry:

• In an article written for the Weekly Standard, Hans A. von Spakovsky, uncovers some very disturbing details of Solis’ role in the pro-union organization, American Rights at Work (ARW), in which she may have violated multiple House ethics rules. It appears that while Hilda Solis served as a Board Member and Treasurer to the organization, they were lobbying Congress on bills Ms. Solis actually co-sponsored. One of those bills, the “Employee Free Choice Act”, is the card-check legislation that will eliminate the secret ballot in union elections, eliminating anonymous decisions by employees to decide whether to unionize.

• On January 29, Congresswoman Solis filed a letter with the House clerk detailing her involvement. Much like Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner and Nancy Killefer, her “honest mistake” was uncovered only when she was seeking a Cabinet appointment. This time, Solis says she “incorrectly answered” a question that directly asked if she was a member of any organizations like ARW. Apparently, she forgot that she was handling all of the finances and leadership of an organization that was pressing her colleagues to vote in favor of her own pro-union legislation.

If that was not bad enough, there's more...

• The DC Examiner reports that while Hilda Solis was an active leader of ARW as their Treasurer, they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on political campaign ads, or as ARW describes them, “electioneering communications”. As a Congresswoman, this may have been a direct violation of law under the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. The targets of those ads included: Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), Senator John Sununu (R-NH).
  

• As Treasurer, Congresswoman Solis would have had to have known that her organization was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars running political attack ads against her colleagues. As a side note, Senator Lisa Murkowski sits on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee whom is responsible for considering her nomination. ‘Honest Mistake’

Honestly, who did the vetting for these people? This is beyond a circus! It doesn't make any sense! In all fairness, policy aside, Obama did run a pretty good campaign; it was a tight ship. We want to know why it has all fallen apart since.

Anyone have any ideas?

Liberal Entitlements Put Our National Security At Risk; Social Programs Suck Funding From Defense and Military Spending

President Obama asked The Pentagon last week to trim its budget in order to clear room in the budget for the bogus Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) "Stimulus" bill.

Yesterday, we learned Kyrgyzstan is closing a US Military base that was a main supply route for our troops in Afghanistan. Simply put, we got out bid by Russia.

US military officials also state that this airbase is vital to plans to send an additional 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan , a linchpin of President Barack Obama's plan to fight the war on terror... or whatever he and press Secretary Robert "Peter Griffin" Gibbs call it these days.

Now we learn another grim forecast -- the entitlement society favored by the Liberals may put an even greater and dangerous strain on our National Security and our National Defense.

From The Foundry:

“The Pentagon faces a $100 billion annual shortfall in its procurement and modernization accounts,” warns Kim Holmes, Heritage’s vice president for defense and foreign policy studies. “The question facing Mr. Obama is not whether to trim a few expensive and unnecessary weapons systems, but whether he is willing to forgo America’s military edge by skipping or delaying construction of the next generation of modern weapons.”


Specially trained troops, updated equipment and “smart” weaponry to counter tomorrow’s threats are both necessary and a relative bargain for taxpayers, their children and grandchildren, Heritage analysts conclude. The crushing burden comes from the rapidly escalating cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.


As a percentage of the economy, this chart from heritage shows, the government is spending more than twice as much for the three major entitlement programs as for the military — even before 77 million baby boomers retire in great numbers. In coming decades, the cost of entitlements will leap from 8.4 percent to 18.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Without reform, our well-intentioned promises will require raising taxes by the equivalent of $12,072 per household or eliminating every other program— including defense, transportation, housing and education.

This sounds like fear-mongering, but it may be true. A fact that Liberals fail to acknowledge is that slashing the military budget under Bill Clinton had its consequences. If not causing 9/11 directly, the Clinton Pentagon cuts made it necessary for the Bush Administration to blow through government funds to essentially rebuild our military. It has turned out to be unpopular among the Left, but it was a necessary tough decision Bush had to make.

We do not believe President Obama has the conviction to set principle above popularity, or to do the right thing if it might cost him a question or two.

More from The Foundry:

“Spiraling manpower costs and modernization demands are growing at an unprecedented rate, with many ships, planes and tanks older than their crews,” Heritage national security expert James Carafano writes. “Detroit got into trouble because of bad businesses practices. The armed forces are in trouble because Washington under-funded the military in the 1990s and shrunk it too much to cope with the threats of the post-Cold War world.”

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) recently predicted a new round of defense cuts. Others believe that keeping our military edge, as Heritage’s Baker Spring and Mackenzie Eaglen outline in a new paper, requires spending the equivalent of at least 4 percent of GDP on defense for five years or more. Those members of Congress seek to put that commitment into law.

