Brackets Barry goes to War to defend Al Qaeda?

I know, I know, the White House's preferred terminology is that the U.S. is in a state of "military kinetic action" with the Libyan regime. When the no fly zone was imposed we were assured that it was to protect civilians from genocide and that coalition forces would not engage regime forces to defend or aid the rebels. Recent media reports indicate that this is no longer the case, if it ever was. So, who exactly are these rebels that we are siding with?

It would appear that at least one, like Col. Qaddafi has American blood on his hands. John Rosenthal of Pajamasmedia covers the story of Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi whose troops U.S. forces are aiding in Libya:

Shortly after unrest broke out in eastern Libya in mid-February, reports emerged that an “Islamic Emirate” had been declared in the eastern Libyan town of Darnah and that, furthermore, the alleged head of that Emirate, Abdul-Hakim al-Hasadi, was a former detainee at the American prison camp in Guantánamo. The reports, which originated from Libyan government sources, were largely ignored or dismissed in the Western media.

Now, however, al-Hasadi has admitted in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore that he fought against American forces in Afghanistan. (Hat-tip: Thomas Joscelyn at the Weekly Standard.) Al-Hasadi says that he is the person responsible for the defense of Darnah — not the town’s “Emir.” In a previous interview with Canada’s Globe and Mail, he claimed to have a force of about 1,000 men and to have commanded rebel units in battles around the town of Bin Jawad.

Did his efforts against America end when he was captured in Pakistan? Actually, he was just getting started:

In his more recent remarks to Il Sole 24 Ore, al-Hasadi admits not only to fighting against U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but also to recruiting Libyans to fight against American forces in Iraq. As noted in my earlier PJM report here, captured al-Qaeda personnel records show that al-Hasadi’s hometown of Darnah sent more foreign fighters to fight with al-Qaeda in Iraq than any other foreign city or town and “far and away the largest per capita number of fighters.” Al-Hasadi told Il Sole 24 Ore that he personally recruited “around 25” Libyans to fight in Iraq. “Some have come back and today are on the front at Ajdabiya,” al-Hasadi explained, “They are patriots and good Muslims, not terrorists.” “The members of al-Qaeda are also good Muslims and are fighting against the invader,” al-Hasadi added.

The report also includes the tidbit that British intelligence believes al-Hasadi was released as part of a deal that Qaddafi struck with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group(LIGF), which is affiliated with al-Qaeda. So, if the Brits know who this guy is and what he's done, shouldn't the White House?

What evidence is there that U.S. forces are aiding him at all? Here's some more from Rosenthal:

Reporting from the outskirts of Ajdabiya on Wednesday, Antoine Estève of the French news channel i-Télé noted that just “minutes” after rebel positions had been hit by artillery fire from Libyan government forces, the Libyan government positions were then bombarded by coalition aircraft. (Estève’s report can be viewed here.) In a March 19 dispatch from Benghazi for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, correspondent Lorenzo Cremonesi cites rebel leaders as saying that they were given the opportunity to provide NATO with a map indicating enemy targets that they wanted bombed.

From the Wall St Journal:

The allies also seemed intent on helping the opposition win back the eastern town of Ajdabiya, the site of back-and-forth fighting between the government and rebels in recent weeks.

and

"In Ajdabiya to Misrata, our targeting priorities are mechanized forces, artillery…[and] mobile surface-to-air missile sites," Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber, chief of staff for the U.S. task force in the Mediterranean Sea, told reporters by teleconference from the USS Mount Whitney.

I'll finish with this quote from the NY Times:

Admiral Hueber also said that the coalition was communicating with rebel forces. But later, when he was pressed on whether the United States was telling rebels not to go down certain roads because there would be airstrikes there, he said he had misspoken. American military officials have said there are no “official communications” with the rebels, which remains a delicate issue. Contact with the rebels would reflect a direct American military intervention in the civil war of another country.

The Obama administration, as usual is not playing it straight with the American people. We deserve to know who we're supporting and towards what end. President Obama can start by explaining why we are giving succor to someone like al-Hasadi, who rightly should be targeted by our forces as an enemy, not treated as an ally.

Barry Brackets: Complainer in Chief

With all the momentous real news stories happening around the globe this month I'm surprised the editors' of this newspaper can't find bigger fish to fry than Rep. Michele Bachmann "Huh? Where was that shot fired?" (3/16). Being New England born and raised I find her ignorance of American history and Massachusett's place in it eye roll worthy. But is it truly newsworthy? I can't recall reading anything in this paper when then candidate Obama added ten states to our union: "I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it.". Politicians with all the wind they expel are guaranteed to have a gaffe or two to their discredit, just look at Vice President Biden. I would like to share a quote from the NY Times no less that I find far more troubling, which has received scant media attention: "Mr. Obama has told people that it would be so much easier to be the president of China. As one official put it, “No one is scrutinizing Hu Jintao’s words in Tahrir Square.”.

