American Narcissus

"Why has Barack Obama failed so spectacularly? Is he too dogmatically liberal or too pragmatic? Is he a socialist, or an anticolonialist, or a philosopher-president? Or is it possible that Obama’s failures stem from something simpler: vanity. Politicians as a class are particularly susceptible to mirror-gazing. But Obama’s vanity is overwhelming. It defines him, his politics, and his presidency." [Weekly Standard]

Global Warming Panic explained

Newt Gingrich vs. the Republican establishment

"The conservative Republican base understands Newt Gingrich better than the GOP establishment thinks.

They are aware of his intermittent apostasies and occasional adventures with crackpot policy. They know Mitt Romney is the one with executive experience and that Gingrich can’t really run things.

And they don’t want Gingrich to run things. They want him to destroy things." [Politico]

Slow Motion Collapse in Europe Continues

"Taxpayers everywhere learned that the IMF's new chief, Christine Lagarde, wants an extra $500 billion to help fight Europe's slow-motion collapse. Trouble is, where does the money come from? From nations already up to their eyeballs in... debt, evidently. Count Great Britain and the United States in that category. " [American Thinker]

Allen West: Obama, Pelosi, Reid… “Get the Hell Out of the United States of America”

"West tells Democrats where to go… Rep. Allen West (R-FL) spoke at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in Palm Beach last night. He told Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Debbie Wasserman Schultz to “Get the Hell Out of America!” [Gateway Pundit]

Al Gore’s “Truth” is Inconsistent, not Inconvenient

"For years we’ve heard that Global Warming is real and will be the death of the planet if we don’t do something about it. No less a luminary than a former Vice President, Al Gore, has carried that message for better than 20 years.

This week has seen more pushback on the supposed universal scientific consensus of the truth of Global Warming. Just yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, 16 respected scientists put their names on a piece that questions the incontrovertible nature of Global Warming. They include the President of the World Federation of Scientists in Geneva, Switzerland and former heads of the meterological and climate studies for entire nations!" [Liberty News Network]

Mainstream Media CAUGHT Regurgitating Untrue Political Hit Pieces

HERE is a story by REUTERS, a huge mainstream press organization. This is a hit piece on Marco Rubio full of simple inaccuracies and falsehoods. Reuters must have obtained this "story" from some Democrat oriented opposition research operation.

And here is an investigative reporter's description of how Reuters was caught !

And here is an analysis of what must have happened at Reuters.

This demonstrates how one MUST be careful when buying in to the MSM's versions of stories ...... particularly when their claims "reveal" startling "facts".
[clipper]

Carney Asked if ‘Saul Alinsky Portrait’ Is Hanging in the White House

This response is CERTAINLY NOT A DENIAL !!!!!

Obama's Crony Capitalism

The problem with Government "investing" in winners ............
[clipper]

The Real State of the Union

"What should Obama have said in his speech? Here's what I wish he'd said:"
[John Stossel]

REAL DEEP UNDERSTANDING !!!!!

Solid proposal ....... as he talks down to the idiots who support him......
[clipper]

President Obama leaves event promoting clean energy in a motorcade of 22 fossil-fueled vehicles

These Economies Will Dominate The World In 2050

"Economists on Wall Street are out with their recommendations for 2012. A few have come out with calls for 2015. But one, HSBC, is out with a call for 2050.

"The World in 2050," a new report by HSBC economist Karen Ward, forecasts the economic prowess of the 100 largest economies" [Business Insider]

Click here to see how the 50 largest economies stack up next to each other

You dumb racist conservatives are dumb. And racist.

" We’ve got a brand spanking new, rootin’ tootin’ study, fresh off the press from a distinguished group of scientists. (And I can tell they were scientists because I checked, and most of them were wearing white lab coats.) In it, we find what we already suspected about the party that hates science, clings to their guns and their God, and disapproves of Barack Obama not because of his damaging policies, but because he’s black. Yep… you guessed it. Turns out that conservatives are stupid. And racist." [Hot Air]

Let's Be Fair about Taxation

"Today, the current top tax rate of 15% for capital gains and dividends is getting a lot of attention because of the recent release of Mitt and Ann Romney's tax returns. They reported millions of capital gains and dividend income and paid a tax of around 15%.

