| Obama: New Prog Fail update, runs Marxist zoo, revs silent conservative majority, pimps moral disgrace, socialism unmasked. Mismanagement: Republic under the bus, U.S. unprepared for Job-Killer Act, no death panels needed, Pravda knows, ACORN roots exposed, UFCW feeds at Whole Foods, Colorado agonistes, GOP-P2P, shame deep in the heart. International: ACORN Afghan fail, Global stimulus fraud, UN to rumble. |
Update: Obama's New Prog Fail ... President Obama set out for a weeklong family vacation Sunday facing the first stiff headwind of his presidency, with public polls showing his popularity has dipped as he has attempted an overhaul of the nation's ailing health care system. A series of national surveys has confirmed what was becoming clear as large groups of protesters rallied outside the speeches and town-hall events the president hosted last week in Western states. The Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll released Sunday showed that 41 percent of voters strongly disapprove of Mr. Obama's performance as president, compared with 27 percent who strongly approved. Rasmussen said those numbers are the worst ever for Mr. Obama. The total of "disapproval" responses, of whatever strength, topped the approval numbers by 51 percent to 48 percent. (washingtontimes.com)In case you missed it: The Union News weekend
Sunday: Obamalosi Dems: Must. Overspend. Radically.
Saturday: ObamaCare finally explained
We don't need no stinkin' republic ... Retirement is not enough -- we need a serious grassroots effort to establish term limits in Congress. Robert Byrd has been a senator since 1959. Ted Kennedy has been a senator since 1962. No one can continually serve in the ivory tower of the Senate and still maintain a grasp of the needs Joe Six Pack. A number of elected representatives call the attendees at town hall meetings "un-American." How would they know? (dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com)
Unwritten "Seniority System" disgraces D.C. ... Look at where we are. We have a Democratic Congress which is refusing to enact the program of a Democratic President (who won a landslide victory running on that program). What gives? There are several different factors at play but the biggest one, the one that trumps every other factor, is the intense desire of members of Congress to stay in Congress for their entire careers. I worked on the Hill for 20 years and whenever a Democrat (I'm sure it's the same with Republicans) is presented with any idea that might cost a few votes or campaign contributions, the response is "no" followed by: "So you want me to stick my neck out on (single payer, gay rights, the Israeli occupation, whatever) and lose the election. I guess you think it would be better if some other guy had this seat." I have heard this over and over again. (tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com)
Welcome to the inevitable Marxist-Prog zoo ... This 1911 cartoon featuring Karl Marx being fawned upon by Wall Street moguls [N.B. click image to enlarge], this Capitalist/Communist love affair, this agreement to share a totalitarian power over the "Collective" … hmmm … it is all coming true, largely thanks to George Soros and Saul Alinsky. Alinsky, the Marxist, gave Barack Obama the formula for Revolutionary "Change" that a number of Obama's best friends "can believe in". George Soros, perhaps Obama's best friend, gave the Presidential candidate all the money and influence he would need in order to defeat even "the most influential man in the world", Bill Clinton. Plus, of course, Bill's wife, Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. We're not talking sky's-the-limit poker but end-of-the-universe power games. The Progressive Club's formula, used by both the Clintons and the Bushes, has never been so fully articulated and boldly put into action than by the Soros/Alinsky prodigy, Barack Obama. (enterstageright.com)Bonus links:
• Summary of Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals'
• More Saul Alinsky stories: here
• 'Rules for Radicals' at amazon.com
Pravda knows communism ... It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breathtaking speed. So said Pravda, Russia's leading newspaper. When conservatives like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham say something like that I listen, but reserve judgment because I'm aware of where they're coming from. Same thing when liberals like Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy or Paul Krugman deny it. After all, they deny most everything they do and require us instead to concentrate on their noble motives -- help the children, cure the ill, house the homeless, you get the drift. But when Pravda says we're headed straight for communism, I pay attention. (capecodtoday.com)
Obamalosi Dems prep Job-Killer Act ... Many people do not realize that the Employee Free Choice Act (Card Check Bill) that was introduced in Congress earlier this year is still being debated on Capitol Hill. It’s true that a key provision of the original bill — elimination of employee right to vote by secret ballot — appears to be off the table, but negotiations are ongoing to formulate new legislation that will be just as detrimental to Virginia businesses as the original version. For example, binding arbitration remains an important part of the new legislation. What is clear from labor experts and economists who study these issues is that binding arbitration is a radical idea that is out of step with our freedom of contract and other business rights. (newsadvance.com)