Our president complains about the burden of being the leader of the free world and longs to lead a dictatorship and that's not news? I find his choice of China quite telling. He wouldn't have to worry about Fox News or talk radio because the state controls the media. If he ruled in Beijing instead of Washington D.C. he could have used the military to crush those pesky tea partiers just like the pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. Also, his party wouldn't have taken a "shellacking" last fall, losing control of the House because China is a one party state. Now, our president has gone to the finest schools and possesses an unrivaled temperament so I'm sure he, unlike Hu Jintao would practice the most enlightened despotism the planet has ever known.

Actually what's telling is that our president is wilting before our eyes and railing against the scrutiny of a press that has treated him with kid gloves. Any other president that possessed Obama's sorry record would be savaged daily by the media. We are on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe in Japan, unemployment counting the discouraged and those only able to find part-time work is 16%, every trip to the gas station and the grocery store gets more expensive, the country's budget is bleeding red ink threatening fiscal ruin and our president is working on his NCAA brackets. The media seems intent on propping Obama in the hopes that his historic election won't be perceived as a failure by the public. I wouldn't be surprised if the same instinct caused the press of his day to give our first president the same benefit of the doubt. However, it should be clear to everyone by now that Barack Obama is no George Washington. The press plays a vital role informing the electorate and I hope they will do so (paraphrasing Dr. King) without regard to the color of a president's skin or their party affiliation, but by the success or failure of their policies, actions or increasingly inaction.

T-Paw's Sound Advice: Don't Raise the Debt Limit

With President Hu Jintao of China in the U.S. for a state visit former Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty took to the pages of the Wall St. Journal and the Washington Post to argue against raising the debt limit. Hopefully, our largest creditor was able to find the time amid all the pomp of lavish dinners, joint press conferences etc. that entail a state visit to read them. I believe he may have been pleasantly surprised to learn there is a voice in America calling to get our fiscal house in order and to do so responsibly.

From T-Paw's Washington Post Op-ed:

But the Obama administration is offering a false choice between more debt and default. The chaos that unfolded when Greece risked default last summer can and should be avoided here without raising the debt limit this spring. There is a better option available.

Contrary to what many people are saying, when the national debt approaches the limit set by Congress, as it could by March, it will not mean that the federal government suddenly won't be able to pay its bills. In fact, the government has enough projected cash flow and other resources to pay its outside debt obligations on time and in full for much longer - at least several more months - than the administration has been letting on.

Default on such debt need not occur if Congress passes and the president signs a law directing the Treasury to sequence our spending and prioritize the payment of interest and principal on the debt, as well as other critical budget items such as the military

After exposing the Obama administration's rhetoric of "catasrophic" consequences if we don't raise the debt limit above $14.3 trillion, $3.4 trillion of which occured on Obama's watch as false, he then provides a realistic plan to work within our current debt limit. How can we know it's realistic? Because in his eight years as governor, he did just that:

When I was elected governor in 2002, Minnesota faced a historic budget deficit. Recognizing that taxes were too high already, we used priority budgeting to cut spending. From 1960 to 2002, state spending in Minnesota had increased by an average of 21 percent every two years. During my two terms in office, we lowered the growth of spending to about 1.5 percent per year.

It wasn't easy. We had government shutdowns, special legislative sessions, numerous lawsuits and one of the longest transit strikes in American history. It was a battle, but we changed the state's spending pattern dramatically.

This is the choice America faces: more record spending and debt or finally taking the painful steps to get our economic house in order. According to a poll by CBS News the American public supports Pawlenty's position:

Most Americans believe the massive federal budget deficit is a very serious problem that will create hardships for future generations, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

Sixty-four percent say they are very concerned the deficit will create hardship in the future, and another 26 percent are somewhat concerned. Just eight percent say they are not concerned.

Fifty-six percent say the deficit needs immediate action, while 38 percent say efforts to address the deficit can wait until the economy has improved. Republicans and independents were more likely to push to deal with the deficit now, while Democrats were more likely to say it can wait.

Americans strongly prefer cutting spending to raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit. While 77 percent prefer to cut spending, just nine percent call for raising taxes. Another nine percent want to do both. …The most popular ideas for reducing the deficit are to reduce Social Security benefits for the wealthy, reduce the money allocated to projects in their own community, reduce farm subsidies and reduce defense spending. More than 50 percent supported reductions in each of those programs. …Forty-seven percent say it will be necessary to cut programs that benefit people like them to reduce the deficit.

Sadly, the Wall St. Journal reports that President Obama still isn't listening to the American people:

President Barack Obama will call for new government spending on infrastructure, education and research in his State of the Union address Tuesday, sharpening his response to Republicans in Congress who are demanding deep budget cuts, people familiar with the speech said.

