This is a bit ironic! Obama goes to Massachusetts to rally the troops around the success of a state health insurance plan that was implemented by a Republican governor (Mitt Romney). Maybe Romney should have been elected so that national healthcare would be the same success as what happened in Massachusetts.
President Barack Obama wants Americans to believe this about his health care law: It’s just like Mitt’s.
After
all, the White House used the 2006 Massachusetts health program signed
into law by Republican Mitt Romney as its blueprint for the national
model. And in case anyone missed the message last year during the
presidential campaign, Obama will repeat it again Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
TEA PARTY vs. OBAMA
According to Rasmussen 42% identify with Obama and 42% with the Tea Party. But if you listen to the media you get the impression that the majority of Americans agree with Obama and that the Tea Party is just a small number of yokels. (Tea Party support has dropped 1% since 2010).
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
GENERAL MOTORS BAILOUT
The US government (taxpayer) took a $9.7 billion bath on the bailout of General Motors.
BENGHAZI SUMMARY
Comments on the recent revelations on 60 Minutes. The White House "spin" is undermined by mainstream media.
Even Chris Matthews from MSNBC is now asking why there was no administration response to the attack on the embassy.
But at least the administration got through the last presidential election without having to face the truth. . .but alas, poor Romney. The media and liberals castigated him for raising this issue.
UPDATE (11/8/13): CBS reports one of its witnesses used in its report lied. I wonder how much "lying" goes on in all news reporting???
Even Chris Matthews from MSNBC is now asking why there was no administration response to the attack on the embassy.
But at least the administration got through the last presidential election without having to face the truth. . .but alas, poor Romney. The media and liberals castigated him for raising this issue.
UPDATE (11/8/13): CBS reports one of its witnesses used in its report lied. I wonder how much "lying" goes on in all news reporting???
Monday, October 28, 2013
COMPANY CONTRACTED TO DEVELOP OBAMACARE
CGI was given a no-bid contract and it had connections to the White House. Chicago politics! And the firm was fired by a Canadian official after the firm missed deadlines.
OBAMA TELLS A "POLITICAL LIE"
Clarence Page, a liberal columnist, admits that Obama lied on health care in an interview. But it was a "political lie" so I guess that is not as big a thing!
Page told Hewitt that Obama knew “there was no guarantee everybody was going to keep their insurance because people couldn’t keep their insurance under the old system.”
Hewitt asked, “He knew he was lying?”
Page replied, “Probably, but that’s one of those political lies, you know.”
Page told Hewitt that Obama knew “there was no guarantee everybody was going to keep their insurance because people couldn’t keep their insurance under the old system.”
Hewitt asked, “He knew he was lying?”
Page replied, “Probably, but that’s one of those political lies, you know.”
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST
According to Diarmaid MacCulloch writing in the Daily Beast, it is Jews and the Christians themselves who are responsible for the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. . .it is not Muslims.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
THE TRUTH COMES OUT ON BENGHAZI
The Obama administration tried to blame the Libyan attacks on an anti-Muslim film produced in California and denied that al-Qaeda was involved. But now it appears that al-Qaeda was heavily involved in the attack on the US embassy which resulted in the killing of the US ambassador.
The direct ties to the Al Qaeda senior leadership undercut early characterizations by the Obama administration that the attackers in Benghazi were isolated “extremists" -- not Al Qaeda terrorists -- with no organizational structure or affiliation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark, "what does it matter?" is certainly undercut by this new information. It matters because lives were lost and also it destroys the administration's talking point that al-Qaeda is defeated.
The direct ties to the Al Qaeda senior leadership undercut early characterizations by the Obama administration that the attackers in Benghazi were isolated “extremists" -- not Al Qaeda terrorists -- with no organizational structure or affiliation.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's remark, "what does it matter?" is certainly undercut by this new information. It matters because lives were lost and also it destroys the administration's talking point that al-Qaeda is defeated.
WHAT DID OBAMA KNOW AND WHEN?
Kathleen Sebelius has indicated in a CNN interview that Obama did not know about glitches in Obamacare registration until he read about it in the newspapers! Cynics are saying he also didn't know about Benghazi or the IRS Scandal either until he read about it--if this is true he is a president out-of-touch or is he being served by a very poor staff?
But there were warnings since at least last March from a variety of sources that the system coding was not going well. Did Obama not read anything about that in the newspapers???? But wait, the headlines from CNN read "Administration Knew of Obamacare Website Glitches, Ignored Warnings"--the White House includes President Obama so what is happening? Either you knew or you don't know--is it an uninformed president or an incompetent staff that is keeping him from knowing anything??? A lot of questions.
