Obama Watch... 7/23/10
A Chronicle of the Socialization of America
The American People: Mugged!
Headlines …
The Tax Tsunami On The Horizon
Posted 07/21/2010 06:41 PM ET
Fiscal Policy: Many voters are looking forward to 2011, hoping a new Congress will put the country back on the right track. But unless something's done soon, the new year will also come with a raft of tax hikes — including a return of the death tax — that will be real killers.
Through the end of this year, the federal estate tax rate is zero — thanks to the package of broad-based tax cuts that President Bush pushed through to get the economy going earlier in the decade.
But as of midnight Dec. 31, the death tax returns — at a rate of 55% on estates of $1 million or more. The effect this will have on hospital life-support systems is already a matter of conjecture.
Resurrection of the death tax, however, isn't the only tax problem that will be ushered in Jan. 1. Many other cuts from the Bush administration are set to disappear and a new set of taxes will materialize. And it's not just the rich who will pay.
The lowest bracket for the personal income tax, for instance, moves up 50% — to 15% from 10%. The next lowest bracket — 25% — will rise to 28%, and the old 28% bracket will be 31%. At the higher end, the 33% bracket is pushed to 36% and the 35% bracket becomes 39.6%.
But the damage doesn't stop there.
The marriage penalty also makes a comeback, and the capital gains tax will jump 33% — to 20% from 15%. The tax on dividends will go all the way from 15% to 39.6% — a 164% increase.
Read more <http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/541131/201007211841/The-Tax-Tsunami-On-The-Horizon.aspx>
Bobby Jindal Lashes Out at Obama: “Our People Don’t Want a BP Check – We Want to Go Back to Work!” (Video)
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, July 22, 2010, 3:12 PM
Governor Bobby Jindal blasted the Obama Administration yesterday on their deepwater drilling ban that is killing thousands of jobs in Louisiana.
Governor Bobby Jindal lashed out at Washington over the federal ban on deepwater drilling yesterday.
CNN Money reported:
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal railed against the federal ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico at a rally on Wednesday, saying the “arbitrary moratorium” could cost the region hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Speaking at an “Economic Survival Rally” in Lafayette, Jindal called on the Obama Administration to end the ban on drilling for oil and natural gas in more than 500 feet of water, which was instituted earlier this year in response to a devastating oil spill in the Gulf.
“The folks in Washington just don’t seem to understand that you can’t just turn a switch on and off with these rigs,” Jindal said. “When they leave our coast to produce oil in other parts of the country or the world, the jobs that support them go too.”
Read more <http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/>
Domestic ...
Administration
Fed: 7 Percent Unemployment Through Obama Term
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 09:15 AM
By: Frank McGuire
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the unemployment rate would remain well above 7 percent through the end of 2012, and the duration of [Alleged] President Obama’s current term.
Bernanke, in saying that the Fed had no immediate plans to provide additional support to the economy, dashed the hopes of some economists and executives who have been pushing for action to add momentum to the sluggish recovery, The New York Times reports.
Bernanke also sounded a discouraging note for Washington incumbents facing tough re-election fights.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Fed-Unemployment-Through-Obama/2010/07/22/id/365346>
Watchdog: Obama May Have Misused Science on Moratorium
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 07:38 PM
Allegations that scientists' views were improperly used to justify a federal moratorium on deep-water drilling are being investigated, the Interior Department's top watchdog says.
House Republicans who had sought the investigation released a letter Thursday from Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall confirming the probe.
Scientists who consulted with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for a report on drilling safety this spring said the department falsely implied they had agreed to a "blanket moratorium." The scientists said the drilling moratorium went too far and warned that it may have a lasting impact on the nation's economy.
The Interior Department's May 27 report, which called for the moratorium, said that its recommendations had been "peer-reviewed" by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.
Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said the experts were not asked to review or comment on the decision to implement the moratorium. They were asked only to review the 22 safety recommendations contained in the report on a technical basis, and they performed that task, she said.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/US-Gulf-Oil-Spill-Washington/2010/07/22/id/365425>
Less money for dead people: Obama signs waste law
Thu Jul 22, 12:29 pm ET
WASHINGTON – [Alleged] President Barack Obama on Thursday signed legislation intended to slash by $50 billion the taxpayer money improperly paid to dead people, fugitives and those in jail who shouldn't be getting benefits.
But that goal, if achieved, would not even halve the $110 billion made in such payments last year.