Mr. Obama will argue that the U.S., even while trying to reduce its budget deficit, must make targeted investments to foster job growth and boost U.S. competitiveness in the world economy. The new spending could include initiatives aimed at building the renewable-energy sector—which received billions of dollars in stimulus funding—and rebuilding roads to improve transportation, people familiar with the matter said. Money to restructure the No Child Left Behind law's testing mandates and institute more competitive grants also could be included.

He's still following the marching orders of his union allies that donated millions to his campaign. From the Hill:

Working Americans are waiting on President Obama to lay out a bold plan for investing in jobs and infrastructure, a top labor leader will warn Wednesday.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is set to lay down a marker for the Obama administration ahead of next week's State of the Union address by urging the president to lean on expansive spending initiatives to fuel the economic recovery.

The AFL-CIO leader's been a consistent voice for more spending, a request that had been frustrated over the past two years by Republican opposition in Congress. Now that the GOP controls the House, getting approval for more spending will become even more difficult.

Republicans shouldn't cave to the demands of a president and party that continue to protect their cronie's interests at American taxpayers expense. I give the final word to likely presidential candidate Pawlenty:

Last year's midterm elections demonstrated that the public is eager to cut the deficit. But every program has an interest group that will fight hard to defend it. We can succeed only if lawmakers are given no other choice. That's why it is so important that we use the debt limit debate to force hard choices now.

Pres. Obama is the Reckless Driver

According to the Los Angeles Times President Obama is still pushing the driving metaphors on his fundraising tour on behalf of Congressional Democrats. So what did folks get for their $30,400? Andrew Malcolm reports on the President's stop in Tinsel Town http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/08/obama-democrat-findraiser-in-chief-.html. A snippet:

The president has also fallen into recycling the same jokes -- one about his favorite Republican, Abraham Lincoln (see full text below), and another, lifted from the rhetorical repertoire of Iowa Democrat Chet Culver, about American drivers knowing that to go forward they put their car in D and to go backwards they put the vehicle in R. (Groans.)

Before his next vacation, Obama is on a three-day, five-state tour of fundraisers -- Wisconsin to California to Washington to Florida to Ohio. Next to the size of the administration's deficits, of course, the millions in donations are minuscule. But they will help the ad wars in battleground districts. More importantly, all of Obama's travels cost him nothing, except a 747's massive transcontinental carbon footprint.

The simple truth is that President Obama is attempting to drive our country not into a "ditch", but over a cliff and he wants Americans to play Louise to his Thelma(or is it the other way around?) and clasp his hand as he punches the gas.

A primer on the President's plans for our country:

A $1.47 trillion 2010 budget deficit. The President's budget calls for doubling the national debt to $18 trillion by 2020, which will mean paying $2.5 billion a day on interest alone.

The President promised his $862 billion "stimulus" bill would keep unemployment below 8%. After reaching a high of 10.2%, it has settled at 9.5%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) there are 14.6 million Americans that want to work but can't find a job. To put that number in perspective, 14.6 million exceeds the combined populations of the six New England states (ME,NH,VT,MA,CT,RI) by 170,280. Adding insult to injury, the stimulus which amounted to little more than a bailout for government employees and pork projects couldn't even provide full employment for the public sector. Congress needed to pass another $26.1 billion bailout to keep their union supporters fat and happy.

The President's own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services(CMS) estimates that Obamacare will run a $311 billion dollar deficit in its first 10 years, not the surplus the president promised. Also:

14 million Americans will lose their current employer provided health insurance.

18 million Americans will pay $33 billion in penalties due to the "individual mandate" and still lack health insurance.

Businesses will pay $87 billion in penalties, which is money they could be using to hire workers.

7.4 million seniors will lose their Medicare Advantage coverage.

The drastic cuts to Medicare in Obamacare will make 15% of Medicare providers unprofitable "jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries".

Letting the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire will mean one of the largest tax increases in American history, including onerous tax increases on small business which typically creates 2 out of 3 jobs in a recovery.

By supporting the Ground Zero Mosque President Obama is handing Al Qaeda its biggest propoganda victory since 9/11. To radical jihadists the 13 story, $100 million Cordoba House will be seen as a victory for Islam and a great recruiting tool in Al Qaeda's war against the West. The Islamists don't care about American rights to freedom of religion or private property, to them it will be a mosque going up on the site of their greatest victory.

Finally, for the second month in a row China has been a net seller of T-Bills. The Chinese know that the fiscal path President Obama has us on is "unsustainable" and they aren't as willing to lend us the money to continue spending beyond our means. The Federal Reserve gobbling up all the extra T-Bills is the only thing keeping interest rates from going up. How long do you think the Fed can keep it up?

