Another day, another nominee tax problem

This time it's HHS nominee, Kathleen Sebelius. Of course since she is a Democrat it is only an "unintentional error".

Apparently taxes are only for plumbers.

Bawney Fwank - payroll aparatchik

Not content with controlling executive pay, the House Financial Services Committee would allow the government to control the pay of all employees of companies receiving bailout funds.

But now, in a little-noticed move, the House Financial Services Committee, led by chairman Barney Frank, has approved a measure that would, in some key ways, go beyond the most draconian features of the original AIG bill. The new legislation, the "Pay for Performance Act of 2009," would impose government controls on the pay of all employees -- not just top executives -- of companies that have received a capital investment from the U.S. government. It would, like the tax measure, be retroactive, changing the terms of compensation agreements already in place. And it would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner extraordinary power to determine the pay of thousands of employees of American companies.

The purpose of the legislation is to "prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards," according to the bill's language. That includes regular pay, bonuses -- everything -- paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is "unreasonable" or "excessive." And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate "the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates."

Meet the new board of directors :

Why the New York Times is only fit for fishwrap

Stories that don't fit the pre-conceived liberal template never make it past the editor. How else to explain why the Times spiked an October story linking ACORN to the Obama campaign.

A lawyer involved with legal action against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told a House Judiciary subcommittee on March 19 The New York Times had killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign because it would have been a “a game changer.”

Heather Heidelbaugh, who represented the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee in the lawsuit against the group, recounted for the ommittee what she had been told by a former ACORN worker who had worked in the group’s Washington, D.C. office. The former worker, Anita Moncrief, told Ms. Heidelbaugh last October, during the state committee’s litigation against ACORN, she had been a “confidential informant for several months to The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Strom.”

Ms. Moncrief had been providing Ms. Strom with information about ACORN’s election activities. Ms. Strom had written several stories based on information Ms. Moncrief had given her.

During her testimony, Ms. Heidelbaugh said Ms. Moncrief had told her The New York Times articles stopped when she revealed that the Obama presidential campaign had sent its maxed-out donor list to ACORN’s Washington, D.C. office.

By all means, let's have the Democrats, via the federal government, bail out newspapers. What could go wrong??

President Narcissus

Victor Davis Hanson with a good catch of the focus of Obama's auto nationalization speech at (on?) The Corner.

My Auto Task Force

And so today, I am announcing that my administration will...

In this context, my administration will offer General Motors adequate working capital over the next 60 days. During this time, my team will be working closely with GM to produce a better business plan.

I am committed to doing all I can to see if a deal can be struck...

Now, I know that when people even hear the word "bankruptcy" it can be a bit unsettling, so let me explain what I mean. What I am talking about is..

What I am not talking about is a process where a company is broken up, sold off, and no longer exists. And what I am not talking about is having a company stuck in court for years...

It is my hope that the steps I am announcing...

let me say it as plainly as I can ...

I'm directing my team to take several steps.

I want to work with Congress to identify parts of the Recovery Act..

(emphasis Hanson's)

Somebody better adjust the humility setting on the 'prompter.

Barack Obama, CEO

Not content to simply run the executive branch of the federal government, the community organizer with 2 months of executive experience under his belt has decided to try his hand at an auto company. Politico reports that Obama has demanded and received the resignation of GM's Rick Wagoner.

So we have now come to the point where government can now dictate how corporations staff their executive positions. So the same folks who bungled the AIG bonuses are now going to try to run a car company.

And before you whiny liberals start to bark about how they took federal funds so there are now strings attached; you had better think twice. Are you ready to carry this principle to accepting welfare, student loans, social security or having the government cover your medical expenses??

The next question is: who decides the new CEO?? Will it be Obama?? The UAW ?? Will the stockholders even have a say ?? I don't believe it is an understatement to say that this may be the first step toward nationalization of industry. This could serve as a precedent for feds taking over the banking industry.

Finally, this will have a severe chilling effect to the extend federal bailouts are truly wise and/or necessary.

So, now the Obama administration runs the banking and auto industries. Whose next ??

Kudos to Mark Levin

Instapundit has video of the truly massive crowd for his book signing today in Tysons Corner, VA. It is encouraging to see that the November's defeat is not lingering and that there is still a willingness to stand for conservatism. Or at least to stand against far left liberalism.

I have to make sure I get my copy.

Football health advisory

Watching your team lose the Super Bowl can kill you.

Well that's just great!! As an Eagles fan I won't be buying any ripe bananas.

What happened to the seas receding??

The residents of Fargo, ND probably want to know. Or are Teleprompter Jesus' aquatic miracles limited to the salt water variety???

As an aside, I think he is right to not create logistical problems/distractions during the crisis. Just as W was right not to go to New Orleans during the Katrina operations. But the media clearly has double standards. Think there will be any questioning about whether Obama hates white people??

Earth Hour

And hopefully, the Slacker house will look like this....



Yeah, I know it's out of season but it will really piss off the neighbors. For good measure I will also drive around my SUV -- with the high beams on.

I intend to have the carbon footprint of a Sasquatch.

UPDATE:
Or celebrate Human Achievement Hour (it's probably the more mature thing to do)



H/T: Instapundit

What the hell were they thinking??

This moonbat, John Murtha, has received the Navy's highest civilian honor citing

Murtha's "courageous leadership, vision, and loyalty to the men and women of the Department of the Navy," Winter presented the influential chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's defense panel with the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, an honor bestowed in "those extraordinary cases where individuals have demonstrated exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or the Department of the Navy as a whole," a Murtha release stated.

But this is the same Murtha who accused a squad of Marines as being cold-blooded killers claiming they murdered civilians in Haditha. Murtha never gave his fellow Marines the benefit of the doubt nor did he even wait to hear any of the evidence before pronouncing judgment. So a few Marines get smeared, court martialed or jailed, small potatoes when you are gunning for your party to take over Congress.

Nor has Murtha cared that the Marines have since been exonerated.

When the dust settled more than two years later, six of the eight Marines and Sailors accused of crimes in the Haditha incident had their cases dismissed, one was found not guilty and the last has been continued indefinitely. ...

Murtha has refused to recant his accusations or apologize to the Marines he accused of war crimes. When asked by Military.com in late 2007 whether he regretted his initial statements and owed the exonerated Marines and Sailor an apology, Murtha refused to comment, saying the cases were still being adjudicated.

And now he is being honored by the Navy. Even more shameful is that he has no reservation about accepting such a high honor from the very armed forces he smeared. Murtha lacks honor despite his service.

A petition has been circulated asking the Navy to do what is right and rescind the award to this jackass. Please consider signing.

Hooray for Congress

And I am serious. The Senate has decided to inject itself into the debate over how college football determines a national champion by reviewing antitrust issues involving the Bowl Champion Series. Now many see this as more government over-reaching into ever more areas of life. Others also believe that this issue is not a priority given the current state of our economy. But they are all wrong.