Read more <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100722/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_improper_payments;_ylt=Amf8DfV.9r6oJgnlpLHoaPpzfNdF>
More Hope & Change… Top Obama Adviser Participated on Journolist
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, July 22, 2010, 11:09 PM
The “Journolist” is a listserv comprised of several hundred top liberal journalists from influential American and British media outlets, as well as like-minded professors, union reps and activists. Leftist media hack and WaPo journalist Ezra Klein founded Journolist with far left crank Joe Klein from TIME magazine in February of 2007. Klein admitted that Journolist was an “insulated space where the lure of a smart, ongoing conversation would encourage journalists, policy experts and assorted other observers to share their insights with one another.” But, you had to be a leftist to join this group. It was an exclusive club. And, it grew to include 400 of the most prominent leftist American journalists who shared ideas and helped spin the far left narrative in the state-run media. This is where far left cranks colluded to spit out the DNC’s talking points and to defend [Alleged] President Barack Obama’s radical past and socialist agenda. Ezra Klein reportedly shut down Journolist on June 28, 2010 after leaks were reported. Andrew Breitbart announced recently that he would reward $100,000 to anyone who could provide the full “JournoList” archive, source fully protected.
Now we find out that one of Barack Obama’s top advisers was a member and participated on Journolist.
Jared Bernstein was an Obama economic adviser and member of Journolist.
Read more <http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/>
Related Stories
Obama Changes Tune on Paying for Unemployment Benefits Extension
<http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20011420-503544.html>
Economy
Fed Chief to Congress: Don't End Stimulus Spending
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 12:55 PM
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the fragile economy still needs government stimulus spending to strengthen the recovery and help reduce unemployment.
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke did urge lawmakers to come up with a credible plan to reduce the government's record-high budget deficits in the long run. But he said they shouldn't move now to slash spending or boost taxes, or undertake some combination of both.
"I believe we should maintain our stimulus in the short term," Bernanke said as he spoke about the economy's challenges for the second straight day on Capitol Hill.
Bernanke again said the Fed is prepared to take new steps to bolster the recovery if needed.
"We are ready, and we will act" if the economy doesn't continue to improve, Bernanke told the House panel.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Federal--Reserve--Bernanke--Stimulus/2010/07/22/id/365382>
Bernanke: Fed Will Intervene if Hiring Does Not Improve
<http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Bernanke-Fed-Intervene-Hiring-Improve/2010/07/22/id/365402>
Related Stories
Mortgage Rates Hit 4.56 Pct., New Record Low
<http://www.newsmax.com/US/US-Mortgage-Rates/2010/07/22/id/365359>
U.S. credit card agreements unreadable to 4 out of 5 adults
<http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-agreement-readability-1282.php>
Congress
Democratic Senators Call for Bush Tax Cuts Renewal
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 10:00 AM
By: Frank McGuire
Two more Senate Democrats have called for extending tax cuts for all earners, including those with the highest incomes, in what appears to be a breakdown of the party's consensus on the how to handle the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D., N.D., said that Congress shouldn't allow taxes on the wealthy to rise until the economy is on a sounder footing.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Democratic-Senators-Call-Bush-Tax-Cuts--Renewal/2010/07/22/id/365349>
Renewal of Bush Tax Cuts Could Be Only Temporary
<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69832>
House Panel Charges Rangel With Ethics Violations
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 05:18 PM
A House investigative committee on Thursday charged New York Rep. Charles Rangel with multiple ethics violations, a blow to the former Ways and Means chairman and an election-year headache for Democrats.
The committee did not specify the charges against the Democrat, who has served in the House for some 40 years and is fourth in House seniority.
The announcement from a four-member panel of the House Ethics Committee sends the case to a House trial, where a separate eight-member panel of Republicans and Democrats will decide whether the violations can be proved by clear and convincing evidence.
The timing of the announcement ensures that it will stretch into the fall campaign, and Republicans are certain to make it an issue as they try to capture majority control of the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had once promised to "drain the swamp" of ethical misdeeds by lawmakers in arguing that Democrats should be in charge.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Rangel--House--ethics--violations/2010/07/22/id/365411>
Senate Democrats Abandon Comprehensive Energy Bill
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 03:00 PM
Senate Democrats are giving up on plans to pass an energy bill that caps emissions of carbon dioxide, saying Republicans refuse to support the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said no Republican was willing to back a comprehensive energy bill, a development he called "terribly disappointing."
