The Right Stuff - 3/9/2009
By Don O'Nesky | 03/08/09 | 06:22 AM EDT | 0 Comments
Notice The Difference In Marines Response To Bush Vs Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHz5tevLAw&eurl=
Is There Still Hope
I doubt it. What I'm talking about is the omnibus bill laden with 9,000 pork projects and government handouts. But there is buzz around Washington that the bill may not be as secure as some Democrats may have hoped. Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez says that Republicans are within "striking distance" of bringing down the omnibus bill. Remember that the Democrats in the Senate need every vote, but Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold (both Democrats) have now said that they are going to vote against it. Hmm I wonder if they are up for re-election soon? But Democrats Ben Nelson and Bill Nelson are undecided at this point. In other words .. support is slipping. Wouldn't a filibuster be a wonderful thing to watch?
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
Who Is Barney Frank?
"All those who care about the future of this country should be greatly concerned that Barney Frank, a leftist radical who publicly flaunts his homosexuality, is presently one of the most powerful politicians in America. His recent actions and statements make it amply clear that he will seek to use his present influence to implement as much of his extreme agenda as he possibly can. Given his party's hold on the White House and Congress his efforts may meet with much success."
---Vasko Kohlmayer, American Thinker
March 5, 2009
Dissing The Market
IBD readers don't need to be told there's a little more to the stock market than President Obama said on Tuesday. But if no one else is going to correct the record, we'll give it a shot. Fielding questions during an Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the president downplayed the market's continued weakness. "What I am looking for," he said, "is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market . . . but the long term." The stock market, he continued, "is sort of like a tracking poll in politics. It bobs up and down every day. . . . If you spend your time worrying about that, you're probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong."...
As we noted on a chart that ran on Tuesday's op-ed page, the Dow industrial average has sold off 30% since Obama was elected. And as we noted in another chart a week earlier, it has tumbled 44% from mid-September, when the financial crisis came to a head and Obama moved ahead of McCain for good in the presidential race. We'd hardly call that "bobbing up and down." We'd call it a savage bear market in which investors obviously have yet to see anything constructive on the horizon. Bear markets usually last nine to 12 months; we're in our 17th with no end in sight.
Whether or not he takes the market's action seriously, the president or someone on his team might ask why this is so, and why the downdraft has accelerated since he came on the scene.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Accounting For California's Suicide
...If we can agree that Californians have somehow squandered a rich natural and inherited wealth, what were the root causes of this collective suicide? Critics disagree. Some cite expanding but inefficient state government, out-of-control state pensions and oppressive taxes. Or are the chief problems costly prisons and astronomical rates of incarceration, illegal immigration, unchecked welfare, and excessive regulation and environmental restrictions?
All these explanations may be valid. But less discussed is the underlying culprit: a weird sort of utopian mindset. Perhaps because have-it-all Californians live in such a rich natural landscape and inherited so much from their ancestors, they have convinced themselves that perpetual bounty is now their birthright -- not something that can be lost in a generation of complacency...
Californians expect cheap imported labor to tend their lawns and clean their houses, but are incensed at sky-high welfare and entitlement costs that accompany illegal immigration. Lock 'em up, they say -- but the state is bankrupted by new prisons, constant inmate lawsuits, and unionized employees. In short, after Californians sue, restrict, mandate, obstruct, and lecture, they also get angry that there is suddenly not enough food, fuel, water, and money to act like the gods that they think they have become.
---Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online
March 5, 2009
No Malibu For You
On the heels of our monetary comparisons of Wednesday of how much is $1 trillion, Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican, provides his take of a "1 with 12 zeros behind it." One trillion dollars, he says, "will buy you 36 million Chevrolet Malibus. It's spending $1,000 a day at the mall for 2.5 million years. Or it will pay the college education for every high school graduate for the next 10 years."
---John McCaslin, Inside the Beltway
March 5, 2009
The Latest From The Tax Cheat
Unless you haven't really been paying attention, you must realize by now that Obama's plans to increase taxes on every American by increasing the cost of energy in this country. We've been through this routine before. But now we have a new line from the Obama administration ... According to tax cheat Timothy Geithner, oil and natural gas companies do not deserve tax breaks from the federal government because their businesses contribute to global warming. That's right .. our Treasury Tax Cheat believes in man-made global warming. Unbelievable.
Geithner said to Congress, "We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don't think that's good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country."
Now what you are seeing here is exactly what I've been telling you to expect for years. The Democrats want their hands on every single possible penny the private sector produces. To do this they will promote this tired and discredited global warming dog squeeze as a reason to drain more money from energy companies. As for Geithner .. he's a tax cheat. No ... that isn't strong enough. He's a damned tax cheat. He plotted to cheat on his taxes, then carried that plot through; and he was caught. Now he's our Treasury Secretary. A tax cheat in charge of the IRS. Change you can believe in.