Mr. President, cars come with reverse(R) for a reason. The voters need to slam the brakes on your agenda and back away from the cliff on November 2, 2010. America is too great a country to end as a pile of burning wreckage.

The Race Card, Politics At Its Worst

Now that the bogus effort to label the tea party movement as "racist" has been exposed time and again as lies. The left has decided their new tack is going to be we knew it was false, but it was good politics. Here's what Mary Frances Berry wrote to Politico:

“Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one’s opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness.”

If journalists ever become interested in learning what really drives the tea party movement, they should check out this poll by Scott Rasmussen:

In official Washington, there appears to be a belief that policy makers must choose between helping the economy or reducing spending and deficits. A number of polling companies have even asked questions on the trade-off.

However, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 28% of voters believe increased government spending is good for the economy. Fifty-two percent (52%) believe increased government spending is bad for the economy, while 12% say it has no impact. Eight percent (8%) are not sure.

This suggests that for 72% of voters, asking about a trade-off between cutting spending and helping the economy doesn't make sense. A look at the demographics shows that the trade-off makes sense for only one group-- the Political Class. Among that group, 67% believe increased government spending would be good for the economy.

In a nutshell, there is a severe disconnect between the people and those in power on what is best for our country. President Obama's policies, not the color of his skin is the driving factor behind America's awakening.

Pawlenty's Principles

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty takes to the pages of Politico to instruct President Obama and Congressional Democrats in the ways of fiscal accountability:

1. Set clear priorities but cut almost everything else. Not everything government does is equally important. When faced with a budget shortfall in Minnesota, we considered the importance of programs. We decided to protect funding for the most important ones: the National Guard, veterans’ support programs, public safety and K-12 schools.

2. Reform out-of-control entitlements. By far, the biggest long-term driver of the federal debt is entitlement spending, including Social Security and Medicare. These programs are going to have to be changed. And despite Beltway rhetoric, it can be done.

3. Sacrifice. Americans have sacrificed enough; it’s time for government to sacrifice for a change. When Washington Democrats talk about balancing the budget, they speak gravely about painful choices and sacrifice — but what they mean is tax increases. In other words, we sacrifice so they can spend.

Read the whole thing: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39674.html

Republicans could do much worse than Mr. Pawlenty as our nominee in 2012.

Miscarriage At Justice

This is the fellow that had his case dropped, after it had been won by Eric Holder's cronies in the Justice Department.

The Democrats in Congress refuse to investigate the dismissal of charges against the members of the New Black Panther Party. Until Republicans take back at least one house of Congress the rampant politicization of the Justice Department under Eric Holder and by extension President Obama will go unpunished. Just like the members of the New Black Panther Party.

Deroy Murdock encapsulates the case well:

When they ignored late-term Bush administration charges of Voting Rights Act violations, federal district judge Stewart Dalzell issued a default ruling against Shabazz, Jackson, the New Black Panther Party, and its chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz (no relation to the other Shabazz). Although career federal prosecutors won this case (arguing, among other things, that “There is never a good reason to bring a billy club to a polling station”), they were overruled by political appointees in Obama’s Justice Department who ordered them to dismiss the complaints against all parties except King Samir Shabazz. He was ordered not to exhibit a weapon within 100 feet of a Philadelphia precinct through Nov. 15, 2012. Pittsburgh seems fair game.

The May 15, 2009 case dismissal was timed perfectly for Jerry Jackson. During the 2008 incident, he was an elected member of Philadelphia’s 14th Ward Democratic Committee and a credentialed poll watcher for the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign. With the federal case safely behind him, Jackson watched the polls again in municipal elections on May 19, 2009.

Tax Hikes For All

Calling for a "rollback" of the tax cuts for "the wealthy" has been a populist mantra for President Obama and his allies in Congress. As with much of our president's rhetoric, the gulf between his promises and reality is rather wide. The truth is that come January most Americans, not just the rich, will see their taxes increase. The folks at smartmoney.com have looked at what will happen when the tax cuts expire:

You may have been led to believe that only individuals in the top two brackets will face higher federal income taxes when the Bush cuts go bye-bye. Not true!Just a few months ago, it seemed like a safe bet that Congress would make a fix to keep the existing 10%, 15%, 25% and 28% rate brackets to help out lower and middle-income folks. That bet is now looking iffy.

Are you married? Your taxes are going up. A senior citizen with investment income? Your taxes are going up.

Their bottom line:

The Bush tax cuts don't just offer tax relief to the wealthiest Americans. They offer it to just about anyone who pays federal income taxes.

