Saturday, March 31, 2012

Who's Progressive?

A lesson in political regression theory. - Peter Hannaford for The American Spectator Online/3.22.12

During the Reagan years the term "liberal" was discredited, having been widely equated with high taxes and spending. Gradually, liberal Democrats stopped using the word to describe themselves. Yet, old habits die slowly. In the days of FDR and LBJ when most of the goals of the liberals had been achieved liberals thought the word was tantamount to "good." With changing public perceptions, however, nearly all liberals searched for a new word to help them once again seize the political high ground.

They think they have found it in the word "progressive." In the House of Representatives they have something they call the "Progressive Caucus." One of its members, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL), in a television interview this week, claimed this caucus has a federal budget plan to counter the Republican one introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan. After first denouncing Ryan's plan by claiming it would do many bad things, she said the "Progressive Caucus" plan would lower the federal deficit and balance the budget in 20 years! In the face of galloping new deficits of $1 trillion a year for three years now, how does this "plan" amount to progress?

"Progress," as defined by Webster's New World Dictionary, is "1. a moving forward or onward. 2. forward course; development. 3. advance toward perfection or to a better state; improvement." It's no wonder the liberals are using it more and more, for it is freighted with positive notions.
Their actions belie the definition of the term: the Democrat-controlled Senate's failure to pass a budget in over 1,000 days; refusal to reform the heading-toward-bankruptcy Medicare and Medicaid programs; the no-questions-asked loans aggregating $3 billion to dicey "green" companies such as Solyndra.

"Irresponsible," "unrealistic," and "risky" describe these things, but not "progressive." The accurate word to describe what Obama and his Congressional allies have been doing is "regress." (Definition: "1. a going back. 2. the right of privilege of this. 3. backward movement.")

It is not surprising that the "mainstream" media use the word "progressive" without quotation marks to describe liberal Democrats and their proposals. What is surprising is that conservative commentators often do the same thing, as if the people who use the word to describe themselves deserve it. Even some Republican lawmakers in interviews treat the word as a common description. and not what it is, an effort by their adversaries to attach good overtones to bad ideas.

Here is a proposal: Let every Republican office holder or office seeker and every conservative commentator vow to put quotation marks around "progressive" in any written communication or article and, in radio or television appearances, precede it with the phrase "so-called." Thus, in print, it would be the "progressive" wing of the Democratic Party and in broadcasts, the so-called "progressive" wing of the Democratic Party." Bolder voices might go further and call it by its accurate name, the regressive wing of the Democratic Party.
__________________

Peter Hannaford was closely associated with the late President Ronald Reagan for a number of years. His latest book is Reagan's Roots: The People and Places That Shaped His Character.

What's going on here isn’t bias, it’s a full-blown cover up.


MEDIA SILENT AS LEFT ATTACKS KIDS OF WISCONSIN LT. GOVERNOR REBECCA KLEEFISCH - John Nolte/Breitbart's BIG JOURNALISM

This is what we see time and again at the hands of the same Left that manufactured a month's long non-troversy over a word Rush Limbaugh spoke. While, on one hand, the left and their media allies feign outrage over Limbaugh, on the other hand, they either willfully ignore or launch vile, sexist attacks against conservative women that go well beyond anything that can in any way be called satire or humor.

Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch is a wife, mother, and a cancer survivor. She's currently being targeted for recall and by some of the ugliest personal attacks you'll hear -- at least until the left launches the next one.

Listen here to John "Sly" Sylvester, a left-wing radio host who operates out of Madison, WI, at radio station WTDY. Sylvester accuses Kleefisch of performing sexual acts on numerous men, mocks her cancer, and attacks her children.

The attack on the Kleefisch's children is quite intentional. We've seen the media do the same to Sarah Palin. The idea is to gut-punch the target, to attempt to make the price of staying in the public arena awful and toxic. The left's hope, obviously, is that the target will shrivel up and go away. Well, this evil tactic didn't work on Palin and I doubt it will on Kleefisch.

But where is the media on this?

AWOL, naturally, because Rebecca Kleefisch is an apostate -- a self-made Republican woman who became the Lt. Governor of a swing state Barack Obama desperately needs to fall his way if he's to have four more years to be more, uhm, flexible.

Follow-up: Have you done your part to fight the Left’s war on Wisconsin and conservative women?

This week, I called your attention to the Left’s ongoing war on Wisconsin’s brave fiscal conservative leaders. Yesterday, the state’s Government Accountability Board certified the recall elections against top GOP officials. - Michelle Malkin

Speaking With the Speaker

John Boehner talks about the need for Republican unity and why the House is in ill repute. - Peggy Noonan/Wall St. Journal

Congress needs "to show . . . that in spite of our differences we can find common ground to do the work of the American people. But I'll just say this. There's nobody who tried harder last year with the president to do the right thing. There's nobody who walked further out on a limb than I did to try to get him to do the right thing. And one of my greatest disappointments was not getting an agreement."

The drama was a trauma. "Oh, it really was. And we were pretty close to doing something nobody would have ever believed—real changes, real cuts. I put revenues on the table." He says he put forward $800 billion in spending cuts and tax reforms—closing loopholes while lowering corporate and personal rates. "A lot of my guys would have choked to death on it." But the deal, he says, was doable.

What happened? The White House "spun this thing that I walked away from this." Actually, he says, the president did: "He lost his courage. . . . He just couldn't bring himself to do what he had to do."

GOP leaders back Romney, seek end to infighting

Citing a need to end the infighting and focus on defeating President Obama, a growing number of top Republicans are getting off the sidelines and coalescing around GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, helping reinforce the candidate's aura of inevitability. - Steve Contorno/Washington Examiner

The problem with your (conservative) daughter is not her bed. It’s her brain.

A whole slew of new “research” on conservatives’ and global warming skeptics’ “brains” has hit the academic circuit.... First off, environment and sociology Prof. Kari Norgaard’s new study claims skeptics of man-made global warming fears should be “treated” for their skepticism. - Protein Wisdom

It’s even more chilling that there is a whole new movement afoot by the promoters of man-made global warming theory to intimidate climate skeptics by using new brain “research.”