The simple fact is that they can't help themselves. They always feel compelled to get involved and "do something". And there is little doubt that they will only make a bad situation worse for the NCAA. But think people. Would you rather have them screwing up college football or your health care. If they are debating playoff formats they aren't molesting the economy.

Of course the NCAA is SCREWED!!! But better them than me.

And in case there is any doubt, a little sample of our Congress in action, ironically enough, on the subject of a college football champion here.

We are doomed.

Words have meaning ?? Transparency = mind your own damn business

After the last Democrat president attempted to redefine "is" and "sexual relations", the latest version has begun to remake the language in his own image.

Out is "enemy combatant". We can empty Gitmo of such simply by calling them something else. It is similar to the lunatics at PETA who want to convince people to stop eating fish by calling them "sea kittens". "Global war on terror" is now an "overseas contingency operation". Terrorism itself has been reduces to "man caused disasters".

Of course some old liberal standards never fall by the wayside. Taxes are "contributions" and spending is "investment".

But now comes a new opportunity to re-define a word that, until now, been clearly understood. President HopeNChange has decided that his tax reform task force will meet behind closed doors.

But there are obstacles.

However, there are potential complications. Sending the task force’s report to the full board, which will meet publicly and includes CEOs and union leaders not represented on the smaller panel, means the potential for dissent and a split vote on whatever the subcommittee proposes. Of course, there is likely to be some dissent on the smaller panel, too. Feldstein has already written an op-ed denouncing Obama’s proposal to limit charitable deductions.

The legal standards here come in large part from a 1983 federal appeals court decision on a challenge to secret task forces of an anti-government-waste board best known as the Grace Commission and set up by President Reagan. The court said that task forces “could well” be subject to the open meeting requirements if their “reports are transmitted directly to federal decision makers before they are made publicly available” or if the main board “is merely ‘rubber stamping’ the task forces’ recommendations with little or no independent consideration.”

After transcending party and race the boy prince also must transcend legality:

Of course, these standards are like Swiss cheese for those intent on secrecy. Task force members could bounce tentative recommendations off of the White House through a variety of channels while not technically sending a “report.” And the advisory board’s votes on the tax plans could be carefully counted in advance while formally tallied at a meeting that doesn’t give outward evidence of “rubber stamping.”

But Obama has promised to create "an unprecedented level of openness in Government.” Given that Democratic lawmakers have called the subcommittee exception a “loophole” in federal law and that a House committee voted early this month for a bill that would close that “loophole,” it may look a bit odd if the White House tries to leap straight into a "loophole" their congressional colleagues are trying to close.

We wouldn't expect The One to be bound by the constraints of mere mortals. Besides, law, like taxes, are for the little people.

Hope you didn't make any spending plans for your tax cut

Just like Bill Clinton, Barack Obama lied when he talked about cutting taxes. Bill Clinton campaigned on a middle-class tax cut but abandoned the idea just weeks into office. And now so will Obama. (Unless you call increased welfare payments a tax cut.)

Similar to Clinton, Obama campaigned with much populist rhetoric excoriating deficits. This aversion to deficit spending has gone down quicker than a $5 crack whore. But are these historic deficits sustainable??

Byron York reports on a conference call with Budget Director, Peter Orszag.

The deficit issue could be one of the most, if not the most, consequential of Obama's unkept campaign promises. Just how consequential was made clear last week in a little-noticed conference call featuring Budget Director Peter Orszag. Orszag was trying to explain to reporters how the Obama administration calculated its rather rosy forecasts for economic growth. Near the end of the call, he was asked whether deficits along the lines of those predicted by the Congressional Budget Office are sustainable."

Orszag at first dodged the question, saying he was sure the final Obama budget will "reflect a fiscally sustainable path." But the questioner persisted: Are those deficits sustainable? Relenting, Orszag said such deficits, in the range of five percent of the Gross Domestic Product, "would lead to rising debt-to-GDP ratios in a manner that would ultimately not be sustainable."

The simple version of that is: If the Congressional Budget Office projections are correct, we're headed for hell in a handbasket.

Look folks, this is really simple. If a Democrat tells you they are cutting taxes, they're lying.

Hush Rush ?

I guess the White House based campaign to take out Limbaugh hasn't quite worked out as planned. The result, his already commanding ratings have soared.

Some specific examples:

Chicago, saw another huge move, with Rush affiliate WLS also taking first place during his timeslot (12 and older), from 5.2 share to 6.9 and a total local listenership of 396,700 in the third-largest market.

KSFO / San Francisco saw similar results, despite the extreme-left bent of the Bay Area: 4.7 to 6.0 share, now ranking second overall and with men aged 35-64. Total audience: 346,000.

And during this time Teleprompter Jesus has seen his own ratings slip.

It's whitey's fault

Thanks to Brazil’s President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, we now know the cause of the current international economic meltdown.

Speaking in Brasília at a joint press conference with Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, Mr Lula da Silva told reporters: “This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing.”

He added: “I do not know any black or indigenous bankers so I can only say [it is wrong] that this part of mankind which is victimised more than any other should pay for the crisis.”

"No, he can't"

Barack Obama was always going to disappoint. When you promise almost everything to almost everybody—I’ll stop the fighting in Iraq but I’ll also keep going after al Qaeda there; I’ll make the economy grow more but I’ll spread the wealth around, and so on—you will inevitably let many people down. Human beings, even those who read fluently from teleprompters, simply cannot walk on water.

But few expected the wheels to come off the new administration so quickly. Just weeks into its existence, the Obama White House is in trouble. The US stock market has lost a quarter of its value since Obama’s election. While a Rasmussen poll in early March had his approval rating at 56 per cent, his net approval (the number of people who strongly approve of what he’s doing subtracted from the number who strongly disapprove) had contracted from 28 per cent the day after his inauguration to around 6 per cent for March—worse than Bush at the same time in his first term. The administration is in a fully fledged staffing crisis: having lost a record ten high-profile picks, it has scores of senior executive jobs unfilled—including every single treasury position below the department’s top job. The head of Britain’s civil service, Gus O’Donnell, has complained about the trouble he’s had finding key administration personnel ahead of the G20 conference in April. “There is nobody there,” he said. “You cannot believe how difficult it is.” Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner looks terrified before executives and television cameras alike. Five months after the election he has yet to deliver a plan for the banking system, much less restructure a single financial asset.

Read the whole piece at Prospect.

Maybe Teleprompter Jesus should start projecting some of that "smart diplomacy"

The Norks are loading up a Taepodong-2 missile onto the launch pad. Swell!! Is this the type of crisis that "Sheriff" Joe warned us about?

But fret not. The boy prince has the situation well in hand. The pant-load in a pantsuit that is our SecState has said that such an act would haven consequences.