The Democrat majorities in Congress aren't simply contenting themselves by letting tax cuts expire, they are seeking new ways to tax the American public. The borrow and spend spree they have been on since January 09 is just the beginning of their plans for an ever bigger government. When President Obama came to office our national debt equaled 40% of our Gross Domestic Product(GDP), at the end of this year it will be 62%. The president's budget blueprint calls for increasing the debt by a further $10-12 trillion over the next ten years. To pay for all this spending the Democrats have floated two ideas to find the revenue to pay for a government as big as their dreams.

The first is to enact a value added tax(VAT). This tax is very popular in Europe because being based on consumption, it's paid by rich and poor alike. Dictionary.com has the following definition for VAT:

a tax levied at each addition of value in the processing of a raw material, the performance of a service, or the production and distribution of a commodity with each payer except the consumer reimbursed from payment at the next stage.

Their latest brainstorm has been dubbed the ATM tax.This is from The Hill newspaper:

One idea for raising taxes to pay down the debt is the bill introduced this February by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.). His “Debt Free America Act” (H.R. 4646) would impose a 1 percent “transaction tax” on every financial transaction — whether paid by cash, credit card or any form of financial transfer, the only exception being transactions involving the purchase or sale of stock. Theoretically, everyone would pay one cent on the dollar for every such transaction in America every day — whether $3 million on a $300 million business acquisition, $300 on the purchase of a $30,000 car, or $5 on a $500 ATM withdrawal.

The Democrats are pushing this idea because it would represent a revenue bonanza for big government.

Using 2008 numbers as an example: There was $755 trillion in total transactions that year. If you deduct the exempted $312 million in stock transactions, that leaves $443trillion in new revenues

What it means for Americans is a quadruple tax whammy. Not only will your income taxes increase, you'll be taxed an extra 1% on what's left when you deposit your paycheck. Also, thanks to the VAT, everything you buy: food, shelter, transportation etc. will cost more, plus the 1% transaction tax.

President Obama promised to "spread the wealth around", but what he's doing with the aid of Congress is to spread the debt around. Very soon, it will be the incomes of the working and middle classes as well as the poor that gets "redistributed" to Washington D.C. along with those of the rich.

Speaker Pelosi is planning a very busy lame duck session after November's election. Every member of Congress, whether they are on the ballot this Fall or not, should answer if they support passage of the VAT and ATM taxes.

Mission Creep At NASA

Does President Obama see America going back to the Moon? Nope. Mars? Nope. NASA's new mission is to make Muslims feel good about themselves:

“When I became the NASA administrator, [Obama] charged me with three things,” NASA head Charles Bolden said in a recent interview with the Middle Eastern news network al-Jazeera. “One, he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math; he wanted me to expand our international relationships; and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering.”

Unbelievable.

In Saudi Arabia women are prohibited from driving a car, much less a space shuttle. Since President Obama wants NASA to stop sending men and women into space anyway, I guess we've already adopted Saudi policy.

The Prez vs The Strawman: Round 4

He used this strategy to argue for the passage of: the stimulus, health care deform, the pending financial over-regulation and now for his pledge to address our record budget deficits. President Obama has declared war on the strawman. You see, in our president's mind, if you don't support his vision for what's good for our nation, you don't support doing anything at all and you best just "get out of the way".

Over the weekend in Toronto:

President Obama on controlling the debt: "Somehow people say, why are you doing that, I'm not sure that's good politics. I'm doing it because I said I was going to do it and I think it's the right thing to do. People should learn that lesson about me because next year when I start presenting some very difficult choices to the country, I hope some of these folks who are hollering about deficits and debt step-up because I'm calling their bluff. We'll see how much of that, how much of the political arguments that they're making right now are real and how much of it was just politics."

Forget for a moment that President Obama was actually pushing the other G20 members to increase deficit spending, not pledge to actually cut budgets. The Wall Street Journal recaps the action:

The meeting's concluding statement, a compromise between two competing visions of the international economy, masked divisions between the U.S. and Europe evident in the run-up to the summit. The U.S. has warned that moving too fast to cut deficits and reduce stimulus spending could risk another global recession. European nations, especially Germany, have cautioned that moving too slowly could produce unsustainable debt loads, higher interest rates and even defaults.

and

Germany, which has held itself out as the champion of austerity, took some potshots. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble used an interview in the French newspaper Le Monde to throw a jab at the U.S., saying Mr. Obama's giant stimulus spending has had little impact on the country's jobless rate, which remains well above 9%.

It was Angela Merkel's vision that carried the day, not President Obama's. After being bested by Iron Angie our president picked a fight with a much easier opponent: the strawman. If you watched professional wrestling in the early 80's you will no doubt remember the personification of our president's dream villian. My brother and I never knew his name, to us he was simply the "albino in the powder blue trunks". Unlike your typical wresting match which was designed to be a back and forth affair with the hero usually emerging triumphant; the albino never seemed to land a punch, he was expected to take his "beating" and be pinned. The same thing goes for Obama's strawman. In the world of political theatre, he's created by the president's political shop and receives his beatdown via the bully pulpit. Because he's a fictional creation, the strawman can never win.