Other researchers have attempted to tie conservatism (which is identified with the highest number of climate skeptics) to “low brainpower.”

Some global warming promoters claim it is essentially “unethical” to be a skeptic.... More, plus links

‘What’s important to these extremists is not the evidence but the scare.’ - WattsUpWithThat

IPCC now too moderate for professional scaremongers | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog

What happened to “listen to the science”?

A GLOBAL lobby group has distributed a “spin sheet” encouraging its 300 member organisations to emphasise the link between climate change and extreme weather events, despite uncertainties acknowledged by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

An “action pack” distributed by Global Campaign for Climate Action said members “shouldn’t be afraid to make the connection”, despite the sometimes low level of confidence in the official documents of the IPCC. The action pack, which was produced to coincide with the release of the latest full IPCC report into the link between climate change and extreme weather events, rekindled claims that overstating the case damaged the credibility of the science…


The full report … presented a cautious appraisal and said it was unable to answer confidently whether climate was becoming more extreme.

The red herring that could kill Obamacare

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the individual mandate in President Obama's national health care law, it will be because one of the central justifications for it was exposed as a red herring. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the individual mandate in President Obama's national health care law, it will be because one of the central justifications for it was exposed as a red herring.

Both in the political arena and in court, the Obama administration has defended its mandate forcing individuals to purchase health insurance by arguing that when uninsured people show up at emergency rooms, they impose a cost on society. As described in the legislation, the mandate is merely an "individual responsibility requirement."

In reality, the mandate has always been about forcing healthy people into the insurance pool, to offset the distortion in the market created by the related provision requiring insurers to cover those with pre-existing conditions.

Tom Del Beccaro: The Party of Yes

Once again, Republicans are putting forth solutions, whether it's presenting a blueprint budget that eliminates the need for devastating taxes on the people, or an alternate plan that would save our public schools from more damaging cuts, our Party is offering bold, workable solutions that merit serious consideration from this Governor and the Democrats.

Yesterday, our Republican leaders Bob Huff and Connie Conway unveiled a detailed plan that would eliminate trigger cuts for K-14 schools, stop potential tuition hikes at community colleges and state universities, and restore sanity to the budget process, regardless of how Californians vote on Brown's tax plan this fall. The Republicans' proposal provides more than $4 Billion in alternative solutions.

We have put forth a smart, reasonable plan that would help California, and keep our public schools from being held hostage.

While the Democrats love to try to cast Republicans as the party of no, for the second year in a row Republicans have put forth a budget plan that says yes to protecting both education and taxpayers. And Democrats can't seem to say no to this sensible plan fast enough.

Please help spread the word, by sharing ◼ the Roadmap to Protect Classrooms and Taxpayers with your family and friends, and on ◼ Facebook and ◼ Twitter. And please write a letter to the editor to your local newspaper and share with them how the ◼ California Republican Party is the Party of Yes.

Thanks for your help, it will make the difference this November.

Senate and Assembly Republicans Propose “Roadmap to Protect Classrooms and Taxpayers” - Republican Caucus, California State Senate

Friday, March 30, 2012

Not-So-Smooth Operator

Obama increasingly comes across as devious and dishonest. - Peggy Noonan.Wall St. Journal

Something's happening to President Obama's relationship with those who are inclined not to like his policies. They are now inclined not to like him. His supporters would say, "Nothing new there," but actually I think there is. I'm referring to the broad, stable, nonradical, non-birther right. Among them the level of dislike for the president has ratcheted up sharply the past few months....

Events of just the past 10 days have contributed to the shift. There was the open-mic conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in which Mr. Obama pleaded for "space" and said he will have "more flexibility" in his negotiations once the election is over and those pesky voters have done their thing. On tape it looked so bush-league, so faux-sophisticated. When he knew he'd been caught, the president tried to laugh it off by comically covering a mic in a following meeting. It was all so . . . creepy.

Next, a boy of 17 is shot and killed under disputed and unclear circumstances. The whole issue is racially charged, emotions are high, and the only memorable words from the president's response were, "If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon." At first it seemed OK—not great, but all right—but as the story continued and suddenly there were death threats and tweeted addresses and congressmen in hoodies, it seemed insufficient to the moment. At the end of the day, the public reaction seemed to be: "Hey buddy, we don't need you to personalize what is already too dramatic, it's not about you."

Now this week the Supreme Court arguments on ObamaCare, which have made that law look so hollow, so careless, that it amounts to a characterological indictment of the administration. The constitutional law professor from the University of Chicago didn't notice the centerpiece of his agenda was not constitutional? How did that happen?

DID THE WHITE HOUSE PRESSURE WASHINGTON POST TO CHANGE FACT CHECKER?

On March 27, Josh Hicks of the Washington Post's Fact Checker gave White House regulation czar Cass Sunstein one "Pinocchio" for his defense of the Obama administration's regulatory record. However, the same article, a day earlier, was far more critical of the administration, giving Sunstein a total of three Pinocchios. - Breitbart's Big Journalism

At the link: (as text, and in Word document at the end of the article) is a comparison of the first (3 Pinocchio) and the second (1 Pinocchio) versions of the Fact Checker article, with extensive changes indicated

From comments: GGSS: So, negative you-tube comments on the Obama "movie" are deleted. Articles about Malia's trip to Mexico vanish. (PS that was a news story no matter you spin it, if for nothing more than it being another lavish trip while the country suffers.) The Washington Post, THE WASHINGTON POST, pulls and article, and revises it to be more favorable to the President. I guess this is the downside of Digital Media, used to be once something was printed, there it was for all to see. Thank you for pointing this out, Dan. Who knows how much censhorship goes on that we don't even know about. Terrifying.

Supreme Court Votes On ObamaCare

The vote will probably take less than an hour and they will go in turn of seniority. The court will be pressed to finish up the case by the end of June and there will be the drafting of their opinions and ultimately it is a huge case because it determines whether a law, signed by the President, is Constitutional or not.

