Filling more than 1,900 pages, the $1.1 trillion measure represents an increase of less than 2 percent in annual spending but makes for an easy target of ridicule — a last stand by the Senate’s old bulls before the tea party takeover. In a scene reminiscent of the movie “Casablanca,” top Republicans expressed shock, shock that there was gambling still in Rick’s Cafe even after their own members have been quietly working to write the bill and gather GOP votes for passage.
[….]
Included is an $840 million increase for Head Start and $550 million for Obama’s signature Race to the Top education initiative. But conservatives zeroed in most on what they estimated was $1.25 billion in spending related to health care reform — a sure target in the next Congress.
Here is a great story from BigJournalism on the hypocrisy in the media about the blame game:
Take those pesky little ol gas prices that have now skyrocketed to more than $3.00 a gallon. For months the media had just omitted the story altogether like they hadn’t even noticed, while during the Bush administration they couldn’t stop doing stories on “Pain At The Pump” and they worked overtime to point the nozzle directly at the White House.
Here are a couple of examples, there are many others.
This story from 2006 on MSNBC blasts Bush for doing little to stop the rising gas prices.
This story from 2008 talks about how Bush and Evil Big Oil were conspiring against us all to raise prices and how Dear Leader Obama was going to come in and save us all from high gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil.
Whoops.
The media has finally figured out that gas prices are going up, but most stories in 2010 that deal with Pain At The Pump ignore Obama like they don’t even know he’s president. Mr. Teflon can’t be touched by this messy little inflation thing going on right now (of course, it’s not just gas prices either.)
When Obama entered the White House gas prices averaged $1.81 per gallon. Evil Bush/Oil must’ve done something to make those prices fall – but there’s no time in the 10 hours a day that local TV stations do in their newscasts to mention this little fact. They’re out of space in the New York Times to provide context for this story.
Of course, Obama’s reaction has been to close off-shore drilling and restrict more US land to drilling. The Bush actions of allowing more drilling and increasing US independence led to those low prices of 2008. Yes, policies in the White House can make a difference and are making a difference today to the rising prices.
Gas prices have nearly doubled under Barack Obama, meanwhile the media watches from the sidelines and complains without pointing out where this problem lies.
I had to explain to people so often that gas prices are based on the dollar, policies in opening or closing up areas to drill our own resources, taxes, and environmental mixes of gasoline. I finally would link to an article in all these kinds of stories. In fact, this topic made me join and upload my first video at YouTube. The point is is that when President Bush was in office, all my Democrat friends would incessantly bitch about gas prices as being Bush’s fault somehow. I think I will bitch about Obama and the gas prices… even though I know he really has nothing to do with it… except the Democrats typically do not want to use our own resources but would rather strip other countries of theirs (← turning the tables on their thinking).
…the temperature in the seaside Mexican city plunged to a 100-year record low of 54° F.
Climate-change skeptics are gleefully calling Cancun’s weather the latest example of the “Gore Effect” — a plunge in temperature they say occurs wherever former Vice President Al Gore, now a Nobel Prize-winning environmental activist, makes a speech about the climate. Although Gore is not scheduled to speak in Cancun, “it could be that the Gore Effect has announced his secret arrival,” jokes former NASA scientist Roy W. Spencer.
humor and lawsuits aside, there is some seriousness coming from this meeting that all conservatives should be made aware of:
Bolivian President Evo Morales called Thursday to save the Kyoto Protocol and to create an international climate justice tribunal. ‘The planet is wounded,’ Morales, Bolivia’s first president of indigenous descent, said in Mexico’s Caribbean resort city of Cancun. ‘We have an enormous responsibility with life and with humanity,’ he told the UN Climate Conference in a 20-minute speech. Morales asked industrialized nations to approve a second round of commitments to the Kyoto Protocol, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions after 2012. ‘If we send the Kyoto Protocol to the bin, we will be responsible for ‘ecocide,’ and thus for genocide, because we would be attacking humanity as a whole,’ he said.
I think that this is just another of the many grabs for control by those who do not believe in nation states. If we are worse than Hitler (what Al Gore thinks — see below) and commit genocide (President of Bolivia), who wouldn’t convict those who disagree with the eco-Left?
In the above photo of Edrie Irvine, she is at a “Netroots” event. Here is the “latest news” statement from Netroots:
Netroots Nation is no stranger to regional events; we’ve been doing them for years. Netroots California was the first event in a pilot program we’re developing to build infrastructure at the state and regional level. The progressive movement has made some great strides nationally, but it’s still pretty undeveloped at the state level.
For our next event, we’re embarking on a new first—our first international event. We’re partnering with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and other bloggers and organizations across the pond to produce the first-ever Netroots UK.