The only problem is that even a president isn't entitled to his own facts.

Heritage fellow Brian Riedl details:

Washington will spend $30,543 per household in 2010—$5,000 per household more than just two years ago. While some of this spending is a temporary result of the recession, President Obama’s latest budget would replace this temporary spending with permanent new programs. Consequently, by 2020—a time of assumed peace and prosperity—Washington would still spend nearly $36,000 per household, compared to $25,000 per household before this recession (adjusted for inflation).

There is a way out of this deficit nightmare: stop spending. If the federal government managed to return to the per-household spending level of the Reagan administration, the budget would be balanced by 2012 without any tax hikes. Too ambitious? Just returning to the per-household spending levels that existed before the current recession would balance the budget by 2019. There is a way to stop this spending nightmare. We just need the will.

The U.S. budget for the year 2000 was $2 trillion, for 2010 it's $4 trillion. Now, they haven't finished the census yet, but I'd be willing to wager that the population of our country didn't double. In short, the federal government doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The good news is that there's an intervention scheduled for Nov. 2.

America simply can't afford a government as big as President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid envision. Don't believe the president when he tells you that he's cut government to the bone and he simply has no choice but to raise taxes. Ignore the strawman that the president creates to confuse and confound you and look at the numbers, unlike our president they don't lie.

Duffer-In-Chief

President Obama is in Toronto for the G8 summit. With unemployment in America just shy of 10%, an environmental disaster in the Gulf, record budget deficits that the Fed Chairman has repeatedly called "unsustainable", one would hope our president's mind would be focused like a laser beam on issues that affect Americans. Nope.

When U.S. President Barack Obama stepped off his helicopter in Huntsville on Friday, the first thing he said was, “You’ve got a lot of golf courses here, don’t you?” Industry Minister Tony Clement told the National Post in an exclusive interview.

It would appear that President Obama's priorities are as follows:

1) Expand the power of the federal government into all sectors of the economy, but let Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do the heavy lifting.

2) Beat Eisenhower's record for most rounds of golf played in one term of office.

Hopefully, he doesn't get a shot at Ike's eight year record.

President Obama Declares War On Arizona

A member of the Redstate community attended a townhall by Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) and filmed this bombshell.



The White House is calling Sen. Kyl a liar. Meanwhile the are going to sue the state of Arizona over its decision to enforce our laws. What started it all?

Fourth-generation Arizona rancher Robert Krentz was found murdered March 27, slumped over his all-terrain vehicle, a murder victim. Authorities traced the suspected killer's footsteps to the Mexican border 15 miles from Krentz's ranch.

In a case of he said/he said between Sen. Kyl and the White House how can you tell who's telling the truth?

Byron York of the Washington Examiner has more:

The Justice Department is preparing to sue Arizona over its new immigration law. The president has stiffed Gov. Jan Brewer's call for meaningful assistance in efforts to secure the border. And the White House has accused Arizona's junior senator, Republican Jon Kyl, of lying about an Oval Office discussion with the president over comprehensive immigration reform. Put them all together, and you have an ugly state of affairs that's getting uglier by the day.

First, the lawsuit. Last week, Brewer was appalled to learn the Justice Department's intentions not from the Justice Department but from an interview done by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with an Ecuadorian TV outlet. "It would seem to me that if they were going to file suit against us," Brewer told Fox News' Greta van Susteren last week, "they definitely would have contacted us first and informed us before they informed citizens ... of another nation."

and

Then there is the matter of the White House's assistance, or nonassistance, in Arizona's border-security efforts. On June 3, the president, under criticism for refusing to meet or even talk to Brewer, reluctantly granted her an audience in the Oval Office. After the meeting, Brewer told reporters Obama pledged that administration officials would come to Arizona within two weeks with details of plans to secure the border.

June 17 marked two weeks, and there were no administration officials and no plans. There still aren't. "What a disappointment," Brewer told van Susteren. "You know, when you hear from the president of the United States and he gives you a commitment, you would think that they would stand up and stand by their word. It is totally disappointing."

Meanwhile at Arizona's border with Mexico



And those 1,200 National Guard troops President Obama ordered to the border? They're nowhere to be found. In this case of he said/he said it's pretty clear that Sen. Kyl is telling the truth. The White House has no interest in securing our border unless amnesty for illegal immigrants is part of the deal.

Our Jobs President At Work

President Obama travels to Ohio to promote the $862 billion failure otherwise known as the stimulus's 10,000th project, causing hundreds to lose a days pay. Way to go Mr. President.