Let's take a look at fairness in the context of investment income. We will see a very different picture of their tax situation and the taxes paid by others with investment income." [American Thinker]

Georgia Ballot Challenge: Obama Walks On By

"Two AT writers attended yesterday's hearing in Georgia over President Obama's eligibility for the presidential ballot. Cindy Simpson writes:

President Obama has a habit of turning his back and walking away from those with whom he disagrees, as recently discovered by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Professor John Lott, in an interview with Teri O'Brien, recalled similar experiences with Obama while at the University of Chicago.

Ms. O'Brien commented to Professor Lott: "Gods don't debate. They just issue decrees."

And apparently they also tend to place themselves above the law." [American Thinker]

Wait A Minute !!!!!

Now we've got Mc Cain AND Bob Dole dumping on Newt Gingrich !!!!!! Those paragons of conservative values support Romney over Gingrich! Next, you will be trying to tell me that Thomas Dewey, Alf Landon, Herbert Hoover and Harold Stassen would be objecting to Newt's candidacy!

If you want a REAL CONSERVATIVE (warts and all) SUPPORT NEWT GINGRICH

[clipper]

Fox News Drifting Leftward?

"Cliff Kincaid at America's Survival has launched a call for Fox News to bring back Glenn Beck.

This announcement comes on the heels of troubling revelations about Beck's firing and other disturbing trends at Fox. It quickly got front-page coverage at the Huffington Post, presumably to launch a campaign of ridicule and smears before Kincaid's idea builds momentum. No matter how much they sneer, the left is terrified of Beck.

Beck's firing was the work of George Soros, Kincaid has revealed." [Americsan Thinker]

U.S. outrage as Egypt bars Americans from leaving

"Six Americans working for publicly funded U.S. organizations promoting democracy in Egypt have been barred from leaving the country, provoking angry demands in Washington that Cairo's new military rulers stop "endangering American lives"." [Reuters]

The “fair share” administration owes over $800,000 in back taxes

"A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama’s executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes" [Hot Air]

Obama, Arizona Gov. Brewer Have Words in Phoenix

"President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) had what appears to have been an angry exchange of words on the tarmac in Phoenix over her portrayal of him in a book she published late last year." [White House Dossier]

Haven't We Heard This Before?

Did he XEROX last year's speech?

South Carolina Message

Thomas Sowell delivers insight on the Gingrich / Romney differences....... [clipper]

"Mitt Romney's supposed "electability" -- his acceptability to moderates and independents -- has been his biggest selling point. Moreover, he is just the kind of candidate that the Republican establishment has preferred for years: a nice, bland, moderate who offends nobody.

This is the kind of candidate that is supposed to be the key to victory, no matter how many such candidates have gone down to defeat. If the bland and inoffensive moderate was in fact the key to victory, Dewey would have won a landslide victory over Truman in 1948, and John McCain would have beaten Barack Obama in 2008." [Thomas Sowell]

Is THIS the Image Of GREED?

Read comparison of Obama vs. Romney charitable giving.......

Under Obama, Price of Gas Has Jumped 83 Percent, Ground Beef 24 Percent, Bacon 22 Percent

"So far, during the presidency of Barack Obama, the price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 83 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the same period, the price of ground beef has gone up 24 percent and price of bacon has gone up 22 percent." [CNS]

Goverment Employees Paying For Ads in Florida Attacking Romney

"In the anti-Romney ad, which begins airing Saturday, the male voiceover says that while Romney was a director of Damon Corp., a medical testing company acquired by Bain Capital in 1989, "the company was defrauding Medicare of millions." The ad goes on to point out that Romney profited handsomely from his investment in the suburban Boston company (which Bain, the private-equity firm Romney co-founded, sold several years later).

