Monday, April 30, 2012

Obama and Biden tout success of GM bailout, but GM is the biggest TARP laggard

Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial have paid TARP off, but GM still owes taxpayers at least $25 billion.
Of the top bailout recipients, GM is the biggest laggard, the TARP watchdog says in his latest quarterly report to Congress. Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial all have paid off their debt and left the TARP program. Even AIG has paid back more than 75% of what it owes taxpayers.

GM, on the other hand, still owes more than half the $50 billion in federal funds it received when the combination of the recession and its costly union contracts drove it into bankruptcy. And its lending arm, GMAC (now Ally Financial), still owes $14.5 billion.
Actually, GM may be deceiving us about what they claim to have paid off.
What's worse, it's not clear that GM actually repaid what it's gotten credit for repaying. Check out this note buried in the inspector's report: "As part of a credit agreement with Treasury, $16.4 billion in TARP funds were placed in an escrow account that GM could access only with Treasury's permission."

As it turns out, GM got Treasury's OK to "repay" more than $6.7 billion "using a portion of the escrow account that had been funded with TARP funds." So GM is merely paying the government back with government money, not money GM is earning selling cars, as the administration has claimed.

Obama administration’s top environmental official who bragged about crucifying oil and gas companies resigns


President Obama is undoubtedly very sad about this turn of events, but his re-election must take precedent over everything.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s top environmental official in the oil-rich South and Southwest region has resigned after Republicans targeted him over remarks made two years ago when he used the word “crucify” to describe how he would go after companies violating environmental laws.

In a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson sent Sunday, Al Armendariz says he regrets his words and stresses that they do not reflect his work as administrator of the five-state region including Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Armendariz, who holds a doctorate in environmental engineering, apologized for his remarks last week. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, told The Associated Press that he has since received death threats. His resignation was effective Monday, when he informed his senior staff.

“I have come to the conclusion that my continued service will distract you and the agency from its important work,” Armendariz wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Republicans in Congress had called for Armendariz’ firing, after Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe highlighted the May 2010 speech last week as proof of what he refers to as EPA’s assault on energy, particularly the technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Obama claims 'Right to Work' laws take collective bargaining rights away


President Obama's claim 'Right to Work' laws take collective bargaining rights away is ridiculous. There are still unions and collective bargaining in 'Right to Work' states. It is coerced union membership that is taken away. Employees at unionized companies have a choice to join the union or stay independent of the union. Unions hate that because they have little to offer.



From the video:
“I believe the economy is stronger when collective bargaining rights are protected. I believe when folks try and take collective bargaining rights away by passing so-called ‘right to work’ laws that might also be called ‘right to work for less,’ laws, that’s not about economics, that’s about politics.”

Report: Clinton and Bush both hate Jimmy Carter


A shorter list would be who does like Jimmy Carter anymore.
WASHINGTON — Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush have united — in their hatred of Jimmy Carter.
The former commanders-in-chief share a disdain for their fellow ex-president because he conducted foreign policy after leaving office without any authority from the White House, according to a new book.
In “The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity,” former staffers even use the word “treason” to describe Carter’s actions.
“Carter gives the club a great gift, something for all the others to complain about,” the book by Time magazine’s Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy says.

Obama backers raked in eighty percent of the Department of Energy 'Green Money'

Surprise!

Via American Thinker:
Anyway, Obama was emphatic about how recovery money was to be spent.  But... as Schweizer says, the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program and the 1603 Grant Program funneled billions of dollars to alternative-fuel and green-power companies.  The loan guarantees and grants were earmarked for green energy projects, so it is not surprising to learn that these companies were run by liberals.  And guess what!  Eighty percent of the Department of Energy's (DOE) green loans, loan guarantees, and grants went to Obama backers. As Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise."

Schweizer wrote, "...a large proportion of the winners [companies receiving loans, loan guarantees, and grants] were companies with Obama-campaign connections.  At least 10 members of Obama's finance committee and more than a dozen of his campaign bundlers were big winners in getting your money.  At the same time, several politicians who supported Obama managed to strike gold by launching alternative-energy companies and obtaining grants."  How much?  Schweizer continues, "In the 1705 government-backed-loan program, $16.4 billion of the $20.5 billion in loans granted as of September 15 [2011] went to companies either run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers."

Read more here...

Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs not clear Romney would have had grit to take out Osama bin Laden

This is the most ridiculous line of attack I have ever heard.  President Obama ordered the kill on bin Laden. Former President Bush would have done it in a heartbeat. There is no doubt former President's Clinton and Bush I would have done the same. I suspect even Jimmy Carter would have made the call. If Mitt Romney had been President when that intelligence come in, he would have made the gutsy call too.

Via Washington Examiner:
President Obama’s re-election team on Sunday claimed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lacked the grit to order the killing of Osama bin Laden, in a particularly aggressive attack drawing Republican scorn around the anniversary of the al Qaeda leader’s death.
Asked whether Romney would have approved the same clandestine raid Obama ordered a year ago, when he dispatched a Navy SEALs team to bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan, Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs said, “I don’t think it’s clear that he would.”

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Flashback Video: Presidential Candidate and Democratic Senator Barack Obama Ditches Flag Pin

In 2007, Senator Obama decided to ditch his flag pin because he claimed it had become a substitute for patriotism.

video platform video management video solutions video player

Obama put the flag pin back on for his official portrait after he won in 2008 and often wears it now. He has never answered why it was a substitute for patriotism in 2007 and much of 2008, but appropriate after he won the presidency.

Video: CNN Host Gasps When Female Student Won't Say She Is Voting For Obama

The mainstream media can't control their bias.