Democrats have been trying for more than a year to pass a plan that charges utilities and other major polluters for their carbon emissions. A compromise plan to limit emissions only from utilities also failed to attract the 60 votes needed to advance it in the 100-member chamber.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/US-Senate-Energy/2010/07/22/id/365401>
Senate Democrats abandon comprehensive climate bill
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/22/AR2010072203614.html?hpid=topnews>
Boehner Wants 'Bill Read' Rule
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 02:09 PM
By: David A. Patten
House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner is throwing his support behind a "read the bill" reform that would prohibit the House from considering new legislation until it has been posted on the Internet for at least three days.
The Ohio Republican has posted a new video on his AmericaSpeakingOut.com Web site, stating that "as a standard practice, thousand-page bills have been brought to the floor for a vote, without any time for members to read them. This isn't the way Americans expect their Congress to work."
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/Boehner--Wants--Bill-Read--Rule/2010/07/22/id/365391>
Berwick battle escalates: GOP introduces resolution calling recess appointment ‘abuse of power’
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
07/22/10 8:15 PM EDT
Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts has just introduced an amendment calling for the Senate to declare the recess appointment of Medicare and Medicaid chief Donald Berwick “an abuse of power.” The nonbinding “sense of the Senate” resolution also calls on Berwick to appear before the Senate Finance Committee to answer questions.
The measure is designed to send a message to the White House that Republicans remain angry about [Alleged] President Obama’s decision to short-circuit the confirmation process, before a hearing was held for Berwick, and put Berwick in the job by recess appointment. The president blamed the GOP for its potential, but not yet actual, opposition to the nomination.
“The manner in which an individual nominated to serve as the Administrator of CMS intends to carry out these responsibilities is a serious matter and warrants a thorough review,” the resolution says. “A thorough review is especially needed for Dr. Berwick’s appointment in light of statements he has made in the past about health care rationing as well as the role of government in health care.”
Read more <http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/berwick-battle-escalates-gop-introduces-resolution-calling-recess-appointment-abuse-of-power-99067194.html>
Related Stories
House Approves Additional Jobless Benefits
<http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Unemployment-Benefits/2010/07/22/id/365397>
Liberals, Conservatives Agree: Re-imposing the Death Tax Designed to Penalize the Wealthy
<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69825>
Scottish Ministers Won’t Take Part in Senate Lockerbie Hearing
Read more <http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69858>
Senate Passes $60B War Bill, Kills House Add-Ons
<http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-Congress-War-Funding/2010/07/22/id/365431>
State Department
State Dept. planning to field a small army in Iraq
By Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Can diplomats field their own army? The State Department is laying plans to do precisely that in Iraq, in an unprecedented experiment that U.S. officials and some nervous lawmakers say could be risky.
In little more than a year, State Department contractors in Iraq could be driving armored vehicles, flying aircraft, operating surveillance systems, even retrieving casualties if there are violent incidents and disposing of unexploded ordnance.
Under the terms of a 2008 status of forces agreement, all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by the end of 2011, but they'll leave behind a sizable American civilian presence, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the largest in the world, and five consulate-like "Enduring Presence Posts" in the Iraqi hinterlands.
Read more <http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/07/21/97915/state-dept-planning-to-field-a.html#ixzz0uRFpicpy>
Related Stories
Hillary Clinton: Pakistani Government Knows Where Bin Laden Is
<http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/07/20/hillary_clinton_pakistani_government_knows_where_biden_laden_is.html>
Defense
Defense board to recommend that Gates eliminate Joint Forces Command
By Roxana Tiron - 07/22/10 03:00 PM ET
A Pentagon advisory board is expected to recommend that Defense Secretary Robert Gates eliminate the Joint Forces Command as part of a drive to cut Pentagon bloat.
The Defense Business Board (DBB), the Pentagon’s independent board of economic and business advisers, has been tasked by Gates to recommend options for reducing the Pentagon’s overhead, or indirect operating expenses. The board is also expected to offer recommendations on making the Pentagon’s business operations more efficient.
Read more <http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/defense-homeland-security/110399-defense-board-to-recommend-that-gates-eliminate-joint-forces-command>
Homeland Security
American-Bred Terrorists Causing Alarm For Law Enforcement
Twenty-Year-Old Zachary Chesser the Latest in Concerning Trend
By JASON RYAN, PIERRE THOMAS, and XORJE OLIVARES
July 22, 2010
A Virginia man charged with providing material support to terrorists abroad appeared in court today requesting an attorney be appointed to him.