“The recession may make meeting a 4 percent commitment politically more difficult,” Holmes notes, “but only because we have not yet had an honest debate about where most government spending has been going.”

Obama To "Drop" Charges Against Mastermind of USS Cole Bombings; But After He Meets With Victims Families

Last week we learned that a military judge in Guantanamo Bay refused to heed President Obama's request that all trials for terror suspects be halted.

WaPo reported:

The chief military judge at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Army Col. James Pohl, said that he found the government's arguments "unpersuasive" and that the case will go ahead because "the public interest in a speedy trial will be harmed by the delay in the arraignment."

The administration had argued that the "interests of justice" would be served by a delay that would allow the government to review the approximately 245 prisoners at Guantanamo to figure out who should be prosecuted and how, and who can be released.

"The Commission is unaware of how conducting an arraignment would preclude any option by the administration," Pohl wrote in an opinion obtained by The Washington Post. "Congress passed the military commissions act, which remains in effect. The Commission is bound by the law as it currently exists, not as it may change in the future."

The decision was lauded by some survivors of the attack on the Cole, who said it illustrated the independence of the military judiciary at Guantanamo. "I'm absolutely delighted," said Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the former skipper of the Cole. "It proves the military commissions work without undue command influence, and this decision puts us back on track to see an accounting for al-Nashiri's terrorist acts."

Now it appears, the Obama team has found the loophole to force its agenda down the throats of the courts too!

This is an outrage! What is Obama going to tell these people whose innocent family members were violently murdered by the Radical Islamist Murderers?

From Jake Tapper:

ABC News has learned that on Friday, President Obama will likely order the Department of Defense's Military Commission to withdraw charges against terrorist suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. The charges may later be reinstated in a military commission or pursued in a civilian court. Al-Nashiri will remain in custody.

The announcement will not be made until after President Obama meets with the families of victims of terrorist attacks on 9/11 and on the U.S.S. Cole, where he will assure them that this step is not being done to be lenient towards al-Nashiri. The move is being done to stop the continued prosecution of al-Nashiri in a court system that his administration may ultimately find illegitimate, not for any other reason, sources told ABC News.

Al-Nashiri has been identified as the former Persian Gulf Operations Chief for al Qaeda and the mastermind of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. In March 2007 he testified in military court that he only confessed to certain crimes because he has been tortured for the previous five years.

Asked for reaction to the news, Commander Kirk Lippold (Ret.), former Commander aboard the U.S.S. Cole when it was bombed on October 12, 2000, told ABC News that "I am concerned about the President considering dropping the charges because it may be indicative that the president does not intend to follow the military commissions process which has undergone extensive legal and legislative review."

"For some reason the administration says what's been expressed through the legislature is not sufficient," Lippold said of the military commissions. "They need to allow the process to go forward."

The 26-year Navy veteran said he found the decision to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay "disappointing," but he seemed willing to hear the president out.

"I'm interested in hearing what his long-term plan is on how he's going to deal with the detainees because he hasn't articulated that," he said. "He may have a clear-cut path that may massage some of the concerns that I know many of the families have right now."

Now remember, this will not make us "safer" as the President thinks, it makes us weaker.

Not to mention that contrary to human rights wackos and the ACLU nutjobs, the enemy combatants in Gitmo DO NOT HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS!

They have brutally killed innocent Americans and we're supposed say "sorry, you can go home now".

Fairness (Censorship) Doctrine Continues To Take Shape; Senators Have Had "Discussions" of the "Fairness Standard"

"No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will." --Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Washington, September 9, 1792

The Liberal Left is most definitely trying to censor and silence anyone who dares to question their radical socialist agenda. Why do you think Obama went after Rush?

Sen Debbie Stabenow insisted that she "think(s) it’s absolutely time to pass a standard" and indicated she had "already had some discussions with colleagues" about Fairness "Standard" hearings and that she "feel(s) like that’s gonna happen. Yep."

The Politico's Michael Calderone reported:

This morning, radio host Bill Press brought up the recent closing of liberal station Obama 1260 when speaking with Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and talked about whether there needs to be a balance to right-wing talk on the radio dial.

• BILL PRESS: Yeah, I mean, look: They have a right to say that. They’ve got a right to express that. But, they should not be the only voices heard. So, is it time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine?

• SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it’s called the Fairness Standard, whether it’s called something else — I absolutely think it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place.


• BILL PRESS: Can we count on you to push for some hearings in the United States Senate this year, to bring these owners in and hold them accountable?


