Walking You Through The Stimulus Plan Debacle

For those of you (which are most of us) who are too busy living a life to understand this entire Stimulus plan soap opera. I'll walk you though it in plain terms.

Jan. 26th : Stimulus bill! 7,8, 9 Billion! There.

Ok, maybe a few billion more, give or take.

Jan 27th: Obama to House Republicans: "Come on guys. Kumbya and all that."

Jan 27th: House Republicans: "Are freakin kidding me? This bill is a bloated cow. No way we are voting for it."

Jan 27th: Obama to House Republicans: "Umm..Guys? I won. Sucks for you, but there it is."

Jan. 28th: House Republicans to House Democrats: "You're on your own with this pork baby."

Feb. 3rd: McCain to Obama and America: "This is the biggest porkfest I've ever seen, and I've seen a few. Republicans are being ignored like dorks at a homecoming dance. No one is asking us to dance. This bill won't stimulate the economy. Sign this petition and let's put on our own dance."

Feb 6th Michael Steele to the American People: "OMG! Have you noticed what an ego the Democrats have? Look, we need to let families keep their money and not fund STD studies, golf courses, and the NEA. By the way, have you guys noticed that I'm black too? Well, I am. Obama has nothing on me.

Feb. 7th: Obama to the American people: "Don't listen to these silly Republicans. This bill isn't too big, it isn't too small. It's just right. Kinda like that Goldilocks story. Only we won't eat all your porridge, break your chairs and your bed. I promise. We have to do this though. Sky is falling and all that you know."

Feb. 7th: Senate Republicans: "Everybody just chill. We know we have to pass something to get this economy going, but this bill is like Aunt Gertie at the family reunion. It eats too much and doesn't help clean up the mess."

Feb 7th: Are you voting for this bill or not?

Democrats: "Well, duh. yeah."

Jeff Sessions:"Hell no."
Kit Bond:"Hell no."
Jon Kyl:"Hell no."
John McCain""Hell no."
Mike Johann::"Hell no."
John Ensign:"Hell no."
Richard Burr:"Hell no."
Tom Coburn:"Hell no."
James Inhofe:"Hell no."
Mike Crapo:"Hell no."
James Risch:"Hell no."
Jim DeMint"Hell no."
Lindsay Graham::"Hell no."
Sam Brownback:"Hell no."
Pat Roberts:"Hell no."
John Thune:"Hell no."
Jim Bunning:"Hell no."
Mitch McConnell:"Hell no."
Bob Corker:"Hell no."
David Vitter: "Hell no."
Robert Bennett:"Hell no."
John Barrasso "Hell no."

The following are those saying, "Well, maybe. Let me take a poll and get back to you. Squishy and all that. OR they didn't answer the phone. (via Cassy)

Richard Shelby — I got busy signals on both lines, so I just put him in the squish column.
Lisa Murkowski — definite squish; plus, her staffer was a huge asshat on the phone.
Thad Cochran
Judd Gregg — said he was abstaining from voting. (*I guess he is too cool now that he is all in the administration.-RWS)
Joe Lieberman
Mel Martinez
Saxby Chambliss — said he currently opposed it, but was “open to compromise”
George Voinovich — voted no in appropriations but is still open to voting for the bill
Johnny Isakson
Arlen Specter — both of his lines were busy, I never actually got through (*I think we can rest assured on Specter betraying Republicans. It's what he does-RWS)
Richard Lugar
Chuck Grassley
Roger Wicker
Lamar Alexander — likely a “no” vote, but still possibly squishy
John Cornyn — no answer on either line (*I know my big bad John will come through for us-RWS)
Kay Bailey Hutchison — busy on both lines
Susan Collins
Olympia Snowe
Michael Enzi — “leaning towards no”

Stopping the Pork Bill

Michelle Malkin has all the most recent news.

Isn't the blogosphere amazing? How many of us would be able to have up to date news on this? How many of us would know the amendments offered and who was offering them? In the past we would hear only what the MSM wanted us to know. Now, especially with twitter, we find out all things and in real time.

