Obama: Can't stop overspending, has a bad week, losing indies & women, passes the buck, displays arrogant side, calibrator malfunctions, curbs American Dream, chokes off private investment, OK'd by Quayle.
Mismanagement: Chicago hosts model strike, ACORN violates RICO, Job-killers turn to Orwell, Toronto rebels against strike bigs.
International: Hondurans cling to Constitution, Obama-backed leftist thug triggers border violence.
Overspending plagues leftwing Obama-Dems ... There is an important thread that connects the failed stimulus bill and current efforts to reform health care: the federal deficit. And there is only one group on Capitol Hill with the commitment, credibility, and political mind-set to block the current health-care legislation. The Blue Dog Coalition is currently made up of 52 conservative and moderate Democratic members of Congress and has been in existence for 15 years. The organization exists, primarily, to join politically vulnerable Democrats and serve as a moderating influence on the larger and more liberal Democratic caucus. (philly.com)
Bad week for Obamanistas ... Wait! There's more about Obama's bad week. He introduced his nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. According to the Washington Post she is "a smart, accomplished person, a caring and skilled physician and a real go-getter." Unfortunately, she is also about 40 pounds overweight. One of the most significant health problems facing the United States is obesity which is defined by the American Heart Association as being "30 pounds or more over ideal body weight." I am willing to accept the notion that the Surgeon General can be the poster-woman for a national effort to lose weight. That would be swell. But, if we accept that theory, then Obama should appoint a junkie as Drug Czar, a person whose license has been suspended as Secretary of Transportation, a deserter as Secretary of Defense, a slum lord heading HUD and, Bernie Madoff as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. I was going to add "tax cheats in the U.S. Treasury" but Obama has already done that. (cnsnews.com)
Divisive deformer Obama loses independents, women ... Mr. Obama is down in most polls but he dropped to the lowest level in the Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, which reflects voter attitudes before the president's prime-time TV press conference Wednesday, when he labored to regain lost momentum for health care reform. The survey showed 49 percent of likely voters approved of Mr. Obama's job performance and 51 percent disapproved. It reflects a steady decline from a high job-approval rating of 60 percent immediately following his inauguration Jan. 20. The president lost support among members of every political persuasion and nearly every demographic, though his job-approval rating from black voters rose from 90 percent shortly after his inauguration Jan. 20 to 98 percent Friday, according to Rasmussen polls. The poll has a margin of error of three percentage points. The steepest decline in popularity - a 15 percentage point drop - the survey found was among independent voters, who were crucial to Mr. Obama's election victory. They cooled from a 52 percent approval rating March 1 to 37 percent Friday. Women, another key voting bloc for Mr. Obama, defected by double digits, slipping from 63 percent March 1 to 51 percent Friday. (washingtontimes.com)
Obama: He's no Harry Truman ... Barack Obama continues his nonstop campaigning, despite the fact that he has actually been president since January, doing countless TV specials, radio addresses, tweets, and Jerry Lewis-style telethons. In seemingly all of these addresses, Obama does exactly what he did to get elected: speak in vague terms and blame Bush. Never before has a person in a position of such power and authority been so unprofessional when it comes to taking responsibility. Obama’s philosophy seems to be that “the buck stops over there.” Passing off responsibility to avoid looking bad is a sign of poor leadership. Obama and Vice President Biden, however, seem to never speak in public without taking the opportunity to blame the current situation on Bush. This is not only unprofessional; it is also dishonest. (examiner.com)
Obama arrogance compared with Bush ... Okay. I love you guys who voted for Obama. I really do. But don't the recent revelations about the insidious criminal activities of ACORN and Obama's silence on the issue give you pause --- and a tinge of regret? I believe in term limits for politicians. How does "One-Term Obama" sound? O.K. you all-knowing, Conservative-bashing liberals. You never did shut up about Bush's so-called "arrogance". Well, he got nuthin' on Barack Obama when it come's to arrogance, conceit, and swagger. (beaufortobserver.net)