The following short video explains:

You Only Run Twice

American Crossroads: Operation Hot Mic

TREASON Obama Leaks Israeli Strike Plan on Iran

(T)his is just the latest in a series of high-profile stories -- based, in most cases, on unnamed American sources -- warning about a possible strike. - ReaganCoalition.com

That a spate of these reports is coming out just a couple of weeks after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Obama in the White House shows that despite the smiles and the talk then about understanding and hyper-close coordination, the US and Israel are not seeing eye-to-eye on the Iranian "military option" issue.

The US wants Israel to wait, and what this constant drip of stories indicates is a sense in Washington that its efforts to convince Israel to do so are failing.

As a result, some in Washington are using a more public route to get that message across and to try and tie Jerusalem's hands.

Just reading Obamacare cruel and unusual punishment

It’s not just that the legislators who legislate it don’t know what’s in it, nor that citizens can ever hope to understand it, but that even the nation’s most eminent judges acknowledge that it is beyond individual human comprehension. - Mark Steyn/OC Register

...Who does read the thing? "What happened to the Eighth Amendment?" sighed Justice Scalia the other day. That's the bit about cruel and unusual punishment. "You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages? Or do you expect us to give this function to our law clerks?"

He was making a narrow argument about "severability" – about whether the court could junk the "individual mandate" but pick and choose what bits of Obamacare to keep. Yet he was unintentionally making a far more basic point: A 2,700-page law is not a "law" by any civilized understanding of the term. Law rests on the principle of equality before it. When a bill is 2,700 pages, there's no equality: Instead, there's a hierarchy of privilege microregulated by an unelected, unaccountable, unconstrained, unknown and unnumbered bureaucracy. It's not just that the legislators who legislate it don't know what's in it, nor that the citizens on the receiving end can ever hope to understand it, but that even the nation's most eminent judges acknowledge that it is beyond individual human comprehension. A 2,700-page law is, by definition, an affront to self-government.

Trayvon Tragedy: Race Hustling Left Using Death to Inflate Hate

PJTV

OBAMA STATE DEPT. REFUSES TO ACKNOWLEDGE JERUSALEM AS CAPITAL OF ISRAEL



BreitbartTV

Thursday, March 29, 2012

So, in one week, Mr. Obama got caught whispering promises to our enemy, incited a race war, raised serious questions about his understanding of the Constitution, and then got smacked down over his proposed budget that was so wildly reckless that even Democrats in Congress could not support it.

Brutal week for Obama, the worst of his presidency - Charles Hurt/Washington Times

The past seven brutal days will go down as one of the worst weeks in history for a sitting president. It certainly has been, without any doubt, the worst week yet for President Obama.

Somehow, Mr. Obama managed to embarrass himself abroad, humiliate himself here at home, see his credentials for being elected so severely undermined that it raises startling questions about whether he should have been elected in the first place — let alone be re-elected later this year.

Michelle Malkin Lead Story: The war on Wisconsin; Update: Sarah Palin’s call to arms

Now is the time for all good tea partiers to come to the aid of Wisconsin. Fiscally conservative leaders in the Badger State are under coordinated siege from Big Labor, the White House, the liberal media and the judiciary. The yearlong campaign of union thuggery, family harassment and intimidation of Republican donors and businesses is about to escalate even further. This is the price the Right pays for doing the right thing. - Michelle Malkin

President Obama, the AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME and left-wing operatives know that Wisconsin is Ground Zero in their battle against limited-government activists. Their demagogic propaganda war against Wisconsin GOP Rep. Paul Ryan, who is leading entitlement reform and budget discipline efforts in Washington, is of a piece with the campaign to overturn the popular elections that put Walker, Kleefisch and the GOP majority in place. If they can chill fiscal responsibility and free market-based reforms in Wisconsin, they can chill it everywhere. Will movement conservatives let them?

From John Nolte at Big Government/Breitbart.com: Kleefisch faces recall, sexist taunts.
Since the beginning of the public union protests in Wisconsin, you can trace everything back to one over-arching puppet master and that's a White House that saw the crucial swing state of Wisconsin fall into Republican hands by a wide margin in 2010.
Everything about these crybaby teacher protests, the union violence, and a merry-go-round of recall elections is designed to keep Obama's base ginned up and frothing at the mouth straight through to when it's time to vote for him in November.
But there's so much more going on just below the surface.
As Goes Wisconsin, so Goes America; Support Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch - Sarah Palin
Wisconsin, you deserve better than this!

Michelle Malkin points out that President Obama knows Wisconsin is ground zero in the Left’s battle against limited government. And, as Michelle writes: “If they can chill fiscal responsibility and free market-based reforms in Wisconsin, they can chill it everywhere.” Concerned Americans, don’t let them snuff out this Mama Grizzly’s successful efforts to fight for what is right.

Grand Old Badger State: you are America’s blessed 30th state. Your natural and human resources abound. Even your state motto promises a vision of “Forward.” So, as the eyes of America focus on you, raise your voice in support of your state’s good destiny!

“On, Wisconsin! Champion of the right, 'Forward', our motto – God will give thee might!”

Kony 2012: Follow the Money: George Soros

Noisy Room posted that: The Kony 2012 scam has been revealed and now it is time to look at Obama’s motivation to use American blood and treasure to wage war in Uganda even though Kony has not been seen for six years, is believed to be dead and American interests do not warrant this war. - Fundamental Refounding

Kony 2012: Obama Makes George Soros Richer - Noisy Room

Follow the money. Where George Soros invests, U.S. taxpayer dollars follow.

"No One I Know Ever Said ObamaCare Could Be Overturned"



Chris Matthews: No One I Know Ever Said ObamaCare Could Be Overturned - Ace of Spades

A supreme shock for ‘La-La’ libs - John Podhoretz/NY Post

LA County GOTV: Paint It Red


A day of Action - LA GOP

What would you do to save California and our Nation?
Two hours on a Saturday is the first step in taking our County back.
With your help, we can Paint LA County Red....one Voter at a time!