We have all helped the Republican grow back a spine. Maybe this bloated bill will pass, but we can all say that we fought it with all we had when it all goes bad.

"Why attend a meeting when you already know the inevitable outcome"

Father of soldier killed when the U.S.S. Cole was bombed explains why he refused to meet with Pres. Obama today.

President Obama: Do you know how much it hurts to see you drop the charges against our sons killers? First the Dictator of Yemen freed our son's killers. And now you sir. We had hoped for some justice here in our own country. But now it appears that politics are more important than justice and the truth.

Such pain. All for politics.

via Ace

Please make it stop

I'm dying here. Enough with Obamamania. I had to look hard at this to make sure this wasn't a joke. It isn't.

Obama Chia. He grows a 'fro. I kid you not.

You can get an Obama fingernail too.

Say What?

Ace and Rich Lowery at NRO make great points here regarding what Obama promised on the campaign trail, and how he is giving us the opposite, but this part I was struck by as well.

Obama said this today: “I found this national debt, doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.”

As Ace points out:

So let's see if I've got this right. The GOP left Obama with a doubled national debt (wrapped in a big bow, even), and the best way to "change" the country's direction is to triple or quadruple that debt by spending money on the NEA, child-care and “neighborhood stabilization activities?"

Obama also complains about the sniping and bi-partisanship, but then he arrogantly says to Republicans, "I won." Basically saying "that sucks for you." While that may be true, isn't that the kind of sniping he now complains about? It goes both ways Mr. President.

This is why I bought a gun

HR 45.

Can the MSM acknowledge this?

According to my lefty friend, dave bones across the pond, this is written by a leftwinger at the Guardian. He is impressed with Iraqi's elections:

The weekend's elections in Iraq were a huge success for the Iraqi people. The remarkably peaceful day of voting on Saturday - and the interim results - give good reason to hope Iraq really is on the way to building a decent society.
..........................

...... there are now real grounds to hope that Iraqis are finally on track to creating a far more decent society than they have ever had. This would never have been possible without the US-led overthrow of the psychotic Saddam family.

.........................

....in the last two years the "surge" of US troops under General David Petraeus appears to have destroyed much of the terrorists' infrastructure and support. Now, as US troops begin their phased withdrawal, the new American-trained Iraqi army is defending the country against Islamist violence.

There will be further setbacks. But who knows, Iraq may yet even become a model for democratic change in other Arab countries. If so, who deserves some credit? The much maligned President Bush. And Tony Blair.

If only anyone on the left, are even in our MSM, could acknowledge the same.

The end of the magical mystery tour

Charles Krauthammer (via NRO)

[M]ore damaging to Obama's image than all the hypocrisies in the appointment process is his signature bill: the stimulus package. He inexplicably delegated the writing to Nancy Pelosi and the barons of the House. The product, which inevitably carries Obama's name, was not just bad, not just flawed, but a legislative abomination… The Age of Obama begins with perhaps the greatest frenzy of old-politics influence peddling ever seen in Washington…. After Obama's miraculous 2008 presidential campaign, it was clear that at some point the magical mystery tour would have to end. The nation would rub its eyes and begin to emerge from its reverie. The hallucinatory Obama would give way to the mere mortal. The great ethical transformations promised would be seen as a fairy tale that all presidents tell — and that this president told better than anyone. I thought the awakening would take six months. It took two and a half weeks.

I thought Obama's stimulus speech yesterday strange. It sounded more like a campaign speech than a leader speaking to Americans. He would go off script into sort of a "regular joe speech" and then back to text. It made it seem a bit schizophrenic and disjointed.

The Obama team is still running with the whole "perception" and "PR" thing. That works in campaigns, but not in leadership. This is mainly why they seem to be screwing up so much imo.

Meanwhile, Popular Mechanics has even gotten into the fray, writing a piece about how the stimulus bill could make infrastructure worse. (via Fausta)

SIGN THE PETITION against this bill!!

The Culture of Death

This is what it looks like:

Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy.

Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.

Only Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby girl.
What Williams and the Health Department say happened next has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw it out.