Obama plagued by character miscalibration ... The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "calibrated" as: "to determine, correct, or put measuring marks on." The updated Obama version of "calibrated" could well become: "darn, why didn't I just keep reading off my teleprompter?" Once again, President Barack Obama, when left to his own devices without a teleprompter to guide him, exposes himself as an idiot. A buffoon. (Or, possibly, as a former community organizer or racist.) How else can one explain yet another "Joe the Plumber" moment? We have heard ad nauseaum about how intelligent Obama is. How hip. How cool. Yet, when the man tries to speak on his own, he cannot formulate a coherent thought or statement. We have all heard the bumbles and stumbles when Obama's telepromters cease functioning. Obama's most recent incident, being termed "Gates-Gate, " happened a few days ago. Unless one has been living under a rock, most probably know what happened. (livinglakecountry.com)
Obamanomics wrecks swimming pool industry ... The clatter of a jackhammer and puffs of dust wafting from the bottom of Elliott Allen's empty pool signaled a noisy end to his backyard swimming pool. A demolition crew was busy using a small tractor to punch holes in the bottom in preparation for filling it with dirt. Allen is among a growing number of people across San Diego County who have decided to do away with their backyard pools, choosing to replace the Southern California icons with putting greens, patios, artificial turf or drought-tolerant plants, known as xeriscaping. (signonsandiego.com)
Obama urged to curb war against private investment ... Enthusiasm for President Obama's "subsidize everything, regulate everything" agenda is falling. Now is the time to pile on. The American people deserve real change, not the retreat to the collectivist past being sold by the administration. (spectator.org)
One-termer Veep eyes emerging Obama centrism ... Former Vice President Dan Quayle gives President Barack Obama high marks for surrounding himself with quality advisers on national security and the economy. “I think his biggest challenge is to tame the left wing of his party,” Quayle said in an interview with The Associated Press at Lake Tahoe. “I guess we’ll find out how ‘left’ Obama really is, because he’s going to have to make some very tough decisions where he is either going to have to go with the left wing of his party or stare them down and govern more like (ex-president Bill) Clinton governed, which is sort of center-left,” said the Republican who served in the first Bush administration. Quayle, who is playing golf at Lake Tahoe through the weekend at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, said Democrats had been out of power for eight years so “they just tried to throw everything out there and see what stuck.” (washingtonexaminer.com)
Chicago: Ground Zero of U.S. labor-strike movement ... The picket lines outside the Congress Plaza Hotel long have been a photo-op for celebrities and a pilgrimage site for do-gooders of various faiths and ideologies. Yet passers-by react to the striking housekeepers and food workers as just another of the mildly annoying inconveniences of big-city life, nonchalantly stepping around them as if avoiding a piece of broken sidewalk. Perhaps familiarity breeds obliviousness. The strike passed its sixth anniversary last month, making it the longest hotel-employees strike in U.S. history, and the longest current strike in any industry, according to the AFL-CIO. It has become a part of Chicago's landscape -- and its longevity is something of an enigma. With the city trying to look its best to win the 2016 Olympic Games, the strike lags on in the city's front yard, at a hotel that faces Millennium Park, on the path to the Taste of Chicago and other summertime festivals. (chicagotribune.com)
ACORN compared with corrupt racketeers ... ACORN "has repeatedly and deliberately engaged in systemic fraud." ACORN "both structurally and operationally ... hides behind a paper wall of nonprofit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate." So concludes a report released Thursday by Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. ACORN is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. Several states and the FBI are investigating the liberal group's activities, primarily for alleged voter registration fraud. Six former ACORN canvassers are awaiting trial in Pittsburgh. But this latest report, which ACORN calls a "screed" and a "partisan attack job," suggests far more nefarious practices akin to a corrupt criminal enterprise. Clearly, a full congressional investigation is warranted and that's what the GOP seeks. But given that ACORN easily could be mistaken for a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party -- or is it the other way around? -- that's not likely to happen anytime soon. (pittsburghlive.com)