Flashback 2010: Obama made anti-bullying video for Anti-Christian bully Dan Savage

In 2010 President Obama made the video (posted below) for the "It Gets Better" project. Dan Savage is the creator of the "It Gets Better" project. Savage is opposed to bullying of LGBT teens, but is a bully himself when it comes to Christians or anyone who disagrees with his LGBT agenda. He recently went on a anti-Christian and Bible rant. Obama's favorite anti-bullying speaker cursed Christian students and called them "pansy a$$es." President Obama has been mysteriously silent about Savage's outrageous and offensive behavior. Undoubtedly, he is fearful of loosing the enthusiasm of his LGBT base.

These words from Obama's video ring hollow now:
It is so important that as adults we set an example in our own lives. That we treat everybody with respect. That we are able to see the world through other peoples' eyes...
I guess Obama excludes Christians from the 'other people' category. Perhaps he should hold another summit. If you invite Christians and a foul-mouthed LGBT advocate to a summit, what would the drink be?

Report: Obama held more fundraising events to build cash for his re-election bid than all five Presidents since Richard Nixon combined


Did Obama ever stop campaigning?
(Daily Mail) — Barack Obama has already held more fundraising events to build cash for his re-election bid than all five Presidents since Richard Nixon combined, according to figures to be published in a new book.
Obama is also the only president in the past 35 years to visit every electoral battleground state in his first year of office.

The figures, contained a in a new book called The Rise of the President’s Permanent Campaign by Brendan J. Doherty, due to be published by University Press of Kansas in July, give statistical backing to the notion that Obama is more preoccupied with being re-elected than any other commander-in-chief of modern times.

Doherty, who has compiled statistics about presidential travel and fundraising going back to President Jimmy Carter in 1977, found that Obama had held 104 fundraisers by March 6th this year, compared to 94 held by Presidents Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Snr, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush combined.
Since then, Obama has held another 20 fundraisers, bringing his total to 124. Carter held four re-election fundraisers in 1980, Reagan zero in 1984, Bush Snr 19 in 1992, Clinton 14 in 1996 and Bush Jnr 57 in 2004.

Surprising: Obama is the first male of his line who is not a polygamist


The Democratic governor of Montana took a dig at Romney for his polygamist Mormon roots. The last polygamist in Romney's paternal line was his great-grandfather. President Obama is the very first male in his paternal line who is not a polygamist.

Via NRO
For their next exploding cigar, the Democrats chose polygamy. Brian Schweitzer, the Democratic governor of Montana, remarked that Romney was unlikely to appeal to women because his father was “born on a polygamy commune.” Eighty-six percent of women, noted Governor Schweitzer with a keenly forensic demographic eye, are “not great fans of polygamy.” You can understand the 86 percent’s ickiness at the whole freaky-weirdy idea of a president descended from someone who had multiple wives. Eww.

Just for the record, Romney’s father was not a polygamist; Romney’s grandfather was not a polygamist; his great-grandfather was a polygamist. Miles Park Romney died in 1904, so one can see why this would weigh heavy on 86 percent of female voters 108 years later.

Meanwhile, back in the female-friendly party, Obama’s father was a polygamist; his grandfather was a polygamist; and his great-grandfather was a polygamist who had one more wife (five in total) than Romney’s great-grandfather. It seems President Obama is the first male in his line not to be a polygamist. So, given the “gender gap,” maybe those 86 percent of American women are way cooler with polygamy than Governor Schweitzer thinks. Maybe these liberal chicks really dig it.

Doubletalk: Obama claims mandating free contraception avoids “government meddling” in health care.

This is more proof Obama thinks you are an idiot.

Via Beltway Confidential:
President Obama suggested that his mandate that insurance companies provide free contraception is an effort to avoid “government meddling” in health care.
“This contraception fight in particular was illuminating,” Obama told a group of women at a campaign fundraiser yesterday. “This is a [Republican] party that says it prides itself on being rabidly anti-regulation. These are folks who claim to believe in freedom from government interference and meddling. But it doesn’t seem to bother them when it comes to women’s health.”
The religious groups that oppose the mandate argue that the mandate infringes on their religious liberty by requiring them to pay for a given product, the use of which they believe to be immoral. They have not called for a ban on contraception.
Keep on reading…

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Amazing Stupidity: MLB Announcer Tim McCarver Claims Global Warming Is The Reason For More Home Runs



It isn't the anthropogenic global warming skeptics that are dumber than rocks.
Tim McCarver: “[T]he air is thinning…. There have been climatic changes over the last 50 years…. I think that’s one of the reasons balls are carrying much better now.”
Joe Buck: “So that’s your ‘inconvenient truth’ about it?”
McCarver: “You’re going to find it out one of these days, yes.”

Chart of the Day: U.S. Homeownership Hits Decade Low

The Obama recovery...

Via Gallop:
The current level of homeownership marks a decline from 68% in 2011. For most of the prior decade, roughly seven in 10 Americans reported owning their own home. While the recession and financial crisis took place in 2008-2009, homeownership rates didn't begin to reflect the bursting of the housing bubble until 2010, when 65% of Americans reported owning their own home -- the lowest level recorded before this year.

Unexpected: GOP-controlled NH House of Representatives passes medical marijuana bill. Demo Governor threatens veto.

Well, it is a national election year and the nation's top Democrat has reversed course on medical marijuana.

Via Reason:
This week the Republican-controlled New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a medical marijuana bill by a lopsided vote of 236 to 96, one day after Gov. John Lynch, a Democrat, threatened to veto the legislation. Last month the state Senate approved the bill, which would let patients with "debilitating medical conditions" or their "designated caregivers" grow and possess up to six ounces at a time, by a vote of 13 to 11, with all five Democrats and eight Republicans in favor. The number of yes votes in the House, where nearly three-quarters of the seats are held by Republicans, is enough to overcome a veto (which requires a two-thirds majority), but the bill's supporters need to get three more votes in the Senate. If they manage to do that, New Hampshire will become the 17th state to allow medical use of marijuana. Lynch successfully vetoed a similar bill in 2009.