Obama would ask what the problem is. You can't let the baby live. After all, it only places " a burden on the original decison."

This is getting ridiculous....

You just have to laugh...

WASHINGTON — The husband of President Obama's Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.

The disclosure came shortly before a scheduled 2 p.m. meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis' nomination as labor secretary. The hearing was postponed; no reason was immediately revealed.

Seriously. HOW are these people getting away with this? Years and years ago soon after my Dad died ,the IRS said that that he had miscalculated the amount of a tax deduction of a large tract of land he had given to the boys club. They sent my Mom the notice with the penalties and interest attached. She literally fought them for years and she did get it reduced, but it was still a good amount and very frustrating.

So how do these Democrats get away with it?

Name that war!

Be the one who comes up with a new term for the "war on terror!" Submit your entries to www.whitehouse.gov/thisisstupid

Hurry!

"Give Peas a Chance"

PETA's Mideast peace plan: 'Give Peas a Chance'

JERUSALEM (AP) — A leading animal advocacy group said the road to Mideast peace begins in a pita. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has requested Israel's permission to post pro-vegetarian signs on both sides of its barriers with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
PETA's signs are in Hebrew and in English. They feature Israelis and Palestinians sitting down for a meat-free meal along with the slogans: "Give Peas a Chance," and "Nonviolence Begins on Our Plates: Go Vegetarian."

"Every time that we eat, we can choose not to participate in violence," PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk wrote Wednesday in a letter. "While choosing a falafel sandwich over a lamb kebab doesn't create instant peace, it reduces the sum total of violence and suffering in the world."

What We Teach By Example

Yesterday my 16 yr old is telling me that he just can't believe that Michael Phelps got caught smoking pot. I sit quietly, because the last thing I want to do is tell my teenager that I think pot should at the very most be a minor infraction, and that we fill our jails with harmless people because of it (not to mention that most them seem to be of a darker hue than I, and I find that discriminatory, but that's another post).

If you are a person that a teenager respects, you do not want to even imply that smoking pot, or getting drunk, or having sex, or anything you'd rather they not do, is something you might not have a problem with. If you do, they instantly take it to the bank. If it's ok with you, then it must be Ok. I've seen that over and over. Which is why I tell parents to never divulge their pasts to their kids. Someone told me once that kids learn from their own mistakes, not yours. I have found that to be valuable advice.

Not that I have much of a past. Skinny dipping at 16 is about the wildest thing I ever did, and if my kids knew about it I'm sure they would be jumping in the pool naked almost immediately.

But I digress. I sit quietly while this 16 yr old of mine, who constantly tells me I'm too strict, too protective, too...everything, opines about Phelps. He says it makes him angry because now kids will just use that as excuse to smoke pot. They will say that if an Olympic Gold Medalist can smoke, it must be fine, and he wasn't even arrested! He says it sets the worst example and just makes worse what it already a big problem among teenagers.

I had thought about joining the chorus of those saying that it was no big deal about Phelps, and he shouldn't lose his sponsorships because of it, but my son made me realize how wrong I was to think that. Phelps may well do for pot what Bill Clinton did for bj's. Give kids an excuse to increase risky behavior, because if a President or a Gold medal winner do it, then it must be ok.

Then this morning I read this over at boing boing. It's a story about a teacher whose students dosed him with a drug. Read the whole thing here. Is it no wonder with teachers such as this that students think drugs are fine?

Drugs are a common topic in my classroom. The students have questions and I have answers, and if I can prevent one less overdose or drunken driving death, it's worth it. My students get f**ked up. We live in the wine country, and whenever you live in a booze-based economy, kids are going to grow up with issues. Acid, mushrooms, meth, coke, prescription drugs and a whole lot of weed are what the students are into. You would think it would change after 25 years, but it's just the same as when I was in high school.

Max had left a screensaver depicting 12 tabs of Scooby-Doo windowpane acid on one of my classroom computers. I told him to do a research paper on Timothy Leary and quit being such an asshole. I think that's why he dosed me.

By the time I reached Chase Street, I had a pretty good awareness of what was happening. Some of the treetops were dancing in the heat and wind, and my mouth was extremely dry. I went straight to Max, who was walking about 20 feet behind me.