Zachary Chesser, 20, is accused of trying to join Al-Shabaab, a Somali-based Islamist militant group suspected in the recent bombing attacks in Uganda that left 73 dead and dozens more injured as they watched the World Cup final.
"I'm shocked—I'm just surprised," said Yvette Deale, Chesser's former neighbor. "It's not the kind of thing I would have expected in this neighborhood."
Read more <http://abcnews.go.com/WN/suspected-american-terrorists-islamic-ties-causing-concern-law/story?id=11230885>
Immigration
Judge Holds Hearing on Arizona Immigration Lawsuit
Thursday, July 22, 2010
By Paul Davenport, Associated Press & Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press
Phoenix (AP) - A judge heard arguments in a packed courtroom Thursday on whether Arizona's new immigration law should take effect next week amid a flurry of legal challenges against the crackdown.
The hearing focused on one of seven lawsuits filed against Arizona over a law that has reignited the national immigration debate.
The American Civil Liberties Union, federal government and other opponents of the law want U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton to grant an injunction to block implementation of the law before it takes effect next Thursday. The judge has not said when she might issue a ruling.
The courtroom was packed with about 150 spectators and 30 lawyers, while dozens of protesters gathered outside. The group outside included opponents who believe the law is inhumane and supporters who believe it is a necessary response to secure the border.
Read more <http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69818>
International …
Middle East
Hezbollah Leader Says Claims of Hariri Assassination Links are Politically Motivated
Friday, July 23, 2010
By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press
Beirut (AP) – The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said Thursday that its members will be among those indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – a move he dismissed as politically motivated.
Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the current prime minister, Saad Hariri, informed him of the upcoming indictments by an international tribunal investigating the suicide truck bombing, which killed Hariri and 22 others.
Many in Lebanon worry that if the tribunal accuses the Shiite Hezbollah of being connected to the assassination of Hariri, it could lead to bloodshed between Lebanon's Shiite and Sunni communities. Hariri was Sunni.
Read more <http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69861>
Terrorism
No Mosque at Ground Zero
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 12:22 PM
By: Frank Gaffney
The Center for Security Policy today unveiled a powerful 1-minute video opposing the construction of a 13-story, $100 million mega-mosque near the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center.
The twin towers were destroyed on 9/11 by adherents to the barbaric, supremacist and totalitarian program authoritative Islam calls “Shariah.” And the imam who is promoting this mosque has publicly declared that he seeks to “bring Shariah to America.”
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/ground--zero--mosque--shariah--center--for--policy--security/2010/07/22/id/365377>
Afghanistan
Petraeus Sharpens Afghan Strategy
By JULIAN E. BARNES
WASHINGTON—Gen. David Petraeus plans to ramp up the U.S. military's troop-intensive strategy in Afghanistan, according to some senior military officials, who have concluded that setbacks in the war effort this year weren't the result of the strategy, but of flaws in how it has been implemented.
The new allied commander in Afghanistan plans to ramp up the U.S. military's troop-intensive strategy, which officials say has put too much attention on hunting down Taliban leaders. Julian Barnes and David Weidner discuss. Also, Charles Forelle and Paul Vigna discuss the euro's recent rally, which many say reflects worries about the U.S. economy.
The officials said Gen. Petraeus, who took over as allied commander in Afghanistan this month and is conducting a review of the war, intends to draw on many of the same tactics he implemented to turn around the war in Iraq—and which his predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, introduced in Afghanistan.
But the officials said Gen. McChrystal put too much attention on hunting down Taliban leaders, at the expense of the U.S. counterinsurgency strategy, which focuses on protecting civilians and bolstering popular support for the government. Supporters of Gen. McChrystal dispute that assessment, dismissing any notion there were flaws in how he fought the war.
Read more <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954804575381223866697214.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories>
NATO’s Education Training Chief Unsure When Afghan National Security Force Will Be Fully Literate
Friday, July 23, 2010
By Edwin Mora
(CNSNews.com) - An objective for when to expect a fully literate Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) has not been established despite an ongoing U.S.-led education training program in place, according to NATO’s education training chief.