An eagle-eyed viewer -- or someone hitting the pause button on YouTube -- might catch a headline on the black-and-white screen that points out Romney profited from a firm "later tied to fraud" and that Damon was "fined after sale by Bain." Those nuances are (deliberately) lost on the average viewer."
[American Thinker]

Keystone XL and Obama's Subjugation Economics

"President Barack Obama's decision to nix the Keystone XL pipeline was one of those days when divorce seemed more sensible than attempting reconciliation. The president's Keystone decision is yet another in a long train of affronts, insults, and harm that the left has inflicted on the American economy and the American worker. We're talking decades-worth of assaults on free enterprise and the enterprising -- you know, the enterprising: the men and women who create jobs.

Clearly, there's more on the president's and the left's agenda than economics. The left has long desired to radically alter the nation socially and culturally. Economics -- controlling the means of production -- is a leftist tenet and tool. When you control the means by which people create their livelihoods, you control them.

Make no mistake, there's malice toward flyover country Americans by the left. Flyover country is everything Mr. Obama doesn't want America to be anymore; the mores, beliefs, and values of traditional America are his real targets. Like most leftists, Mr. Obama seeks to strangle the greater portion of America that fails to conform. " [American Thinker]

In Praise of a Do-nothing Congress

"Here's a question: how can we expect to have small government if we condemn Congress for not growing it?

So if you complain about a do-nothing Congress, I ask, what is it exactly that you want them to "do," whom do you think they'll "do" it to, and what do you think will be done to you? Our current Congress passed 80 bills. How many more do you want and how many more until we're done for?

So if you complain about a do-nothing Congress, I ask, what is it exactly that you want them to "do," whom do you think they'll "do" it to, and what do you think will be done to you? Our current Congress passed 80 bills. How many more do you want and how many more until we're done for?"

[American Thinker}

What We're Learning about Obamacare isn't Good -- Especially for Seniors

"Our senior citizens are most at risk under Obamacare -- especially those over 70. Rationing of services and death panels (only they're called "ethics panels" under Obamacare instead of death panels for obvious reasons) are now the rule, not the exception. I have a friend who is a loyal Democrat and a strong Obama supporter. In 2008 when she voted for Obama, she couldn't imagine that in 2012 she would have a massive heart attack and need a pacemaker. Prior to 2010 and the passage of Obamacare, that would have been a routine procedure, but not anymore. She's over 70, and under Obamacare people who are over 70 routinely receive "comfort care." That's a euphemism. It means that a panel of experts has determined that your life isn't worth saving beyond 70, so they will try to make you feel good while you die." [American Thinker]

ABC unaccountably excludes Bill Clinton from lineup of pols who led ‘double lives’

"ABC News offered yesterday a risible lineup of two-timing politicians that omitted Bill Clinton, the philandering 42nd president, but included Thomas Jefferson, about whom the evidence of sexual dalliance is thin at best.

ABC’s roster of “the top eight politicians who led double lives” was posted online and promised “a look at some … tawdry affairs and public scandals” — and how the politicians implicated “weathered the storm.” " [Media Myth Aleert]

....and you want evidence that the media is NOT in-the-tank for Democrat Politicos ????

An Ignored 'Disparity': Part II

"One of the ways of trying to reduce the vast disparities in economic success, which are common in countries around the world, is by making higher education more widely available, even for people without the money to pay for it.

This can be both a generous investment and a wise investment for a society to make. But, depending on how it is done, it can also be a foolish and even dangerous investment, as many societies around the world have learned the hard way." [Thomas Sowell]

A GOP Candidate's Bitter Ex-Wife Receives More Coverage Than a Video of Obama Dining with Terrorist-Supporters

"As I watch the media circus surrounding Marianne Gingrich's interview regarding her relationship with her ex-husband and GOP candidate, Newt Gingrich, I am once again reminded of the double standard afforded to the Democrats and Barack Obama in particular.