"How you feeling, Mr. Moss?" he said with a smirk.

"Max, this is by far the dumbest thing you've ever done. How'd you do it?" I asked.

"Coffee" he admitted.

"How much?" I inquired.

"Small drop, one to two doses, should keep you going for a while."

I ran through my options as best I could in my altered state, settling for what I thought was the most rational.

"Look, this is how it's going to go. I'm going to ride this out, and you're not going to tell anyone about it. Then you're going to be expelled and brought up on criminal charges for dosing your teacher. Finally, you are not going to tell anyone what you did as it will seriously jeopardize your outcome. Clear?" I was getting lightheaded again, but I could tell that the point was made.

"Yes, Mr. Moss" he responded.

I had a big day that I didn't want ruined by an LSD trip. Two years ago, a student had brought cookies made with marijuana butter to a teacher in the local middle school. After eating two, the student admitted to the prank. The student was expelled, and the teacher went to the hospital for tests and then home.

I had no time for that scenario; 10 years of following the Grateful Dead had trained me to control my experience.

I'm sure that little Grateful Dead experience was shared with your students, am I right? You must be so cool. Really.

Oh, by the way, the teacher didn't suspend Max (shocker, right?) and he says Max went on to become a......pharmacist. Thanks for giving the world of healthcare that one sir!

You think this teacher is alone. Nah. Just take a look at my hometown.

More than a dozen Houston school district employees are getting a lesson in the zero-tolerance policies typically applied to students as they await court hearings on drug charges that could land them in jail.

While most of the teachers are charged with possessing pot in their cars at school, a few face time behind bars after police said they found unauthorized prescription drugs in their vehicles.

Some of the charges, particularly those involving prescription pills, are drawing criticism from lawyers, parents and teachers who say the Houston Independent School District and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office need a lesson in discretion.

Good grief. God help us all.

For The RightWing Ladies

I'll take it.

via HotAir

Healthcare

Whenever I got a chance to have any input with the people who were running the McCain campaign (blogger calls and e-mails, that kind of thing) I would tell them to not let Democrats own the health care issue.

The LAST thing I want is the government controlling our health care. It would be a disaster. But the system is broken. Republicans need to step in and do something about the ridiculous costs.

This is the problem. Those of us who have decent healthcare coverage just pay our co-pay or our 20% and that doesn't seem so bad so we pay no attention to what the care actually cost.

Case in point. My son recently had surgery to repair his eardrum. Here are the costs:

Pharmacy $858.63

I'd like to know what that is for. As far as I know he got a dose of Demerol after the operation and tube of anti biotic cream.

Medical/Surgical Supplies and Devices $792.02

Who knows what all that includes.

Operating Room Services $5,127.00

Keep in mind, this doesn't include the Doctor's fee. And don't get me started on that. Doctors should be paid well, but a relative of mine was making enough within 4 yrs of being a doctor to afford an estate, a plane, and 4 expensive cars. Should one become a doctor to get filthy rich? Or to take care of people and make a nice living?

Anesthesia $1,887.00

I don't believe this includes the Doctor's fee either.

Recovery Room $1,250.00

The Recovery room was a very large room that had about 6 or 7 other children recovering as well. He was there about 1 hour just to make sure he was awake enough to go home (it was a day surgery, thank God). Add up 6 or 7 kids every hour or so during a 10-12 hour period. Yeah.

Almost $10,000 so far for a day surgery that lasted about an hour and half. What I know from experience is that this is just my first bill. I'll get the Doctor's and some unknown bills for weeks.

Now, with my insurance I pay just $649.23 for this particular bill. For most people that seems reasonable and they don't question it and just pay it. So this kind of over the top charging continues.

People tell me that these charges help cover those kids who don't have insurance, so the hospital can recoup the cost. If that is true, then why do we have SCHIP?

I don't have the answers. Universal healthcare IS NOT the answer. I read almost daily about the disasters of the United Kingdom and Canada healthcare system. But this is out of control.

