Archive for National
Obama Was Moderator,He had The First Word The Last Word And Most Words
Posted by: | CommentsFriday, February 26, 2010
Home Court Advantage Didn’t Help Obama
Posted by: Townhall.com Staff at 10:49 AM
Guest post from Ernest Istook with the Heritage Foundation
President Obama used his health care summit to give his side every advantage possible. Whenever opponents spoke, he got to respond. By appointing himself the moderator, Obama gave himself the first word, the last word, and the most words.
Overall, Obama gave Democrats over twice as much speaking time as Republicans. The 17 GOP’ers attending received a collective 110 minutes. By himself, Obama hogged 119 minutes of microphone time and gave his 21 fellow Democrats an additional 114 minutes. When called to account for this, Obama proclaimed it fair because, “I’m the President.”Obama exercised free rein to cut off opponents, speak sharply, and pass judgment on whether others’ arguments were legitimate. He wasn’t just a player; he also was the referee.
Despite giving his side all the advantages, most commentators agree that Republicans held their own or even carried the day. CNN’s David Gergen proclaimed that Republicans “had their best day in years.”
A key moment was when Obama—arguing passionately with Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)–claimed his plan would reduce the cost of private health insurance, and then the President was forced publicly to back down from that claim.
As media such as the Daily Caller reported:
Later in the session, after an aide handed the president a note, Obama admitted he had been wrong: ‘What the Congressional Budget Office is saying is, is that if I now have the opportunity to actually buy a decent package inside the exchange, that costs me about 10% to 13% more but is actually real insurance, then there are going to be a bunch of people who take advantage of that. So yes, I’m paying 10% to 13% more because instead of buying an apple, I’m getting an orange.’
It was a crucial point because, for many Americans, the key issue is not whether government provides health care for the uninsured, but whether it lowers costs for the already-insured. Whether the number of uninsured is estimated at 30 million or 46 million (and both numbers are deceptive, it still represents only 10-15% of the population.
Among the 85-90% of Americans who have insurance, the main concern is affordability, not availability. Obama’s most important health reform promise to them was his oft-repeated pledge to lower their health insurance costs by $2,500 per year. Being forced to admit on live television that his plan fails to do that—and instead increases premiums—was the low point of the summit for the President.
As Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) noted, “It’s just another example of why because the bill has to raise so much money, it ends up hurting the very people that we want to help.”
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) offered Obama a clear chance to embrace a premium-reducing solution. For example, she said, those Californians who face up to 39 percent increases in premiums should be given “the ability to go to Oregon, where they could buy a policy for 25 percent less, or individuals in New Jersey who could go to Pennsylvania and buy a policy and lower their cost 26 percent, or go to Wisconsin and buy one and lower their cost 74 percent.”
The need for a plan that lowers premiums rather than increases them is a major reason why the best course for Congress would be to start over. Lawmakers should take a different approach, rather than try to ram through Obamacare and impose it on a country that does not want it.
Americans Signs Petition To Repeal The First Amendment
Posted by: | CommentsTOP TEN CORRUPT POLITICIANS 2009
Posted by: | CommentsMonday, December 28, 2009
TOP TEN CORRUPT POLITICIANS LIST ANNOUNCED BY JUDICIAL WATCH
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The motto of Judicial Watch is “Because no one is above the law”. The list, in alphabetical order, includes:
1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 “Ten Most Corrupt” list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch’s complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms
were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year’s worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: “The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide…” The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign’s office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign
seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also “under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives’ use.” Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a “federal regulator,” and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank’s intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk
assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: “I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury.” Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank
also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4. Secretary of State Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn’t until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March
10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: “Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG’s impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned ‘full details’ of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG.” Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed “household help” ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the “Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington” list. Read More→
More People Crying Over Dead Trees
Posted by: | CommentsDoes Obama Really Matter?
Posted by: | Comments
FIND OUT WHAT REALLY MATTERS
The Fundamental Transformation of America
When Obama wrote a book and said he was mentored as a youth by Frank Marshall Davis, an avowed Communist, people said it didn’t matter.
When it was discovered that his grandparents, were strong socialists, sent Obama’s mother to a socialist school, introduced Frank Marshall Davis to young Obama, people said it didn’t matter.
When people found out that he was enrolled as a Muslim child in school and his father and step father were both Muslims, people said it didn’t matter.
When he wrote in another book he authored “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction,” people said it didn’t matter.
When he admittedly, in his book, said he chose Marxist friends and professors in college, people said it didn’t matter.
When he traveled to Pakistan after college on an unknown national passport, (it could NOT have been a US passport as the US didn’t have diplomatic relations with Pakistan at the time..),people said it didn’t matter.
When he sought the endorsement of the Marxist party in 1996 as he ran for the Illinois Senate, people said it doesn’t matter. http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2008/05/29/obama-sought-endorsement-of-marxist-third-party-in-1996/
When he sat in a Chicago church for twenty years and listened to a preacher spew hatred for America and preach black liberation theology, people said it didn’t matter.
When an independent Washington organization, that tracks Senate voting records, gave him the distinctive title as the “most liberal senator,”people said it didn’t matter.
When the Palestinians in Gaza set up a fund raising telethon to raise money for his election campaign, people said it didn’t matter.
When his voting record supported gun control, people said it didn’t matter.
When he refused to disclose who donated money to his election campaign, as other candidates had done, people said it didn’t matter..
When he received endorsements from people like Louis Farrakhan, Mummar Kadaffi and Hugo Chavez, people said it didn’t matter.
When it was pointed out that he was a total, newcomer and had absolutely no experience at anything except community organizing, people said it didn’t matter.