"We have made it very clear that the North Koreans pursue this pathway at a cost and with consequences to the six-party talks which we would like to see revived and moving forward as quickly as possible," she told reporters on a visit to Mexico City.

"This provocative action ... will not go unnoticed and there will be consequences," she said.

And if that doesn't work, she will send them a very strongly worded letter.

Specter sinking in PA

Snarlin' Arlen trails possible primary challenger, Pat Toomey by double digits in a recent Quinnipiac poll. Toomey leads 41-27%.

Specter interprets the data from a different perspective:

"I think I have a big, broad base of support among Republicans," Specter said. "Republicans were for me in very solid numbers in the general [election]. But I had thought my opponent from 2004 would have had significant strength as a result of him being a prior rep. Nobody knows him."

Of course it is possible that Senator Scottish Law's perspective is skewed by the fact that his head is lodged firmly in his ass.

Obviously these poll numbers do concern him more than he will publicly acknowledge as witnessed by his recent flip-flop on Card-Check. But his opposition may only be pending the result of the Franken-Coleman debacle in Minnesota. If it looks like the Dems will get to the magic 60 number with Franken you can expect Arlen to start playing footsie with labor again since his "opposition" really won't matter. So Arlen is ready to "compromise". This quotes gives away the game:

But Specter also said he believes a compromise is still possible on the card-check legislation, noting that Democrats could also revisit the legislation once they have 60 votes.

"America may be looking at a Senate which has 60 or more Democrats, and I think that behooves Republicans and the business community to try to resolve the serious failures of the National Labor Relations Board," he said. "It's not only in labor's interest to have the NLRB functioning, but it's in business's interest or else Democrats will have 60 votes and they could steamroll it. This country relies on checks and balances, and right now the only check-and-balance we've got involves 41 seats on the right as you walk into the chamber."

The Good Senator from PA:

Proposed Senate bill would close The New York Times

Sort of. The Newspaper Revitalization Act would be a newspaper bailout that would seek to

allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible.

Assuming that the ban on political endorsements extends to the Times' news stories as well, the paper would probably end up being under 3 pages daily.

The thought that we will now have a print version of PBS or NPR doesn't seem very encouraging either. Perhaps that is why the story doesn't mention the party affiliation of the bill's sponsor, Ben Cardin (MD).

Americans doing jobs the media won't do

A great question posed to Jonah Goldberg by a reader at The Corner:

all of Europe, which has nationalized health care already, is also experiencing the current economic crisis. Why does Obama believe that bringing national health care here will in any way save us a similar economic crisis in the future? He keeps repeating that only if we get health care costs under control will we have “real” prosperity, but the countries that have already “tackled” this problem in the past were not spared their own economic meltdowns.

The Speech

Fortunately my daughter's concert spared me from watching it. I have started to read some of the transcript and , let's just say, it is a target-rich environment.

He was for it before he was against it

Arlen Specter has come out from under his rock to announce that he is against Card-Check and will not vote for cloture on the measure. Of course Senator "Not Proven" was the only Republican to vote for it when it was last introduced.

Amazing what the threat of a primary will do.

Too little; too late. Do the right thing, PA!

A photo of Specter's announcement at the press conference:

If think you're having a bad week

Meet Lucky Yamaguchi. The only man to survive not one, but two, atomic blasts.

Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on August 6, 1945, when a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city.

He suffered serious burns to his upper body and spent the night in the city.

Traumatised, he then sought the refuge of his hometown - Nagasaki.
With devastating timing, he arrived just in time for the second attack, city officials said.

El Jefe Obama...

is set to deliver another prime-time address. Okay it's really a press conference but he wants more air time and do you think any of his advisers want any non-scripted moments after the Special Olympics and "punch drunk" gaffes??

It will probably be another version of the same speech he has been giving for about a year now. So to liven things up, Americans for Tax Reform offers O-Bingo. Initially introduced at the initial February 24th press conference, it is still applicable. A sample card is shown below.



There are four cards in all so it's fun for the whole family.

And it may be the only affordable entertainment available when the inevitable tax hikes kick in.

Even the teleprompter is letting him down

President HopeNChange spoke at White House roundtable on clean energy systems. According to the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinal he praised the work of several companies in the clean energy field. One such company was Orion Energy Systems, whose President and CEO was in attendance. In fact, the President referenced the company several times. A PR coup??? Not quite.

All terrific press for Orion, except that Obama kept pronouncing the company’s name wrong, calling it OAR-ee-on.

After finishing his remarks and talking with a few people, the president returned to the microphone and said his prepared remarks led him to pronounce the firm's name wrong.

“I suspect this is Or-EYE-on as opposed to OAR-ee-on. Just wanted to make sure that when I’m giving you a plug, that we’ve got the right plug. It’s Or-EYE-on.”

Imagine the "dumb cowboy" references if this had happened a few short months ago.

Gaia thumbs nose at EPA regulations

Mt. Redoubt in Alaska erupted 5 times overnight.

Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted five times overnight, sending an ash plume more than 9 miles into the air in the volcano's first emissions in nearly 20 years. Residents in the state's largest city were spared from falling ash, though fine gray dust was falling Monday morning on small communities north of Anchorage. The ash began falling around daybreak and continued into midmorning. They were supposed to end by noon.

Alaskans were somewhat fortunate as sources say the noxious gases were at a level below a Barney Frank Banking Committee hearing.

Hardly stimulating

Forbes on how the Spendulous marginal phaseouts create disincentives to produce,

Take an example of a single mother with an adjusted gross income of $75,000. She claims the standard deduction and has one high schooler and two kids in college. Under the stimulus package, she'll have her 2009 federal income tax bill chopped to $1,465 from $7,865 thanks to two $2,500 college credits, a $400 worker's stimulus credit and a $1,000 child credit. But if she takes a second job to help pay college bills and her AGI rises to $90,000, she gets no college credits and only $100 of the worker's credit and $250 of the child credit, for a total tax bill of $11,265. That makes the tax rate on the $15,000 of extra earnings 65%--not counting the 7.65% employee share of Social Security and Medicare or any state and local income taxes.

Time for PA to retire Specter

Please, Pennsylvania, please, do the right thing. After providing the decisive vote to pass the Spendulous package Senator "not proven" now seeks to change the PA primary rules to save his sorry ass!

In recent days, Specter has quietly lobbied Republicans who control the state Senate to support a proposal that would allow independents to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. He has called individual senators and spoke before the entire caucus - on that and other subjects - earlier this week.

One senator who attended the caucus said it was tough sell.

"It was apparent that he wanted the support" of the caucus, said Sen. John H. Eichelberger, R-Blair, who supports Toomey. "I could tell from the looks in the room and the comments that were made that there wasn't much support for it."

Specter said Friday that the idea has merit.

"It would obviously help me, but beyond my own situation it would help the party," he said in a telephone interview Friday.