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
For Banks, Help Isn't On The Way
Banks, it seems, are everyone's favorite villains these days... Yes, banks have made lots of mistakes. But the current financial crisis didn't simply erupt out of nowhere. Nor are today's bankers any greedier or more self-interested than previous generations. No, the real reason for our financial meltdown is pretty clear. We've written about it literally dozens of times, but in these times of bank hardship it bears repeating: Our government is largely to blame for our current problems.
That's bad enough. But many of the same people who caused these problems -- Rep. Barney Frank and Sens. Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer stand way out -- are now making new laws to "fix" them. Also as noted many times, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies created by the government to help fund mortgages for unqualified borrowers, are behind our current problems...
When the Fed raised rates from 2004 to 2006, the housing market fell apart, and many banks were left holding billions in underwater mortgages. Home prices fell, and homeowners suddenly found themselves with no equity to borrow on. That's a big reason for our current nasty recession... Is it any wonder banks are in such bad shape? Or that 64% of Americans in a poll this week call Obama's $75 billion plan "unfair"? Sure, bank CEOs went along with this for a long time, and even profited from it. But they didn't cause the problem -- Congress and the White House did, by imposing market-distorting regulations on our banking system. And they're about to do it again.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Problem With Socialism
"The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" -- Margaret Thatcher
Jonathan Krohn And Liberal Nazis
One of the brightest spots of CPAC 2009 was a brief statement by 14-year-old Jonathan Krohn about conservatism. The well dressed, articulate young man shared his views as set forth in his book: Define Conservatism. Yes, he was home schooled. The crowd was suitably impressed with this gifted young man.
I confess: even I didn't see this one coming. It wasn't long before the moonbats were comparing this bright, productive young person to Hitler's Youth all over the blogosphere. Evidently, the teenagers in camo pants and black tee shirts marching and singing Obama songs were entirely normal but Jonathan is a Nazi. We need not be concerned about Kids for Obama. Or the little schoolchildren singing Obama's song. These are all symbols of great patriotism, but Jonathan Krohn is the real threat to democracy.
As Ann Coulter has pointed out, liberals cannot learn from history. History begins anew each day for a liberal (more likely late afternoon). Which is why they cannot get it through their collective heads that Hitler was a lefty, not a right winger.
The Hitler agenda is barely distinguishable from the current liberal agenda... Liberals have been embarrassing themselves for years insisting that Hitler was the ultimate right winger and if conservatives get power they will be raising swastikas all over the place. If liberals were educable or as bright as a fourteen year old conservative they would finally understand that Hitler was a left wing socialist whose agenda is disturbingly similar to theirs.
Further demonstrating the lack of self awareness that afflicts liberals, one of my favorite criticisms of Jonathan in the blogosphere was that he: does not work and does not shave. Does that not sound like a pretty good non gender specific description of a liberal? Young people like the wise beyond his years Jonathan Krohn are our best hope of knocking liberal Nazis out of power once and for all.
---Joy Tiz, Canada Free Press
March 4, 2009
No Defense For NYT Math
I am sure the folks at The New York Times can add, but they make no sense when they talk about defense dollars. The latest headline trumpets, "Proposed Military Spending Is Highest Since WWII" . Here are the numbers that really put defense spending in their proper perspective. When the United States fought WWII, war costs accounted for about 46 percent of GDP. Today the Pentagon costs us about 4 percent of GDP.
It is equally stupid to argue that defense spending is at the root cause of our economic woes. During the Cold War, the US averaged just under 8 percent of GDP on defense spending and our economy was half the size it is today. So it is silly to argue that defense spending is the problem when we are spending half of what we did twenty years ago in an economy over twice as large.
We have to be deadly serious about all these paper thin excuses for arguments to curtail defense spending--they are simply "cop-outs" for government to forgo its most important and fundamental obligation to the American people: to "provide for the common defense." Our men and women in uniform need a fully funded military so that when we put them in harm's way they will have the support and equipment to get the job done and come home safe.
---James Carafano, The Heritage Foundation
March 4, 2009
Stealth Care
The stimulus provides for the creation of a federal health care bureaucracy not unlike Hillarycare. Decisions that should be made by doctors and patients will belong to bureaucrats deciding cost-effectiveness... It further creates an entity called the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which will decide which treatments you should get, whether you should get them, and whether they should even be available. It is modeled after a British board which helps run the notoriously inefficient and bureaucratic National Health Service...
The U.K. board approves or rejects treatments after dividing the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is expected to benefit. Such a formula is found on page 464 of the stimulus bill.
Under these formulas, younger patients likely get treatment for whatever ails them before granny can get her hip replacement. In 2005, the Orwellian-named British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence proposed that the National Health Service use age as a measurement of a patient's worthiness for treatment.