'Majority signup' really means 'Card-Check' ... Hey, wasn’t the world recently told that the “card check” provision of the Employee Free Choice Act — noted as “toxic” by Sen. Harry Reid — effectively dead? No one told SEIU, the biggest union pushing to avoid elections. Hey, they “don’t do elections,” you’ll remember. But over at SEIU’s website, they’re bragging that they’ve collected 17,000 signatures for “majority signup” — the newest euphemism for card check. What gives? (thetruthaboutefca.com)
Related video: Job-killers make progress
Greedy gov't unionists out on strike ... Cleveland water workers have voted to spend more time on the picket line. Workers said they are upset over not receiving a 2 percent pay raise. Managers have been filling in since workers went on strike July 17. No new talks between workers and the city are scheduled. Officials said the city’s water is safe. (newsnet5.com)
Toronto gov't-union strikers blamed ... In a bold move that calls the city's bluff and turns the pressure on the mayor, union leader Mark Ferguson has in effect told Mayor David Miller to put up or shut up. Settle with the 30,000 striking workers by midnight tomorrow or union negotiators are walking away from contract talks to camp out with the strikers on the picket line. "I'm a patient man but I'm close to the end of my rope," Ferguson said. concerns about the city's health – the big wild card in any civic strike – are surfacing daily. Yesterday, the city confirmed ambulance delays are a minute greater since the strike and responses to medical emergencies have fallen below acceptable levels. Give us more ambulances and paramedics, they are pleading in court. Last week, the region's flu expert warned of more deaths from swine flu because of the strike. And temporary garbage dumps proliferate, each one adding to the chorus of protests and anger from affected neighbourhoods. (thestar.com)
Despondent strikers turn against militant gov't-union boss ... At 2:45 p.m. one day late last week, a motley-looking gang of CUPE 79 members lined up to sign out near the front doors of Socialist Silly Hall, their picketing duties done for the day. They appeared unkempt and beaten down, the strain of five weeks of walking in circles clearly showing on their faces. Long gone is the bravado I encountered during the second week of the strike when a vocal group of picketers stopped my car from entering the City Hall garage for nearly 15 minutes with cries of "Shame, Shame!" You can tell those picketing around City Hall want the party to be over. The reality has indeed hit them that they've been without a pay cheque for five weeks, the public has very little sympathy for their cause and the man they thought was their friend -- Mayor David Miller -- has supposedly turned on them. To add insult to injury, it is now Day 35 and there appears to be no end in sight to a strike both the unions and the mayor mistakenly thought would only last a few days. CUPE local 79 president Ann Dembinski didn't respond to several requests for an interview last week. (torontosun.com)
International Collectivism
Hondurans cling to Constitution ... On June 28, the Honduran Army, on orders from the Supreme Court, escorted President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya out of the country. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela condemned the action and was soon joined by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama. Earlier this month, I was in Honduras and asked dozens of residents — businesspeople, waiters and cab drivers, farmers, teachers, members of a mariachi band, an itinerant preacher, clerks, hotel staff — for their opinions. To my surprise, they unanimously agreed that Zelaya should have been removed and that he should not be allowed to return. (denverpost.com)
Disgraced, Obama-backed Leftist thug triggers shameful violence along Honduras-Nicaragua border ... Meanwhile, Xinhua correspondents at the Honduran-Nicaraguan border in La Manos sector witnessed that conflicts broke out between some of the pro-Zelaya demonstrators and the Honduran military and police. Soldiers and police fired warning gunshots into the air and hurled tear gas at the crowd, causing a certain degree of chaos on the scene. The soldiers have set at least 18 military check point from Tegucigalpa to the border with Nicaragua. People's organization started to arrive in the area since Thursday to welcome and guard Zelaya in his return. (english.cctv.com)