However, of greater importance in my view is the silence, save for a few journalists and pundits on the right, regarding exposing a videotape recorded in 2003 of Barack Obama at the farewell dinner for terrorist-supporting Palestinian Rashid Khalidi. News of the videotape's existence came to light while Obama was a candidate, and the free pass given to him by the mainstream media was only just beginning to come to light when the enamored Chris Matthews' shared news of the tingle up his leg."
[American Thinker]

Environmentalism and the Leisure Class

"In turning down Keystone, however, the President has uncovered an ugly little secret that has always lurked beneath the surface of environmentalism. Its basic appeal is to the affluent. Despite all the professions of being "liberal" and "against big business," environmentalism's main appeal is that it promises to slow the progress of industrial progress. People who are already comfortable with the present state of affairs -- who are established in the environment, so to speak -- are happy to go along with this. It is not that they have any greater insight into the mysteries and workings of nature. They are happier with the way things are. In fact, environmentalism works to their advantage. The main danger to the affluent is not that they will be denied from improving their estate but that too many other people will achieve what they already have. As the Forest Service used to say, the person who built his mountain cabin last year is an environmentalist. The person who wants to build one this year is a developer." [The American Spectator]

Obama Administration Orders Free Birth Control

"The final regulation retains the approach federal health officials proposed last summer, despite the deluge of complaints from religious groups and congressional Republicans that has poured in since then. Churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are exempt from the requirement, but religious-affiliated hospitals and universities only get a one-year delay and must comply by Aug. 1, 2013." [The Hill]

Why is Solyndra destroying millions of dollars in parts?

"Well, why not just toss out millions in assets? Isn’t that what the Obama administration did in subsidizing Solyndra in the first place? The CBS affiliate in San Francisco catches Solyndra in the act of destroying millions of dollars in glass tubes after a court ruled that the company was spending more than they were worth on storage, another theme with a familiar ring in this ongoing tale of crony capitalism and the Obama administration [Hot Air]

Democratic Party economics: The “Reasonable Profits Board”

"Six House Democrats, led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), want to set up a “Reasonable Profits Board” to control gas profits.

The Gas Price Spike Act, H.R. 3784, would apply a windfall tax on the sale of oil and gas that ranges from 50 percent to 100 percent on all surplus earnings exceeding “a reasonable profit.” It would set up a Reasonable Profits Board made up of three presidential nominees that will serve three-year terms. Unlike other bills setting up advisory boards, the Reasonable Profits Board would not be made up of any nominees from Congress. …" [Hot Air]

Let us hope this proposal dies the sudden death it deserves.......

Now We Know Who Was Right about Obama

"Now we know. After three years in office and the launching of his second election campaign, we have experienced President Obama's leadership. We can see whom we elected president -- the mystery man of 2008 revealed.

Democrats were in ecstasy over the great healer, the multiracial candidate who would bring together red states and blue states, black and white, coasts and flyover country. Republicans saw the man with the most leftist, least bipartisan voting record in Congress being installed in the White House. We now know who was right. "[American Thinker]

First Lady Celebrates B-Day at Steakhouse Featuring $28 'Obama' Burger

As for the peasants ...... let them eat cake!

"- Michelle Obama celebrated her 48th birthday Tuesday night with her husband and friends at a D.C. steakhouse where the menu features a $28 hamburger named "The Obama." BLT Steak describes its "Obama" burger as an 8-ounce American Kobe burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, burnt tomato ketchup, and scallion mustard."[CNS News]

Are The GOP Debaters Foolish Enough to Take CNN's Bait?

"So CNN's executives have let it slip (at least to Drudge*) that they are "going to let them just go at it" in what they are calling the "Republican Debate of the Year" tonight in South Carolina.

Let me translate:

'We are going to do our damndest to get the candidates to go at each other and totally ignore Barack Obama. We're going to ask those cute little questions like 'Governor Romney, with Speaker Gingrich standing right here, will you say to his face that he's the biggest son of a blah blah blah..... " [AmericanThinker]

Gingrich Goes for Gold

“Part of our approach ought to be to reestablish something Ronald Reagan did in 1981 and that is to have a Commission on Gold to look at the whole concept of how do we get back to hard money.

“We need to repeal the Humphrey-Hawkins Act. We need to say to the Federal Reserve: your only job is to maintain the stability of the dollar because we want a dollar to be worth thirty years from now what it is worth now because that optimizes saving and investment because people know what they are going to back.