Sincerely,
Devon Cormier
RPLAC Precinct Operations/Voter Registration Chair
Devon@LAGOP.org

Catholic cardinal accuses Obama of attempting to divide the church

(Timothy Cardinal) Dolan speaks with Bill O’Reilly on last night’s O’Reilly Factor and suggests that the Obama administration misled the bishops on their intent, and that they have been “shrewd” in their efforts to divide the faithful - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Cardinal Dolan never quite makes the salient point that the bishops aren’t seeking a legal ban on contraception. O’Reilly frames his question as though they are, but this isn’t a question of banning anything. Access to contraception is so prevalent that the CDC found that 99% of all sexually-active women seeking to avoid pregnancy was able to use it in its long-term study from 2009. The Catholic Church hasn’t proposed a ban at all, and neither have Republicans, conservatives, or anyone of any significance at all.

No one is even suggesting that the law ban employers or insurers from covering contraception, if they so choose. What has been said is that employers, insurers, and colleges shouldn’t be forced to provide contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization for free. First off, it’s not free at all; those costs have to get covered in some manner, most likely through premium hikes applied to everyone. Second, the need for contraception is almost always elective, and doesn’t treat a health deficiency, since fertility isn’t a disease (and many insurers cover therapeutic use of hormone treatments already anyway). Finally, for people who want the church, employers, and the government to respect their sexual privacy, the mandate seems a strange way to accomplish that. On top of that, the free exercise of religion has to include not being forced to violate one’s beliefs simply for entering into an employer relationship.

Romney 45, Santorum 28, Gingrich 12, Paul 7

2012 Maryland Republican Primary - Rasmussen

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary Voters in Maryland shows Romney with 45% support to Santorum’s 28%. Twelve percent (12%) favor former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul earns seven percent (7%) of the vote. Two percent (2%) like another candidate in the race, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

"It is now undeniable that President Obama is breaking the most basic trust the American people put in any President.”

Senators Speak Out Against President’s Whispers

This week, a group of Republican Senators led by Senator Jon Kyl (R–AZ) penned a letter objecting to the President’s indications that he might favor Russian concerns over his duty to defend Americans against foreign military threats. “Not having to worry about the judgment of the American people on this important national security issue may allow more flexibility to make concessions to the Russians, but it would be antithetical to our safety and security and would be counter to other assurances you’ve given,” states the letter. The Senators are correct.

In light of President Obama’s actions when it comes to missile defense, his comments are not surprising. His Administration significantly cut the missile defense program in fiscal year 2010, and subsequent budget requests failed to make up for the lost ground. The President also negotiated the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START), which links missile defenses and strategic offensive arms. The Russians have used this linkage to pressure the United States and its allies on missile defense. The Administration spared no effort to defeat an amendment in the Senate preventing this linkage during New START’s consideration.

The Senators also spoke out against the President’s statements regarding further unilateral nuclear weapons reductions. “We do not believe that confidence is shared by military planners,” the Senators wrote in the letter. The Administration is reportedly moving to reduce the arsenal of operationally deployed nuclear warheads to as few as 300. Not only would these reductions be expensive—and funded from the already overstretched Department of Defense’s budget—but they also are not based on a sound assessment of the international environment.

As Heritage’s Baker Spring concludes, “The President’s comments in Seoul are completely in keeping with this past behavior. What is now evident is the scope of the manipulation he is pursuing to fool the American people about something essential to their security. It is now undeniable that President Obama is breaking the most basic trust the American people put in any President.”

Five Famous Hot Mic Incidents from Obama & Friends

Let’s take a look at some unfortunate moments when Obama, his administration and his friends have been caught saying things that should have remained private. Oops. - Red Alert

BITTER CLINGERS... Obama thought he was in an environment free of journalists, but he was mistaken. The comments were recorded and quickly spread, but his campaign kept picking up steam.

JESSE JACKSON ON OBAMA... “Barack’s been…talking down to black people…I wanna cut his n*ts off.”

BIG F-ING DEAL... Obama was introduced at the signing ceremony by Vice President Joe Biden. Biden famously told Obama “This is a big f-ing deal.” Biden assumed that nobody would be able to hear the comment over the applause, but he forgot about the (in)conveniently placed microphone.

NETANYAHU BLUNDER... Sarkozy said to Obama “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.” To this, Obama replied “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”

I WILL TRANSMIT THIS INFORMATION TO VLADIMIR... The most recent gaffe occurred on Monday when Obama was speaking to outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.... This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility.”

George Zimmerman's Father: "So Much Hate Coming From The President"



EXCLUSIVE: Robert Zimmerman interview - FOX Orlando

Parents of murdered British students criticise Barack Obama

(President Obama's) failure to respond to three letters sent to the White House was because there was no "political value" and not worthy of a few minutes of his time....

"We would like to publicly express our dissatisfaction at the lack of any public or private message of support or condolence from any American governing body or indeed, President Obama himself.

"Mr Kouzaris has written to President Obama on three separate occasions and is yet to even receive the courtesy of a reply.

"It would perhaps appear that Mr Obama sees no political value in facilitating such a request or that the lives of two British tourists are not worthy of ten minutes of his time."

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Supreme Court’s health-care ruling could deal dramatic blow to Obama presidency

The Supreme Court’s skeptical consideration of President Obama’s landmark health-care legislation this week has forced his supporters to contemplate the unthinkable: that the justices could throw out the law and destroy the most far-reaching accomplishment of the Obama presidency. - Washington Post

“He’s mortgaged his presidency, at least his first term, on health care,” said George C. Edwards, the author of a new book on Obama called “Overreach” and a historian at Texas A&M University. The law “would have restructured a major aspect of life in America. It would have been a major, major legacy for the president. If that is thrown out, he has much less to show for it.”