Great Americans

U.S. Soldier Shot by Iraqi Sniper - watch more videos

U.S. Soldier Shot by Iraqi Sniper -- [ga Great Americans]
An unbelievable true story of Sgt. Steven Tschiderer shot by sniper fire in Baghdad, Iraq. Miraculously he survives thanks to state of the art body armor. In a turn of events Sgt. Tschiderer saves the life of the sniper that attempted to take his. Watch the actual footage unfold as filmed by Iraqi insurgents!
This video was edited from a segment on the History Channel titled Shockwave.

I remember posting or linking this a while back, but I saw it again today cruising through milblogs. For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's a must see.

Senators Voting Against Holder

Be sure and show them some love.

SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST HOLDER (A PRO-GUN VOTE)

Barrasso (R-WY)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johanns (R-NE)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

h/t Cormac

This is for the ladies......

Enjoy.

I think Bill Gates may have officially lost it

via Gawker:

TED, the annual gathering of the most pretentious people from the fields of technology, entertainment, and design, just got punk'd. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates released a swarm of mosquitos into the crowd.

Ending malaria is a particular passion of Gates's, whose Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spent millions fighting the disease. But he apparently didn't feel like TED attendees were taking the threat seriously.

"Not only poor people should experience this," Gates said as he let the bugs loose on his audience, according to Facebook manager Dave Morin. (eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Twitter CEO Ev Williams confirm the report.)

Thousands Attend Global Warming Protest

via GOC

Obama...

A HERO in his own mind.

It really is.....

...worse than we even imagined it would be. The first two weeks of Obama's presidency.

Sometimes it's the little things.....

.....that define who we are.

Never Forget Daniel Pearl

A year ago November I wrote a post titled, "Because He Was a Jew," about Daniel Pearl, the journalist beheaded by terrorists in 2002. In that piece I wrote this simple truth:

Daniel wasn't a soldier, he was not in war, he was not a political prisoner. He was an innocent American citizen. Daniel Pearl's head was cut off by those who attacked us because he was a Jew.

That piece meant a lot to me actually, and if you didn't read it back then, I would appreciate you taking the time to read it now.

I bring this up again because Daniel's father has written a piece in the WSJ about how we have normalized evil. It's a powerful read by a man who understands this horror of terrorism more than almost all of us. Daniel's murderer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, proudly bragged of Daniel's murder in a military tribunal in March 2007. He is also one of the masterminds behind 9-11. He resides at Guantanamo. He has also been the subject of the torture techniques used by the Bush administration that the left has been so vocal in criticizing. Khalid has said that he is ready to be put to death. Now that Guantanamo will close, I do wonder what will happen to Khalid now. But I imagine I don't wonder quite as much as Judea Pearl.

Daniel's father now sees justification for terrorism:

But somehow, barbarism, often cloaked in the language of "resistance," has gained acceptance in the most elite circles of our society. The words "war on terror" cannot be uttered today without fear of offense. Civilized society, so it seems, is so numbed by violence that it has lost its gift to be disgusted by evil.
.........................

But the clearest endorsement of terror as a legitimate instrument of political bargaining came from former President Jimmy Carter. In his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," Mr. Carter appeals to the sponsors of suicide bombing. "It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Road-map for Peace are accepted by Israel." Acts of terror, according to Mr. Carter, are no longer taboo, but effective tools for terrorists to address perceived injustices.

Mr. Carter's logic has become the dominant paradigm in rationalizing terror. When asked what Israel should do to stop Hamas's rockets aimed at innocent civilians, the Syrian first lady, Asma Al-Assad, did not hesitate for a moment in her response: "They should end the occupation." In other words, terror must earn a dividend before it is stopped.

Pearl says we need to take a good hard look at our universities to see roots of our acceptance of terrorism:

At my own university, UCLA, a symposium last week on human rights turned into a Hamas recruitment rally by a clever academic gimmick. The director of the Center for Near East Studies carefully selected only Israel bashers for the panel, each of whom concluded that the Jewish state is the greatest criminal in human history.