“The very purpose of founding the Constitution was landowners and property owners who did not want inflation. And they felt that under the Articles of Confederation they were increasingly getting inflated paper money." [Weekly Standard]

President Obama Is “Shipping American Energy Security to the Chinese”

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) pledged to continue fighting for the thousands of much-need jobs the pipeline will create – especially for those hit hardest by the Obama administration’s disastrous economic policies.

“President Obama is destroying tens of thousands of American jobs and shipping American energy security to the Chinese.”

[Gateway Pundit]

Another Reminder Of How The US Government Destroys Business

"....... The whole affair was just another friendly reminder of why I try to avoid doing anything in the US at all. Regulations, financial tracking, consumer protection… it’s just too damn difficult to get anything done." [Sovereign Man]

An Ignored 'Disparity'

"With all the talk about "disparities" in innumerable contexts, there is one very important disparity that gets remarkably little attention -- disparities in the ability to create wealth. People who are preoccupied, or even obsessed, with disparities in income are seldom interested much, or at all, in the disparities in the ability to create wealth, which are often the reasons for the disparities in income."[Thomas Sowell]

The one you must read: Letter to Obama

Here is a four year old letter, very much worth re-reading to refresh your memory on how our DEAR LEADER was known to be a gross liar even back then. [clipper]

Harry Reid's 'Extreme'

"Having attended a Tea Party rally in Philadelphia that was organized by an African American and in which 9 of 13 speakers were African American and Latino, I keep trying to reconcile Harry Reid's view of the Tea Party with my own firsthand experience.

Saying it's time to rebuild America by working together to create jobs, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Sunday prepared for Congress' return to Washington this week with a warning to Republicans to leave Tea Party "extremism" behind and "learn what legislation is all about." "

[American Thinker]

“Irish homeowners can now legally shoot anyone who enters their property”

"Irish homeowners can now legally shoot anyone who enters their property,” irishcentral.com reports with incendiary inaccuracy. “A move that has been slammed by civil liberties campaigners in a row with Justice Minister Alan Shatter.” Anyone? Let’s try that again, shall we? “Legislation [a link to which we can't be assed to include] has now come into effect that allows homeowners to use ‘reasonable force’ to defend themselves, their families and their property.” To quote the gatekeeper to The Land of Oz, that’s a horse of a different color. One that seems to have riled-up a lot of people." [The Truth About Guns]

Be sure to read:

Irish homeowners now have legal right to shoot intruders

Our Promissory Note

"Monday will mark the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. With the opening of his monument on the National Mall, Americans now have a day and a place to honor King's public life and legacy.

We can benefit ourselves on this occasion by taking a moment from our busy lives to call to mind King's most famous address, the 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It has many memorable thoughts and phrases, but all of them are framed within the context of the opening lines, which declare:

we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

[Letters From An Ohio Farmer]

Michelle Obama and Stokely Carmichael on Collective White Guilt

"Michelle told CBS' Gayle King that there will always be people who don't like her and that ever since her husband announced his candidacy in 2007, some see her as an "angry black woman." Cue the mainstream media. The lapdog press couldn't get the "angry black woman" story out to the masses fast enough. Once again, the race card proved an effective distraction from the latest surveillance techniques coming out of Big Sis's Department of Homeland Security." [American Thinker]

Costa 'showboating' may have caused disaster

"A risky practice by cruise ships of close-passing the island of Giglio in a foghorn-blasting salute to the local population appears to have contributed to the Costa Concordia disaster, officials and witnesses said on Sunday." [Emirates 24/7 News]

Yours truly passed by this island six weeks ago aboard a Regent Seven seas Cruise line ship, the MARINA, enroute from Civitivechia, Italy to Barcelona, Spain. Regent is a top notch line so I'm confident there was on our journey no risk of hot-dogging as, apparently, the COSTA Captain was doing. COSTA, a line owned by CARNIVAL, is among the bottom rated lines. You pays your $$ and you take your chances! [clipper]

Obama Berates US Economy “Known for Its Paper Profits… and Financial Speculation”

"Here’s more proof that Barack Obama is totally ignorant of its economic system. He wants to “rebuild the economy that’s not known for paper profits or financial speculation.”" [Gateway Pundit]

Here is more evidence (as if you really needed more !) that our Dear Leader thinks that government is the source of all things needed by small business. Furthermore, this address again points out Obama's latest re-election gambit .... to appear to be helping out small business. [clipper]

Obama Bid to Cut the Government Tests Congress

" President Obama on Friday announced an aggressive campaign to shrink the size of the federal government ...... The White House estimated that the consolidation would save $3 billion over 10 years...... The savings is a mere rounding error in the $3.7 trillion annual budget"[NY Times]

Let's run the math on this ........ The government SPENDS $3.7 trillion per year = $10.14 billion per day = $422.3 million per hour.