Why overturning health care would be a Democratic disaster - Glenn Thrush/Politico

SCOTUS's Obamacare decision could come in parts

(A)ccording to the Court's Office of Public Information, the justices could decide to release their decisions in parts over a number of days. - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

Biggest act of bipartisanship yet: Obama budget defeated 414-0

The vote came as the House worked its way through its own fiscal year 2013 budget proposal, written by Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan. - Stephen Dinan/Washington Times
Republicans wrote an amendment that contained Mr. Obama's budget and offered it on the floor, daring Democrats to back the plan, which calls for major tax increases and yet still adds trillions of dollars to the deficit over the next decade....Last year, when Republicans forced a vote on his 2012 budget, it was defeated 97-0.
Obama budget fails 414-0 as Democrats bail - Joel Gehrke/Washington Examiner
In a rare show of unanimous bipartisanship, House Democrats and Republicans united in their opposition to President Obama's 2013 budget, which failed tonight with 414 votes against and zero in favor of the budget.

Such opposites as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Michelle Bachmann joined each other in voting against the bill, but the White House preemptively dismissed the tally.
Unanimous: Obama Budget Defeated 414-0 - Katie Pavlich/Townhall
Of course, the White House has brushed off the defeat as a "gimmick." Meanwhile, House Republicans are gearing up to pass Paul Ryan's latest Path to Prosperity.

Marco Rubio: “I don’t have a problem with primaries, but I think we’re at a stage now where at least two of the candidates have admitted that the only way to get the nomination is to have a floor fight at the convention”



Rubio endorses Romney, saying he's 'earned' it - FOX
Rubio, a young, first-termer who has been discussed as a possible vice presidential candidate, criticized talk of a fight for the Republican nomination on the convention floor, a possibility that is keeping alive the campaigns of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

"I think that's a recipe for delivering four more years of Barack Obama," Rubio told Fox News' Sean Hannity.

Romney has "earned this nomination," Rubio said, though he again shot down questions about whether he would accept any offers of a spot on the ticket.

"I don't believe I'm going to be asked to be the vice presidential nominee," he said, adding it's not something he wants.
Rubio endorses Romney - Michelle Malkin

Toobin follows up his analysis yesterday by emphasizing today how “awful” Verilli’s performance was:

Is the White House arguing that Verilli couldn’t offer a coherent defense not because he’s not capable of doing so, but that he’s defending the indefensible?

That’s what the RNC thinks, which rides to Verilli’s rescue in a way with their new ad:



WH: We still have confidence in Donald Verilli

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Carville: ObamaCare being struck down would be the best thing ever to happen to Democrats

Is he right? - Allahpundit at HotAir

He’s unquestionably right on how the left will spin the aftermath of the mandate being dumped: They tried, now it’s the right’s turn. Hope the GOP’s ready. Let me rephrase his question slightly, though, and ask whether an adverse ruling would also be the best thing to happen to Obama, specifically. On the one hand, it would be an enormous humiliation to have his signature domestic “achievement” repudiated as an unconstitutional power grab. That’s one of the reasons that righties are so excited to see the mandate tossed. Once O-Care is gone, what’s left of Hopenchange except high unemployment and mind-boggling debt? Killing Bin Laden is awesome but if that’s all he has to point to in November, he’s done.

Would that humiliation cost him any votes, though? Or would it actually gain him votes by sending the left into a frenzy of utopian outrage? Obama could tell them, quite correctly, that the difference between universal health care and the status quo turned out to be one Supreme Court appointment. If they want to make sure this doesn’t happen again, it’s imperative that he be reelected. That’s a compelling pitch, much more so than clean coal or high-speed rail or whatever the hell he’s planning to talk about on the trail. And not only does he gain votes, he gains the right to do something that he loves loves loves doing — namely, passing the buck.

“I say, hell, yes, they’re fake. The real ones tried to kill me, although the fake ones feel very real. At least that’s what the TSA agents tell me.”

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks about breast cancer at Saturday’s annual Gridiron Dinner. - Washington Post

“As some of you know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and went through seven surgeries including a double mastectomy. Rick, since you only speak Republican, that means I had them repealed and replaced.

“The entire experience reminded me that life is short, and we need to all focus on what matters – the people we love, the country we love, the legacy we leave…. And I hope that if all of us in public life can find more commonality – and see each other’s humanity – then we really can make progress.”

SOROS LOSES INSIDER TRADING CONVICTION APPEAL

Billionaire funder of left-wing causes George Soros, 81, lost his appeal to have his 2002 insider trading conviction overturned. The European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber refused to consider whether France had violated his rights, reports Bloomberg News. - Wynton Hall/Big Government

Democrats and the left are inherently a sham with little actual grassroots support and the race for Florida's 18th Congressional District is yet another example of this truism.

FLORIDA DEMS CAN'T FIND VOTERS TO PROTEST ALLEN WEST, SO THEY HIRE SOME - Warner Todd Huston at Big Government

Repeatedly and across the country we see unions, Democrats, and other far left groups planning rallies and protest marches but finding that they simply can't put bodies in the streets to make all the effort worthwhile. They just don't really have the support of the common man, the folks in the streets, to carry off these protest marches and rallies.

But these out of the mainstream groups do have a solution to this problem: the rent-a-protester. Whenever you see a left-wing protest, almost invariably you'll find that many of the folks walking around with signs in their hands were hired to be there. They are paid protesters, faux activists only there for some change in their pockets, not because they care anything about the issue being protested.

Obamacare 'Looks Like It's Going to Be Struck Down'


link - Byron Tau/Politico
"This was a train wreck for the Obama administration. This law looks like it's going to be struck down," Toobin said on CNN. "All of the predictions including mine that the justices would not have a problem with this law were wrong."

"The only conservative justice who looked like he might uphold the law was Chief Justice Roberts who asked hard questions of both sides, all four liberal justices tried as hard as they could to make the arguments in favor of the law, but they were -- they did not meet with their success with their colleagues," Toobin said.
Justices signal possible trouble for health insurance mandate - Noam N. Levey/LA Times
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suggested that the government might require Americans to buy cellphones to be ready for emergencies. And Justice Antonin Scalia asked if the government might require Americans to buy broccoli or automobiles.