In 2006, for example, a U.K board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other. After all, how many years would they be needing two good eyes?... Medical treatments should be determined by doctors and patients and not by a bureaucracy that will ration your health care, deciding whether you really need it and are really worth it.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
This Whole Rush Limbaugh Thing
Can we give this "Rush Limbaugh wants Barack Obama to fail" nonsense a rest? This is one of the most absurd little arguments I've ever seen in the media... What did Limbaugh say? Basically this: "If Barack Obama's goal is to transform our economy into a socialist economy, I want him to fail." Now what in the world is wrong with that statement? I'm with Limbaugh on that one. I want him to fail as well. Furthermore, if Obama's goal is to create an egalitarian society where everybody has an equal amount of stuff .. .I want him to fail. If his goal is to create a nationalized health care system under which health care will have to be rationed, I want him to fail. If his goal is to completely remove 70% of Americans from any responsibility for paying any federal taxes at all, I want him to fail.
Here ... try this. "If Adolf Hitler's goal is to kill 6 million Jews, I want him to fail." Would the Democrats have damned someone who made that statement when Hitler came into power? Know what? They probably would have. The "I want him to fail" comment was only part of Limbaugh's statement. You absolutely cannot criticize him for that statement until the "at what" part is addressed. Democrats need to grow up.
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
Standing In The School House Door
In their rush to spend, the Democratic Congress and White House are funding everything from mice to miscreants. Yet they refuse to fund the futures of underprivileged kids in the capital. Is this a political payoff to the teachers unions, the groups most threatened by vouchers? How else can the Democrats justify shutting off funds to the only federal school voucher program?... But parents who have used the vouchers -- their average income: roughly $22,000 a year -- have said they're happy with it. And taxpayers should be, as well. Somehow the same students that the district school system has been spending more than $24,000 a year on each to educate can get along on vouchers of no more than $7,500.
Trouble is, Democrats, despite their rhetoric, are rarely interested in saving taxpayers money. Indeed, the $789 billion stimulus bill and the $410 billion spending package now in Congress are evidence they rather like spending other people's money. They also enjoy spending campaign cash handed out by the teachers unions, which spent more than $5 million on the 2008 election cycle on Democrats, but just $263,000 on Republicans. Teachers are not the enemy of public schooling. But teachers unions, rarely if ever found in private schools, are...
There's no arguing, though, that as the influence of teachers unions has increased, the quality of public education has fallen... Those who believe student achievement isn't negatively affected by the teachers unions can take up their argument with University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman. After looking at scores on a state-by-state basis, he found that increased teacher unionization is strongly linked to the fall in SAT scores... If it's education that Obama is really interested in, he has to tell Congress he won't sign any bill that would end funding of the D.C. voucher program -- and then tell the teachers unions that the kids' needs take priority.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Defunding The Fight Against Sexual Predators
Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech to the National Association of Attorney's General this week. In that speech, he renewed the Justice Department's support for the Adam Walsh Act. The Adam Walsh Act--passed by a wide margin in Congress--requires some convicted sex offenders to register with local authorities.
So far, so good, right? One problem: to date, Eric Holder's Department of Justice 2010 budget gives $0 to implementation of the Adam Walsh Act, and $0 to the SMART Office which implements the Act.
There is more to this than meets the eye. It is no secret that there has been a small but vocal liberal chorus of opponents to the Adam Walsh Act. They do not think dangerous sex offenders should have to register with local authorities. Of course, they know that their opinion is an extreme minority opinion. They also know that no politician will publicly endorse convicted sex offenders. So, since the Adam Walsh Act passed in 2006, they have adopted a two-prong assault on the Adam Walsh Act. Continue reading...
---Cully Stimson, The Heritage Foundation
March 5, 2009
Smoke And Mirrors: The Magic Of Barack Obama
Every good magician can alter one's perception of reality by use of deception. In context of a magic show, trickery is a good thing; when it comes to a political show, it's not so good. President Obama has come to be known as one of the most eloquent politicians in American history. But it was not eloquence alone that got him into the White House; it was eloquence coupled with pretense. And with those twin characteristics Obama is almost effortlessly imposing his extreme-left agenda on the country.
From the womb of the Democrat National Convention in 2004 a star was born. And not just any star but, The Star, the savior of all things liberal arose from obscurity to instant national media fame... The speech effectively promoted Obama as an all-American, apple pie moderate who could win at the national level; while doing little to promote the Democrat's actual candidate of 2004, the liberal (but less so than Obama) John Kerry.
Obama's Keynote Address was one that most Republicans could have given. But that was just the beginning of Obama's audacity: In 2008, as a rookie U.S. Senator, Obama's presidential campaign rhetoric outmatched the conservatism of any conservative. Yes, I'm speaking of the same Barack Obama from Illinois who was able to earn the distinction of becoming the most far left, liberal senator in the U.S. Senate in just a half-term (according to the National Journal, Obama was to the left of open socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2007). Yes, the same man, the mother of all liberals, Barack Obama, ran his presidential campaign on the platform of giving tax breaks to 95% of Americans. Take that Republicans! And if you're ready to get dizzy, consider that Obama shamelessly says his trillion-dollar "stimulus" plan from which taxpayers will be enslaved for generations, will cut the taxes of the 95%.
The moral system of the far left requires big government for its big programs and big ambitions. But if Obama had expressed his "moral vision" directly, he wouldn't have been elected. And currently, though big government is the money train of his moral system, he dare not say it... Don't be confused. Learn to decipher the Obama Code: Laying the foundation of Obama's moral system with trillions of taxpayer dollars is, of course, fiscally responsible.