Yeah, because that open primary idea helped us sooooo much in '08. It gave us a candidate who delighted in sticking his thumb in the eye of his base on a regular basis. Here's a thought: let's let Republicans pick the Republican candidate.

H/T: Ace of Spades

AIG fallout not going away soon

This Wall Street Journal report. Based upon the report, Geithner's aides worked closely with AIG for months on compensation issues; including the infamous bonuses.

The extent of their involvement, which wasn't widely known, raises fresh questions about whether Mr. Geithner could have known earlier about AIG's $165 million in bonus payments. When the bonuses sparked a political firestorm last week, Mr. Geithner said he learned about their full scope in early March, just days before they were paid.

Mr. Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be grilled by Congress on Tuesday in a hearing that is likely to focus heavily on AIG. The flap has prompted lawmakers to seek curbs on an array of bonuses, tested the Obama administration and undermined Mr. Geithner's standing as he attempts to implement measures to stabilize the financial system.

Treasury officials say the department's staff kept Mr. Geithner in the dark until March 10. "Secretary Geithner, who has been actively engaged in shaping and executing the president's broad economic agenda, takes full responsibility for not being aware of these programs" before that date, Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker said Sunday in a written response to questions.

Whether Geithner knew or not we are left with the same basic question: did anybody read the damn bill?? And if not, what else is in there that we don't know about yet?

UPDATE: Rahm Emanuel's fingerprints are found at the scene as well.

"Right now, you get the feeling this is all about protecting [White House Chief of Staff] Rahm Emanuel,” says a former Treasury Department lawyer, who worked in that department's counsel's office on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) before joining a D.C.-based law firm in February. "At the time, we were led to believe there were basically three or four people from the Administration at the table when the final deals were cut and one of them was Emanuel."

Whoo-hoo!! Some good news in NJ.

Governor Corzine looks to be in serious trouble.

Over the past few years, Corzine hasn't worried much about pushback. With the election less than eight months away, he's starting to pay more attention to what fed up taxpayers are thinking. It is likely no coincidence that his change of heart about the property tax deduction came just days after a Quinnipiac Poll showed that Republican gubernatorial front-runner Chris Christie had extended his lead in a hypothetical matchup with Corzine to 9 percentage points.

Perhaps even more of a wakeup call for Corzine was his meager 4 percentage point lead over conservative Republican Steve Lonegan, even though 77 percent of New Jersey voters hadn't heard enough about Lonegan to form an opinion. And the poll was taken before Corzine's budget address, which doubtless will keep his numbers moving in the wrong direction.

Why waiting for government to solve problems is a bad idea.

You remember them right?? The blue-ribbon panel to save the economy; the 16-member Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board chaired by Fed chief Paul Volker. Well, six weeks later and they have yet to hold a public meeting.

The Politico article also indicates that President HopeNChange may be having private discussions with board members. Which is all well and good except for the fact that the left excoriated the Bush administration for not having its energy task force meetings public and promised openness and transparency.

But comments from board members and Obama himself indicate that some members of the panel are meeting, in smaller gatherings that have not been announced or opened to the public. And that raises the question of whether an administration that prides itself on openness and transparency is in fact finding it more convenient to conduct public business in private.

Now, the administration finds itself in a Catch-22: It does not want to say that the president’s economic panel, announced amid much fanfare, is not meeting during the worst economic crisis in generations. But if it is meeting, where’s the announcement, the agenda, the minutes? In short, where’s the sunshine?

Obama is quickly discovering that governing is actually quite different from campaigning.

Good thing we didn't put that dolt Palin in the White House

President Obama continues to try to make the world like us more through the sheer force of his personality. In the latest example of "smart diplomacy" he pens a letter to Jacques Chirac pledging "I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world."

For those of you, like Obama, who don't really pay attention to the French (although who in his/her right mind would?) Chirac is the former French President. The current President, Nicolas Sarkozy is less than amused.

Isn't there anyone at State who could have told him who is in office? Does he consult any staff or just execute foreign policy on a whim? Did somebody rig his teleprompter?

Can't we all just get along??

Timmy Geithner comes hat in hand to the private sector.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday that help from the private sector was critical to get toxic assets off banks' balance sheets and help resolve a credit crisis.

"Our judgment is that the best way to get through this is if we can work with the markets," Geithner said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. "We don't want the government to assume all the risk. We want the private sector to work with us."

I wouldn't hold my breath after stoking the torches and pitchforks mentality against AIG. God help them if they make any profits.

What constitutes "news" ?

The Orlando Sentinal actually covers yesterday's protest. More than 4,000 protesters will at least get the local media's attention.

Still the major media continues to ignore the "tea party" movement. Instead, they would rather cover the Democratic-stoked protests at the homes of AIG employees. This is considered "newsworthy" even only 40 protesters show up. This photo, linked at Instapundit shows the media horde outnumbers the protesters.

Based upon Obama's intent to further "regulate" the financial sector as well as the inevitable push toward national health care these tea parties will not be going away any time soon.

Transparency

Video of the press conference wherein Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (a/k/a Mrs. Doubtfire) explains the time line of events surrounding knowledge of the AIG bonus payments.

Clear as mud.

Sheriff Joe ...

could soon be riding into your town.

JIM LEHRER: In other news today, Wall Street rallied after the Federal Reserve announced sweeping new efforts to boost the housing market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained more than 90 points to close at 7,486. The Nasdaq rose 29 points to close at 1,491.

Vice President Biden had a new warning for city and county officials today: spend the federal stimulus money wisely. The officials were in Washington for a day of schooling on the $787 billion program. Biden urged them not to use it for things like swimming pools, tennis courts, or golf courses.

JOSEPH BIDEN, Vice President of the United States: Because of the rules, the president and I can't stop you from doing some things, but I'll show up in your city and say, "This was a stupid idea."

You think I'm kidding? This is the only part the president was right about: Don't mess with Joe, because I mean it. I'm serious, guys. I'm serious. I'm absolutely serious.

Listen to the audio for full comedic effect.

America at a tipping point??

Terence Corcoran wonders.

One test of whether we are witnessing the end of America is how many more times Americans put up with congressional show trials of individual business people and their employees, slandering and vilifying them for their actions and motives. And for how long will they tolerate a President who berates business and corporations as dens of crime and malfeasance? If the majority of Americans come to accept the caricatures of business as true, then America is closer to the end of its life as a global leader, as a champion of markets and individualism.

A Holiday message for Iran

President HopeNChange has prepared a videotaped message to the people of Iran recognizing the Persian New Year. While well-intentioned, this is incredibly naive. Even the Times questions the practical effect.

It wasn’t clear how many Iranians had initially seen the video, which was not aired on state television in Iran on Friday, the Associated Press reported. It was shown by satellite broadcasters from outside the country, including BBC’s Farsi language service, and was widely available on a range of news Web sites.