This fantastic savings that our Dear Leader has announced is $3 billion over ten years = $300 million per year. That YEARLY savings is about 46 MINUTES of federal govt spending! [clipper]

Vulture Capitalism

"Vultures are unsightly scavenger birds but they form a vital role in the eco-system just as "vulture capitalists" form a vital role in the free market economic system. Both consume the dead or dying for personal gain.

Most carnivores have no interest in feasting on smelly rotten carcasses that they find laying around. Not only do they find it repulsive but the possibility of becoming deathly ill makes it not worth the risk of doing so. Vultures and other scavengers have adapted to this risk though, and during the process of the scavenger being rewarded for that risk, the eco-system as a whole is in turn rewarded by having vital resources returned to the system where the process is then repeated. Having the land piled up to the treetops with dead bodies or lakes containing nothing but carcasses would do those living within the eco-system no good at all."

[American Thinker]

It's all Bush's Fault

and now Obama has ADDED over $ SIX TRILLION of his very own!!!!

CBS: Obama admin spent $6.5 billion on risky green-tech ventures

" CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson takes a break from reporting on Operation Fast and Furious to give a closer look at the performance of Barack Obama’s bets in the green-tech sector — and says that Obama bet more than $6.5 billion of taxpayer money in junk bonds:

CBS News counted 12 clean energy companies that are having trouble after collectively being approved for more than $6.5 billion in federal assistance. Five have filed for bankruptcy: The junk bond-rated Beacon, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, AES’ subsidiary Eastern Energy and Solyndra.

[Hot Air]

EPA Fines Companies Because They Didn’t Use A Fuel That Doesn’t Exist

"When the companies that supply motor fuel close the books on 2011, they will pay about $6.8 million in penalties to the Treasury because they failed to mix a special type of biofuel into their gasoline and diesel as required by law.

But there was none to be had. Outside a handful of laboratories and workshops, the ingredient, cellulosic biofuel, does not exist. " [NY Times]

"This kind of nonsense is a regular feature of Stalinist command economics. Stalin himself was a bold pioneer in politically decreeing the impossible. He ordered that corn should be grown in Siberia, even though corn cannot grow in Siberia. The results were far worse than a $6.8 million tithe to the Church of Global Warming, so the fuel companies should consider themselves lucky." [Human Events]

Obama uncle seeks police officer’s driving record

"A lawyer for President Barack Obama’s uncle, an illegal immigrant who is charged with drunken driving, says he will ask prosecutors to turn over the driving record of the police officer who stopped him." [Boston Herald]

Voter Fraud - NH Style

"Video footage provided exclusively to The Daily Caller shows election workers in New Hampshire giving out ballots in the names of dead voters at multiple voting precincts during the state’s primary election on Tuesday." [Daily Caller]

The Donkey Whisperer

Democrats are NOT keen on this political ad !

Rules for Republicans

"The two of us​—​a marketing professor and a political analyst​—​have just published a book about the highly successful Obama presidential campaign of 2008. We have distilled a number of lessons from our research. Since the Obama camp already knows these lessons firsthand, we call them “rules for Republicans” and have presented them to a number of the 2012 Republican presidential campaigns. In summary, here they are:

[Click HERE for details]

• Rule 1: Define your “big idea.”
• Rule 2: Sell your benefits, not your features.
• Rule 3: Do not dilute your positions to win over middle-of-the-roaders
• Rule 4: Do not let the Obama campaign brand you.
• Rule 5: Locate your campaign headquarters outside of Washington, D.C.
• Rule 6: Develop an electoral strategy with multiple avenues to success.
• Rule 7: Quickly and categorically reject public financing.
• Rule 8: Run a good ground game
• Rule 9: Consider someone like Marco Rubio as your running mate."