Over-reacher resuscitates U.S. conservatism ... What we're seeing with President Obama's plummeting poll numbers is a quick case of buyer's remorse. More broadly, Gallup reports that conservatives now outnumber liberals in all 50 states, with more Americans self-identifying themselves as conservative than at any time in the past four years. Gallup surveys from January 2009 -- the month of Obama's inauguration -- through June 2009 show that 40 percent of respondents described themselves as conservative: 31 percent "conservative" and 9 percent "very conservative." Only 21 percent of respondents described themselves as liberal: 16 percent "liberal" and 5 percent "very liberal." (pittsburghlive.com)
ObamaCare: A Moral Disgrace ... Abraham Lincoln closed his Gettysburg Address with the hope that "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Like Lincoln, President Obama is a lawyer. But President Obama is no Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was NOT a secular extremist, or a socialist, or a Democrat. Lincoln believed in equal opportunity, not equal circumstances, and freedom, not governmental control. President Obama's attempt to redistribute wealth and income by forcing Obamacare on America (to please and to buttress his political base) is a politically and economically risky scheme that will be detrimental to most Americans as well as a moral disgrace. (renewamerica.com)
We don't need no stinkin' Death Panels ... As a conservative, I feel it is my duty to dispel certain rumors that have been spread regarding the health care debate. It is safe to say there will be no death panels. The government doesn’t need them. The only reason to have a death panel is if the government does not have the power to deny the health care recipients their wishes. The nasty secret is that these health care bills will give the government the power to do just that. This power to decide life and death will be vested in one man, the health care commissioner. He is appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate. This commissioner oversees most of the health care industry. His power to decide coverage is derived from a single sentence on Page 84 of House Bill 3200. According to the legislation, “The Commissioner shall specify the benefits to be made available under exchange-participating health benefits plans.” This means if your mother has cancer and wants chemotherapy, she may be denied. If this commissioner decides that a tonsillectomy should not to be covered, then your children will be denied the care they need. Due to this clause, the commissioner can determine the scope of almost every plan available to the population. (dailyevergreen.com)
Obama socialism unmasked ... President Obama participated in a controversial 1990s political party with a socialist agenda, recalls a major member of the organization known as the New Party. WND previously reported on newspaper evidence showing Obama was a member of the New Party, which sought to elect members to public office with the aim of moving the Democratic Party far leftward to ultimately form a new political party with a socialist agenda. Now a former top member of the New Party recounted in a WND e-mail interview Obama's participation with his organization. "A subcommittee met with (Obama) to interview him to see if his stand on the living wage and similar reforms was the same as ours," recalled Marxist activist Carl Davidson. "We determined that our views on these overlapped, and we could endorse his campaign in the Democratic Party," Davidson said. Davidson was a Chicago member and activist within the New Party. Davidson is also a notorious far-left activist and former radical national leader in the anti-Vietnam movement. He served as national secretary for the infamous Students of a Democratic Society antiwar group, from which the Weatherman domestic terrorist organization later splintered. (wnd.com)
Union-backed, tax-funded fraud group boasts Jeffersonian roots ... Birds of a feather flock together. Let the record reflect that convicted gangster William Jefferson, a Democrat who used to represent New Orleans in the U.S. House of Representatives, has (or had might be a better word) ties to the radical activist group ACORN. ACORN and Jefferson weren’t exactly bosom buddies, but they did work together. I call Jefferson a gangster, by the way, because last week he was convicted of racketeering. ACORN helped get Jefferson elected years ago. SEIU gave Jefferson’s campaign $5,000 in the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Two of SEIU’s locals are part of the ACORN network. Local 100 covers Louisiana. Its chief organizer is disgraced ACORN founder Wade Rathke who remains at large despite his role in covering up his brother’s nearly $1 million embezzlement for eight years. Jefferson received ACORN’s Friends of the Poor award from its Louisiana chapter. (Times-Picayune, Jan. 28, 1996) Jefferson participated in an ACORN rally protesting proposed federal budget cuts. (Times-Picayune, April 12, 1995) (canadafreepress.com)
UFCW feeds discontent at Whole Foods ... Former Whole Foods devotees responded to Mr Mackey's article by picketing outside branches of the store in Washington DC, Maryland, New York and Austin, Texas. Others stormed Twitter and Facebook to vent their rage and called on shoppers to boycott the store. Russell Mokhiber led picketers outside Whole Foods' P Street store in Washington DC. He said, "I have been a Whole Foods customer for many years but I, like many former customers, am disgusted by John Mackey's stance on healthcare." "Mackey's views are totally at odds with those of the company - he has to go," said UFCW spokesperson Mark Federici. (news.bbc.co.uk)