Some video sharing sites, such as Youtube are blocked in Iran, and many Iranian families but many Iranians don’t watch television during the first days of two-week long Nowruz holiday, which is normally filled with family gatherings or vacations away from home.

Personally, I prefer Uncle Jimbo's video message at BlackFive.

Bonus points for the Israeli Special Forces sweatshirt. A nice added touch that the mullahs should appreciate.

Spring Time !!

And it was snowing in NJ this morning.

Will anyone finally call shenanigans on the global warming crowd??

The new Velvet Elvis??

Bad paintings of our new cultural icon, Barack H. Obama.

Here's a sample:

Ugggh!

Obama gaffe prevention team...

takes preventive measures

thanks:
therightscoop.com

Obama underestimates federal deficit

By $1.6 trillion.

Any guesses as to how much health care overhaul will be underestimated by ???

Obama's gutterball

Much has already been made (at least among the Right side of the blogosphere) about Obama's Special Olympics gaffe on Leno. Yes, it was in bad taste. Yes, a Republican (particularly Bush) would have been excoriated by the press for such a reference. But it really isn't worth the attention we are giving it. The initial two months of this mis-administration have produced much more to be outraged about. As Obama would say, this is a distraction from the real issues.

As an aside, now we know why the teleprompter is so essential to Team Obama.

Charles Krauthammer eloquently sums up the financial crisis

It is time for the president to state the obvious: This recession is not caused by excessive executive compensation in government-controlled companies. The economy has been sinking because of a lack of credit, stemming from a general lack of confidence, stemming from the lack of a plan to detoxify the major lending institutions, mainly the banks, which, to paraphrase Willie Sutton, is where the money used to be.

Obama has been strangely passive about this single greatest threat to the country. In his address to Congress and his budget, he's been far more interested in his grand program for reshaping the American social contract in health care, energy and education.

Obama delegates to Geithner plans for a bailout -- and Geithner (thus far) delivers nothing. Obama delegates to Nancy Pelosi and her congressional grandees the writing of all things fiscal -- and gets a $787 billion stimulus package that is a wish list of liberal social spending, followed by a $410 billion omnibus spending bill festooned with pork and political paybacks.

Read the whole piece here.

Crossing the Rubicon

There has always been a class warfare sentiment to our progressive tax code. And surely the tax code has been used as a social engineering tool to reward politically favored behavior while punishing what has been deemed unacceptable. But today's House vote authorizing a confiscatory, ex post facto tax on the AIG bonuses may mark a point of no return.

The vote openly embraces the concept that it is justifiable to use taxes solely as punishment and to do so in a very discriminating manner. As Congress passes out the metaphorical torches and pitchforks, Obama takes to the airwaves to stoke the flames of resentment. And very few seem to care since they are only going after the "bad" rich.

But once the genie is out of the bottle it can't be returned. Soon it will not be just the "bad" rich but others whose wealth is deemed excessive. Remember, the current federal income tax started as a tax on only the top 1% of wage earners. Barney Frank has openly stated that he sees no reason that compensation limits cannot be extended to companies not receiving bailout funds.
Eventually this extends to people who act "bad" in other ways. Look at the coordinated attacks against Rush Limbaugh and Joe the Plumber. Freedom and individual liberty fall by the wayside.

I only hope we don't proceed much further down this path.

House tramples Constitution

Passes bill of attainder. Article I Section 9 of the Constitution reads: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

From techlawjournal.com :

"The Bill of Attainder Clause was intended not as a narrow, technical (and therefore soon to be outmoded) prohibition, but rather as an implementation of the separation of powers, a general safeguard against legislative exercise of the judicial function or more simply - trial by legislature." U.S. v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 440 (1965).

"These clauses of the Constitution are not of the broad, general nature of the Due Process Clause, but refer to rather precise legal terms which had a meaning under English law at the time the Constitution was adopted. A bill of attainder was a legislative act that singled out one or more persons and imposed punishment on them, without benefit of trial. Such actions were regarded as odious by the framers of the Constitution because it was the traditional role of a court, judging an individual case, to impose punishment." William H. Rehnquist, The Supreme Court, page 166.

"Bills of attainder, ex post facto laws, and laws impairing the obligations of contracts, are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation. ... The sober people of America are weary of the fluctuating policy which has directed the public councils. They have seen with regret and indignation that sudden changes and legislative interferences, in cases affecting personal rights, become jobs in the hands of enterprising and influential speculators, and snares to the more-industrious and less-informed part of the community." James Madison, Federalist Number 44, 1788.

Only government can help??

The government, deciding that home ownership was desirable, even for those who couldn't really afford it, pushed lenders to make risky loans (I know, I know, Wall St. is not completely innocent but I am making a broader point). Then, not content with fueling an economic meltdown, decided it had to "do something".

Naturally, this "something" was akin to throwing gasoline on the fire in the form of 10, 11 and 12-figure bailouts. This was naturally followed by a pent-up liberal spending spree in excess of $700 billion in the guise of a stimulus package. This government intervention was necessary, we were told, as we stood on the brink of an economic apocalypse. Almighty Obama himself told us so. And he also told us that only government could save us. And it had to be now!!! There was not a moment to lose!! No time to consider whether trillions in spending was wise in general or was even being wisely spent. Trust Him.

So now we have a stimulus bill, with a provision specifically put in at the request of Obama's Treasury Department, guaranteeing the AIG bonuses which have caused such a stir. The administration says they weren't aware. After initially lying, Chris Dodd admits he added the provision... but at the administration's request. Who's lying?? Who cares - the point is that our government doesn't know what it is doing.

Oblivious to the fact that some of the chaos is the result of ramming through bills without consideration, debate or even taking time to read the proposed legislation, "something" must be done to remedy this last public relations debacle. Somebody must be punished. It can't be government so now the AIG bonus recipients are thrown to the wolves.

In doing something the House has decided to ignore the Constitution and pass a 90% tax on some of the recipients. The Senate will likely follow suit and Obama has already endorsed the idea.

So now some AIG execs are now going to take it in the neck for the sins of Congress. While government continues to try to "fix" the economy and punish greed, just remember the real culprits -- government's fingerprints are found at every stage of this farce.

Fighting Terrorism by re-classification

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explains in this Spiegel interview.

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

Feeling safer ???

Stimulus ????

As unemployment increases, Speaker Granny McBotox promises to protect the rights of illegal immigrants to work in the US. Fox News has the video here.

To further throw gasoline on the fire, she calls enforcement of immigration laws "un-American".

Remember when we were told that it was out of bounds to question the patriotism of those who disagreed. That was back in the unenlightened times before the Obama coronation.

Another AIG question

Will Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and John McCain give back the money they received from AIG ??

A list of all recipients of AIG contributions in the 2008 election cycle can be found here.