Speaking as an uncanny prophet of liberalism, Keith Olbermann commented on Obama's Aug. 28, 2008 speech at Invesco Field: "For forty-two minutes not a sour note, and spellbinding throughout in a way usually reserved for the creation of fiction." No doubt fiction was created and continues to be created. The magic of Obama is to say one thing while simultaneously believing and doing the opposite.
---Monte Kuligowski, American Thinker
March 5, 2009
Obama Vs. America
Obama has declared war on America. He says he is gearing up to fight anyone who disagrees with him. He has singled some of us out by name: Joe the Plumber, Rick Santelli and of course the mightiest voice among us, Rush Limbaugh. Rush, according to the latest Democrat strategy of marginalizing anyone who disagrees with them, is the leader of the Republicans. The Democrats say this because they need a face to represent the patriotic Americans that they are planning to attack.
The Obama administration and the Democrats keep repeating Rush's line that he wants Obama to fail, and they say that nothing could be more un-American than to root for Obama to fail. I can think of many things more un-American than wanting Obama to fail; Democrats rooting for the United States to fail in the war on terrorism, for example. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in April 2007, "This war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything"; and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announcing to the world that we had lost in Iraq and we should bring the troops home in defeat, empowering our enemies to kill more American soldiers. And they did it for selfish reasons, undermining the war effort with abject lies, divided the nation and provided them an opportunity to win more seats in the House, Senate and win back the White House. That is far more un-American than anything anyone has said about Obama.
The truth is that nobody hopes Obama fails, but many of us are rooting for America's survival as a free and prosperous nation and that means blocking Obama's agenda everywhere we can. Obama has fired a shot at those of us who oppose his onerous socialistic policies by characterizing our dissent as preparing for battle and warns us, "My message to them is this: So am I." My message to Obama is this -- Mr. President, why don't you stand up to those who hate America instead of declaring war on those of us who love it?
---Scott Wheeler, TownHall.com
March 5, 2009
Good News From Iraq
New clinic provides care for Kurdish community
KURDISTAN, Iraq - Approximately 30 people gathered for the grand opening of the Tovo Medical Clinic in the Kani Karweshkan foothills, located in Halabja, Iraq. The clinic opened in honor of Brig. Gen. Kenneth Tovo, in recognition of his past service in Iraq. The facility will be equipped with more than $25,000 of medical equipment and will help significantly improve the region's medical care and provide essential services throughout the Kurdish autonomous region, said a Coalition forces advisor. The clinic provides nearly 500 residents from six surrounding village's access to a medical facility and the medical services of a staff of three full-time doctors. The location of the clinic also increases the chances of survivability by providing people in a community, where vehicular transportation is scarce, access because of the clinic's central location. Access results in more immediate care, so patients can be stabilized before they are moved to another medical facility, if more specialized care is necessary.
"Most of the trauma cases we see are due to snake and scorpion bites to farmers working the fields," said the regional tribal leader. "These patients can receive care immediately, lowering their chances of death." "The opening of this clinic is just one of several planned to promote local participation and demonstrate the government's commitment to maintaining security while encouraging social and capital development, said Col. Bill Buckner, spokesman for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq. A KRG representative reiterated that commitment, saying, "Give me a list of everything the staff needs, whether it is equipment, medications or supplies, and I will take care of it," he told the head tribal leader. "Coalition forces helped build the clinic, but it is our job to sustain it."
ISF, MND-B Soldiers arrest three alleged IED makers
BAGHDAD - Iraqi National Police from the 2nd NP Division, working with Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, arrested three suspected criminals using Baghdad Operations Center warrants during combined neighborhood clearance operations in the Masafee community.
Riverine SWAT deliver medical supplies, cheer to children's hospital
BASRAH, Iraq - The Tactical Response Team portion of Basrah's Special Weapons and Tactics hit the shores and took on the mission of improving the well-being of children at Basrah's Children's Hospital by delivering medical supplies and toys recently. The hospital's director, Dr. Ayad Latief Al-Mahfudh, expressed his gratitude for the generosity and reaching out to the Basrah community. "We greatly appreciate the supplies and gifts," said the director. "The children really enjoyed the visit." The stopover at the children's hospital was the first made by Basrah's SWAT TRT. Established two months ago, Basrah's SWAT TRT enhances Iraqi Security Forces' capability through maritime and urban-strike operations, thus increasing ISF's ability to limit criminal activity. "The SWAT TRT officers were very happy, because they were getting to know the people better," said the SWAT TRT major. "They were very excited to introduce themselves to people letting them know what they do as SWAT TRT officers." "It's good to have the kids like us, because they are the future of Iraq," said a SWAT TRT officer. "They now know who we are and what we do ... and that builds trust."