Kathleen Sebelius: "I haven't tried to sign up for Obamacare because I have insurance." A government bureaucrat doesn't have to deal with Obamacare--it's for the "little" people who have no power.
Investors.co asks: "What kind of chief executive is out of his own loop?"
Sebelius had an August report that there were problems.
But the inspector general for HHS issued a report at the beginning of August noting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services missed multiple deadlines for testing and reporting data security risks in connection with signing up on the healthcare exchanges as they barreled toward the launch date.
John McAfee (computer developer) interviewed by Neil Cavuto at Fox..
From Frontpage.
The biggest contractor, CGI Federal, was awarded its $94 million contract in December 2011. But the government was so slow in issuing specifications that the firm did not start writing software code until this spring
As late as the last week of September, officials were still changing features of the Web site, HealthCare.gov, and debating whether consumers should be required to register and create password-protected accounts before they could shop for health plans.
But there were warnings since at least last March from a variety of sources that the system coding was not going well. Did Obama not read anything about that in the newspapers???? But wait, the headlines from CNN read "Administration Knew of Obamacare Website Glitches, Ignored Warnings"--the White House includes President Obama so what is happening? Either you knew or you don't know--is it an uninformed president or an incompetent staff that is keeping him from knowing anything??? A lot of questions.
Kathleen Sebelius: "I haven't tried to sign up for Obamacare because I have insurance." A government bureaucrat doesn't have to deal with Obamacare--it's for the "little" people who have no power.
Investors.co asks: "What kind of chief executive is out of his own loop?"
Sebelius had an August report that there were problems.
But the inspector general for HHS issued a report at the beginning of August noting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services missed multiple deadlines for testing and reporting data security risks in connection with signing up on the healthcare exchanges as they barreled toward the launch date.
John McAfee (computer developer) interviewed by Neil Cavuto at Fox..
From Frontpage.
The biggest contractor, CGI Federal, was awarded its $94 million contract in December 2011. But the government was so slow in issuing specifications that the firm did not start writing software code until this spring
As late as the last week of September, officials were still changing features of the Web site, HealthCare.gov, and debating whether consumers should be required to register and create password-protected accounts before they could shop for health plans.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
IRAN vs. SAUDI ARABIA
This confrontation has building for years as Sunni and Shia argue Islamic theology. It appears to have escalated recently. The Iranian news agency is calling for the destruction of the Saud family.
What the world needs to realize is that the House of Saud is not just an enemy of Islam, it is indeed the arch-enemy of the entire human civilization. Whether you are a Christian, Jew, or Hindu, you are fit only to be killed as per Salafist theological edicts. Time to break the last idol threatening the house of Allah.
UPDATE from The Daily Mail.
Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.
Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.
What the world needs to realize is that the House of Saud is not just an enemy of Islam, it is indeed the arch-enemy of the entire human civilization. Whether you are a Christian, Jew, or Hindu, you are fit only to be killed as per Salafist theological edicts. Time to break the last idol threatening the house of Allah.
UPDATE from The Daily Mail.
Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years.
Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.
SOLVING AMERICA'S FINANCIAL SITUATION
An interesting graph on America's financial situation over the last 40 years. A lot could be resolved quickly if both Democrats and Republicans stop supporting each party's interest groups.
If the federal government would spend what it did in 2006 (you know, while we were fighting a costly war in Iraq), $2.655 trillion a year, combined with the 2013 estimate for receipts (2.712 trillion a year), we would have a balanced budget -- actually, a slight surplus. Sure, we have more people out of work today than in 2006, and the government spends more on unemployment and various support programs -- but we are not fighting a war in Iraq, either.
If the federal government would spend what it did in 2006 (you know, while we were fighting a costly war in Iraq), $2.655 trillion a year, combined with the 2013 estimate for receipts (2.712 trillion a year), we would have a balanced budget -- actually, a slight surplus. Sure, we have more people out of work today than in 2006, and the government spends more on unemployment and various support programs -- but we are not fighting a war in Iraq, either.
Monday, October 21, 2013
THE INCREASING FEDERAL DEBT
A very good article by Victor Davis Hanson on the impact of the growing national debt. As I read his analysis I couldn't help but the think of the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s. The rich win because of their Wall Street connections and the poor win because of the welfare state, but the middle class is destroyed because they cannot protect its assets from inflation the way the wealthy can. This was the process that destroyed democracy in Germany in the 1920s.