The primary purpose of the event was evident the morning after, when unsuspecting, uninvolved students read an article in the campus newspaper titled, "Scholars say: Israel is in violation of human rights in Gaza," to which the good name of the University of California was attached. This is where Hamas scored its main triumph -- another inch of academic respectability, another inroad into Western minds.

Danny's picture is hanging just in front of me, his warm smile as reassuring as ever. But I find it hard to look him straight in the eyes and say: You did not die in vain.

The last line brought tears to my eyes.

I hope we never forget Daniel Pearl. I hope we never forget the innocent victims of 9-11. I hope that we understand the evil we still face. I hope also, that Daniel did not die in vain.

via Ace

Be Gone!

From doubleplusundead:

These GOP governors joined Democrat governors in signing a letter to President Obama supporting his "stimulus" bill:
1) Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida
2) Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California
3) Gov. Jim Douglas of Vermont
4) Gov. Jodi Rell of Connecticut

Is there a spray we can buy call RINO be gone?*


*please spare me the McCain comments...;-)

Abortion decision least popular

Americans approved of most of Obama's decisions early in his Presidency, except two. Only 44% approved of his closing Gitmo.

And only 35% approved of his funding over overseas family planning groups that provide abortions.

I think more would approve of closing of Gitmo if we knew where the prisoners will go. But who really wants our tax dollars used to provide abortions overseas while we are struggling financially in this country???

I hope Obama takes note. If he thinks that was a disapproved of action, just wait until he tries to sign the FOCA act.

Obama needs to respect what just about every one sees as reasonable restrictions on abortion (see FOCA link).

Daschle Withdraws

It had to be the video. It was just too...perfect.

Note to self: Don't pay $42,000 in taxes. Good to go. Don't pay $140,ooo. You're in trouble.

Daschle can now go back to making that filthy filthy money, so don't feel too sorry for him.

This is disturbing.

To say the least.

h/t Mike

Given WND's less than stellar reporting, I've been looking for the bill, this is the only thing I can find on it.

Oh, this is funny

Previous Tom Daschle Campaign Ad

Daschle has been damaged

By wearing these ridiculous glasses. Who is he? Harry Potter's dad?
Ok, We've already established that it's ok to fail to pay $42,000 in taxes and still be confirmed for Sec. of Treasury.

If Daschle goes through for Sec. of Health and Human Services (and he will) it will then be ok to fail to pay$140,000 in back taxes.

No wonder Democrats want us to pay more taxes, they don't pay them anyway.

Daschle is a prime example of a "limo liberal." He lives the high life while preaching to the rest of us how we are obligated to pay more taxes to "spread the wealth" around. He never says exactly that (Obama just got caught saying it), but that is what they imply all the time. Who of us has a car and a driver? Who of us would forget to mention that on our tax form if we did?

As The WaPo's "The Fix" puts it:

".....Obama caught in an emerging pattern and a story that has the whiff of the D.C. insider politics Obama campaigned against because, well, Daschle cashed in on the D.C. insider politics Obama campaigned against," said one senior Democratic Senate aide."

Remember what Pres.Obama said about lobbyists during the campaign? Then reiterated this on his first day on the job.

"I don't take a dime of their money," he said, "and when I am president, they won't find a job in my White House."

Except for Daschle...And William J. Lynn III, his choice to become the No. 2 official at the Defense Department, who lobbied for military contractor Raytheon. And William Corr, chosen as deputy secretary at Health and Human Services, who lobbied as an anti-tobacco advocate.

If you are wondering how Daschle came to be able to afford a full time car and driver (although technically he didn't pay for it himself, which is part of the problem), he was paid more than $5.2 million over the past two years for advising health insurers and hospitals (keep in mind this position is FOR Health and Human Secretary). He also was paid more than $2 million as a senior policy adviser for the Washington law firm Alston & Bird. In addition, he was also paid more than $2 million in consulting fees from InterMedia Advisors LLC of New York, an investment firm specializing in buyouts and industry consolidation.

Nothing wrong with making money. Just don't preach to me about paying my fair share in taxes when you don't bother to. And certainly don't ask me to pay more.