---Multi-National Corps - Iraq
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIHz5tevLAw&eurl=
Is There Still Hope
I doubt it. What I'm talking about is the omnibus bill laden with 9,000 pork projects and government handouts. But there is buzz around Washington that the bill may not be as secure as some Democrats may have hoped. Florida Republican Senator Mel Martinez says that Republicans are within "striking distance" of bringing down the omnibus bill. Remember that the Democrats in the Senate need every vote, but Evan Bayh and Russ Feingold (both Democrats) have now said that they are going to vote against it. Hmm I wonder if they are up for re-election soon? But Democrats Ben Nelson and Bill Nelson are undecided at this point. In other words .. support is slipping. Wouldn't a filibuster be a wonderful thing to watch?
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
Who Is Barney Frank?
"All those who care about the future of this country should be greatly concerned that Barney Frank, a leftist radical who publicly flaunts his homosexuality, is presently one of the most powerful politicians in America. His recent actions and statements make it amply clear that he will seek to use his present influence to implement as much of his extreme agenda as he possibly can. Given his party's hold on the White House and Congress his efforts may meet with much success."
---Vasko Kohlmayer, American Thinker
March 5, 2009
Dissing The Market
IBD readers don't need to be told there's a little more to the stock market than President Obama said on Tuesday. But if no one else is going to correct the record, we'll give it a shot. Fielding questions during an Oval Office meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the president downplayed the market's continued weakness. "What I am looking for," he said, "is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market . . . but the long term." The stock market, he continued, "is sort of like a tracking poll in politics. It bobs up and down every day. . . . If you spend your time worrying about that, you're probably going to get the long-term strategy wrong."...
As we noted on a chart that ran on Tuesday's op-ed page, the Dow industrial average has sold off 30% since Obama was elected. And as we noted in another chart a week earlier, it has tumbled 44% from mid-September, when the financial crisis came to a head and Obama moved ahead of McCain for good in the presidential race. We'd hardly call that "bobbing up and down." We'd call it a savage bear market in which investors obviously have yet to see anything constructive on the horizon. Bear markets usually last nine to 12 months; we're in our 17th with no end in sight.
Whether or not he takes the market's action seriously, the president or someone on his team might ask why this is so, and why the downdraft has accelerated since he came on the scene.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Accounting For California's Suicide
...If we can agree that Californians have somehow squandered a rich natural and inherited wealth, what were the root causes of this collective suicide? Critics disagree. Some cite expanding but inefficient state government, out-of-control state pensions and oppressive taxes. Or are the chief problems costly prisons and astronomical rates of incarceration, illegal immigration, unchecked welfare, and excessive regulation and environmental restrictions?
All these explanations may be valid. But less discussed is the underlying culprit: a weird sort of utopian mindset. Perhaps because have-it-all Californians live in such a rich natural landscape and inherited so much from their ancestors, they have convinced themselves that perpetual bounty is now their birthright -- not something that can be lost in a generation of complacency...
Californians expect cheap imported labor to tend their lawns and clean their houses, but are incensed at sky-high welfare and entitlement costs that accompany illegal immigration. Lock 'em up, they say -- but the state is bankrupted by new prisons, constant inmate lawsuits, and unionized employees. In short, after Californians sue, restrict, mandate, obstruct, and lecture, they also get angry that there is suddenly not enough food, fuel, water, and money to act like the gods that they think they have become.
---Victor Davis Hanson, National Review Online
March 5, 2009
No Malibu For You
On the heels of our monetary comparisons of Wednesday of how much is $1 trillion, Rep. Ted Poe, Texas Republican, provides his take of a "1 with 12 zeros behind it." One trillion dollars, he says, "will buy you 36 million Chevrolet Malibus. It's spending $1,000 a day at the mall for 2.5 million years. Or it will pay the college education for every high school graduate for the next 10 years."
---John McCaslin, Inside the Beltway
March 5, 2009
The Latest From The Tax Cheat
Unless you haven't really been paying attention, you must realize by now that Obama's plans to increase taxes on every American by increasing the cost of energy in this country. We've been through this routine before. But now we have a new line from the Obama administration ... According to tax cheat Timothy Geithner, oil and natural gas companies do not deserve tax breaks from the federal government because their businesses contribute to global warming. That's right .. our Treasury Tax Cheat believes in man-made global warming. Unbelievable.
Geithner said to Congress, "We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don't think that's good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country."
Now what you are seeing here is exactly what I've been telling you to expect for years. The Democrats want their hands on every single possible penny the private sector produces. To do this they will promote this tired and discredited global warming dog squeeze as a reason to drain more money from energy companies. As for Geithner .. he's a tax cheat. No ... that isn't strong enough. He's a damned tax cheat. He plotted to cheat on his taxes, then carried that plot through; and he was caught. Now he's our Treasury Secretary. A tax cheat in charge of the IRS. Change you can believe in.
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
For Banks, Help Isn't On The Way
Banks, it seems, are everyone's favorite villains these days... Yes, banks have made lots of mistakes. But the current financial crisis didn't simply erupt out of nowhere. Nor are today's bankers any greedier or more self-interested than previous generations. No, the real reason for our financial meltdown is pretty clear. We've written about it literally dozens of times, but in these times of bank hardship it bears repeating: Our government is largely to blame for our current problems.