If interest ever returned to 1997 levels, at say 6.6%, we’d be paying over a trillion dollars a year in debt service. In crude terms, the winners of this Ponzi scheme are the very wealthy connected to Wall Street, which is flooded with foreign and domestic capital. It need not do much of anything more than outperform a pathetic 1% return on savings accounts.
The poor benefit from the vast increase in federal spending and exemption from federal income taxes. In contrast, the middle class still pays high interest on its student loans, credit card, and, to a lesser extent, car debt, receives almost no interest on its meager savings accounts, and is not so ready, after 2008, to dabble in real estate and the stock market.
In some sense, holders of U.S. Treasury debt and passbook savers are giving up hundreds of billions of dollars in interest returns (cf. the difference, say, between 1% and a more normal 5%) to subsidize the redistributive policies of the federal government.
The lack of interest, or de facto negative interest, keeps the near-retired working and hampers job prospects of the young; discourages thrift, savings and investment; and plays an underappreciated role in the slow economic recovery. The Democrats must deal with the contradiction of needing zero interest rates to service their recent extra $6 trillion in debt, and higher interest to encourage savings, investment, and job growth.
If interest ever returned to 1997 levels, at say 6.6%, we’d be paying over a trillion dollars a year in debt service. In crude terms, the winners of this Ponzi scheme are the very wealthy connected to Wall Street, which is flooded with foreign and domestic capital. It need not do much of anything more than outperform a pathetic 1% return on savings accounts.
The poor benefit from the vast increase in federal spending and exemption from federal income taxes. In contrast, the middle class still pays high interest on its student loans, credit card, and, to a lesser extent, car debt, receives almost no interest on its meager savings accounts, and is not so ready, after 2008, to dabble in real estate and the stock market.
In some sense, holders of U.S. Treasury debt and passbook savers are giving up hundreds of billions of dollars in interest returns (cf. the difference, say, between 1% and a more normal 5%) to subsidize the redistributive policies of the federal government.
The lack of interest, or de facto negative interest, keeps the near-retired working and hampers job prospects of the young; discourages thrift, savings and investment; and plays an underappreciated role in the slow economic recovery. The Democrats must deal with the contradiction of needing zero interest rates to service their recent extra $6 trillion in debt, and higher interest to encourage savings, investment, and job growth.
FUTURE OF REPUBLICAN PARTY
Larry Kudlow hits this one right on. Obama and the Democrats are looking to destroy the Republican Party. Unfortunately Republicans seem to be playing right into Obama's strategy. The Republican Party (Tea Party included) lacks leadership and seems to have no idea of how to present alternatives to the Obama agenda.
Obama is interested in busting the GOP in 2014. He’s not interested in true budget restraint or other economic-growth measures.
Finally, while Obama again may occasionally say otherwise, the Democratic party opposes all manner of entitlement reforms. All. That includes the chain-CPI reform (which would lower benefits), Medicare means testing, longer retirement eligibility, and higher co-pays for federal-employee benefits.
Republicans had no coherent message going into the shutdown fiasco. But they can change that. They can now adopt a clear policy that maintains the sequester budget caps, pushes hard for pro-growth tax reform, and makes no apologies for rolling back the taxing, spending, mandating, budget-busting behemoth that is Obamacare.
Obama is interested in busting the GOP in 2014. He’s not interested in true budget restraint or other economic-growth measures.
Finally, while Obama again may occasionally say otherwise, the Democratic party opposes all manner of entitlement reforms. All. That includes the chain-CPI reform (which would lower benefits), Medicare means testing, longer retirement eligibility, and higher co-pays for federal-employee benefits.
Republicans had no coherent message going into the shutdown fiasco. But they can change that. They can now adopt a clear policy that maintains the sequester budget caps, pushes hard for pro-growth tax reform, and makes no apologies for rolling back the taxing, spending, mandating, budget-busting behemoth that is Obamacare.
OBAMACARE CRITICS
If liberals on MSNBC are questioning the roll-out of Obamacare, there are major problems with it. They even accuse the Obama administration of lying! (Watch the video).
Friday, October 18, 2013
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND & CONFISCATION OF SAVINGS
Developed economies are going to be paying a heavy price according to the IMF. Watch our for your savings. Wealth confiscation has already taken place in places like Poland. And they are not just going after the filthy rich. Somebody has to pay the costs of an entitlement society and it will be people who have saved..
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) quietly dropped a bomb in its October Fiscal Monitor Report. Titled “Taxing Times,” the report paints a dire picture for advanced economies with high debts that fail to aggressively “mobilize domestic revenue.” It goes on to build a case for drastic measures and recommends a series of escalating income and consumption tax increases culminating in the direct confiscation of assets.