Up next, Fannie Mae retention bonuses

Up to $611k for 4 execs. Wonder if this will create the same uproar. Barney Frank, call your office.

In the midst of the ongoing AIG brouhaha...

has anyone stopped to think that these are the same ass-clowns who will soon be managing your health-care??

Here's a thought -- read the damn bill !!!

First, an under-reported story from last week outlined how a provision in the Omnibus spending bill known as the Dickey-Wicker amendment prohibits federally funded researchers from creating their own embryonic stem cell lines. This has now been enacted into law when Obama signed the bill. Regardless of your position on stem cell research, the conflict between Obama's reversal of Bush's executive order and his enacting of the Dickey-Wicker amendment into law looks like amateur hour.

Now we learn that the stimulus bill specifically protected the AIG bonuses that have stirred faux outrage on Capitol Hill. However, nobody seems to know how that amendment got into the bill. And despite assurance from the White House that they would be able to account for every penny, there now comes a denial of any knowledge of such a provision prior to this weekend.

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest ... read the bill and you might know what's in it. Or maybe that's the problem; and why the White House is trying to ram its agenda through before people can figure it out.

Separated at birth???

Thanks to Laura Ingraham for pointing out this disturbing similarity.

UPDATE: Reader Lazy Libertarian notes that Robin Williams has not been seen publicly since Obama took office -- maybe there is something to this. Hmmmm???

Revolt of the teleprompter: Obama thanks Obama for coming

"Smart diplomacy" in action. Another embarrassing gaffe for President Teleprompter. In an appearance with Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, the order of their speeches got out of sync. Cowen realized the speech he was giving sounded very familiar and promptly stopped when he realized that it was the exact speech that Obama had just given.

A laughing Mr Obama returned to the podium to take over but it seems the script had finally been switched and the US president ended up thanking himself for inviting everyone to the party.

In fairness to Obama, this is probably a teleprompter he inherited from the prior administration so the origins of this error did not occur on his watch.

While this is really small potatoes in the realm of diplomacy, it does follow notably stiffing the Brits, snubbing Brazil and botching a lame "re-set" button joke with the Russians by failing to simply check the translation of ONE word and much more seriously, throwing the Czechs and Poles under the bus. But I guess this "smart" diplomacy beats a "dumb cowboy" every time.

President Bipartisanship calls oppononents a "cabal" -- media yawns

Okay. It wasn't the President Teleprompter but his flunky Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs. Still, no rebuke from The Obama -- nor from the media.

Question: "One quick followup: Former Vice President Cheney was on State of the Union yesterday. He had a lot -- a lot of criticism of this White House.

"To boil it down, on national security, he said the president's policies were making the country less safe. And on the economy, he was charging that the president is taking advantage of the financial crisis to vastly expand the government in all kinds of ways -- health, education, energy.

"How do you respond to those kind of allegations from the former vice president?"

Gibbs: "Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy ... so they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.

"I would say that the president has made quite clear that keeping the American people safe and secure is the job -- is the most serious job that he has each and every day. I think the president saw over the past seven plus years the delay in bringing the very people to justice that committed terrorist acts on this soil and on foreign soil.

"That delay in seeking swift and certain justice was what he decided to change through his executive order in changing the legal architecture by which these terrorists would finally be brought to justice.

"I think the American people will in this administration see those actors brought to the swift and certain justice that was not brought to them in the previous administration."

That reach across the aisle is making me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Dem Senate reaches for "nuclear" option

Remember when Republicans threatened to abolish the filibuster to presidential nominations. The press continuously referred to this as the "nuclear option". Not only was this unfair by changing the rules but it was so unthinkable that it was the equivalent of a nuclear first-strike.

That was then, in the Dark Ages, pre-Obama. Dutifully, the media defended the filibuster as a critical legislative tool in preserving democracy. A March 29, 2009 NY Times editorial captures this position. It even laughably goes as far as to lament their prior editorial opposition to the filibuster during the Clinton years.

Well now the Obama administration has decided that the filibuster is just too much of an inconvenience to Dear Leader's agenda. So the filibuster is on its way out. And not just for presidential appointments; but also for legislation.

Here is the easiest way to sum up the media's position:
* Republicans in charge: Filibuster = important legislative tool of the loyal
opposition in the protection of democracy

* Democrats in charge: Filibuster = Republican obstructionism

Obama prohibits armed pilots

The Obama has determined that it is no longer permissible for pilots to be armed inside the cockpit. This Washington Times editorial suggests that the reason is that Obama is an ideologue. This seems right.

First, as the editorial notes, this was done secretively. Clearly the administration believes the public would disagree with this decision on the merits.

Second, there is no rationalization for this policy. If the pilot can't be trusted than he shouldn't be in control of the damn plane in the first place. The Times is right; this is naked ideology.

We always knew deep down that Obama was a gun-grabber. Just never thought he would reach into the cockpit.

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play ??

Tim Geithner testified before the Senate Budget Committee that the Obama budget is "not a significant growth in the overall size of government".

GEITHNER: Now, you've said several times this is a dramatic expansion in the size of the government relative to the economy. Now, again, if you take out interest costs, and you take out the modest increase forced by aging of the baby boom, this is a change in priorities for the country, but it's not a significant growth in the overall size of the government to GDP.
(emphasis mine)

Michael G. Franc explains the idiocy of this statement in this post from NRO's The Corner.

Restated, if we just pay no attention to that $80 trillion-plus Baby Boom entitlement liability over there behind the curtain, and ignore a budget line-item ("net interest" on the debt) that triples between now and 2013 (from $139 billion to $434 billion), and then doubles again by 2019 (to $622 billion), then we are on a sound fiscal course.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

from The Leprechaun Brothers!!!

AIG pays contractually obligated bonuses - hilarity ensues

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth yesterday following AIG's disbursement of retention bonuses yesterday. And while there may be an argument that AIG has a politically tone-deaf ear, much of the government's consternation appears to be selective. Bear in mind that these in question amount to $165 million (or just less than 0.1% of the $170 billion the company has received from the feds).

As Barney Frank and President Teleprompter rail about corporate greed, there is little mention that Goldman Sachs and European banks received over $90 billion of the bailout funds as noted in this Reuters' article.

Nor do they seem to care that the bonuses were contractually mandated. Now the administration takes the position that they will do everything possible under the law to recoup that cash. Funny how the UAW contracts are sacrosanct and re-structuring those contracts can not even be considered as a viable alternative as GM slowly circles the drain.

But what is most hilarious is that these are protected by provisions, so reviled by the Democrats, were written into the stimulus bill by Chris Dodd (who also just happens to be the single largest beneficiary of political contributions from AIG). And, of course, this was signed into law by The Obama.

As noted in this FOXBusiness piece:

While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. That amendment provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” -- which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax.