That's bad enough. But many of the same people who caused these problems -- Rep. Barney Frank and Sens. Chris Dodd and Chuck Schumer stand way out -- are now making new laws to "fix" them. Also as noted many times, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two companies created by the government to help fund mortgages for unqualified borrowers, are behind our current problems...
When the Fed raised rates from 2004 to 2006, the housing market fell apart, and many banks were left holding billions in underwater mortgages. Home prices fell, and homeowners suddenly found themselves with no equity to borrow on. That's a big reason for our current nasty recession... Is it any wonder banks are in such bad shape? Or that 64% of Americans in a poll this week call Obama's $75 billion plan "unfair"? Sure, bank CEOs went along with this for a long time, and even profited from it. But they didn't cause the problem -- Congress and the White House did, by imposing market-distorting regulations on our banking system. And they're about to do it again.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Problem With Socialism
"The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money" -- Margaret Thatcher
Jonathan Krohn And Liberal Nazis
One of the brightest spots of CPAC 2009 was a brief statement by 14-year-old Jonathan Krohn about conservatism. The well dressed, articulate young man shared his views as set forth in his book: Define Conservatism. Yes, he was home schooled. The crowd was suitably impressed with this gifted young man.
I confess: even I didn't see this one coming. It wasn't long before the moonbats were comparing this bright, productive young person to Hitler's Youth all over the blogosphere. Evidently, the teenagers in camo pants and black tee shirts marching and singing Obama songs were entirely normal but Jonathan is a Nazi. We need not be concerned about Kids for Obama. Or the little schoolchildren singing Obama's song. These are all symbols of great patriotism, but Jonathan Krohn is the real threat to democracy.
As Ann Coulter has pointed out, liberals cannot learn from history. History begins anew each day for a liberal (more likely late afternoon). Which is why they cannot get it through their collective heads that Hitler was a lefty, not a right winger.
The Hitler agenda is barely distinguishable from the current liberal agenda... Liberals have been embarrassing themselves for years insisting that Hitler was the ultimate right winger and if conservatives get power they will be raising swastikas all over the place. If liberals were educable or as bright as a fourteen year old conservative they would finally understand that Hitler was a left wing socialist whose agenda is disturbingly similar to theirs.
Further demonstrating the lack of self awareness that afflicts liberals, one of my favorite criticisms of Jonathan in the blogosphere was that he: does not work and does not shave. Does that not sound like a pretty good non gender specific description of a liberal? Young people like the wise beyond his years Jonathan Krohn are our best hope of knocking liberal Nazis out of power once and for all.
---Joy Tiz, Canada Free Press
March 4, 2009
No Defense For NYT Math
I am sure the folks at The New York Times can add, but they make no sense when they talk about defense dollars. The latest headline trumpets, "Proposed Military Spending Is Highest Since WWII" . Here are the numbers that really put defense spending in their proper perspective. When the United States fought WWII, war costs accounted for about 46 percent of GDP. Today the Pentagon costs us about 4 percent of GDP.
It is equally stupid to argue that defense spending is at the root cause of our economic woes. During the Cold War, the US averaged just under 8 percent of GDP on defense spending and our economy was half the size it is today. So it is silly to argue that defense spending is the problem when we are spending half of what we did twenty years ago in an economy over twice as large.
We have to be deadly serious about all these paper thin excuses for arguments to curtail defense spending--they are simply "cop-outs" for government to forgo its most important and fundamental obligation to the American people: to "provide for the common defense." Our men and women in uniform need a fully funded military so that when we put them in harm's way they will have the support and equipment to get the job done and come home safe.
---James Carafano, The Heritage Foundation
March 4, 2009
Stealth Care
The stimulus provides for the creation of a federal health care bureaucracy not unlike Hillarycare. Decisions that should be made by doctors and patients will belong to bureaucrats deciding cost-effectiveness... It further creates an entity called the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which will decide which treatments you should get, whether you should get them, and whether they should even be available. It is modeled after a British board which helps run the notoriously inefficient and bureaucratic National Health Service...
The U.K. board approves or rejects treatments after dividing the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is expected to benefit. Such a formula is found on page 464 of the stimulus bill.
Under these formulas, younger patients likely get treatment for whatever ails them before granny can get her hip replacement. In 2005, the Orwellian-named British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence proposed that the National Health Service use age as a measurement of a patient's worthiness for treatment.
In 2006, for example, a U.K board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other. After all, how many years would they be needing two good eyes?... Medical treatments should be determined by doctors and patients and not by a bureaucracy that will ration your health care, deciding whether you really need it and are really worth it.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
This Whole Rush Limbaugh Thing
Can we give this "Rush Limbaugh wants Barack Obama to fail" nonsense a rest? This is one of the most absurd little arguments I've ever seen in the media... What did Limbaugh say? Basically this: "If Barack Obama's goal is to transform our economy into a socialist economy, I want him to fail." Now what in the world is wrong with that statement? I'm with Limbaugh on that one. I want him to fail as well. Furthermore, if Obama's goal is to create an egalitarian society where everybody has an equal amount of stuff .. .I want him to fail. If his goal is to create a nationalized health care system under which health care will have to be rationed, I want him to fail. If his goal is to completely remove 70% of Americans from any responsibility for paying any federal taxes at all, I want him to fail.