Note three takeaways. First, IMF economists know there are not enough rich people to fund today’s governments even if 100 percent of the assets of the 1 percent were expropriated. That means that all households with positive net wealth—everyone with retirement savings or home equity—would have their assets plundered under the IMF’s formulation.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) quietly dropped a bomb in its October Fiscal Monitor Report. Titled “Taxing Times,” the report paints a dire picture for advanced economies with high debts that fail to aggressively “mobilize domestic revenue.” It goes on to build a case for drastic measures and recommends a series of escalating income and consumption tax increases culminating in the direct confiscation of assets.
Note three takeaways. First, IMF economists know there are not enough rich people to fund today’s governments even if 100 percent of the assets of the 1 percent were expropriated. That means that all households with positive net wealth—everyone with retirement savings or home equity—would have their assets plundered under the IMF’s formulation.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
SHUTDOWN OBSERVATIONS
The whole story is not in yet, but it is looking like a Republican and Tea Party defeat on the shutdown. It is hard to see what the Republicans accomplished by all of this, especially the Tea Party Republicans. You don't start fights when you don't have the votes and the GOP did not have votes outside of the House. And in the process they diverted attention from the failed inauguration of Obamacare registration which I think could turn out to be a more disillusioning issue to many Americans. The Tea Party needs a bit of Bismarckian realism!
I think leftist Rachel Maddow pretty well sums it up.
Edward Morissey in the Fiscal Times said "you can't bluff that you hold all of the aces when your opponents hold two of them." (!!!)
Politico sums it up well with a quote from the famous military strategist, Sun Tzu: "Avoid what is strong to attack what is weak."
I think leftist Rachel Maddow pretty well sums it up.
Edward Morissey in the Fiscal Times said "you can't bluff that you hold all of the aces when your opponents hold two of them." (!!!)
Politico sums it up well with a quote from the famous military strategist, Sun Tzu: "Avoid what is strong to attack what is weak."
RECORD ON HOUSE VOTES TO REOPEN GOVERNMENT
The GOP House passed 11 bills to reopen government or keep it going since September. All of them were rejected by the Democrats in the Senate or President Obama. Somehow we only see the obstructionism of Republicans in the media.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
OBAMA ON CIVILITY
A summary of his language used in the recent kerfuffle with the Republican controlled House. A few years back Obama promised a more civil discourse.
Historian Michael Beschloss said Obama was trying to "make this a better country." CBS News history commentator Douglas Brinkley surmised "this guy might be a great man" and conservative-turned-liberal author Garry Wills compared Obama's words to both the Gettysburg Address and Shakespeare's Henry V Agincourt speech.
If "their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse," the president said, it is "because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud."
Unfortunately Obama has not followed his own advice.
Historian Michael Beschloss said Obama was trying to "make this a better country." CBS News history commentator Douglas Brinkley surmised "this guy might be a great man" and conservative-turned-liberal author Garry Wills compared Obama's words to both the Gettysburg Address and Shakespeare's Henry V Agincourt speech.
If "their death helps usher in more civility in our public discourse," the president said, it is "because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to the challenges of our nation in a way that would make them proud."
Unfortunately Obama has not followed his own advice.
HISTORICAL SUPPORT FOR HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN BUDGET BATTLE
This is the word from James Madison in Federalist Papers No. 58. The House of Representatives is to protect the people from the Senate and presidency.
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ACTIONS
A story on how the National Park Service is closing open plazas like the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. It is open space and doesn't require any "policing," yet the park service is closing it down so people will feel the pain of the budget conflict. Rather political.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
ARE MEN BEING TURNED OFF BY CHURCH?
What one church in Canada did to increase male attendance. . .one thing was to balance the music offerings!
EGYPT'S COMING CIVIL WAR
I am with the editors of Bloomberg on this one. It is hard not to see a battle developing between the Muslim Brotherhood and more moderate Egyptian Muslims.
Monday, October 07, 2013
THE WHITE WIDOW
A discussion of converts to Islam and the radicalization that takes place. Based on the role Samantha Lewthwaite has played in Islamic terrorism.
Lewthwaite is a convert. There is a theory that the ranks of radicalized Muslims are disproportionately filled by converts. And there is an understandable resentment on the part of converts that they are considered a “suspect” category.
Engaged in research into the dynamics of radicalization at the Home Office from 2008 to 2010, I interviewed converts who had journeyed in and out of extremism. I learned three big things about the relationship between conversion and extremism.