Reality fells Colorado New Progs ... In this decade, a group of liberal multimillionaires -- Tim Gill, Rutt Bridges, Jared Polis and Pat Stryker -- developed "the Colorado model," not only funding candidates, but setting up think tanks, advocacy groups and public relations operations designed to oust Republicans and install Democrats. As Fred Barnes pointed out in The Weekly Standard last year, this Colorado model has been a brilliant success. Democrats captured both houses of the legislature and a Senate and House seat in 2004, the governorship in 2006, and a Senate and House seat in 2008. Colorado, which voted for George W. Bush by 8 points in 2000 and 5 points in 2004, voted for Barack Obama by 9 points in 2008. It was a fitting conclusion to a campaign in which Obama accepted his nomination in front of Greek columns in Denver's Invesco Field. But now, Colorado seems to be going in the other direction. (washingtonexaminer.com)
Rep. Michael McCaul placed on Dirty Money Watch ... WHO: Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas WHAT: McCaul received the following dirty money: PMA Group (PAC) $3,000 in 2008 election cycle. WHY IT'S DIRTY: PMA Group (Paul Magliocchetti and Associates) was a defense lobbying group that is now the focus of multiple federal investigations concerning allegations of influence peddling and other corrupt activities, mostly associated with earmarks. Before it was disbanded earlier this year, PMA Group's employees and its political action committee gave current members of Congress $3.4 million between 1989 and 2008, with 79 percent of that going to Democrats, according to OpenSecrets.org. WILL MCCAUL GIVE IT BACK: McCaul did not respond to The Examiner's request for comment. THE SCORE: Number of Democrats who have given it back: 0 • Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0 • Gave donation to charity: Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) YOUR TURN: You can reach McCaul's Washington, D.C., office at 202-225-2401. (washingtonexaminer.com)Texas GOP power-politics: Typical term-limits hypocrisy ... In seeking to retire the state’s longest-serving governor, Hutchison wants to limit Texas governors to eight years in office, asserting that Perry would be in power far too long if he won an unprecedented third four-year term. In response, the Perry camp is accusing Hutchison of being disingenuous, saying she backtracked on early pledges to seek term limits for members of Congress and broke a campaign promise by winning re-election to a third six-year term in 2006. (star-telegram.com)International Collectivism
ACORN's Afghan Fail ... Hamid Karzai's only serious rival for Afghanistan's presidency accused the incumbent of "stealing" last Thursday's election through what he called "massive fraud." Abdullah Abdullah's charges were made during a media blitz Sunday in which he spoke with dozens of foreign journalists. This occurred as Grant Kippen, the UN-appointed Canadian who runs Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission, told a news conference in Kabul that of 225 complaints that his office had received since Thursday, 35 had been identified as potentially "material to the election results." The 35 "significant" charges to be investigated included allegations of fraud, ballot stuffing and voter intimidation, Kippen, who lives in Ottawa, said. Claims that the election may have been fixed will be particularly troubling for western governments, including Canada, which have spent huge sums of money trying to improve governance in Afghanistan and whose armies have lost hundreds of soldiers fighting the Taliban. (canada.com)
Mark Steyn takes on Stimulus fraud ... In Brazil, India, China, Japan, and much of continental Europe the recession has ended. In the second quarter this year, both the French and German economies grew by 0.3 percent, while the U.S. economy shrank by 1 percent. How can that be? Unlike America, France and Germany had no government stimulus worth speaking of, the Germans declining to go the Obama route on the quaint grounds that they couldn’t afford it. They did not invest in the critical signage-in-front-of-holes-in-the-road sector. And yet their recession has gone away. Of the world’s biggest economies, only the U.S., Britain, and Italy are still contracting. All three are big stimulators, though Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi can’t compete with Obama’s $800 billion porkapalooza. The president has borrowed more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet. Actually, when I say “to less effect,” that’s not strictly true: Thanks to Obama, one of the least indebted developed nations is now one of the most indebted — and getting ever more so. We’ve become the third most debt-ridden country after Japan and Italy. But the silver-tongued salesman sails on. Why be scared of a government health program? After all, says the president, “Medicare is a government program that works really well,” and if “we’re able to get something right like Medicare,” we should have more “confidence” about being able to do it for everyone. On the other hand, says the president, Medicare is “unsustainable” and “running out of money.” (watcherofweasels.org)
U.S. enemies, Obama set U.N. huddle ... Gadhafi might run into President Obama, literally, in the U.N. General Assembly Hall. Obama is scheduled as the second speaker on Sept. 23; Gadhafi is third. Ironically, the new General Assembly president is Ali Triki, Libya's former foreign minister. Though security officials may do their best to separate the two, that did not work at the G8 summit in Italy last month, when the two briefly shook hands in a controversial photo op. Even if the two are kept apart in the General Assembly, there is the VIP lunch hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, where security details are normally banned so world leaders can freely mingle. Gadhafi could approach Obama with little stopping him. Also at the same lunch will be Hugo Chávez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Daniel Ortega and Robert Mugabe, a "Who's Who" of U.S. bashers. (wnd.com)