Maybe these guys can receive their lost wages from the $100 million fund that BP set up to help out of work oil-rig workers. After all, the president's six month ban on drilling caused the need for the fund in the first place, just as his need for a photo op caused the construction workers to hit the bricks. When all else fails blame BP, but don't return their campaign donations. Sure they're evil incarnate, but there are elections to win and a country to re-make. Besides, BP supports cap and trade.

Another Gem By Gov. Christie

Kudos to the people of New Jersey for electing this man governor. He gets it and more importantly he's a great salesman for the conservative cause.



When I ask my liberal friends just how big they think the government needs to be: 40%of GDP,50%, 80%? They can't answer, except to say that it needs to make life in America more fair.

When I ask how high taxes have to go to pay for it all? They usually reply their taxes shouldn't be raised a dime.

It's like that song on the oldies stations that goes "tax the rich, feed the poor, til there are no rich no more". I always wondered if the guys in that band refused their royalties from album sales or performed their concerts for free.

We simply can't afford the scale of government President Obama and Governor Patrick envision without losing what it means to be America. Sure, America will still exist, but the spirit that makes our country special will be gone. We'll all be like the animals you see in the zoo, lazy and depressed, but well fed. How many of those animals if given the chance would forgo the free room and board, health care, dental care for a chance at freedom and really living as opposed to merely existing? All you have to do is look in their eyes to get the answer.

I hope Charlie Baker is paying careful attention to what Governor Christie is trying to accomplish. The day of reckoning is at hand and the date is 11/2/2010.

Friday Fun: The Obama Kick-Ass Song

This is funny enough that the creators may even escape being labeled "racists". Enjoy, or not.

Mr. President, Just Look In The Mirror

President Obama told Matt Lauer he's meeting with experts so he knows whose "ass to kick". It's now 51 days after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that caused the largest and still growing oil spil in US history. Scenes like this are all too common. It didn't have to be this way because 48 days ago:

Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.

It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.

The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston.

President Obama your administration dropped the ball bigtime on this one. I suggest if you find the logistics of kicking yourself in the ass impossible, you have Vice President Biden do it for you. A little hint VP Biden, this spill is a BFD, so kick for the uprights.

Obama, The Jobs President

Hey, 400 Temp jobs at 12 bucks an hour are better than nothing. If Yahoo News, a reliable outlet for the left isn't parroting the White House line who will?

Perhaps you saw news footage of President Obama in Grand Isle, La., on Friday and thought things didn't look all that bad. Well, there may have been a reason for that: The town was evidently swarmed by an army of temp workers to spruce it up for the president and the national news crews following him.

Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts, whose district encompasses Grand Isle, told Yahoo! News that BP bused in "hundreds" of temporary workers to clean up local beaches. And as soon as the president was en route back to Washington, the workers were clearing out of Grand Isle too, Roberts said.

"The level of cleanup and cooperation we've gotten from BP in the past is in no way consistent to the effort shown on the island today," Roberts said by telephone. "As soon as the president left, they were immediately put back on the buses and sent home."

Roberts says the overnight contingent of workers was there mainly to furnish a Potemkin-style backdrop for the event — while also making it appear that BP was firmly in command of spill cleanup efforts.

New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU reports that the workers were paid $12 an hour and came mostly from neighboring Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

News of 11th-hour spruce-up brigade spread rapidly Friday afternoon and infuriated locals. One popular radio host, WWL's Spud McConnell, suggested that the Coast Guard and the White House may have been involved in setting up the "perfect photo op."

Photos of the President picking up a stray tarball or two shows that he cares. I can just imagine the White House advance people instructing the folks cleaning the beaches for the photo-op to leave a few tarballs behind. Maybe they even had someone directing him to the balls via earpiece: "Your getting warmer Mr. President", "Colder", "Red Hot". The beach was scoured to prevent the president from being anywhere close to a oil covered pelican.

The Daily Caller has the goods on President Obama's claim of the crisis geing his "highest priority" from Day 1

http://dailycaller.com/2010/05/28/what-obama-has-been-doing-while-the-gulf-coast-dies/.

Barry's Bully-Boys(and girls) In Action

This is right out of the Alinsky playbook. In a story full of outrages the biggest is that the police, who take an oath to serve and protect, stood by and watched as the SEIU mob terrorized a 14 year old boy. This is what happens when you are a political/class enemy in Barack Obama's America.



It's no coincidence that the owner of the home is an executive with Bank of America, which just happens to be the SEIU's largest creditor.

Under the leadership of Andy Stern, SEIU leveraged itself to the hilt, largely to support Democrat campaign efforts, and now owes the bank around $100 million. The loan payments are likely playing havoc with the union’s finances.

How much money did SEIU give the president? What have they received in return?

Officials say the fast-growing union spent $85 million during the campaign season last year, and that it was well worth it: The Obama administration has appointed union officials to top posts and is backing legislation to make it easier for workers to organize.