[Weekly Standard]

Report: Obama Freed Top Taliban Leaders From Gitmo

"The United States has reportedly released three high-ranking Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay Prison in return for an American soldier held by the militant group.

The move is also considered as a big concession by Washington to persuade the Taliban to the negotiating table.

The three senior Taliban leaders are reportedly on their way to Qatar despite strong opposition from Afghanistan.

Analysts, however, believe that US President Barack Obama’s decision to release the top Taliban commanders will do tremendous harm to American national security and to his prospects for reelection." [So you won't see this report in the MSM - clipper]

[Gateway Pundit]

Our Masters in Washington

" Tootling around Washington, I was struck by—well, not by its prosperity, exactly, but by what is clearly a lavish outlay of funds—your funds, in fact. Everywhere I turned there were huge building cranes. In one spot, I counted 7 over the space of a few blocks. It looked a little like a Third World country suddenly flush from newly discovered mineral reserves of some sort. Which I suppose describes the situation in Washington accurately enough, except that for “mineral reserves” you need to substitute “deficit spending.” I remember meeting my friend Edward Shils several years ago in Washington: “My, they live well on our money,” he said. What would he say today, I wonder, when Washington has come more and more to resemble Versailles circa 1780."
[Roger's Rules]

Real Jobless Rate Is 11.4% With Realistic Labor Force Participation Rate

"One does not need to be a rocket scientist to grasp the fudging the BLS has been doing every month for years now in order to bring the unemployment rate lower: the BLS constantly lowers the labor force participation rate as more and more people "drop out" of the labor force for one reason or another. While there is some floating speculation that this is due to early retirement, this is completely counterfactual when one also considers the overall rise in the general civilian non institutional population. In order to back out this fudge we are redoing an analysis we did first back in August 2010, which shows what the real unemployment rate would be using a realistic labor force participation rate. To get that we used the average rate since 1980, or ever since the great moderation began"
[Zero Hedge]

Hmmmmmmm ..........

Stephanopoulos struggles with fairness during NH debate

"ABC News commentator George Stephanopoulos directed pointed, hard-edged questions to Republican presidential candidates during Saturday night’s New Hampshire debate, often attacking without providing evidence to justify his broadsides."
[Daily Caller]

The Times On Obama's Recess Appointments - Republicans Made Him Do It

"The NY Times pretends to examine the legal and Constitutional issues surrounding Obama's recent recess appointments. They include this "the devil made him do it" howler in the second paragraph:

Senate Republicans had been using procedural rules and filibusters to block or delay the confirmation of nearly 200 agency nominations, leaving vital positions vacant and neutralizing agencies they did not like. That compelled Mr. Obama to escalate matters further on Wednesday, making recess appointments even though the Senate was technically not in recess."

[Just One Minute]

RED SCARE: Obama Plans to Share Nuke Secrets with Russia

"President Obama signaled Congress this week that he is prepared to share U.S. missile defense secrets with Russia."
[Washington Times]

Red Flag on the Red Planet: China's Great Leap Marsward? Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/01/red_flag_on_the_red_planet_chinas_great_le

"On December 29, China released a white paper outlining its near-future goals in space. Writing for Investor's Business Daily, Andrew Malcolm notes that these plans include China's own space station (already partially assembled in Earth orbit) and manned lunar landings by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, President Obama has scuttled his predecessor's project to establish a manned scientific outpost on the Moon; as America's space program withers, China's thrives.

Humanity's historical record indicates that a manned landing on Mars is inevitable, regardless of the risks and costs involved -- and should the Chinese nation commit itself to such a project, the first flag unfurled by a human being on the Red Planet could indeed itself be red."

[American Thinker]

Fed. Gov't Hiring: What a Job !!