U.S. quietly amassing large air force near Iran

October surprise anyone?

Via Wired:
The U.S. Air Force is quietly assembling the world’s most powerful air-to-air fighting team at bases near Iran. Stealthy F-22 Raptors on their first front-line deployment have joined a potent mix of active-duty and Air National Guard F-15 Eagles, including some fitted with the latest advanced radars. The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the air of Iranian fighters in the event of war.

The fighters join a growing naval armada that includes Navy carriers, submarines, cruisers and destroyers plus patrol boats and minesweepers enhanced with the latest close-in weaponry.[...]

In March the Air Force deployed the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing, flying 20 standard F-15Cs, to an “undisclosed” air base in Southwest Asia — probably either Al Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates or Al Udeid in Qatar.[...]

Upgraded F-15Cs from the 18th Wing in Japan joined the Guard Eagles. The Japan-based fighters have the latest APG-63(V)2 and (V)3 radars, manufactured by Raytheon[...]

F-22s followed this month. “Multiple” Raptors deployed to Al Dhafra, according to Amy Butler at Aviation Week.[...]

Sarah Palin Endorses Richard Mourdock in GOP Indiana Senate Primary


RINO hunting season is in full swing. Sarah Palin wants Indiana GOP voters to dump Lugar.
I join commonsense conservatives in endorsing Richard Mourdock to be the next Senator from Indiana. Conservatives of all stripes are uniting behind Richard Mourdock. It’s not just Indiana that benefits from sending the right Senator to serve for the right reasons; the nation as a whole benefits, and that is one reason why the eyes of so many around the nation are focused on the Indiana race.

Indiana deserves a conservative in the Senate who will fight for the Hoosier State, uphold our Constitution, and not just go along to get along with the vested interests of the permanent political class in D.C.

Richard Mourdock is the conservative choice for Indiana. Senator Lugar’s 36 years of service as a Senator are appreciated, but it’s time for the torch to pass to conservative leadership in Washington that promises to rein in government spending now.

CBS Leslie Stahl shocked we fed Khalid Sheik Mohammed “Ensure” (video)

CBS Leslie Stahl shocked we fed Khalid Sheik Mohammed “Ensure.” She calls it Orwellian...

Obama campaign wants to portray Obama as 'cool' for youth vote; Mainstream media marches lockstep...

President O'Doofus  is not cool

Obama campaign wants to portray Obama as 'cool' for youth vote; Mainstream media marches lockstep...
. . . In early February, Politico reported that the Obama campaign, hoping to rekindle enthusiasm among young voters, was “looking to revive the cool appeal.” Then, suddenly, news stories started popping up about Obama’s alleged coolness, in contrast to that drip Romney. A sampling:
Keep reading…

Friday, April 27, 2012

Shocking: Obama's favorite anti-bullying speaker curses Christian students and calls them "pansy a$$es"

Dude...

FOX News Radio:
As many as 100 high school students walked out of a national journalism conference after an anti-bullying speaker began cursing, attacked the Bible and reportedly called those who refused to listen to his rant “pansy asses.”

The speaker was Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” project, an anti-bullying campaign that has reached more than 40 million viewers with contributors ranging from President Obama to Hollywood stars. Savage also writes a sex advice column called “Savage Love.”

Savage, and his husband, were also guests at the White House for President Obama’s 2011 LGBT Pride Month reception. He was also invited to a White House anti-bullying conference.

Savage was supposed to be delivering a speech about anti-bullying at the National High School Journalism Conference sponsored by the Journalism Education Association and the National Scholastic Press Association. But it turned into an episode of Christian-bashing.

Rick Tuttle, the journalism advisor for Sutter Union High School in California, was among several thousand people in the audience. He said they thought the speech was one thing – but it turned into something else.
“I thought this would be about anti-bullying,” Tuttle told Fox news. “It turned into a pointed attack on Christian beliefs.”

Tuttle said a number of his students were offended by Savage’s remarks – and some decided to leave the auditorium.
Somehow, I think Obama would be pleased.

Good News: House Republicans to Hold Contempt of Congress Vote on Holder's Obstruction of Fast and Furious Investigation

It's about time.
(CBS News)House Republicans investigating the Fast and Furious scandal have gotten the go-ahead by their party leaders to pursue a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder, senior congressional aides told CBS News. The resolution will accuse Holder and his Justice Department of obstructing the congressional probe into the allegations that the government let thousands of weapons fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.
The citation would attempt to force Holder to turn over tens of thousands of pages documents related to the probe, which has entered its second year.
For months, congressional Republicans probing ATF’s Fast and Furious “Gunwalker” scandal — led by California Republican Darrell Issa, have been investigating a contempt citation.
They’ve worked quietly behind the scenes to build support among fellow Republicans, since it could ultimately face a full House vote. CBS News has confirmed that House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has given Rep. Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the go-ahead to proceed. A 48-page long draft contempt resolution is being prepared.
Keep on reading…

Chutzpah: WH Spokesman Jay Carney Claims He Never Lies



Actually, Jay Carney is lying about lying.

WH Spokesman Jay Carney lies about signing statements.


More lies , double-standards and misinformation by Carney.