On January 8, 2011, hundreds of grassroots activists from across the UK and elsewhere will gather for a first-of-its-kind event in central London to connect with each other, learn and strategize. Activists in the UK have a lot of work to do to counter a conservative government pushing austerity reforms across the board. Plus, there will be practical training sessions in campaigning and online technologies, groups looking at new joint initiatives and bigger strategy sessions.
If you’re in the UK, we hope to see you there! (Be sure to register here.). Otherwise, stay tuned for announcements about future Netroots Nation events.
And from the “about us” (bottom left) portion of the site:
About Netroots Nation
Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Within that campus, we strengthen community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for progressive ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.
Good Morning America’s Claire Shipman on Thursday tried to disguise a Democratic activist as just a jobless American who would be hurt by Republican failure to extend unemployment benefits. Shipman sympathetically recounted that Edrie Irvine, who she didn’t explain spoke at a Nancy Pelosi press conference on Wednesday, “never thought her very livelihood would depend on a political debate in Congress.”
A graphic reading “unemployed” appeared onscreen as Irvine complained, “They are talking about tax cuts for the rich and are holding people like me hostage.” Who is Ms. Irvine? According to her bio on the leftist Democracy For America web page, she’s a “tree-hugging, bleeding-heart, ACLU-card-carrying progressive liberal and damn proud of it!”
On December 1, Irvine, appeared with Nancy Pelosi at a press conference. Pelosi enthused, “Thank you very much, Edrie, for your generosity of spirit to share your personal story with us.” On October 2, Irvine also appeared at the liberal One Nation rally and spoke. (One Nation was coordinated by the AFL-CIO and the SEIU, among others.) Shouldn’t Shipman have mentioned any of this?
[….]
But, perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. Shipman’s husband is Jay Carney, communications director to Vice President Joe Biden.
The ABC journalist made no effort at all at balance. Every talking head featured supported extending unemployment benefits. Another woman, Angel Garland, lobbied, “I’m raising my son. Single mom. I’m thinking to myself, what will I do? You know? Where will I go?”
It apparently didn’t occur to Shipman to highlight a small businessman who might have to lay off workers, should the standoff between unemployment and extending the Bush tax cuts go unresolved.
(National Review) Ahmed Ghailani was found not guilty of each of the over 280 counts against him — save one — in the first civilian trial of a Gitmo detainee conducted by the Obama administration.
Ghailani was charged with one murder charge for each of the 224 people killed in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, but was found not guilty on each. The lone guilty verdict came on conspiracy to destroy government buildings, which comes with a sentence of 20 years to life.
The jury in the case deliberated for seven days, with one female juror requesting to be replaced on Monday after telling a judge she disagreed with her peers on the verdict and was worried she’d face their ire.
Though Ghailani had previously confessed to his role in carrying out the bombings, that confession and a crucial prosecution witness were thrown out because each stemmed from interrogations at a CIA camp.
USA Today has this story about the problem that faces conservatives as they regain fiscal responsibility from Obama and the previous administration.
The number of federal workers earning $150,000 or more a year has soared tenfold in the past five years and doubled since President Obama took office, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
The fast-growing pay of federal employees has captured the attention of fiscally conservative Republicans who won control of the U.S. House of Representatives in last week’s elections. Already, some lawmakers are planning to use the lame-duck session that starts Monday to challenge the president’s plan to give a 1.4% across-the-board pay raise to 2.1 million federal workers.
•Government-wide raises. Top-paid staff have increased in every department and agency. The Defense Department had nine civilians earning $170,000 or more in 2005, 214 when Obama took office and 994 in June.
•Long-time workers thrive. The biggest pay hikes have gone to employees who have been with the government for 15 to 24 years. Since 2005, average salaries for this group climbed 25% compared with a 9% inflation rate.
•Physicians rewarded. Medical doctors at veterans hospitals, prisons and elsewhere earn an average of $179,500, up from $111,000 in 2005.
Some commentary over at the Atlantic Journal led me to HotAir where Ed Morrissey pointed this out:
….What does that mean in real numbers? In 2005, only 7,420 federal employees make $150K. Today, that number has grown to 82,034, roughly double what it was at the end of 2008. Nor is that just inflationary growth across an artificial line. In 2005, only 2,852 federal workers made more than $160,000; now it’s 44,898. Five years ago, less than a thousand workers made over $180K, but today that number has increased by more than 20 times to 16,912 workers.
This would be problematic even if the country had experienced boom times over the last five years, and especially over the last two. But that has obviously not been the case — or at least not the case inside of the Beltway bubble. Given the tough labor market for workers over that period, the government should have been in a better position to negotiate wages to decrease the cost of its workforce, which gets paid by the sweat of the taxpayers’ collective brow. Instead, they have become profligate with our money.