As an "Invitations Coordinator" in the OBAMA created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) you can get paid $103,000 per year, get five weeks vacation, and receive all these other benefits...... [clipper]

"Challenging and rewarding work, opportunities for advancement, competitive salaries, bonuses and incentive awards

Ten paid holidays, 13 days of sick leave, and 13 to 26 days of vacation time each year

Access to comprehensive health, vision, dental, life, and long-term care insurance programs that may be continued after you retire

A wide choice of health insurance plans, coverage for pre-existing conditions, and no waiting periods. We pay a substantial amount (up to 75%) of the health insurance premiums.

Participation in the Federal Reserve Retirement and Thrift Plans; or continued participation in the Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System.

Public Transit Incentive program (PTIP)

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Health Unit Services

Emergency Child Care Service (Contracted Service)

Fitness Center Access"

[USAJOBS.gov]

Dear Mr. President

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) sent this scathing letter to the President aswking him to stop increasing the debt and begin cutting spending.

"Rubio went on to pledge that he would challenge any further increase in the debt ceiling, arguing that “we [Congress] need to make it routine to actually spend no more than we take in.” In the letter obtained by HUMAN EVENTS, the Florida Senator said that President Obama’s upcoming request to increase the debt ceiling by a whopping $1.2 trillion will cause the nation’s public debt to surpass the $16 trillion mark." [Human Events]

New Law Requires Photo ID To Buy Drain Cleaner

GO FIGURE !!!!!! .....and OBAMA's Justice Dept. Opposes Photo ID Requirement To Vote !!!!

Obama defies Congress with ‘recess’ picks

"“Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican.

GOP House Speaker John A. Boehner called the move “an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by President Obama that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice Department.”

“The precedent that would be set by this cavalier action would have a devastating effect on the checks and balances that are enshrined in our Constitution,” the Ohio Republican said in a statement."

[Washington Times]

‘Occupy Wall Street’ Participation To Earn Class Credit At Columbia U.

"Columbia University will offer a new course for upperclassmen and grad students next semester. An Occupy Wall Street class will send students into the field and will be taught by Dr. Hannah Appel, a veteran of the Occupy movement.

The course begins next semester and will be divided between class work at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus and fieldwork that will require students to become involved with the Occupy movement outside of the classroom.

The course will be called “Occupy the Field: Global Finance, Inequality, Social Movement” it will be run by the anthropology department."

[CBS]

Here's what your tax payments are going for !!!! Let the world know by your vote in the coming elections just where YOU stand. [clipper]

When Journalism Becomes Propaganda

"One of the clichés of popular science is that the very act of observing changes the phenomenon being observed. This is obviously not literally true of all physical phenomena; it would seem to apply more to social science than the hard sciences. But it surely applies to journalism. We’re long past the point where we note with any surprise that journalists are part of the stories they cover, especially election campaigns. At some point, though, journalism crosses the line and becomes part of a propaganda campaign." [Power Line]

A Simple Way to Think About the U.S. Debt and Deficit Problems

A " reader sent me an email which contained the information below. It's a simple way to think about the U.S. debt and deficit problems. The numbers are several months old so the problems we face are actually worse than the numbers suggest, but they're close enough to get the message across to thinking people:

U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000

Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000

New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000

National debt: $14,271,000,000,000

Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend the numbers reflect a household budget:

Annual family income: $21,700

Money the family spent: $38,200

New debt on the credit card: $16,500

Outstanding balance

on the credit card: $142,710

Total budget cuts: $385 "

[American Thinker]

Two Silly Notions: Biofuel Mandates as Carbon Neutral and Rhino Horn Medicine

"To meet a questionable danger (global warming) European bureaucrats have set unrealistic standards for biofuels. Because of obvious errors on their part, these projects will in any event increase, not decrease ,carbon emissions. This, in turn, has promoted the destruction and impoverishment of Africans who rely on the land being prepared for biofuel growth to survive."
[American Thinker]

Obama spent New Year’s Eve signing the National Defense Authorization Act

"President Barack Obama is still in Hawaii on vacation, but, yesterday, he managed to sign the $662-billion National Defense Authorization Act — a bill that has generated a fair share of controversy in the Capitol city. Even as he signed the bill, Obama added to the drama; he included a statement with his signature to express that he still has “serious reservations” about it"
[HotAir]