Obvious: Charlie Cook calls Obama a Metrosexual


I remember when men like Obama were called pansies or worse?
“Small towns — states with a large small town rural populations, Democrats in general, the president has had a really hard time. I mean, we have kind of a metrosexual president. . . that doesn’t go over well in the small town. And it’s just cultural. It is what it is.” — Charlie Cook

Follow Up: Obama administration retreats on rules preventing farm children from doing chores

The person responsible for this proposal is too stupid to be on the taxpayers payroll. Will the Obama administration fire them?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration is dropping an effort to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents.
The Labor Department says it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven equipment. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.
The agency says thousands of comments have expressed concern about the impact of the changes on small family-owned farms. Many farm groups have complained that the rules would upset traditions in which children often work alongside relatives other than parents to learn how a farm operates.

Iowa woman who publicly thanked Obaam for insurance is actually getting insurance from a 1987 Republican program


Don't expect the mainstream media to call BS on Obama's campaign soundbite.
(Des Moines Register) — A Des Moines woman who publicly thanked President Barack Obama on Tuesday for helping her obtain health insurance actually is receiving her coverage through a long-standing state program.

CeCe Ibson was asked to share her story as an introduction to a Michelle Obama speech Tuesday in Windsor Heights. She talked about losing her health insurance when she lost her job as a lawyer two years ago. She bought private coverage for her two children, she said, but could not find it for herself.

“No one would insure me because of my pre-existing conditions. No one. Until President Obama stood up for me and millions of Americans like me across Iowa and across the country,” she said.

In fact, Ibson’s current coverage is provided by HIP Iowa, a state program for people whose health problems make them ineligible for most commercial insurance. HIP Iowa was created in 1987, during Republican Terry Branstad’s first stint as governor. Most of the program’s subsidies come from fees paid by commercial insurers.

Ibson did not qualify for a similar program created last year under the president’s health reform law. That program, HIP Iowa-Fed, offers significantly cheaper premiums than HIP Iowa, but it is open only to people who have gone without insurance for at least six months. Critics say that rule has tamped down enrollment in the new federally financed program, which has signed up about 300 Iowa members.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Inspector General for TARP: Taxpayers will actually lose $60 billion

The White house claims taxpayers will make $24 billion off the TARP bailout. The Tarp Inspector General has a different number.

The current estimate of the eventual loss that taxpayers will be left with from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is $60bn, according to a report from the watchdog for the programme.

"It is a widely held misconception that TARP will make a profit," said Christy Romero, the inspector general for TARP.

Taxpayers are still owed $119bn from TARP, with the majority of that still tied up in the rescue of insurer AIG, carmaker General Motors and mortgage lender Ally Financial. The figure fell $133bn in January, according to the watchdog's quarterly report to Congress, as more banks have repaid the loans they received.

A reluctant Congress passed TARP in the autumn of 2008 as stock markets plunged, credit markets froze and America's financial system tottered. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is said to have told a meeting of top Congressman that the country would not have an economy the next day if Congress did not find the votes needed.

Arab Spring Update: Egyptian Islamists Propose law allowing husbands to have sex with dead wives

Half-dead woman

It seems Islamic Fundamentalists' abuse of women doesn't even stop at death.

Via The Daily Mail:
Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives - for up to six hours after their death.

The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament.
It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment.Egypt's National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that 'marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development'.[...] 
The subject of a husband having sex with his dead wife arose in May 2011 when Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari said marriage remains valid even after death.

He also said that women have the right to have sex with her dead husband, alarabiya.net reported.

Michelle Obama: “It is hard to sneak around and do what you want,”


If Michelle Obama is unhappy in the White House, she sould ask Barack to quit.
(CNN) — She’s known to take discreet trips to Target and Baskin-Robbins, but first lady Michelle Obama said Thursday she’d still like more freedom to get out of the White House.
“Sometimes we can’t sneak out often on our own without security and motorcades and people with us,” Obama said at a “Take your Child to Work Day” held at the White House. She was explaining what she would change about being the nation’s first lady.
“It is hard to sneak around and do what you want,” Obama continued. “I have done it a couple of times. But you know one fantasy I have, and the Secret Service they keep looking at me because they think I might actually do it, is to walk right out the front door and just keep walking.”
Keep on reading. . .

NY Times hits 50th op-ed on Romney 'dog on roof 'story

Obama would never drive with his dog on the roof. It ruins the taste of the meat. /snark

Via String and Sealing Wax:
Mitt Romney is a current and former candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination and the former Governor of Massachusetts.
Gail Collins is a journalist who writes a twice-weekly op-ed column for the New York Times.
Gail Collins is obsessed by the fact that Mitt Romney once drove to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof of the car, and has mentioned this fact almost 50 times in print.
Current Tally: 56 (50 op-ed columns, 6 blog “conversations” with David Brooks)
Last updated: 26/4/12 — We’ve had to wait a while, but finally we have the 50th op-ed mention of the dog on the roof of the car!
Keep on reading…

Obama bypasses Congress and gives Palestinians another $147 million of your tax dollars


The Palestinians have no interest in making peace with Israel unless that peace includes Israel's destruction. Why are we giving them a dime? Don't we have better things to do with $147 million?
WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) — President Obama, citing the United States’ national security interests, Wednesday waived restrictions on funding for the Palestinian Authority.

In a memorandum sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama cited his authority under section 7040(b) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 2012 section 7040(a) of the Act, to provide appropriated funds to the Palestinian Authority.

The president directed Clinton to inform Congress of his action.

State Department officials last month expressed concern the department had been unable to provide full funding to the Palestinian Authority for institution-building projects as the United States seeks to rejuvenate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., had questioned the Obama administration’s request for $147 million for the Palestinian Authority at a time when P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded preconditions for returning to the negotiations while also pushing a unilateral statehouse plan at the United Nations. She also expressed concern that $26.4 million had been requested for projects in Hamas-run Gaza.