On July 14, during a Bloggers Roundtable briefing sponsored by the Department of Defense (DOD), CNSNews.com asked Dr. Mike Faughnan, chief of the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan Education Division Subject, “Is there a goal as to when you expect to have a fully-literate ANSF?”
“We have not really established a timeline for completion of the [literacy] program,” the education training chief responded.
Read more <http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69843>
Mexico
Gunbattles Paralyze Mexican City Across From Texas
Thursday, 22 Jul 2010 10:38 AM
Mexican soldiers fought late-night gunbattles with gangs who forced citizens from their cars and used the vehicles to block streets in a city across the border from Texas.
The Nuevo Laredo city government posted messages on Facebook warning citizens to stay indoors as the battles erupted at several intersections Wednesday night. City officials on Thursday said they could not immediately confirm witness reports that several gunmen were killed.
Gangs used stolen cars and buses to block several main avenues in the city across from Laredo, Texas. Several residents called local newspapers to report thefts.
"For your security, stay in your homes until the alert has passed," the city government wrote on Facebook.
When the violence subsided, the government urged citizens to come forward and reclaim their stolen vehicles.
Read more <http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/LT-Drug-War-Mexico/2010/07/22/id/365358>
China
Foreign Companies: Business Climate in China Tough
| Thursday, July 22, 2010 9:17 AM | |
Foreign companies, particularly some of the leading U.S. and European multinationals, have publicly questioned recently whether new Chinese policies and regulations are making China a more difficult place for foreign firms to do business, The Washington Post reports.
Among the critics are the head of Microsoft -- who complained about China's policies on intellectual property -- and the head of General Electric, who voiced worries about the country's business climate. Earlier this year, the Internet giant Google threatened to shut down its Chinese search engine, saying that a server had been hacked and that it could no longer abide by Chinese censorship rules.
Read more <http://www.newsmaxworld.com/global_talk/china_business_climate/2010/07/22/334285.html>
Cuba
Cuba release 'could lead to US lifting embargo'
Jul 21 10:45 AM US/Eastern
Cuba's release of all its political prisoners would improve its relations with Europe and United States, and could lead to the lifting of a US embargo, the Spanish foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Miguel Angel Moratinos welcomed as "good news" Cuban parliament chief Ricardo Alarcon's announcement to AFP on Tuesday that his "government's wish is to free all the people" not accused of murder.
The Spanish foreign minister said before parliament that such releases would yield "political consequences" for relations with the European Union and the United States, in particular a possible "lifting of the embargo" that Washington has maintained against Cuba since 1962.
In a Spain-brokered deal struck between the Catholic Church and Havana, Cuba agreed this month to free 52 of 75 detainees who had been sentenced in 2003 to prison terms of up to 28 years.
Eleven freed prisoners have already emigrated to Spain with their families.
A twelfth prisoner arrived on Wednesday and another eight were expected to arrive in Madrid later on Wednesday as part of Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.
According to Cuban dissidents, 115 political prisoners remain in Cuba in addition to the 52 released.
In light of the releases, Moratinos urged the European Union to change its "joint position" linking dialogue with Cuba to progress on human rights.
Read more <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.df970667f800ebae0460ce5d428a2698.c61&show_article=1>
Opinion …
Cap Unloved
By John Batchelor on July 22, 2010 9:56 PM
Spoke David Drucker, Roll Call, to learn that Harry Reid has had a come to Jesus meeting with John Kerry, and they will shelve the cap and trade bill that has been hanging around like an unloved child since the New Year. The House cap and trade bill last year was a rough vote that left many Democrats broken armed and hapless, especially those in the energy states such as the Appalachia Trail. Kerry bragged and boasted and schemed, but he could not find the votes on his own side of the aisle for global wamring control. There is a slight chance there will be a modest energy bill next week. The warning is that a slight energy bill could be put together in Conference with the massive cap and trade bill from the House and then, by main force, turned into a green hybrid of hybrids in a Lame Duck. Maybe.
Source <http://johnbatchelorshow.com/jb/2010/07/spoke-david-drucker-roll-call/>
Fed Chief Bernanke: We Need More Stimulus to Boost Economy & Reduce Unemployment
Posted by Jim Hoft on Thursday, July 22, 2010, 4:51 PM
It worked so good the first time.
Barack Obama is the worst president in history on job creation–
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. shed 2.3 million jobs since February 2009, Obama’s first full month in office. Since Obama’s election in 2008, the US economy has shed 4.4 million jobs. That’s worse than Herbert Hoover.