"SEIU is on the field, it's in the White House, it's in the administration," SEIU President Andy Stern said in a video to members to mark the Obama administration's first 100 days.

Next up a SEIU bailout courtesy of the American taxpayer.

Mr. President, Return Goldman's Dirty Dough

The Senate is about to bring the execs of Goldman Sachs in for a dressing down for reportedly making $3.7 billion by shorting the mortgage market. Today's hearing will see the usual bloviating from Senators and incriminating e-mails like:

"According to Sparks, that business is totally dead, and the poor little subprime borrowers will not last so long!!!" Tourre wrote in a March 7, 2007, email to his girlfriend.

and

"Just made it to the country of your favorite clients!!! I'm managed (sic) to sell a few abacus bonds to widow and orphans that I ran into at the airport, apparently these Belgians adore synthetic abs cdo2," Tourre wrote in June 2007

The one missing ingredient from the typical Capitol Hill theatre is a call to return campaign donations from the pariah company/individual du jour. With Enron politicians couldn't get rid of the donations fast enough. Same with Abramoff. With the SEC indicted Goldman, not so much. Considering that Goldman was at the center of the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market that led to the great recession you have to wonder about the double standard.

President Obama received $994,795 from employees of Goldman in 2007 and 2008 at the same time the company was betting that the mortgage market would collapse, taking the American economy with it. He hasn't returned a penny of this blood money. Since his campaign committee, Obama for America simply morphed into Organizing for America, the president has a vehicle to return the cash. If O for A can't cover that amount, the money should come from the coffers of the DNC, since Mr. Obama is the titular head of the Democratic party.

I think $994,795 would make a nice start for a scholarship fund for the children of the miners who died in West Virginia, whose funeral he not only attended, but addressed.

Pres. Obama's Governing Philosophy

Many have speculated that President Obama followed the Saul Alinsky playbook(Rules for Radicals) on his road to the presidency and is indeed still employing the same tactics to push his agenda through Congress against the will of the American people. Others are convinced that he is simply enacting the policies that George McGovern wanted so badly for this nation, but was unable to realize due to his 49 state landslide loss in 1972. Still others are convinced that his 20 year affiliation with the anti-American Rev. Jeremiah Wright means that he hates this country and is doing everything in his power to ensure its downfall. While these theories have some merit, I maintain he's a doctrinaire progressive who adopted the lyrics of a sitcom theme song as his political mantra.

For starters, it's the only way I can explain his selection of Joe Biden as his running mate. Vice President Biden makes the ideal Laverne to the president's Shirley. Try not to think of Speaker Pelosi when you see Squiggy or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid when Lenny speaks. I have to admit that the president's "Big Ragu" stumps me a bit. Is it Andy Stern, or George Soros? Maybe it's Rahm? I believe I read somewhere that he studied ballet before he found his true calling in naked shower shouting matches.

This administration and its allies in Congress have been all about breaking rules and making progressive dreams come true since January 2009:

The government takeover of GM and Chrysler saw what Michael Barone classified as "gangster government" when the until then legally binding contracts of bondholders were cast aside and the UAW was handed large shares of the companies they helped bankrupt in the first place.

When the election of Senator Scott Brown(R-MA) threatened the federal takeover of healthcare they used the tactic of "Reconciliation" to avoid the until then institutionally sacred filibuster and pass legislation that affects every American.

The Dems even contemplated using the Slaughter Solution to simply deem the takeover of health care without actually voting for it. Thankfully, that insult to democracy proved to be a bridge too far, even for Nancy Pelosi.

In an attempt to demonize opponents of their policies, they accused their fellow citizens of using the toxic N-word. When belatedly asked for evidence to back up their claims they suddenly want to move on for the good of the country.Since Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) wasn't able to get anyone on tape shouting a racist word or holding a racist sign they have decided to infiltrate the Tea Party movement to manufacture "racism" for their minions on the left to use smearing the American people who believe that government is out of control and this president and this Congress need to be reined in.

What has a Democratic president and democratic majorities in both houses of Congress meant for the average American? Try:

* Washington will spend $31,406 per household in 2010 - the highest level in
American history (adjusted for inflation). It will collect $18,276 per
household in taxes. The remaining $13,130 represents this year's staggering
budget deficit per household, which, along with all prior government debt,
will be dumped in the laps of our children.

* Government spending has increased by $5,000 per household since 2008, and
nearly $10,000 per household over the past decade.

Yet there is no free lunch: If spending is not reined in, then eventually
taxes must also rise by $10,000 per household.

Both CBO head Elmendorf and Fed Chairman Bernanke say the trillion dollar plus deficits in perpetuity that President Obama with a Democratic Congress are wracking up are "unsustainable".

I hope the American people remember that word, "unsustainable" in November.