Lewthwaite is a convert. There is a theory that the ranks of radicalized Muslims are disproportionately filled by converts. And there is an understandable resentment on the part of converts that they are considered a “suspect” category.
Engaged in research into the dynamics of radicalization at the Home Office from 2008 to 2010, I interviewed converts who had journeyed in and out of extremism. I learned three big things about the relationship between conversion and extremism.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
OBAMA & IRAN
It is hard to know whether Obama lied or just didn't know what he was talking about, but the London Daily Mail has reported on a serious misrepresentation that Obama has recently made.
An organization that monitors foreign-language media broadcasts in the Middle East said Sunday that one of the central claims President Obama is using to justify negotiating with Iran is a 'lie.'
But MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, claims there is no evidence any such fatwa exists.
An organization that monitors foreign-language media broadcasts in the Middle East said Sunday that one of the central claims President Obama is using to justify negotiating with Iran is a 'lie.'
Obama
claimed during his Sept. 24 address before the United Nations General
Assembly that Iran's supreme leader, Ali Hosseini Khamenei, 'has issued a
fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons.' He repeated that
claim three days later in the White House briefing room
WHO TO BLAME FOR THE SHUTDOWN?
Republicans in the House may have legislation that Harry Reid, Obama, and liberal Democrats don't like. . .but all I hear from Reid and Obama is that they will not negotiate. Somehow negotiation has to take place. The Republicans have something on the table so Reid and Obama should start negotiating. This is like a football player negotiating with a team's owner. Normally they negotiate before a stalemate takes place.
The Tatler has a summary of decisions made to lead us to this wall of non-negotiation. If the report is right this is Reid's shutdown, not Obama's.
Is this really the “Republican” shutdown? No. The roads of blame all end with Sen. Harry Reid and the Democrats. First, Reid reportedly talked Obama out of negotiating with Republicans to avoid a government shutdown.
When the president considered sitting down with the four congressional leaders in the White House ahead of the deadline to avert a government shutdown, Reid privately urged Obama to call off the meeting, according to several people familiar with the situation,” Politico reported. “Reid believed that it would amount to nothing more than a photo-op that would give the false impression that a serious negotiation was occurring, even warning he wouldn’t attend such a session. Obama scrapped it.”
The Tatler has a summary of decisions made to lead us to this wall of non-negotiation. If the report is right this is Reid's shutdown, not Obama's.
Is this really the “Republican” shutdown? No. The roads of blame all end with Sen. Harry Reid and the Democrats. First, Reid reportedly talked Obama out of negotiating with Republicans to avoid a government shutdown.
When the president considered sitting down with the four congressional leaders in the White House ahead of the deadline to avert a government shutdown, Reid privately urged Obama to call off the meeting, according to several people familiar with the situation,” Politico reported. “Reid believed that it would amount to nothing more than a photo-op that would give the false impression that a serious negotiation was occurring, even warning he wouldn’t attend such a session. Obama scrapped it.”
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN SYRIA
From the Independent. Christians feel betrayed by their Muslim neighbors.
The Diab family can never return to Maaloula. Not since the Christians of this beautiful and sacred town saw their Muslim neighbours leading the armed Nusrah Islamists to their homes. Georgios remembers how he peered over his balcony and saw Mohamed Diab and Ossama Diab and Yasser Diab and Hossam Diab and Khaled Turkik Qutaiman – all from Maaloula – walking in the street with men whom he said were dressed in Afghan-Pakistani clothes. “One of them had a Kalashnikov rifle in one hand and a sword in the other,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief.
The Diab family can never return to Maaloula. Not since the Christians of this beautiful and sacred town saw their Muslim neighbours leading the armed Nusrah Islamists to their homes. Georgios remembers how he peered over his balcony and saw Mohamed Diab and Ossama Diab and Yasser Diab and Hossam Diab and Khaled Turkik Qutaiman – all from Maaloula – walking in the street with men whom he said were dressed in Afghan-Pakistani clothes. “One of them had a Kalashnikov rifle in one hand and a sword in the other,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief.
SUPPORTING REGIMES THAT USE CHILD SOLDIERS
I just don't get this decision by Obama to continue aiding governments that use child soldiers. There is a liberal humanitarian issue at stake here and since 2011 he has waived the US ban on this policy.
I like what Instapundit comments: Thecountry’s world is in the very best of hands.
I like what Instapundit comments: The
US SUPERPOWER STATUS EBBING AWAY
From the Telegraph in London. The columnist blames Obama for the decline of US superpower status and also notes the rise of Putin. The author is not optimistic about America's future.
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