The US economy lost another 125,000 jobs in June. Just ask Alvin Greene.
Barack Obama’s Keynesian policies have failed miserably. Democrats blew a Trillion dollars on a failed stimulus bill and all they managed to do was triple the national deficit in one year.
The national debt will represent 62% of the nation’s economy by the end of this year, the highest percentage since just after World War II.
But, never mind all that…
The Fed Chief Ben Bernanke told Congress today that country needs more stimulus to strengthen recovery and reduce unemployment.
SGVTribune reported, via Free Republic:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that the fragile economy needs government stimulus spending to strengthen the recovery and help reduce unemployment.
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, Bernanke urged lawmakers to come up with a credible plan to reduce the government’s record-high budget deficits in the long run. But he said they shouldn’t move now to slash spending or boost taxes in the near future.
Read more <http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/>
Not Obama Is Not Enough
by Victor Davis Hanson
National Review Online
Republicans will shortly need to stand for something more than just being against much of the Obama agenda. Only a superior and detailed alternative can win more lasting support than just a midterm correction.
Obama, after all — with nationalized healthcare, amnesty, cap-and-trade, financial overhaul, government absorption of private enterprise, takeover of the student-loan industry, and gorge-the-beast deficits that will ensure a generation of higher taxes — at least seems to have some sort of plan to change America.
The absurdity of $1.5 trillion annual deficits is easy to run on; but where in the budget should we freeze or cut spending? To restore fiscal sanity, we need details rather than vague promises to reduce red ink to a particular percentage of GDP. Is there to be an across-the-board spending freeze or targeted cuts? How much, if at all, does defense get cut? If it does, where and how?
Fairly or not, we are at the stage where, at least in the short term, each proposed dollar of tax cuts needs to be matched by a proposed dollar of spending reduction. The supply-side notion of expanding federal revenue through tax cuts and business stimulation remains of course valid. But in the here and now, the public needs concrete reality, not assurances about more money to come in within a year or two.
Amnesty — under the euphemism of “comprehensive immigration reform” — would be a disaster. But in critiquing Obama’s policies, Republicans need to explain precisely how employer sanctions, increased patrols, and the completion of the fence will result in near-zero illegal entry. Then they must detail what exactly to do with the existing population of illegal aliens, which may well exceed 12 million — of whom most are neither felons nor unemployed.
What exactly is earned citizenship, and how does it differ from amnesty? Does one have to go back to Mexico to apply for readmission for American residency or to obtain citizenship? How would fines be levied and collected? Are we to close the border first, and let various agencies incrementally deport illegal aliens over several years as they come across them?
If the Republicans are not prepared to answer these questions and more, then they will get hit with the charge of advocating “mass deportations” — and with 60 Minutes–style stories of a valedictorian Victoria Lopez or a football star Jorge Garcia detained during a traffic stop and cruelly put on a bus to Oaxaca.
Obama seems lost on Afghanistan. He avoided General McChrystal for months. He foolishly, as with his promises on Guantanamo, set an arbitrary date for phased troop withdrawals. And he is imprisoned now within his own self-created paradox of the supposed good war in Afghanistan turned bad, and the bad war in Iraq turned good.
But what is the alternative? Can Republicans articulate a simple three-step policy that will set out: (1) our objectives and aims in Afghanistan, (2) how we are going to achieve them, and (3) a rough estimate of the costs and sacrifices necessary? Can they explain why continuing the war is preferable to leaving? Without some specificity about what would constitute victory and how we can secure it, we are back to Nixon’s campaign promise of a “secret plan” to abruptly end the Vietnam War, which turned out to be Vietnamization stretched out over four years.
Read more <http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson072310.html>
The Coming Nullification Non-Crisis
By D.L. Adams
The radical, and so far ineffectual but significantly costly, programs and policies of the current resident of the White House suggest that a new "Nullification Crisis" will soon be upon us -- not on account of sectional or partisan motives, and this time for the entire nation.
This new Nullification "Crisis" will be measured by how much damage now being caused can be reversed. Our first true Nullification Crisis occurred in 1832 over tariffs and was resolved by political compromises and threats of force against South Carolina by then-President Andrew Jackson.