A mute woman must undergo sterilization before the government allows her to marry. A young woman hides her second child, buying a baby’s corpse from an abortion clinic to convince family-planning officials her baby died. Christian villagers hide pregnant women and children from officials seeking to levy fines for transgressing China’s population-control policies.
These are the stories the Population Research Institute discovered when it conducted a study of China’s population policies in March and May. Its just-released study concludes that even in counties where a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) presence is supposed to preclude coercive policies, the abuse continues. PRI president Steve Mosher said: “We are funding a program of forced abortion and forced sterilization in China through the UNFPA.
UNFPA says it spent $6.8 million in China last year and that China has demonstrated “significant progress” in achieving UNFPA goals. President Bush banned U.S. funding of UNFPA and banned funding for groups that promote abortion overseas (known as the Mexico City policy). President Obama has revoked those decisions, and so far Congress is backing him up.
House and Senate committees have approved at least $50 million for UNFPA. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., failed in his efforts to pass a committee amendment reinstating the Mexico City policy, while the Senate Appropriations Committee passed an amendment backing its reversal. Both the House and the Senate generously funded family-planning programs, with the Senate Appropriations Committee allocating $628.5 million and the House increasing funding by 40 percent from 2008.
But pro-life members of Congress feel they have a chance to curtail abortion-related spending once the House and Senate confer to decide on a final budget draft. Smith told the House it was a “serious problem” to fund pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and Marie Stopes International: “They are American surrogates in foreign countries. They speak for us. They certainly don’t speak and act for millions of pro-life Americans.”
Big Journalism has this story about Es Schultz comment that there is no violence from the Left towards Republicans. I beg to differ. Before the video is Big Journalism’s post on it… after the video is my compilation – enjoy:
The left ignored when a Republican staffer and Iraqi War veteran had hot coffee poured down his back by Democratic gubernatorial candidate supporter (who later returned to the man to make an obscene gesture).
A friend said this after the MoveOn.org gal was stomped:
WTF. Pretty disgusting. Hopefully, reasonable conservatives are starting to see why you don’t want tea baggers speaking for and leading them.
To which I responded:
Obviously a horrible act and all radio and TV talking heads on the conservative side have said they hope this person is prosecuted. However, if this is leading a movement that wants smaller government (less power), where do the following ca…ses lead [led?] a party that wants more government control over peoples lives?
—GOP official Allee Bautsch ahd her boyfriend Joe Brown attended a Republican dinner at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans. When they left this event they were followed from the restaurant by a group of five white men who hurled insults at them calling Allee a “little blond bitch” and calling Joe a “f**king f*ggot.” They brutally beat and stomped on the young Republican couple just blocks from the restaurant. (http://biggovernment.com/jhoft/2010/04/18/allee-bautschs-mother-speaks-out-says-daughter-was-attacked-by-leftist-political-protesters/)
—This video shows a union thug treating a person who crossed the line VERY NICELY… why didn’t this get attention? Video of a man that threatened me at a gas station during the local telephone company’s labour dispute. This man (6’4″, ex-football linebacker) later took a run at our van with his semi-truck (not captured in video). (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnVewHEQP00)
After some obfuscation on the matter, I drove my point home:
My point is if one act is “leading” one movement, where is this leading the other? I am using your logic… the Tea Party is not headed anywhere you are thinking, nor were there any “leaders” there telling this redneck to stomp on anyone. But please tell me where you think this is “leading” a small government group.
…So imagine the surprise when a liberal Democrat running for reelection in North Carolina uses a photo of World War II German soldiers in a campaign advertisement designed to highlight his support for members of the American military.
Ed Morrissey (over at HotAir) interviewed a business owner about something that was hidden in the Obama-Care (Leftist-Care) bill that passed that will kill jobs and limit growth of the small business person:
Yesterday, I spent a little time at a local pizzeria to find out more about the impact of the new federal menu mandate in the real world. Davanni’s has 21 locations throughout the Twin Cities, a smaller, local chain that suddenly must now comply with this federal requirement to publish the caloric content of each of its menu items on all of its printed presentations. However, these restaurants have a problem when they offer their customers a wide range and high number of options — as most pizzerias do. Ken Schelper, a Vice President of Davanni’s, sat down with me yesterday to explain just how costly this new mandate is, and how difficult compliance will be:
Not only does this new health bill effectively put another layer of mandatory layers onto the business man at his personal expense, but this new layer doesn’t work, like Obama-Care:
….But when the researchers checked receipts afterward, they found that people had, in fact, ordered slightly more calories than the typical customer had before the labeling law went into effect, in July 2008.
The findings, to be published Tuesday in the online version of the journal Health Affairs come amid the spreading popularity of calorie-counting proposals as a way to improve public health across the country….
And what is the most important thing for an economy to boom? JOBS! Another hidden tax (cost to the small business owner) was in the bill as well, which affects jobs:
