Obama Says, "Jump"

The Democrats, who have not yet stopped campaigning against George W. Bush, loved to characterize his administration, as well as the leadership of the Republican controlled Congress, as weighing too heavily on the side of corporate welfare. Yet the so called 'corporate welfare' doled out under the Republicans is far overshadowed by the massive corporate bailouts which the Democrats have approved.


Hypocritical? Certainly! But it's much more than that. The devil, as they say, is in the details. Under the Republicans, 'corporate welfare', more often than not, took the form of tax breaks. Where is the advantage in that? Democrats much prefer to tax the crap out of corporations, and then, offer the money back to them with stings attached. This current economic downturn has presented the Democrats with the opportunity to do just that; ad nauseum.


The latest example of this totalitarian practice has been reported by Mike Allen at Politico. Having already received $18 billion in bailout money, GM finds itself in a position of having to asking for more. Operating much like organizations which have been prosecuted under RICO statutes, Comrade Obama has given GM CEO Rick Wagoner an offer which he couldn't refuse.

Wagoner's departure is one of the remarkable strings attached to a new aid package the administration plans to offer GM.

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government's behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

On Monday, President Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler.

Industry sources had said the White House planned very tough medicine, which turned out to be an understatement. And it went to the very top. The measures to be imposed by the government will have a dramatic effect on workers, unions, suppliers, retirees and the communities where plants are located, the sources said.

Government money always comes with government strings attached. Between the confiscatory taxes and the totalitarian strings attached to government assistance, there has never been a better reason for Atlas to shrug.

The Disapproval of Comrade Obama is Growing

If one goes is a frequent visitor to the Real Clear Politics website, one might wonder how it is that Obama is maintaining a sizeable approval rating even while there is so much public outcry against all that he is doing. There have been hundreds of 'tea party' protests all across the country, and more being planned all the time. Yet, Obama's approval numbers remain above 50%.

Contrary to the impression which one might gather from the lack of media coverage of the 'tea parties', they are not going to be a short lived occurrence, nor are the grievances of the attendees trivial. They accuse Obama and the Democratically controlled Congress of;

- voting for a $750 billion spending bill without even reading it.
- spending trillions of borrowed dollars, which is rapidly debauching our currency, will lead to run away inflation, and leave a debt (est. $12.5 trillion by 2019) that our grand-children will be shackled with.
- consistently giving special interest groups billions of dollars in earmarks to help get themselves re-elected?
- refusing to utilize the ample energy resources of the U.S. to achieve energy independence.
- wanting to take the wealth from those who have earned it and redistribute it to those who did not.
- punishing those who practice responsible financial behavior and reward those who do not?
- using the financial hurt of millions as an opportunity to push their political agenda?
- running up trillions of dollars of debt and then sell that debt to countries such as China?
- wanting to establish government-controlled health care which is debilitatingly expensive and has been a colossal failure everywhere it has been tried.
- wanting to take away the right to vote with a secret ballot in union elections.
- refusing to stop the flow of millions of illegal immigrants into our country and adequately defend our borders.
- appointing a defender of child pornography to the No. 2 position in the Justice Dept.

Not surprisingly, the main stream media is not showing the big picture. While it is true that Comrade Obama's approval numbers, though they are dropping, still remain high, his negatives are rising rapidly. The number of people who disapprove of the job that Obama is doing has risen from 30% on Inauguration Day, to 43% today.

At Rasmussen Reports both the approval numbers and the disapproval numbers are taken into consideration to arrive at an approval index figure. It is calculated by subtracting the percentage of those strongly disapprove from those who strongly approve. The tracking of the index numbers show that Obama's Approval Index has declined from +28 on Inauguration Day, to just +4 today. At this rate of decline, Obama's Approval Index will likely be in the negative before April 30th; Comrade Obama's 100th day in office.

Dodd Amendment Mystery Solved

The Dodd Amendment in the 'Porkulus bill', which included a date based exemption that allowed AIG to honor it's contractual agreements to pay it's employees $165 million in bonuses, was included, supposedly, to ensure that the previsions were constitutional. Now it seems that there may have been more to it than that.

Senator Dodd said this about the date based exemption;

"I did not want to make any changes to my original Senate-passed amendment but I did so at the request of Administration officials, who gave us no indication that this was in any way related to AIG."

The White House is insisting that there were no specific changes or language suggested by anyone at Treasury. As usual, there is a lot of finger pointing back and forth. It seems now, however, that both Obama and Dodd may have had good reasons for making the date based exceptions.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Dodd has recieved $280,000 worth of campaign contributions from AIG since 1990. Comrade Obama has recieved over $100,000, according to Open Secrets.org.

Can you say 'quid pro quo'?

MRC Honors Brit Hume

Last night Brit Hume was honored by the Media Research Center with the William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence. He is only the third recipient of this prestigious award. The late Tony Snow was the recipient of the 2008 WFB Award. The first recipient was, of course, the host of the Excellence in Broadcasting Network, Rush Limbaugh in 2007. The award was presented by MRC President Brent Bozell.

Presenter



Recipient



Brit left Fox News just after the November elections for simi-retirement. At my house, if the television is on, it is generally tuned to the Fox News Channel. Tony Snow and Brit Hume at two of the best reasons that I got into that habit. I miss them both.

Obama Mask Banned by School Officials

Portlands Llewellyn Elementary School Principal Steve Powell Banned an 11yr old fifth grader from wearing an Obama mask in an elementary school talent show. The student, Dru Lechert-Kelly is an admirer of Comrade Obama and practiced for weeks dancing to a popular YouTube song that features an Obama look-alike dancing to a parody called "I Can Do Whatever I Like."


Following a rehearsal for the annual talent show, teachers expressed their concerns that the mask might be inappropriate and potentially offensive even though the mask was similar to one which Comrade Obama himself wore in a "Saturday Night Live" skit.

Local school says no to Obama act

When asked by the Oregonian to explain what was offensive about Dru's skit, Principle Powell gave this arguably childish response;

"I won't say why it's inappropriate," he said. "I'm not saying anything to The Oregonian. Why? Because I don't want to."

One can just imagine him sticking his thumbs in his ears with fingers spread outward, sticking out his tongue, and saying, "Mmnnaaahh, ... so there!"

One has to wonder if Dru had decided to perform the skit as Jesus wearing an Obama mask would have been acceptable.

Americans Will Not Be Standing Alone

Oath Keepers-Guardians of the Republic is a webblog devoted to reminding current militatry members, vets, and members of law enforcement that their oath is to the Constitution of the United States, not to the politicians.



Oath Keepers mission statement reads;

Oath Keepers is an association of currently serving military, veterans, and peace officers who will fulfill the oath we swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God.

Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law and deprive them of their ancient right to jury trial.

We Oath Keepers have drawn a line in the sand. We will not “just follow orders."
Our motto is “Not on our watch!”

If you, the American people, are forced to once again fight for your liberty in another American Revolution, you will not be alone. We will stand with you.

There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order the President issues. But you can rest assured that many others in the military do understand that their loyalty is to the Constitution, and understand what that means.

The mission of Oath Keepers is to vastly increase their numbers. We are in a battle for the hearts and minds of our own troops. To win that battle, Oath Keepers will use written and video testimony of active duty military, veterans (especially combat vets), and peace officers to reach, teach, and inspire our brothers in arms in the military and police to fulfill their oaths and stand as guardians of the Republic.

If you are currently in the military, are a veteran, or are a peace officer, please submit your written and/or video testimony on your oath, so you can help us win that battle for hearts and minds. Your submission may be anonymous.

Guardians of the Republic, fulfill your oath. Join us.

This is what real patriotism is all about, standing up for what is right. Thank God that, thanks to these patriots, Americans will not be standing alone.

Andrea Mitchell Courageously Caves

In an interview today with Rep. Barney Frank, Andrea Mitchell accepted the blame, evidently on behalf of the media at large, for holding up Comrade Obama's cabinet appointments.



Many of George Bush's appointees waited the better part of eight long years for Senate confirmations which never came. Can you imagine any reporter, on any station, including Fox news caving to similar charges leveled by a Republican? It would not have happened!

After this unseemly display of abject cowardice, could any thinking person possibly believe that the mainstream press is unbiased.

Democratic Arrogance

The following video is from HotAir.com. Jason Mattera, a correspondent for HotAir.com, went to Capital Hill to confront Charlie Rangel about his unethical conduct as a representative in Congress.



Speaker Nancy Pelosi proclaimed that hers would be "the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history." Whenever a Democrat says something like this, it is your first clue that the opposite is going to be the case. Bill Clinton promised as President that his would be the "most ethical administration in the history of the country.” It was not even close. See here and here. Pelosi's Congress is shaping up in the same way. Heading the list of Pelosi's Corruptocrat Congress is Charlie Rangel.