Obvious: Obama's Energy Secretary admits they are 'strict' and denying more drilling permits (video)

 The Obama administration would deny all drilling permits if they thought they could get away with it.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Nanny State Alert: Obama administration wants to ban children from family farm chores

Having been raised on a small family farm, I can testify how asinine this proposal is. There is no better place to learn a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility than on a family farm. Instead of banning it, the government should encourage it. The problem with many young people today is they feel entitled to a free living off their parents or the government. You won't learn that on a family farm. On a family farm, everyone pulls their weight. The Obama administration hates that kind of self sufficiency and work ethic. They want Americans to be dependent on the government.
A proposal from the Obama administration to prevent children from doing farm chores has drawn plenty of criticism from rural-district member of Congress. But now it’s attracting barbs from farm kids themselves.

The Department of Labor is poised to put the finishing touches on a rule that would apply child-labor laws to children working on family farms, prohibiting them from performing a list of jobs on their own families’ land.

Under the rules, children under 18 could no longer work “in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm product raw materials.”

“Prohibited places of employment,” a Department press release read, “would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.”

The new regulations, first proposed August 31 by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, would also revoke the government’s approval of safety training and certification taught by independent groups like 4-H and FFA, replacing them instead with a 90-hour federal government training course. Read more here...

Administrator of the EPA claims they are "crucifying" oil and gas companies



President Obama most pleased....

Via Foundry:
A video surfaced on Wednesday showing a regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency comparing his agency’s philosophy with respect to regulation of oil and gas companies to brutal tactics employed by the ancient Roman army to intimidate its foes into submission.
EPA’s “philosophy of enforcement,” said EPA’s Region VI Administrator Al Armendariz, is “kind of like how the Romans used to conquer little villages in the Mediterranean: they’d go into little Turkish towns somewhere, they’d find the first five guys they’d run into, and they’d crucify them.”
“That town was really easy to manage for the next few years,” Armendariz added.
Keep on reading…

Obama Campaign Shakes Down Unions For DNC Convention Costs

Democrats think corporate money is evil and union money is manna from heaven.
(Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama’s political advisers are pressing labor unions to contribute to the Democratic convention in September to cover a fundraising shortfall resulting from their self-imposed ban on corporate donations, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Democratic officials gave representatives of the major U.S. unions, including the AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Auto Workers, a tour of the convention sites in Charlotte, North Carolina, April 23 in advance of a request for donations, according to the two people, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss internal strategy.
The three-day convention will culminate in Obama’s re-nomination in Bank of America Stadium on Sept. 6. So far, the host committee in Charlotte is roughly halfway to its $36.6 million goal.
Four years ago, unions contributed more than $8 million to the Democratic convention in Denver, according to financial disclosure reports.
Jeff Hauser, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, declined to comment on the new request.

Good News: Supremes Seem Supportive of Arizona Immigration Law

Of course, we will have to wait for the decision, but it doesn't look like the Supreme Court is going to agree with Obama's immigration law claim.

Via The Washington Times:
Supreme Court justices took a dim view of the Obama administration’s claim that it can stop Arizona from enforcing immigration laws, telling government lawyers during oral argument Wednesday that the state appears to want to push federal officials, not conflict with them.

The court was hearing arguments on Arizona’s immigration crackdown law, which requires police to check the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally, and would also write new state penalties for illegal immigrants who try to apply for jobs.

The Obama administration has sued, arguing that those provisions conflict with the federal government’s role in setting immigration policy, but justices on both sides of the aisle struggled to understand that argument.

“It seems to me the federal government just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at one point.

Social Security $8.6 trillion in the hole over the lifetime of someone born today


Social Security faces an unfunded liability of $8.6 trillion over the next 75 years.
(CNSNews.com) — Social Security faces an unfunded liability of $8.6 trillion, according to the 2012 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.

The unfunded liability is the amount that has been promised in benefits to people now alive that will not be funded by the tax revenue the system is expected to take in to pay for those benefits. [..]

The $8.6 trillion in unfunded benefits Social Security is expected to pay over the next 75 years equals $73,167.83 for each of the 117,538,000 households the Census Bureau said were in the United States in 2010.

Michelle Obama sounds like she is missing Acorn already

In the run-up to the 2008 election, Acorn helped register over one million new voters. Some of them turned out to be dead.Who will mobilize the dead voters for Obama in 2012?
(ABC News) — Seeking to build a sense of urgency for November, First Lady Michelle Obama told a group of 400 campaign supporters in Iowa today that the election could come down to only a “few thousand folks.”
“I just want you to remember that in the end, this all could come down to those last few thousand people that we register to vote. It could all come down to those few thousand folks we need to help to get to the polls in November,” the first lady told the crowd of volunteers at a community center in Windsor Heights, a Des Moines suburb.
“I have said this before, Iowa, and you’ve heard me say it. He cannot do this alone. He needs you to help him,” she said.
Continue on reading...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

New ad sticks it to Obama over Solyndra and GSA scandal

Coming soon to the battleground states of “Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and Virginia.”

Obama Fails To Call Armenian Deaths 'Genocide' For 4th Year. Scrubbed Promise From His Website.

On Jan. 19, 2008 Candidate Barack Obama issued a statement on "The Importance of US-Armenian Relations," and posted it on on barackobama.com. The page has gone down the Internet memory hole, but copies of the statement can be seen here and here. I have excerpted part of it below.

[...] I also share with Armenian Americans – so many of whom are descended from genocide survivors - a principled commitment to commemorating and ending genocide. That starts with acknowledging the tragic instances of genocide in world history. As a U.S. Senator, I have stood with the Armenian American community in calling for Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. Two years ago, I criticized the Secretary of State for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, after he properly used the term "genocide" to describe Turkey's slaughter of thousands of Armenians starting in 1915. I shared with Secretary Rice my firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide. [...]
America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that President. 
Sadly, Obama isn't that leader.
On the fourth Armenian Remembrance Day of his presidency, President Obama has for the fourth time in a row broken his promise to the Armenian community to use the word “genocide” in describing what happened at the hands of the Turks roughly a century ago.