The 1832 controversy culminated in South Carolina's "Ordnance of Nullification," which nullified specific federal tariffs in that state. Over time, this crisis would set the stage for secession and the American Civil War. It should not be surprising to later analysts that South Carolina was the first state to secede.
It is significant that the state around which Nullification swirled in 1832 was also the first state to declare its independence from the Federal Union in 1860. The rejection of federal authority by South Carolina in 1832 was the dangerous precedent for later comprehensive nullification, which was the 1860 "Ordnance of Secession."
The coming nullification "crisis" will be very different. It will be a national rejection of societal self-destruction. This coming "crisis" will be no crisis at all, but rather a restatement of our national identity and a re-appreciation of our foundational concepts as laid out in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
"Post-historical" is a popular concept on the American political left. It is the belief that history can be "reset" and that we can escape from historical precedent and context. The fall of Soviet Communism in 1989 validated this concept for many so-called "intellectuals," who have yet to repudiate it. They will eventually have no option -- because it is not true.
The next presidential election should be about nothing short of nullification: review, re-assessment, and repeal (when necessary) of almost every foreign policy and domestic initiative of the current administration. The opposition candidate should propose during the upcoming campaign, and follow through during his/her term(s) in office, that all laws passed during this administration be reviewed for constitutionality and practical/fiscal feasibility and overturned/nullified/repealed through a rapid repeal process via Congress.
This reversal would also involve foreign policy initiatives including the negative posture toward our traditional allies, specifically Israel, and our new genuflection toward Islamic states, their ideology, and their self-aggrandizing purposes.
Read more <http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/the_coming_nullification_noncr.html>
Does Barack Obama Have a Learning Disability?
By Michael Applebaum, MD
Does Barack Obama have a learning disability (LD)? It seems like an outlandish question to ask, but the actions of [Alleged] President Obama suggest that he may suffer from one. Consider:
Learning
Learning is "the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge."
Intelligence is defined as
capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc. or
1 a (1) : the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations : reason; also :the skilled use of reason (2) : the ability to apply knowledge to manipulate one's environment or to think abstractly as measured by objective criteria (as tests)
There is a relationship between learning and intelligence.
Intelligence is measurable. IQ tests "are designed to measure your general ability to solve problems and understand concepts. This includes reasoning ability, problem-solving ability, ability to perceive relationships between things and ability to store and retrieve information."
Learning Disability
It follows that a learning disability affects a person's capacity or ability to learn or understand, to grasp truths, facts, meanings, and relationships. So what demonstrations of LD can we find in Obama?
Presidential Appointments
The president has recruited a number of key appointments who appear to have LDs.
Regina Benjamin is the Surgeon General of the United States.
Benjamin states that overweight/obesity is incompatible with health.
She admits that she is fat.
According to the definition she accepts and publishes, she is a health illiterate: "Health literacy is the ability of an individual to access, understand, and use health-related information and services to make appropriate health decisions."
Somewhere along the bucket brigade of learning -- i.e., "access, understand, and use health-related information" -- all the water spilled, since she certainly failed to "make appropriate health decisions." Hence, her self-recognized and personally lamentable fatness.
Clearly in the domain of sick care, health illiteracy despite medical training is evidence of an LD.
Eric Hampton Holder, Jr., is the Attorney General of the United States.
Holder is pursuing a lawsuit alleging that "the state of Arizona's recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070" "unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government's authority to set and enforce immigration policy."
However, during a House Judiciary Committee meeting, Holder admitted to not having read the law, despite repeatedly voicing concerns about it, especially about "racial profiling." His statements must have been based on hearsay.
Holder's bio states that he attended law school and is in the practice of law.
In training to become an attorney, hearsay, a fundamental concept of evidence that is not new, is taught to law students.
Holder should have acquired a grasp of hearsay, absent an LD.
Timothy F. Geithner is Secretary of the Treasury.
Geithner is a person who demonstrated an inability to properly do his own taxes even with the help of a mass-market consumer tax preparation software package used by people without a financial background.
It would be expected that a person nominated for Treasury Secretary would be able to figure out how to do taxes, unless an LD was present.
Clearly, BHO was unable to learn how to recognize individuals qualified for appointment.
Read more <http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/does_barack_obama_have_a_learn.html>
The Age of the Yoyo
By J.R. Dunn
<http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/the_age_of_the_yoyo.html>
'Progressive'? Awww, Grow Up!
By James Lewis
<http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/progressive_awww_grow_up.html>