• SENATOR DEBBIE STABENOW (D-MI): I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that’s gonna happen. Yep.
  

Although Obama has been publicly opposed to reinstating the fairness doctrine, conservative radio has talked nonstop about the fear of it returning (or perhaps something like it with another name) while there's a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in Congress.

News Busters reminds us:

We have been reminded that Senator Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, is the co-founder of the liberal TalkUSA Radio network and is now the Executive Vice-President of liberal Air America. Liberal talk radio has of course failed miserably every time it has been tried, all the while watching it's conservative counterpart's success soar.

Radio Ink has more:

Stabenow told Press that the airwaves are "dominated by one view" that "overwhelms people's opinions -- and, unfortunately, incorrectly," and said that "right-wing conservative talk hosts" are "trying to make people angry and saying all kinds of things that aren't true and so on."

Apparently it's okay that the television media (MS NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC) is "dominated by one view".

Sign the Petition to Stop The Fairness (Censorship) Doctrine

Summary Of Senate Republicans Economic Stimulus Proposal; GOP Plan Half the Price, Twice the Growth

This is very similar to the plan from the Republicans in the House.

Overview


$430 billion dollars on tax cuts.


$114 billion for infrastructure projects.


$138 billion for extending unemployment insurance, food stamps and other provisions to help “Americans in need.”


$31 billion to address the housing crisis ($11 billion for a loan modification program,



$20.4 billion in tax incentives for home purchases, $50 million to temporarily increase loan limits for Freddie, Fannie and FHA)



Following are details of the proposal by John McCain of Arizona, John Thune of South Dakota, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Mel Martinez of Florida.


Tax Provisions:
* For one year, cut in half to 3.1 percent the payroll tax for all U.S. employees. Cost: $165 billion.


* Lower the 10 percent income tax bracket to 5 percent and the 15 percent bracket to 10 percent for one year. Cost: $60 billion.


* Slash the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent for a year. For small businesses filing as individuals, their tax bracket would also go down to 25 percent from 35 percent. Cost: $50 billion.


* Offer in 2009 to homebuyers a tax credit of $15,000 or 10 percent of the purchase price, whichever is less. Cost: $20.4 billion.


Spending Provisions:


* Extend unemployment insurance benefits and food stamps through 2009 and eliminate taxes on unemployment benefits for the same time period. Cost: $48.15 billion.



* Use federal money to discourage mortgage servicers and lenders from executing home foreclosures. Cost: $11 billion.


* Grants to states to build and repair roads and bridges. $65 billion.


* Improve, repair and modernize Defense Department facilities. Order and/or repair equipment, vehicles, material and ammunition for combat troops. $17 billion.


* Grants to states to make investments in public transportation systems. $3 billion.


* Grants for airports to build new runways, install runway safety equipment and other infrastructure projects. Cost: $1.1 billion.


Other provisions:


* All spending programs would end three years after the legislation became law.


* To move toward reducing the budget deficit, after two consecutive quarters of more than 2 percent of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product growth, spending provisions from the stimulus package that has not been spent or obligated would be canceled. Additionally, there would be a 2 percent across-the-board spending reduction to help balance the budget by 2015.


* Establish commissions to review Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.



Read the full GOP Senate Bill here.

American Teenager Killed By Former Guantanamo Prisoners

An American teenager was murdered by Al-Qaeda last month in Yemen.The attack was led by former Gitmo detainee Abu Sufyan al-Azdi al-Shahri.

9-11 Families for a Safe and Strong America reported, via LGF:

Susan Elbaneh was murdered by al Qaeda and apparently most of the media does not want you to know. Last week, you saw her killers’ faces splashed across the headlines yet away from her hometown, the media was busy playing echo-chamber.


Strangely, the New York Times has failed to report the whole story three times.


The proof of that assertion is: Robert F. Worth wrote of Susan Elbaneh’s fugitive cousin last March; he mentioned her death, name, and hometown last September while reporting on the bombing of our embassy in Yemen yet made no mention of Jaber Elbaneh; and their names and the latter’s connection to the Lackawanna Six were missing from his reports last week about two former Guantanamo detainees reuniting with al Qaeda in Yemen and their being suspected in that same attack upon our embassy.

Gateway Pundit has more.

"Doom and Gloom": The Obama Op Ed; Pass This Bill Or It's Armageddon! President Apocalypto Predicts The Worst to Save His Ass

The sky is falling! It's raining frogs! The volcanoes are erupting! The ocean's are boiling! Wait, we've heard this tone before...somewhere... this is what Obama's fear-mongering sounds like to us.