Let's just face the facts. Obama's administration is Clinton II The Movie and we all know it. The notion that this will be a new kind of politics is laughable.

*note: Had to share this hilarious comment by a listener on the radio I just heard in the car. "If Obama's appointees keep paying their back taxes we may soon be able to balance the budget."

Update! Obama administration cabinet official leaves over tax problems.

Chief Performance Officer Nancy Killefer being the first Obama administration official with tax problems to drop out.

Closing Gitmo

Closing Gitmo will be interesting to watch. Like so many things that liberals think of, it sounds nice on paper, but reality is much more difficult.

We just discover that Obama is retaining renditions, no doubt hoping to drain some of the Gitmo detainees off to countries that will take them.

But that too will prove a little more difficult than one hopes. This week the EU foreign ministers met to discuss a Portuguese proposal that Europe show some goodwill toward Obama by taking some of the Gitmo detainees. After a discussion of the complex legal problems, not to mention security problems, they only agreed to continue to "work" on finding a solution.

They weren't even discussing any of the more dangerous detainees either. They were only discussing the 60 detainees that the U.S has declared as "non-threatening" but who can't return to their home countries because of the risk of torture or death.

Europeans seem to be asking, "Why can't the United States just accept them if they are "non threatening?" Jochim Stoltenberg said in Germany's Berliner Morgenpost, "If they are dangerous, why should Europeans risk their own safety to clean up American's mess?"

"Wait just a minute" says Britain's Daily Telegraph. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier points out that it was the Europeans that demanded and howled about the closing of Gitmo, so they are obligated to help do that by accepting these prisoners.

But it looks like everyone is sort of looking down and shuffling their feet in the dirt on this one.

Portugal and France said the would "consider" taking prisoners on a case by case basis. Britain says it is only willing to take the two who were previously residents there. Spain has a "I'll call you back" attitude on this.

In defense of these countries, it is a complicated legal problem, which they have not dealt with before.

It may be one of those cases of "be careful what you wish for, you might just get it."

*source: The Week

NEW MOVIE!

I'm not that into movies, but this new one is bound to be a hit. Ace has the scoop:

No word yet on if Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal have signed on for Rendition II: The Most Important Tool In Keeping America Safe!!!!!!

You haven't heard of it? Well, I'm sure they are in post production considering that Obama is keeping and expanding rendention:

For the last seven years, the Left has screeched hysterically over the CIA practice of rendition, in which agents turn detainees over to authorities in their home country for interrogation. Never mind that the practice started in the Clinton administration, and never mind that the other options were Guantanamo Bay, release, or two caps in the back of the head; they pilloried Bush over renditions as if he’d thought them up himself. Hollywood even made a movie about how awful the process is, apparently matched in awfulness only by the film’s box office.
Barack Obama exploited that outrage when he promised Hope and ChangeTM, and the Left squealed with joy over the Brave New Obama World in national security. Now they’ll have to squeal again as Obama has had a sudden revelation as President that renditions are more necessary than ever, if the CIA can’t hold these subjects at Gitmo or its own secret sites:

First wireless wiretapping continuing and now this. What's next for the left? Will they start screaming for war crimes against Obama?

It's just amusing to me that even the most liberal, like Obama, once becoming President, understands what needs to be done to keep us safe. I think Obama wants that more than he wants to pacify the left.

What It's really all about

Yes, it's a NRO linkfest today, but Jonah Goldberg puts the stimulus bill in perspective perfectly:

That's why this stimulus bill isn't a stimulus bill. It's a bill to catch-up on liberalism's yearnings for social democracy and a more generous welfare state. God gave them this financial crisis as the perfect excuse and Barack Obama as the perfect leader to bring it home.

Good Grief

The ObamaLoveFest has gone past sickening to downright disturbing. The celebrity commercials, the artwork, the chants, the saint candle. Every time I think we have reached cult status and can go no lower, it gets creepier.

via NRO

Quote of The Day

“Make no mistake, tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter. ” Sen. Tom Daschle, Congressional Record, May 7, 1998, p. S4507.

Heh.

via NRO