As a senator, and then as a presidential candidate, Barack Obama often talked about how bold he was to call the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire just what it was: a genocide.
In 2007, Sen. Barack Obama wasn't afraid to use the genocide word. 



ANCA produced this video of Sen. Obama at the Illinois breakfast briefing held on April 12, 2007.

Hippies celebrate Earth Day by trashing San Francisco park





How can you care about the Earth and trash part of it like this?  This mess looks a lot like the aftermath of Obama's inauguration.


Via Huffington Post:

San Francisco may be the greenest city in the nation, but some residents have a funny way of showing their appreciation.

On Earth Day, Marina district residents took their celebrations a little too far, leaving behind a Fort Mason disaster zone.

Our friends over at SFist alerted us to this heinous trashing:
Not to get all hippie-preachy or anything, but this is kind of an offensive amount of trash, right? Do normal and reasonable human beings not look at that mess and say, “. . . maybe we ought to like, I don’t know? Take some of this trash with us? To a trash can?” or “Maybe we should bring that coffee table back home?” We’ve seen our share of litter-y days in Dolores Park and some embarrassing trash pileups in Golden Gate Park, but leaving actual pieces of living room furniture is a whole new level of prickish park use.

Democrats throw their union dogs a bone


Senate Democrats unanimously supported the new partisan NLRB 'ambush' union election rules.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected a Republican attempt Tuesday to overturn new regulations designed to give unions quicker representation elections in their effort to organize more workplaces.
The 54-45, largely party line vote against a resolution of disapproval leaves intact National Labor Relations Board rules that are scheduled to take effect April 30. Unions had sought the rules changes while business groups opposed them. Senate Democrats unanimously supported the new regulations. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican supporting them.
Under the existing regulations, workers typically vote within 45-60 days after a union gathers enough signatures from workers saying they want to hold an election. The new rules could cut that time by days or even weeks by simplifying procedures and putting off some challenges until after the election is held, cutting back hearings and reducing legal delays.
Unions call the changes a modest fix to prevent companies from using stalling tactics to delay a vote while workers can be subject to harassment, threats and even illegal firing. Republicans argue the new rules will lead to “ambush” elections that barely leave company managers enough time to respond or counsel against forming a union.
The NLRB has been the focus of intense partisan bickering since President Barack Obama gave the independent agency its first Democratic majority in nearly a decade. The board has issued a number of rules and decisions that tend to favor unions over business interests.
Keep on reading…

Chris Matthews: The Republican Party is the “Grand Wizard crowd.”



The  race card never gets old for liberals and Democrats. Since Obama has no accomplishments, that is about the only weapon in their arsenal.

Via RCP:
After arguing with MSNBC contributor and former chairman of the RNC Michael Steele over Mitt Romney being a “flat-earther,” Chris Matthews called the Republican party the “Grand Wizard crowd.”
Michael Steele called out Matthews, who eventually doubled-down on his remark.
“I resent that. What is this ‘grand wizard’ nonsense?” Steele asked.
“I should say the far-right party,” Matthews retorted.
“Are you saying that we’re the Ku Klux Klan? Give me a break. Don’t go there with me on that,” Steele warned.
“Okay. Great. Good. Thank you,” Matthews cracked. “There’s none of those problems over there. All those birthers out there.”
“Oh my gosh,” Steele could be heard saying.

Obama Administration: The War on terror is over

Has anyone informed Al Qaeda? 

Via National Journal:
In an article in the current National Journal called “The Post Al Qaida Era,” I write that the Obama administration is taking a new view of Islamist radicalism. The president realizes he has no choice but to cultivate the Muslim Brotherhood and other relatively “moderate” Islamist groups emerging as lead political players out of the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere. (The Muslim Brotherhood officially renounced violence decades ago, leading then-dissident radicals such as Ayman al-Zawahiri to join al Qaida.)
It is no longer the case, in other words, that every Islamist is seen as a potential accessory to terrorists. “The war on terror is over,” one senior State Department official who works on Mideast issues told me. “Now that we have killed most of al Qaida, now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism.”
The new approach is made possible by the double impact of the Arab Spring, which supplies a new means of empowerment to young Arabs other than violent jihad, and Obama’s savagely successful military drone campaign against the worst of the violent jihadists, al Qaida.
Keep on reading…

Monday, April 23, 2012

Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney plans to capsize Congressman Hank Johnson

The woman who thinks George Bush had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks is preparing to run on the Green Party ticket against the Congressman who is afraid the island of Guam will capsize.
(AJC)- Former Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is preparing to run for her old 4th Congressional district seat on the Green Party ticket.

McKinney was defeated by 4th district incumbent Hank Johnson in 2006 after serving six terms in Congress and has kept a low profile since returning to Atlanta from the San Francisco area where she moved in 2007.

Since February she has made a few public appearances in her old district but stayed low key with her plans. She filed paperwork April 2 with the Federal Elections Commission declaring her intention to run. 
Tracked down at her mother’s home Thursday by a reporter from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, McKinney declined to comment and ordered the reporter off the property.