Here ... try this. "If Adolf Hitler's goal is to kill 6 million Jews, I want him to fail." Would the Democrats have damned someone who made that statement when Hitler came into power? Know what? They probably would have. The "I want him to fail" comment was only part of Limbaugh's statement. You absolutely cannot criticize him for that statement until the "at what" part is addressed. Democrats need to grow up.
---Neal Boortz, Nealz Nuze
March 5, 2009
Standing In The School House Door
In their rush to spend, the Democratic Congress and White House are funding everything from mice to miscreants. Yet they refuse to fund the futures of underprivileged kids in the capital. Is this a political payoff to the teachers unions, the groups most threatened by vouchers? How else can the Democrats justify shutting off funds to the only federal school voucher program?... But parents who have used the vouchers -- their average income: roughly $22,000 a year -- have said they're happy with it. And taxpayers should be, as well. Somehow the same students that the district school system has been spending more than $24,000 a year on each to educate can get along on vouchers of no more than $7,500.
Trouble is, Democrats, despite their rhetoric, are rarely interested in saving taxpayers money. Indeed, the $789 billion stimulus bill and the $410 billion spending package now in Congress are evidence they rather like spending other people's money. They also enjoy spending campaign cash handed out by the teachers unions, which spent more than $5 million on the 2008 election cycle on Democrats, but just $263,000 on Republicans. Teachers are not the enemy of public schooling. But teachers unions, rarely if ever found in private schools, are...
There's no arguing, though, that as the influence of teachers unions has increased, the quality of public education has fallen... Those who believe student achievement isn't negatively affected by the teachers unions can take up their argument with University of Chicago economist Sam Peltzman. After looking at scores on a state-by-state basis, he found that increased teacher unionization is strongly linked to the fall in SAT scores... If it's education that Obama is really interested in, he has to tell Congress he won't sign any bill that would end funding of the D.C. voucher program -- and then tell the teachers unions that the kids' needs take priority.
---Editorial, Investor's Business Daily
March 4, 2009
Defunding The Fight Against Sexual Predators
Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech to the National Association of Attorney's General this week. In that speech, he renewed the Justice Department's support for the Adam Walsh Act. The Adam Walsh Act--passed by a wide margin in Congress--requires some convicted sex offenders to register with local authorities.
So far, so good, right? One problem: to date, Eric Holder's Department of Justice 2010 budget gives $0 to implementation of the Adam Walsh Act, and $0 to the SMART Office which implements the Act.
There is more to this than meets the eye. It is no secret that there has been a small but vocal liberal chorus of opponents to the Adam Walsh Act. They do not think dangerous sex offenders should have to register with local authorities. Of course, they know that their opinion is an extreme minority opinion. They also know that no politician will publicly endorse convicted sex offenders. So, since the Adam Walsh Act passed in 2006, they have adopted a two-prong assault on the Adam Walsh Act. Continue reading...
---Cully Stimson, The Heritage Foundation
March 5, 2009
Smoke And Mirrors: The Magic Of Barack Obama
Every good magician can alter one's perception of reality by use of deception. In context of a magic show, trickery is a good thing; when it comes to a political show, it's not so good. President Obama has come to be known as one of the most eloquent politicians in American history. But it was not eloquence alone that got him into the White House; it was eloquence coupled with pretense. And with those twin characteristics Obama is almost effortlessly imposing his extreme-left agenda on the country.
From the womb of the Democrat National Convention in 2004 a star was born. And not just any star but, The Star, the savior of all things liberal arose from obscurity to instant national media fame... The speech effectively promoted Obama as an all-American, apple pie moderate who could win at the national level; while doing little to promote the Democrat's actual candidate of 2004, the liberal (but less so than Obama) John Kerry.
Obama's Keynote Address was one that most Republicans could have given. But that was just the beginning of Obama's audacity: In 2008, as a rookie U.S. Senator, Obama's presidential campaign rhetoric outmatched the conservatism of any conservative. Yes, I'm speaking of the same Barack Obama from Illinois who was able to earn the distinction of becoming the most far left, liberal senator in the U.S. Senate in just a half-term (according to the National Journal, Obama was to the left of open socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2007). Yes, the same man, the mother of all liberals, Barack Obama, ran his presidential campaign on the platform of giving tax breaks to 95% of Americans. Take that Republicans! And if you're ready to get dizzy, consider that Obama shamelessly says his trillion-dollar "stimulus" plan from which taxpayers will be enslaved for generations, will cut the taxes of the 95%.