Our intrepid Hot Air TV special correspondent Jason Mattera is back on Capitol Hill! You’ve watched him corner smear merchants Jack Murtha and John Kerry, ask William “Cold Cash” Jefferson for bribe-freezing tips, and roam the Democrat National Convention in an orange Gitmo suit exposing far Left insanity. This time he catches tax cheat Charlie Rangel and confronts him about his mounting ethical and financial scandals.

Charlie Rangel’s message for Jason - and for all you bothersome taxpayers wondering about his shady rental property deals, publicly-subsidized Cadillac, and unpaid taxes:

“Why don’t you mind your goddamned business."

Remember us Mr. Rangel, we the people! You work for us! You are accountable to us! Mind your goddamned business! Mind your goddamned business! It is our business!

In a related story, here is another Democrat who thinks he is not accountable to the people.

A Stark Look at Obama's Plan

This article from Star Parker is a must read. I will not bother commenting on it. It speaks for itself.




We're Moving Back To Uncle Sam's Plantation

By Star Parker
February 9, 2009

Six years ago, I wrote a book called "Uncle Sam's Plantation." I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.

I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas. A poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.

I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training(JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing and Food Stamps.

A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty. A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others. The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools and broken black families.

Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.

I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Democrat president. A few years after enactment, welfare roles were down 50 percent. I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.

Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.

Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."
Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.

There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.

In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short-term economic stimulus.

"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."

Perhaps more incredibly, Mr. Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."

Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation and the Department of Education.

Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which, President Johnson said, "... does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."

Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out of wedlock births.

It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.

Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?

Michael Steele Calls Limbaugh Show 'Incendiary' and 'Ugly'

When I first heard that Michael Steele would be leading the RNC as it's Chairman, I had high hopes. Those hopes have been diminished of late. Mr. Steele admits that the Republican Party has not been true to conservative principles and that the party needs to return to it's roots. He has articulately expressed his view that the party has lost the trust of it's conservative base in recent years. However, in a couple of media interviews I have seen, Steele seems to be clueless about how he plans to regain that trust. Michael Steele's lack of a comprehensive plan to return the Republican Party to basic conservative values and principles is very troubling.

Now there is this interview on CNN's DL Hughley Breaks the News from Saturday.






So, instead of getting back to basics, Mr. Steele has apparently chosen to criticize those who never left them. What was he thinking? To whom was he trying to curry favor with these remarks? The only thing which these remarks accomplished was to provide fodder to the White House and the Huffington Post. If Mr. Steele is firmly committed to the cause of conservatism, then I would think that he would consider Rush Limbaugh a valuable ally in the fight against Liberalism. He clearly does not.



Mr. Steele offered an explanation of these remarks which where nothing less than 'craptacular';

“I went back at that tape and I realized words that I said weren’t what I was thinking,” Steele said. "It was one of those things where I thinking I was saying one thing, and it came out differently. What I was trying to say was a lot of people … want to make Rush the scapegoat, the bogeyman, and he’s not."

Rush Limbaugh responded to Steele's remarks on his radio show.







Mr. Steele needs come to grips with a few realities. First, neo-conservatism has proven to be a loser for the Republican Party and needs to be wholly abandoned. Second, if the Republican Party wants to ever again be in a position to set the national agenda, they are going to have to truly embrace core conservative principles and values and boldly, poignantly, and authoritatively articulate them. And, third, if the Republican Party fails to regain the trust of America's conservatives, they have an alternative. There is a party which has consistently remained faithful the conservative values and principles for many years, the Libertarian Party. This is an alternative which I am seriously considering.

Does Obama Know Any Honest People?

On Feb. 19, Comrade Obama created by executive order yet another new executive office, the White House Office of Urban Affairs, and named Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr. as the 'Urban Czar'. The new Czar will be tasked to guide, coordinate and oversee funding of all urban affairs policies and programs. As Bronx Borough President, Adolfo Carrion is no stranger to these duties, and the kickbacks that come with them.

New York Daily News reports that Adolfo Carrion has a long history of taking money from Bronx developers.

"The man who is President Obama's newly minted urban czar pocketed thousands of dollars in campaign cash from city developers whose projects he approved or funded with taxpayers' money, a Daily News probe found.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion often received contributions just before or after he sponsored money for projects or approved important zoning changes, records show."

It is not known at this date whether or not Mr. Carrion has ever cheated on his taxes.