Finally, it should also be noted that none of these bonuses are even a surprise. To the contrary, Jim VandeHei outlines:

AIG disclosed its retention-bonus program more than a year ago, including bonuses directed to those handling the exotic derivatives that got the company and the country into this mess.

The bonuses were essentially a nonissue when AIG got its initial bailout money, almost $150 billion under President Bush in the two months surrounding the presidential election. Joe Biden, then the vice presidential nominee, came out strongly against the bailout. Obama did not.

Timothy Geithner, then at the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, was a huge proponent and architect of the AIG bailout. So if Obama had strong private opposition to the idea it did not affect his pick for the person who would oversee all bailouts.

The bonuses were again a nonissue when Obama himself increased the bailout to $173 billion last month.

Good thing team Obama is on top of things.

Obama seeks to have private insurance pay for wounded vets.

This is simply disgraceful. After doling out billions of dollars to unsustainable failing entities, the administration is now looking to save about $540 million by forcing private insurance companies to pay for the care and treatment of veterans suffering service-related injuries and disabilities.

The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

First, this is reprehensible as a matter of principle. These service-related injuries were the result of these heroes answering our nation's call to arms; not the call of private insurance companies. As such the government should at least be morally obligated to treat the injuries that result.

Second, for an administration that consistently championed making health care more affordable, this action will only skew the costs of private insurance upward (unless that is the underlying motive after all) as the insurance companies will incur great costs for risks their policies were never priced to cover. Also, as mentioned in the linked article, there is the possibility that certain injuries could quickly exhaust a veteran's insurance coverage leaving the rest of his/her family without health insurance.

Third, this will make it very difficult for injured vets to find private employment after their service, as private employers would likely face elevated premiums.

Shameful!!!

Time to play -- Guess the Party

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that a powerful state Senator, Vincent Fumo, has been found guilty on 137 counts of defrauding taxpayers, defrauding his own non-profit and obstruction of justice. No mention of Fumo's party affiliation mentioned. I'll give you a hint: it starts with a "D".

NY Daily News: Obama's a moron

Michael Goodwin at the Daily News comes up with a novel theory to explain the floundering of the Obama administration -- he just isn't competent. This is in stark contrast to Frank J.'s theory that Obama's awesomeness is just beyond our comprehension.

Which brings us to the heart of the matter: the doubts about Obama himself. His famous eloquence is wearing thin through daily exposure and because his actions are often disconnected from his words. His lack of administrative experience is showing.

His promises and policies contradict each other often enough that evidence of hypocrisy is ceasing to be news. Remember the pledges about bipartisanship and high ethics? They're so last year.

The beat goes on. Last week, Obama brazenly gave a speech about earmark reform just after he quietly signed a $410 billion spending bill that had about 9,000 earmarks in it. He denounced Bush's habit of disregarding pieces of laws he didn't like, so-called signing statements, then issued one himself.

And in an absolute jaw-dropper, he told business leaders, "I don't like the idea of spending more government money, nor am I interested in expanding government's role."

No wonder Americans are confused. Our President is, too.

Obama set to tax health care benefits ???

Swell!!

Candidate Obama:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama hammered John McCain on the issue of taxes today, while speaking in Dover, NH. Obama specifically pointed out that McCain’s healthcare plan would tax workers’ health insurance benefits. “And I can make a firm pledge: under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase – not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. My opponent can’t make that pledge, and here’s why: for the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits Apparently, Senator McCain doesn’t think it’s enough that your health premiums have doubled, he thinks you should have to pay taxes on them too. That’s a $3.6 trillion tax increase on middle class families. That will eventually leave tens of millions of you paying higher taxes. That’s his idea of change,” Obama said.

President Hope N. Change:

The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.

Of course, the Obama proposal to tax health benefits omits the nifty little $5,000 tax credit that the McCain plan included which would end up as a net tax cut for most individuals.

As Jim Geraghty would say, "All Obama campaign promises come with an expiration date -- all of them!"

Obama's flaw discovered by Frank J.

He's just too awesome:

Just look at the British reaction to Obama’s meeting with Gordon Brown. They seem to think their prime minister was snubbed by not getting the special reception they had become accustomed to when the troglodyte Bush was dictator. Many British reporters were also angry how Obama seemed hesitant to answer many questions. Such nonsense shows that the British are still stuck in pre-Obama thinking. Of course the unrefined Bush would make a big deal of meeting foreign leaders; to that simpleton, it must have been like being visited by advanced aliens. It would be silly for Obama, though, to act like it is an honor to meet with other countries’ non-Obama leaders, or for him to hold the pretense that speaking with them would give him knowledge he did not already possess. He is Obama; the British should not worry if Obama is listening, because he already understands their needs better than they do. As for the British press, they must learn to be more like the American press, which already knows there is no reason to question Obama. Obama is aware of what we need to know and when we need to know it, so there is no reason for the formality of questions. We simply must sit and wait for his wisdom, but the British have yet to come to that understanding. Also, it wouldn’t hurt if in the future they brought offerings of gold and silver.

Click here to read the whole article.

Bill Clinton has no idea what an embryo is

From Clinton's interview with Sanjay Gupta (another Obama appointee flame-out) discussing stem cells:

GUPTA: Let's talk about something you talked a lot about in the early part of your presidency, stem cells. There was an order today providing federal money for embryonic stem cell research. First of all, let me just ask you, as someone who studied this, is this going to always be as divisive an issue as it is now? Is this going to be the abortion of the next generation? Or are people going to come around?

CLINTON: I think -- the answer is I think that we'll work it through. If -- particularly if it's done right. If it's obvious that we're not taking embryos that can -- that under any conceivable scenario would be used for a process that would allow them to be fertilized and become little babies, and I think if it's obvious that we're not talking about some science fiction cloning of human beings, then I think the American people will support this.

GUPTA: Any reservations?

CLINTON: I don't know that I have any reservations, but I was -- he has apparently decided to leave to the relevant professional committees the definition of which frozen embryos are basically going to be discarded, because they're not going to be fertilized. I believe the American people believe it's a pro-life decision to use an embryo that's frozen and never going to be fertilized for embryonic stem cell research, especially since now, not withstanding some promising developments, most of the scientists in this field and the doctors will tell you they don't know of any other source as good as embryonic stem cells for all the various things that need to be researched

The video is posted here.

Can Clinton really be too ignorant to understand what an embryo is?? Then again he did have a hard time understanding the definitions of "sexual relations" and "is".

"Sheriff" Joe gets one right

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Remember when Biden said Obama would be tested?? Well, Russian Strategic Bombers could soon be operating out of Cuba. And Chavez would like to play host as well. Based on the performance of the last 2 months is there anyone out there feeling exceptionally confident???

Gaia hates Al Gore

Global hurricane activity reaches thirty year lows.