"If the government can do this, what else can it ... do?” Scalia asked.
The nation’s highest court today held a hearing on one of the most contentious portions of the Obamacare law that is opposed by pro-life groups because of rationing and abortion funding concerns — the individual mandate. - LifeNews
Conservative justices criticize individual mandate - Brad Heath and Richard Wolf, USA TODAY via Drudge
Justice Roberts: Can the government make you buy a cell phone? - Byron Tau/Politico
Toobin: Obama healthcare reform law 'in grave, grave trouble' - Daniel Strauss/The Hill
Day 2: Audio & transcript: Justices hear arguments on individual mandate - Sam Baker/The Hill

Obama’s Demagoguery

The president has a bad habit of wading uninformed into local controversies. - Victor Davis Hanson/National Review

...the president waded into an ongoing investigation, in which the facts of the case remain murky and in dispute. And instead of playing down the racial component of the tragedy in polarized times, he seemed instead deliberately to have emphasized it.

...a disturbing pattern has developed in his editorializing, which is aimed exclusively at those whose policies and language he implies lead to horrific acts like the shooting of African-American teenagers, the smearing of young feminists, the shooting of Democratic congresswomen, or the jailing of African-American professors. Yet in every case, further evidence, more information, and subsequent events suggested that the president had offered either incomplete or misleading commentary to the nation, predicated not on a desire for healing or truth, but on a wish to gain partisan advantage. Today's MUST READ

Inconvenient narratives in the Martin case - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

GOP doctors decry health law's 'very bad medicine'

House Republican doctors donned their white coats Tuesday morning to blast the healthcare reform law as critics prepared to challenge its individual mandate in the Supreme Court. - The Hill

"The 2010 healthcare takeover was an attempt to provide something good for the American people that unfortunately represents very bad medicine," said Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.), an ophthalmologist. "Our motto … as doctors is 'First, do no harm.' The 2010 health law does grievous harm: It disrespects what has made American medicine the greatest in the world."

Obama, the Democrats, and The Society for the Preservation of Racism

Since obtaining the presidency, Barack Obama has led a Democratic Party that would be better called The Society for the Preservation of Racism. - Roger L. Simon/PJM

When Barack Obama asserted – in advance of a jury trial or grand jury investigation, let alone a completed police investigation – that he identified with young Trayvon Martin, the black teenager shot and killed in Florida, it was an extraordinarily reactionary moment with possible ramifications of interference with the justice system.

But it was not surprising.

Since obtaining the presidency, Barack Obama has led a Democratic Party that would be better called The Society for the Preservation of Racism.

The reason is evident. Increasingly, racism – and more generally the division of our country into racial and ethnic interest groups — is all the Democrats have. The rest of liberal/leftist ideology is disintegrating all around them, as fragile and illusory as the welfare state itself.

Without racism – or more exactly the putative existence of racism – the Democratic Party would be an association of overpaid trade union executives, unemployed Occupy movement sympathizers and trial lawyers. In other words – mighty small.

So no wonder Barack Obama rushes to judgment in a case for which none of us know the true details, a case, moreover, in which those details are so obscure and debatable that they may be ultimately unknowable, our opinions mere projections of our prejudices and beliefs.

It is not by accident but by design that the intellectual gravitas of political talk shows and regular news broadcasts sometimes matches that of Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood.

The Myth of the GOP’s War on Women - David Bozeman/NetRightDaily

The idea of the Republican Party waging a war on women is preposterous. It goes something like this: with unemployment at just above 8 percent and a national debt at over $15.5 trillion, Republicans are so threatened by good economic news that they would change the subject and seek to alienate women, who comprise approximately 51 percetn of the voting population. That makes almost as much sense as the notion of Republicans being the party of the rich. How does a party remain viable for most of its 150-year existence by catering to so narrow a demographic?

But news and commentary tend to focus on the inane over the substantive. Conservatives find themselves gnawing on the liberal bait — by simply calming fears and quelling nasty rumors, conservatives resemble animals who must chew off their own limbs to free themselves from traps.

If Justice Breyer is laughing at the administration this early in the game, Team Obama may be in trouble.

Things did no not look very good for President Obama and the Democratic Party’s Obamacare law. Justice Stephen Breyer, one of four Democratic appointees to the Supreme Court, laughed at solicitor general Donald Verrilli for repeatedly using the phrase “tax penalty” to describe what you must pay if you do not buy or otherwise obtain health insurance by 2015. - Don Surber/Daily Mail

I am of two minds as to how this will play for Obama. Losing the case may help his re-election chances as he can say he gave it the old college try. Then again, losing Obamacare would wipe out his domestic policy achievements. Winning the case would allow him to say, see, I was right. But winning the case might cost him the election as Americans vote to throw the law out.

How is that for covering all the bases?

Monday, March 26, 2012

Chairman Del Beccaro's Statement on the Latest USC/Dornsife Poll

SACRAMENTO – California Republican Party Chairman Tom Del Beccaro today issued the following statement regarding the latest USC/Dornsife poll on Governor Brown's tax plan:
"The poll touting Brown's tax proposal is deeply flawed and misleading. First, it is a poll of registered voters. That is a sampling methodology that is never accurate. Likely voter polls are far more accurate. Second, it is a push poll because the poll ties the tax increase to using the money for public schools. On election day, however, that aspiration will not be on the ballot - only a tax increase. 7 out of the last 7 statewide taxes increases have failed. This year, with Californians hurting more than ever, it will likely fail as well. Brown and the State Controller should concentrate on reforming government not burdening our economy."
The last 7 tax initiatives that were defeated:
June 2006 - Proposition 82 - income tax hike to fund universal preschool
November, 2006 - Propositions 86, 87, 88 - a tobacco tax, an oil severance tax and parcel taxes
May, 2009 - Proposition 1A, $16 Billion tax increase
November, 2010 - Proposition 21, car tax to fund state parks
November, 2010 - Proposition 24, business tax increase

SCOTUS audio from todays arguments now available on the Courts website

Audio - supremecourt.gov
Transcript - Politico



HERE‘S YOUR GUIDE TO TODAY’S SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS OVER OBAMACARE - The Blaze

43% of doctors are considering retiring because of Obamacare.