• The antichrist (beast) will come into power and sign a peace pact (covenant) with Israel for seven years (Daniel 9:27).

• This seven year period of time is known as the Tribulation. During the Tribulation, there will be terrible wars, famines, plagues, and natural disasters. God will be pouring out His wrath against sin, evil, and wickedness.

• The Tribulation will contain the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the seven seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments.

• About halfway through the 7 years, the antichrist will break the peace covenant with Israel and make war against them. The antichrist will perform the abomination of desolation and set up an image of himself to be worshipped in the temple (Daniel 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10).

• The second half of the Tribulation is known as the Great Tribulation and the time of Jacobâ??s trouble. At the end of the seven year Tribulation, the antichrist will launch a final attack on Jerusalem, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon. Jesus Christ will return, destroy the antichrist and his armies and cast them into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:11-21).

• Christ will then bind Satan in the Abyss for 1000 years and will rule His earthly kingdom for this 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-6).

Was the Congressional Radical Anti-American Pork (CRAAP) Act mentioned in the Bible?

This does not sound like hope and change. Take is easy Mr. President. Breathe. It's gonna be okay!

From The Washington Post:
The Action Americans Need

By now, it's clear to everyone that we have inherited an economic crisis as deep and dire as any since the days of the Great Depression. Millions of jobs that Americans relied on just a year ago are gone; millions more of the nest eggs families worked so hard to build have vanished. People everywhere are worried about what tomorrow will bring.

Wow, that's reassuring to hear from the President. You wouldn't be trying to scare us, would you?

What Americans expect from Washington is action that matches the urgency they feel in their daily lives -- action that's swift, bold and wise enough for us to climb out of this crisis.

What Americans expect from Washington is for you to keep you hands out of our pockets and keep you nose out of our lives.

Because each day we wait to begin the work of turning our economy around, more people lose their jobs, their savings and their homes. And if nothing is done, this recession might linger for years. Our economy will lose 5 million more jobs. Unemployment will approach double digits. Our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.

We're all gonna die if we don't spend money on STD research, honeybee insurance, "fish barriers" and Frisbee golf!

That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the recovery plan before Congress. With it, we will create or save more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, provide immediate tax relief to 95 percent of American workers, ignite spending by businesses and consumers alike, and take steps to strengthen our country for years to come.

With all due respect, Mr. President, you're math is wrong and you are, completely misleading we the people.

This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care and education. And it's a strategy that will be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability, so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.

It's a way for you to buy a voting majority and create a socialist cradle-to-grave nanny state. Just tell the truth. Besides, Americans know where their tax dollars are going -- to cover up for the lost revenue created by tax cheats like Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle, etc. Not to mention I think we've all determined by now that your "transparency and accountability" promise to be a load of crap.

In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.

Oh, that's right, anybody who dares to question you or your policies is "misguided". How dare we challenge The Chosen One! And no one, not one single person has said "tax cuts alone will solve all our problems". We just don't want you mortgaging America's future to buy your re-election.

I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail.

Excuse me, again, sir, but 58,343,671 MILLION AMERICANS DID NOT VOTE FOR YOUR SUPPOSED "CHANGE"! And you and your cut-and-run, pro-ACLU, anti-American security polices threaten our security!

Every day, our economy gets sicker -- and the time for a remedy that puts Americans back to work, jump-starts our economy and invests in lasting growth is now.

Now is the time to protect health insurance for the more than 8 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage and to computerize the health-care records of every American within five years, saving billions of dollars and countless lives in the process.

Enough with the health care stealth speak. We know what it is, just say it. National Health Care, Socialized Medicine... whatever you want to call it just say it and stop thinking you and Pelosi are smarter than us and we don't know what you're up to -- we see right through you, Mr. President.

Now is the time to save billions by making 2 million homes and 75 percent of federal buildings more energy-efficient, and to double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy within three years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! We've heard this and still think you're plan is CRAAP!

Now is the time to give our children every advantage they need to compete by upgrading 10,000 schools with state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries and labs; by training our teachers in math and science; and by bringing the dream of a college education within reach for millions of Americans.

And paying off the teacher's unions to vote for Liberals! Is that what you meant?

And now is the time to create the jobs that remake America for the 21st century by rebuilding aging roads, bridges and levees; designing a smart electrical grid; and connecting every corner of the country to the information superhighway.

These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide.

Give us a break, Mr. President! Stop the lies! The only "old partisan gridlock" is coming from Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Democrats and you know it!

So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.

See above comments about Obama's blatant partisanship lies.

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