Last week she was recruiting volunteers to collect the 18,860 signatures of registered voters she’ll need by August 6 to get on the newly redrawn 4th district ballot, according the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

Catholic Bishops throw down the gauntlet over Obamacare birth control mandates

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is ready to go to jail over HHS mandate requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception and sterilization services

Via Weekly Standard:
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken a bold stand for religious freedom. In a recent statement, titled “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” the bishops call for repeal of contraception coverage mandated by the Department of Health and Human Services. The clarified position sets up a dramatic confrontation with the Obama administration—and would, if the bishops prevail, help preserve the religious liberty of all Americans.
The HHS mandate requires employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception and sterilization services. It is, according to the bishops, an “unjust law.” They write: “It cannot be obeyed and therefore one does not seek relief from it, but rather its repeal.”
The statement is a rebuke of President Obama and the so-called accommodation his administration proposed in February. It also raises the stakes between the president and the leaders of America’s Catholic Church.

The bishops call on Catholics in America, “in solidarity with our fellow citizens,” not to obey the law. They implicitly compare the HHS regulation to a segregation-era statute, and even cite Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In a not-so-subtle manner, the bishops tell the Obama administration that they are willing to go to prison rather than comply with the mandate’s provisions.

Keep on reading…

Obama wants to spend $469 million in your tax dollars on overseas green projects

I guess Obama doesn't think he is flushing tax dollars down the green toilet fast enough here in America. This has zero chance of passing the House.

Via Washington Examiner:
The science remains divided, but the Obama administration has gone all-in with endorsing man-made global warming, even funding efforts to help quell the potential for climate changing catastrophes — including terrorism — in Africa and South America.
The White House is seeking $469 million in tax dollars to dump into green programs on those continents, initiatives ranging from helping farmers preserve pastureland to helping women who can’t afford to move from hot and dry areas made worse by global warming.
The costly Global Climate Change Initiative, however, is expected to come under fire in the Republican-controlled House which has passed a fiscal 2013 budget that curbs overseas spending like the initiative which is handled through USAID. At a Center for American Progress symposium, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle predicted a “hostile” reception by an “ideological” GOP. [...]
The administration agrees with a new report from CAP warning that global warming could lead to terrorism. How? It might change human migration in north-western Africa, likely opening up huge swaths of land to terror groups like al Qaeda. Also, “disenfranchised youth” would be push into terrorism, said the report.
Keep reading…

Van Jones Deranged: Conservatives Will Kill Children For Jobs

This deranged man used to be Obama's Green Jobs Czar until he was outed as a 9/11 'Truther.'

Team Obama and DNC drop $1.4 million on polling in March


Is someone getting nervous?
(Politico) — Despite a disavowal of making political decisions based on polling data, the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee have spent more than $1.4M combined on polling in March alone.
The DNC has spent $1.2M on polling, with eight different firms in March — following a February where the committee spent another $1.1M on polling. The Obama campaign spent another $237,000 on polling in March with one firm.
“I think the fact of the matter is the president, the administration is not focused on polling data,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters in January — a statement that doesn’t exactly square with the amount of money that the DNC and the campaign have put into internal polls.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Comedy Gold: NY Times staff whine about losing their cushy pension plan

Most Americans don't have a cushy defined benefit plan pension anymore. Those went the way of the dinosaur during the last three decades. I don't have one. I have a 401k. NY Times employees are upset their cushy pension plan is on the negotiating table. They could have it frozen and be forced into a 401k like most of the rest of America. Gasp! According to these testimonials, this will  make them eat cat food and sleep in boxes on the street in old age. Well, make that middle age. They all seem to be planning an early retirement in their 50s.

Pew Poll: GOP-sympathizers are better informed, more intellectually consistent, more open-minded, more empathetic

Republicans also score better on political and history questions.

Via The Daily Caller:
Yet another new survey shows that Republican supporters know more about politics and political history than Democrats.

On eight of 13 questions about politics, Republicans outscored Democrats by an average of 18 percentage points, according to a new Pew survey “Partisan Differences in Knowledge.”

The Pew survey adds to a wave of surveys and studies showing that GOP-sympathizers are better informed, more intellectually consistent, more open-minded, more empathetic and more receptive to criticism than their fellow Americans who support the Democratic Party.

Must See Video: If I wanted America to fail

Awesome video:

Guess who the most overexposed First Lady in history is...

Why, it's Michelle Obama. She has made 44 TV appearances since Barack ascended to the White House. She may not have been proud to be an American before the 2008 election, but she is proud to be on TV now.
(FOX News) — In a recent interview, Stephen Colbert asked first lady Michelle Obama which show “has more gravitas as a broadcaster” — The Colbert Report or iCarly.

The funny man wasn’t just fishing for compliments. He was pointing out that the first lady is just about everywhere, from Comedy Central to Nickelodeon.

Lately, Michelle Obama is no stranger to television entertainment. She’s already outpaced past first ladies, like Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton, in the number of TV appearances she’s made over the first four years of a president’s term.

Dan Gainor, of the Media Research Center, said Michelle Obama really is “off the charts” in the number of times she’s appeared in entertainment television cameos, even more so “than I dare say many big name actors and actresses.”

In just the last four months, viewers have seen Obama do push-ups with Ellen DeGeneres, play tug o’ war with Jimmy Fallon, laugh along with Jay Leno and David Letterman, dance on Disney’s “iCarly,” work out with “The Biggest Loser” contestants at the White House, appear at the BET Honors, smile on “Sesame Street” and chat about healthy school lunches with Rachael Ray.

Whether the appearances are sincere or just political is up for debate. Democratic political strategist Doug Schoen suggested they were a little bit of both....
 Between 2001 and 2004, Laura Bush appeared in about 12 television shows...
Hillary Clinton made about 19 television appearances from 1993 to 1996...
 Keep on reading. . .

MSNBC: White voters will hold Obama to a higher standard because he is black

What they should have said is white voters will judge Obama on his record and not vote for him to prove they aren't racists.