When he chose friends and acquaintances such as Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn who were revolutionary radicals, people said it didn’t matter.
When his voting record in the Illinois Senate and in the U.S. Senate came into question, people said it didn’t matter.
When he refused to wear a flag lapel pin and did so only after a public outcry, people said it didn’t matter.
When people started treating him as a Messiah and children in schools were taught to sing his praises, people said it didn’t matter.
When he stood with his hands over his groin area for the playing of the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, people said it didn’t matter.
When he surrounded himself in the White House with advisors who were pro gun control, pro abortion, pro homosexual marriage and wanting to curtail freedom of speech to silence the opposition, people said it didn’t matter.
When he aired his views on abortion, homosexuality and a host of other issues, people said it didn’t matter.
When he said he favors sex education in kindergarten, including homosexual indoctrination, people said it didn’t matter.
When his background was either scrubbed or hidden and nothing could be found about him, people said it didn’t matter.
When the place of his birth was called into question and he refused to produce a birth certificate, people said it didn’t matter.
When he had an association in Chicago with Tony Zco, a man of questionable character, who is now in prison and had helped Obama to a sweet deal on the purchase of his home, people said it didn’t matter.
When it became known that George Soros, a multi-billionaire Marxist, spent a ton of money to get him elected, people said it didn’t matter.
When he started appointing “czars” without Senate approval that were radicals, revolutionaries and even avowed Marxist/Communist, people said it didn’t matter.
When he stood before the nation and told us that his intentions were to “fundamentally transform this nation” into something else, people said it didn’t matter.
When it became known that he had trained ACORN workers in Chicago and served as an attorney for ACORN, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed cabinet members and several advisors who were tax cheats and Socialists, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed a Science Czar, John Holdren, who believes in forced abortions, mass sterilizations and seizing babies from teen mothers, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Cass Sunstein as Regulatory Czar and he believes in “Explicit Consent,” harvesting human organs without family consent and to allow animals to be represented in court, while banning all hunting, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Kevin Jennings, a homosexual and organizer of a group called Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, as safe school czar and it became known that he had a history of bad advice to teenagers, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Mark Lloyd as Diversity czar and he believed in curtailing free speech, taking from one and giving to another to spread the wealth and admires Hugo Chavez, people said it didn’t matter.
When Valerie Jarrett was selected as Obama’s Senior White House Advisor and she is an avowed Socialist, people said it didn’t matter.
When Anita Dunn, White House Communications Director said Mao Tse Tung was her favorite philosopher and the person she turned to most for inspiration, people said it didn’t matter.
When he appointed Carol Browner as Global Warming Czar, and she is a well known socialist working on Cap and Trade as the nation’s largest tax, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he appointed Van Jones, an ex-con and avowed Communist as Green Energy Czar, who since had to resign when this was made known, people said it didn’t matter.
When Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary could not be confirmed, because he was a tax cheat, people said it didn’t matter.
When as President of the United States, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, people said it didn’t matter.
When he traveled around the world criticizing America and never once talking of her greatness, people said it didn’t matter.
When his actions concerning the Middle- East seemed to support the Palestinians over Israel, our long time friend, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he took American tax dollars to resettle thousands of Palestinians from Gaza to the United States, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he upset the Europeans by removing plans for a missile defense system against the Russians, people said it doesn’t matter.
When he played politics in Afghanistan by not sending troops the Field Commanders said we had to have to win, people said it didn’t matter.
When he started spending us into a debt that was so big we could never pay it off, people said it didn’t matter.
When he took a huge spending bill under the guise of “stimulus “and used it to pay off organizations, unions and individuals that got him elected, people said it didn’t matter.
When he took over insurance companies, car companies, banks, etc. people said it didn’t matter.
When he took away student loans from the banks and put them through the government, people said it didn’t matter.
When he designed plans to take over the health care system and put it under government control, people said it didn’t matter.
When he set into motion a plan to take over the control of all energy in the United States through Cap and Trade, people said it didn’t matter.
When he finally completed his transformation of America into a Socialist State, people finally woke up…but it was too late!
Any one of these things, in and of themselves does not really matter. But…. when you add them up one by one you get a phenomenal score that points to the fact that our President is determined to make America over into a Marxist/Socialist society. All of the items in the preceding paragraphs have been put into place. All can be documented very easily. Before you disavow this, do an internet search. The last paragraph alone is not yet cast in stone. You and I will write that paragraph. Will it read as above or will it be a happier ending for most of America? Personally, I like happy endings.
If you are an Obama Supporter, please do not be angry with me because I think your president is a Socialist but there are too many facts supporting this.
• If you seek the truth you will be richer for it.
Don’t just belittle the opposition. Search for the truth. I did.
• Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Constitutionalist, Libertarians and what have you, we all need to pull together. We all must pull together or watch the demise of a society that we all love and cherish.
• If you are a religious person, pray for our nation.
Never before in the history of America have we been confronted with problems so huge that the very existence of our country is in jeopardy.
Don’t rely on most television news and what you read in the newspapers for the truth. Search the Internet. Yes, there is a lot of bad information, lies and distortions there too, but you are smart enough to spot the fallacies.
Newspapers are a dying breed. They are currently seeking a bailout from the government. Do you really think they are about to print the truth? (The ONLY newspaper that tells the truth is The Wall Street Journal. It is the Fox News of print journalism and is the #1 newspaper in the USA.)
Obama praises all the television news networks except Fox who he has waged war against.
There must be a reason. He does not call them down on any specifics, just a general battle against them. If they lie, he should call them out on it, but he doesn’t. Please, seek the truth; it will set you free.
Our biggest enemy is not China, Russia, and Iran; no, our biggest enemy is a contingent of politicians in Washington DC.