The moral system of the far left requires big government for its big programs and big ambitions. But if Obama had expressed his "moral vision" directly, he wouldn't have been elected. And currently, though big government is the money train of his moral system, he dare not say it... Don't be confused. Learn to decipher the Obama Code: Laying the foundation of Obama's moral system with trillions of taxpayer dollars is, of course, fiscally responsible.
Speaking as an uncanny prophet of liberalism, Keith Olbermann commented on Obama's Aug. 28, 2008 speech at Invesco Field: "For forty-two minutes not a sour note, and spellbinding throughout in a way usually reserved for the creation of fiction." No doubt fiction was created and continues to be created. The magic of Obama is to say one thing while simultaneously believing and doing the opposite.
---Monte Kuligowski, American Thinker
March 5, 2009
Obama Vs. America
Obama has declared war on America. He says he is gearing up to fight anyone who disagrees with him. He has singled some of us out by name: Joe the Plumber, Rick Santelli and of course the mightiest voice among us, Rush Limbaugh. Rush, according to the latest Democrat strategy of marginalizing anyone who disagrees with them, is the leader of the Republicans. The Democrats say this because they need a face to represent the patriotic Americans that they are planning to attack.
The Obama administration and the Democrats keep repeating Rush's line that he wants Obama to fail, and they say that nothing could be more un-American than to root for Obama to fail. I can think of many things more un-American than wanting Obama to fail; Democrats rooting for the United States to fail in the war on terrorism, for example. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in April 2007, "This war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything"; and the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, announcing to the world that we had lost in Iraq and we should bring the troops home in defeat, empowering our enemies to kill more American soldiers. And they did it for selfish reasons, undermining the war effort with abject lies, divided the nation and provided them an opportunity to win more seats in the House, Senate and win back the White House. That is far more un-American than anything anyone has said about Obama.
The truth is that nobody hopes Obama fails, but many of us are rooting for America's survival as a free and prosperous nation and that means blocking Obama's agenda everywhere we can. Obama has fired a shot at those of us who oppose his onerous socialistic policies by characterizing our dissent as preparing for battle and warns us, "My message to them is this: So am I." My message to Obama is this -- Mr. President, why don't you stand up to those who hate America instead of declaring war on those of us who love it?
---Scott Wheeler, TownHall.com
March 5, 2009
Good News From Iraq
New clinic provides care for Kurdish community
KURDISTAN, Iraq - Approximately 30 people gathered for the grand opening of the Tovo Medical Clinic in the Kani Karweshkan foothills, located in Halabja, Iraq. The clinic opened in honor of Brig. Gen. Kenneth Tovo, in recognition of his past service in Iraq. The facility will be equipped with more than $25,000 of medical equipment and will help significantly improve the region's medical care and provide essential services throughout the Kurdish autonomous region, said a Coalition forces advisor. The clinic provides nearly 500 residents from six surrounding village's access to a medical facility and the medical services of a staff of three full-time doctors. The location of the clinic also increases the chances of survivability by providing people in a community, where vehicular transportation is scarce, access because of the clinic's central location. Access results in more immediate care, so patients can be stabilized before they are moved to another medical facility, if more specialized care is necessary.
"Most of the trauma cases we see are due to snake and scorpion bites to farmers working the fields," said the regional tribal leader. "These patients can receive care immediately, lowering their chances of death." "The opening of this clinic is just one of several planned to promote local participation and demonstrate the government's commitment to maintaining security while encouraging social and capital development, said Col. Bill Buckner, spokesman for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq. A KRG representative reiterated that commitment, saying, "Give me a list of everything the staff needs, whether it is equipment, medications or supplies, and I will take care of it," he told the head tribal leader. "Coalition forces helped build the clinic, but it is our job to sustain it."
ISF, MND-B Soldiers arrest three alleged IED makers
BAGHDAD - Iraqi National Police from the 2nd NP Division, working with Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, arrested three suspected criminals using Baghdad Operations Center warrants during combined neighborhood clearance operations in the Masafee community.
Riverine SWAT deliver medical supplies, cheer to children's hospital
BASRAH, Iraq - The Tactical Response Team portion of Basrah's Special Weapons and Tactics hit the shores and took on the mission of improving the well-being of children at Basrah's Children's Hospital by delivering medical supplies and toys recently. The hospital's director, Dr. Ayad Latief Al-Mahfudh, expressed his gratitude for the generosity and reaching out to the Basrah community. "We greatly appreciate the supplies and gifts," said the director. "The children really enjoyed the visit." The stopover at the children's hospital was the first made by Basrah's SWAT TRT. Established two months ago, Basrah's SWAT TRT enhances Iraqi Security Forces' capability through maritime and urban-strike operations, thus increasing ISF's ability to limit criminal activity. "The SWAT TRT officers were very happy, because they were getting to know the people better," said the SWAT TRT major. "They were very excited to introduce themselves to people letting them know what they do as SWAT TRT officers." "It's good to have the kids like us, because they are the future of Iraq," said a SWAT TRT officer. "They now know who we are and what we do ... and that builds trust."
---Multi-National Corps - Iraq
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