Via Beltway Confidential:
MSNBC hosts agreed this weekend that white voters hold President Obama to a higher standard than his white predecessors because he is black.
“[Obama] now has a specific record of governing,” MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry said today on her show. “A record that, I contend, because of his race will be held to a much higher standard than it would have been for a white incumbent. Those white voters who found what they were looking for in 2008 will not necessarily be so enthusiastic in 2012.”
Alex Wagner, host of MSNBC’s NOW, agreed. “I think race absolutely has to do with the conversation about reelection,” she said.
Keep on reading…

Indiana Union: Working alongside non-union personnel is slavery or something

The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 has filed a lawsuit against Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels over right-to-work legislation. They compare it to slavery.
(Capitol Confidential) — An Indiana union suing Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels over right-to-work legislation is claiming that it violates the 13th amendment — the law that outlaws slavery.
In the lawsuit, the union claims that the Indiana right-to-work bill “requires dues-paying union members to work alongside non-union personnel,” which the union contends is slavery.
Ed Maher, spokesman for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, didn’t return a message left on his office phone.
Patrick Wright, senior legal analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said the union’s claim was ridiculous.
“The legal argument expands the definition of chutzpa,” Wright said. “Compulsory membership and coerced dues and fees are the hallmarks of the union movement, yet they claim that giving workers more choice is an act of enslavement.”
The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 filed its lawsuit Feb. 22 against Indiana’s governor, attorney general and labor commissioner.
Keep on reading…

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Stratfor Emails: Democrats Stuffed Ballot Boxes in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 2008

No surprise here. Sen. John McCain reportedly knew about it and lacked the cahones to do anything.

Business Insider reported:
John McCain’s 2008 campaign staff allegedly had evidence that Democrats stuffed ballot boxes in Pennsylvania and Ohio on election night, but McCain chose not to pursue voter fraud, according to internal Stratfor emails published by WikiLeaks.
In an email sent on November 7, 2008, and titled ” Insight – The Dems & Dirty Tricks ** Internal Use Only – Pls Do Not Forward **,” Stratfor vice president of intelligence Fred Burton wrote:
1) The black Dems were caught stuffing the ballot boxes in Philly and Ohio as reported the night of the election and Sen. McCain chose not to fight. The matter is not dead inside the party. It now becomes a matter of sequence now as to how and when to “out”.
In an email sent two days earlier and titled “Insight - McCain #5 ** internal use only – Pls do not forward **,” Burton wrote:
After discussions with his inner circle, which explains the delay in his speech, McCain decided not to pursue the voter fraud in PA and Ohio, despite his staff’s desire to make it an issue. He said no. Staff felt they could get a federal injunction to stop the process. McCain felt the crowds assembled in support of Obama and such would be detrimental to our country and it would do our nation no good for this to drag out like last go around, coupled with the possibility of domestic violence.

Prepare to roll on the floor laughing: President Obama "Dog Eater" (Video)

 It should be illegal to have this much fun.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is unsure if he will vote for Obama this year

Democrats are avoiding President Obama like he has the plague. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) claims he hasn't decided to vote for Obama this year. Manchin saluted and voted for Obamacare when Harry Reid and Barack Obama called on him. He has no credibility and should be tossed for office this November.

The National Journal reported:
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has done more than any other Democrat up for reelection this year to distance himself from President Obama, said he does not know if he will vote for Obama or presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in November.
“I’ll look at the options,” Manchin said this week. The last three years “have made it pretty rough” for his state, he said.
That stance is at odds with almost every other Democrat who is up for reelection this year or is from a state that Romney is likely to win. And it’s an indication of the unique effort Manchin has made to establish his independence from Obama and other Democrats. The senator has regularly used floor speeches and closely watched votes to, as he puts it, “respectfully” highlight differences with Obama, especially on environmental issues. He said Obama has never called him or sought a one-on-one conversation.
Manchin said his own vote will depend on how his constituents view the contest.

Sen. Barbara Boxer To Women: 'If You’re A Self-Respecting Human Being,' 'Vote For Obama'

No self-respecting human being would ever vote for Obama.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Putting deficit spending in terms even Democrats can understand (Video)

The 2012 National Debt Road Trip 

Flashback 2011: Obama put VP Joe Biden in charge of stopping government waste and fraud

June 12, 2001.


Obama puts VP Joe Biden in charge of stopping government waste and fraud. (2:40 mark)
I've asked the Vice President to lead a renewed effort to hunt down misspent tax dollars in every agency and department of this government.

Joe Biden:(3:50 mark)
We are going to give you the government you expect and deserve.
Let's check how Joe is doing stopping waste and fraud.  That's what I thought.

Feminists slam LEGO's : “They Have Little Breasts And Fancy Hair”


The modern feminist movement has become a joke.
(Fox News) — A feminist group has identified the enemy, and it is . . . LEGOs?
The Danish company behind the interlocking plastic building blocks loved by children since 1949 has a meeting set for Friday with a Brooklyn group ticked off with LEGOs product line designed to appeal to girls.
The new “LEGO Friends” rolled out in December featuring LadyFigs, curvier takeoffs on the traditional boxy LEGO men. Construction sets include a hot tub, a splash pool, a beauty parlor, an outdoor bakery and a “cool convertible,” as well as an inventor’s workshop.
But the SPARK Movement objects to the “LadyFigs,” the female version of the little figures who man the spaceships, trucks and forts children create. “Ladyfigs” are somewhat anatomically correct, which hypersexualizes girls, according to the group.
“They have little breasts and they have fancy hair,” the organization’s executive director, Dana Edell, told FoxNews.com. “And it just disturbs us that this is the image that they want girls to see.”
Edell also objects to what she calls stereotyping of preferred pastimes for girls.
“What it’s doing is telling girls that this is what’s important to you,” Edell said of the beauty parlor and hot tub sets. “Girls aren’t building space shuttles, they’re getting their nails done.”
Keep on reading…