60 percent of them believe that Obamacare will have a negative impact on overall patient care.

Not only do doctors believe that Obamacare will not improve the health care system, they also anticipate that it will worsen the current condition. According to the survey, nine out of 10 physicians are unwilling to recommend health care as a profession to a family member, and one primary care physician even commented, “I would not recommend becoming an M.D. to anyone.”

Obamacare doesn’t just discourage entrance into the medical profession; it encourages those who are already practicing to leave it. The survey states that “health care reform is motivating doctors to change their retirement timeline.” In fact, 43 percent of respondents said they are considering retiring within the next five years as a result of the law. A surgeon from Michigan wrote that under Obamacare, “We will be moving further away from humanity-based health care and more towards the patient as a commodity. This was not the way my father practiced—nor will I. Winding down to retire early.”

Poll: 47% disapprove of Obama health care law - CBS

A CBS News/New York Times poll shows 47 percent of Americans disapprove of the president's Affordable Care Act, including 30 percent who strongly disapprove. In the poll, conducted March 21-25, only 36 percent of those questioned said they support the law either somewhat or strongly.

In SCOTUS case, Obamacare has industry allies

Lawyers from the health insurance and hospital industries have petitioned the Supreme Court to save President Obama's health-care law from a constitutional challenge by 26 states and a small-business group, while other big-business lobbies have stayed neutral. - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner @tpcarney

The health-care law provides new taxpayer subsidies to hospitals, and the individual mandate could reduce the "uncompensated care" hospitals now provide for the uninsured. Plus, more universal and subsidized health coverage could allow hospitals to raise prices.

It makes perfect sense that a health insurer like Blue Cross would defend a law requiring people to buy health insurance. It makes perfect sense that a hospital lobby would support a law that brings more money into hospitals.

It makes no sense, however, that given industry's stance, Obama still gets away with pretending the law's opponents are shills for industry.

Imagine Obama with no electoral restraints

link - Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post

...is there anyone who thinks Obama, should he get a second term, wouldn’t run wild with policies and positions that the majority of the electorate oppose? Otherwise, he’d roll them out now, of course.

It’s remarkable, actually, that Obama could be any more flexible with Russia after the election than he’s already been under the “reset” that is indistinguishable from appeasement. He praised the rigged Russian elections, helped get Russia into the World Trade Organization, has tried to slow down human rights legislation aimed at Russian perpetrators and yanked missile defense sites out of Eastern Europe. One can only imagine how much worse things would get if he no longer had to worry about public opinion and all those troublesome human rights groups nagging him.

The same is, of course, true on everything from gay marriage to Israel policy to taxes. Obama took off the mask of moderation in an effort to woo back his base, but in doing so he gave the rest of the electorate real reason to worry about a second term. And conservatives shouldn’t bank on Republicans in Congress to stand up to a reelected president (especially if they lose seats in the House and fail to get the Senate). Elections are taken as mandates by elected officials and the media (even if the message is less clear than the winner would have us believe).

In sum, the election is not simply a referendum on President Obama’s actions to date; it’s essentially a blank check for the president’s second term.

Obamacare Versus the U.S. Constitution


◼ Day One: High court takes up fight over Obama health law - AP via Drudge
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is front and center at the Supreme Court for three days of hearings to determine the fate of a law aimed at extending health insurance to more than 30 million Americans.
Rejecting 'Obamacare' would be 'grave and profound' - AFP
Q:) Why is there such visceral opposition to this law among Americans?
A:) Whenever you have landmark legislation, people are afraid of change. That's not surprising. And this is something that is going to dramatically change insurance markets, health care markets, and you know, there's a lot of people who can be worried about that and who, if they don't like the law, should vote against those who voted for it. Vote against President Obama, or vote against the members of Congress. What I think is not appropriate is to take that policy debate and put it in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. If they don't like the law, there's an easy vote and that's in November.
Supreme Court begins review of health-care law - Will High Court punt, call case premature? - Washington Post

Court’s open-minded GOP appointees may give health care a chance - Democratic appointees on board with Obama
A curious thing about this week’s Supreme Court hearings on President Obama’s health care law is that while nobody doubts how the four Democrat-appointed justices will decide, there is no such certainty on how the Republican appointees will rule in the case, which will go a long way toward defining the scope and limits of government power in the 21st century.

Virtually everyone agrees that the four Democrat-appointed justices will move to uphold the law. Few doubt that Justices Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, appointed by Mr. Obama, will join Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer, appointed by President Clinton, in upholding as constitutional the mandate that individuals obtain medical insurance and the massive Medicaid expansion.

But among the five other justices, conservative stalwart Clarence Thomas is the only one viewed as a sure vote against the mandate and possibly other parts of the law.

So court watchers are left scratching their heads over Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. While these four are generally regarded as conservatives, conservative jurisprudence isn’t as ideologically predictable on the issues the case raises.

“There’s two types of conservatives,” said Russell Wheeler, a court scholar at the Brookings Institution. “There’s the judicial restraint school that says unless the bill is outlandish, we’re not going to second-guess Congress. And there’s this other view that says the court should be an active examiner of what Congress did because Congress will overstep its boundaries.”
Obamacare Versus the U.S. Constitution - CNS

'AFTER MY ELECTION I HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY'



President Obama Asks Medvedev for ‘Space’ on Missile Defense — ‘After My Election I Have More Flexibility’ - ABC News

The exchange was picked up by microphones as reporters were let into the room for remarks by the two leaders. VIDEO at the link

The exchange:
President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.

President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…

President Obama: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.

President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir (Putin).

The United States and its allies remain unprotected from a threat of ballistic missiles while North Korea is preparing to launch yet another long-range missile. By conceding to Russian demands on missile defense, the Administration has made the situation even worse. Yet this is exactly what President is planning on doing if he gets re-elected. - Michaela Bendikova/Heritage.org

Caught On Tape: Obama Tells Russians He May Sell Out on Missile Defense After Election - Guy Benson/TownHall

Wanted: Dead Or Alive - Countless death threats against Zimmerman, man not proven guilty

(A) list of death threats against Zimmerman - Twitchy

Black friend defends shooter of Florida teen - Reuters

George Zimmerman is not a racist and cried for days after shooting dead a black Florida teenager, a black, longtime friend of Zimmerman said on Sunday in a sympathetic portrayal of a man maligned by critics as a trigger-happy bigot.

Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic, shot Trayvon Martin, 17, in what he said was self defense during an altercation in the gated community Zimmerman was watching on February 26 in Sanford, Florida. After attracting little notice initially, the case gained widespread attention, sparking protests and renewing a national debate about race.

...The New Black Panther Party, an African American organization taking its name from the radical group of the 1960s, has placed a $10,000 bounty on Zimmerman.

"All these people who are threatening George, what makes them any better than the person they think he is?" Oliver said. "You've got all these people wanting to lynch the man and they don't know the whole story. There are huge gaps that are being filled in and interpreted without evidence."

Trayvon Martin was punching Neighborhood Watchman when he was shot - Noisyroom



Trayvon, Zimmerman and the President: Someone behaved stupidly - Doug Ross

Sunday, March 25, 2012

California Republicans get behind Mitt Romney

The national front-runner has a substantial lead in the state over Rick Santorum, with other rivals trailing in the distance. But there's little enthusiasm for the GOP field overall. - LA Times

Republican voters in California have swung behind Mitt Romney, with the national presidential front-runner crushing his rivals by double digits and substantially expanding his support in the state, a new poll has found.

Romney won 42% of registered Republican voters, with his closest rival, Rick Santorum, trailing by 19 points, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were a distant third and fourth.

Romney's support has risen by 15 points since a November USC/Times poll, when Herman Cain was his closest competitor. (The former businessman has since dropped out.)

Yet there remains a palpable lack of enthusiasm for the Republican field. Half of GOP voters said they wished other candidates were running for president.

Krauthammer Smacks Down Shields on Ryan Plan: 'Your Guys Haven’t Introduced a Budget at All'

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer gave quite a tongue lashing to Mark Shields on Inside Washington this weekend.

When the liberal PBS contributor said Congressman Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) budget proposal lacked vertebrae, Krauthammer scolded, "Talk about absence of spine, your guys haven’t introduced a budget at all on anything"

Emergency ordinance being considered Tuesday by supervisors; draft aimed to alleviate health and safety issues at courthouse

A draft emergency ordinance aimed at addressing health and safety issues at the Humboldt County Courthouse is up for approval Tuesday morning at the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. - Times-Standard

The proposed ordinance would limit the use of the courthouse grounds by prohibiting protest activities between 9:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. In addition, the ordinance would prohibit people from erecting structures or securing items to county property.

County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes said he and the county counsel's office have been scrambling to get an ordinance together for the board. The supervisors unanimously directed staff last Tuesday to start crafting an interim emergency ordinance to deal with certain health and safety issues related to people gathering in front of the courthouse.

”Most of the items already exist in law,” Smith-Hanes said about drafting the ordinance.

First District Supervisor Jimmy Smith brought the concept of an interim emergency ordinance to the board for discussion last week, stating he's received numerous complaints about garbage, piles of personal property and uncontrolled signage blocking pathways at the courthouse.

For the complete meeting agenda and supporting documents, visit online at ◼ www.co.humboldt.ca.us/board/agenda/questys/.
__________________

IF YOU GO:
What: Board of Supervisors meeting
Where: Supervisors Chamber, first floor, Humboldt County Courthouse, 825 Fifth St.
When: 9 a.m. Tuesday

#GEN44: CONSERVATIVES USURP OBAMA’S TWITTER HASHTAG…AGAIN

On Friday, Barack Obama’s official Twitter account said, “If you’re proud of Obamacare and tired of the other side using it as a dirty word, complete this sentence: #ILikeObamacare because…” - The Blaze
@JamesNolan: #IlikeObamaCare because I’m tired of making my own healthcare decisions…

@anthropocon: #ILikeObamaCare because I want unelected bureaucrats making as many personal decisions for me as possible.

@yidwithlid: #ILikeObamacare as much as I like My father-in-law’s wife

@SaintObama: #ILikeObamacare, Because I think if you work, then I should benefit.

@iowahawkblog: #IlikeObamacare because the best things in life are free. Give or take $2 trillion.
And now, the Obama administration is asking people to use the hashtag #Gen44, saying “The president is counting on young people next November." Responses have included:
@ExJon: #Gen44 Because nothing says “youthful rebellion” like following orders from the president.

@FigDreston: #Gen44 Because I believe the largest economy the world has ever known can be run on solar panels, windmills and algae.

@SBroadie: #gen44: Because this time I want Obama to win all 57 States

@lee_ritz: #Gen44 cuz I have a masters in post modern transsexual feminist lit and $100k in student debt but for some reason can’t find a job.

@angelaisms: Because “endowed by their Creator” means “bestowed by a beneficent government.” #gen44

Obamacare's Tax War on Women

Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and employers. Five are especially-harmful for women, be they Moms, singles, or retirees. - Americans for Tax Reform

The jobs-killing Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and employers. Many of these tax increases fall on families making less than $250,000--a direct violation of candidate Obama's promise not to raise "any form" of taxes on these families. In less than a week, the second anniversary of Obamacare being signed into law will take place. The Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments about the constitutionality of Obamacare next week.
Out of the 20 new or higher taxes in Obamacare, here are the five that most hurt women:

Individual Mandate non-compliance excise tax.
"Cadillac plan" excise tax
Medicine Cabinet Tax.
Flex-Account Cap.
Tanning Tax.
Details at the link.