Gore, in part of his introduction to An Inconvenient Truth:

The voluminous evidence now strongly suggests that unless we act boldly and quickly to deal with the underlying causes of global warming, our world will undergo a string of terrible catastrophes, including more and stronger storms like Hurricane Katrina, in both the Atlantic and the Pacific.

But Gore says the science is "settled" so there is no need for current debate. Perhaps to counter this inconvenient truth, the argument will now be that this drop is indicative of climate "change".

A new holiday???

March 14th will now be Steak & BJ Day-- sort of a Valentine for men. Let's hope this catches on.

Urkelbama!!

This was just too funny that I had to steal it. Thanks to Ace of Spades and Ace's reader RobG.

Another withdrawn nominee at Treasury

I know I am late to this party. But still no word as to why. And some are beginning to question why the media isn't interested in "why". Scandal fatigue already??

Personally, I am hoping it's hookers. Makes a much better story than tax evasion. Face it, the Spitzer story was much more interesting than Ron Kirk.

Travelling for work until the weekend

Accordingly posting will be sporadic, if at all, until then.

Chas Freeman underscores why he is unfit for NIC

Chas Freeman requested that his name be withdrawn from consideration to chair the National Intelligence Counsel.

But not before putting out a statement on his departure. Here's a taste:

The libels on me and their easily traceable email trails show conclusively that there is a powerful lobby determined to prevent any view other than its own from being aired, still less to factor in American understanding of trends and events in the Middle East. The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth. The aim of this Lobby is control of the policy process through the exercise of a veto over the appointment of people who dispute the wisdom of its views, the substitution of political correctness for analysis, and the exclusion of any and all options for decision by Americans and our government other than those that it favors.

There is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government - in this case, the government of Israel. I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten the existence of the state of Israel. It is not permitted for anyone in the United States to say so. This is not just a tragedy for Israelis and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.

(Emphasis mine)

Translation: It was the JEWS!!!!

Thanks again, Arlen

Votes "yes" on cloture to help pass $410 billion appropriations bill. Of course so did my Senators, Menendez and Lautenberg but they're Dems. And even Menendez, was less of a sure thing than Specter.


After reaching into our pockets for over $1 trillion in the last few months, he could have at least bought me dinner first.


Where the hell is his "not proven" vote when you need it ???


C'mon PA!!

Arlen Specter is a coward

Specter looked at Obama's approval ratings and dutifully fell into line on the spendulus bill. Now Senator "not proven" is feeling the heat for that vote. His poll numbers in PA are tanking; among Republicans.

To counter this we are now treated to tall tales of brave, brave Sir Arlen. First we hear that many other Republicans wanted to vote yes on the package but who lacked our hero's intestinal fortitude. That hasn't worked so now we are being told that the situation is far more dangerous then our itty-bitty brains can comprehend as we are on the verge of a depression. Hey Arlen, if there is some information out there that you haven't shared, now might be the time. Or do we not have the right to know ??

There have been rumblings that Specter will face a primary opponent next year. Possibly Pat Toomey. My plea to Pennsylvania's GOP: do the right thing and retire this ass-hat!! Even if the GOP nominee loses in the general election at least you'll have a real Democrat instead of a poseur.

Pelosi Airlines

Granny McBotox has her panties in a wad because the Air Force isn't always able to always supply her with the military aircraft she so desires.

Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents from a Freedom of Information request, said the correspondence shows Pelosi has abused the system in place to accommodate congressional leaders and treated the Air Force as her "personal airline."

And corporate execs are bad guys for using jets they, like, own.

North Korean election results are in !!!

Kim Jong Il wins re-election with unanimous vote of parliament.

In other headline news:

* Sun Rises in East
* Joe Biden's Hair Plugs Tickle Brain
* Mumia Abu Jamal is Guilty

Bonus Question:

What childhood TV star does Kim Jong Il most resemble:

Answer

The DNC's anti-Rush billboard

This Chicago Tribune article notes that the DNC is seeking potential slogans for billboard in Rush Limbaugh's hometown of West Palm Beach, FL. Yet there is a noticeable absence of criticism in the mainstream media of the White House organizing a campaign against a private citizen.

Can you imagine the media sitting idly by while a Bush-led White House organized a media campaign against Michael Moore??? Yeah, me neither.


UPDATE:
David Freddoso at National Review on the utter lameness of suggestions offered.

Obama to NY Times: I am not a socialist because Bush did it too!!!

Breitbart has the audio of Obama's call to the Times explaining that he is not really a socialist. You see, he can't be a socialist because the evil Chimpy BushHitler did it too.

I did think it might be useful to point out that it wasn't under me that we started buying a bunch of shares of banks. It wasn't on my watch. And it wasn't on my watch that we passed a massive new entitlement -– the prescription drug plan -- without a source of funding. And so I think it's important just to note when you start hearing folks throw these words around that we've actually been operating in a way that has been entirely consistent with free-market principles and that some of the same folks who are throwing the word 'socialist' around can't say the same." [...]

Well, I just think it's clear by the time we got here, there already had been an enormous infusion of taxpayer money into the financial system. And the thing I constantly try to emphasize to people if that coming in, the market was doing fine, nobody would be happier than me to stay out of it. I have more than enough to do without having to worry the financial system. The fact that we've had to take these extraordinary measures and intervene is not an indication of my ideological preference, but an indication of the degree to which lax regulation and extravagant risk taking has precipitated a crisis.

But I thought we were told that the mess we were in was because of all the deregulation and free-market capitalism run amok. Obama is indeed the poster child of glaring inconsistencies.

Obama's troop withdrawl deception

Gateway Pundit demonstrates how the current troop reduction in Iraq is actually based upon General Petraeus' 2007 plan.

Also,Greyhawk, at The Mudville Gazette, calls shenanigans on Obama's announcement that a brigade headed for Iraq would instead be sent to Afghanistan as part of the draw down. Seems another brigade is quietly being sent to Iraq to replace the Afghan bound troops; i.e. the force level in Iraq remains the same.

Change you can believe in!!!

Not sure if this is real ...

but the cologne for the truly adventurous man:










I would strongly recommend caution with this one:

Remember what always happens to the red-shirted guys!!

My personal preference:












60% of the time it works, every time." -- Brian Fantana

Dow 6000??

And the downward spiral continues...

Obama a leftist???

Clive Crook at Financial Times has the scoop that Obama might really be a genuine leftist after all. Well who woulda thunk it? The signs have always been there. But apparently they were not enough for David Brooks, Christopher Buckley and the Obamicans who were convinced he was moderate.

So who did notice ??? As Peter Robinson notes in Forbes :

The elite journalists, I repeat, got Obama wrong. The troglodytes got him right. As our national drama continues to unfold, bear that in mind.

Has buyer's remorse begun to develop? Probably not yet as many are heavily invested in The One. Warren Buffett seems to be having some scond thoughts here and here.

UPDATE: Jim Cramer piles on.