Obama's Lowlights (11/28/11)

Satellites – According to ABC news, U.S. satellites have been twice taken over by cyber-attacks.

Occupy Wall Street – They held a moment of silence for the man who shot out a window at the White House this past week. In New York, several police officers were injured during the riots, including one who was stabbed with a broken bottle.

Smallpox – The administration approved a 500 million dollar loan to Ciga, a manufacturer of the smallpox vaccine, even though the U.S. already has enough vaccines for every person in the country.

PETA – PETA started a campaign against the cartoon “Super Mario” because they believe it promotes the wearing of animal fur. PETA is also suing Sea World over what they call the “enslaving animals”.

Christmas Trees – Due to public outrage, the administration’s Department of Agriculture dropped its proposed tax on Christmas Trees.

Free Wall Street – A new movement, Free Wall Street, was started to counter the Occupy Wall Street movement. Free movement protestors want Occupy movement protestors to get a job.

Steven Chu – The Head of the Energy Department, Steven Chu, testified before the House Oversight Committee about the Solyndra debacle. Chu claims “Nothing is really our fault” about the failed 528 million dollar loan. Chu also testified that Steve Spinner had nothing to do with the Solyndra loan even though dozens of emails exist with Spinner providing input on the deal.

Balanced Budget Amendment – Legislation brought forth in the House fell 23 votes shy of its required two thirds majority to pass.

Occupy DC – The movement expanded to occupy the city’s rush hour. How exactly does disrupting hard working citizens from commuting home going to make the movement’s point they support the bottom 99%? Let’s see, I am no math genius, but this stunt will inconvenience 99 out of every 100 people the movement claims to represent. This is just plain stupidity.

Energy - President Obama's United States Department of Agriculture has delayed shale gas drilling in Ohio for up to six months by cancelling a mineral lease auction for Wayne National Forest (WNF). The move was taken in deference to environmentalists, on the pretext of studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing.

EU – The U.K. Telegraph reported that Brussels bureaucrats were ridiculed this past week after banning drink manufacturers from claiming that water can prevent dehydration.

Water Plant – An Illinois water plant was hit with a cyber-attack that not only confiscated information and disabled software, but also did physical damage to the plant.

Middle East – Riots and protests have started up again in Egypt as free elections approach.

Shepard Fairey – The man responsible for Obama’s Hope and Change poster during his 2008 campaign has redesigned it for OWS with the following phrase: “Mister President, we HOPE you’re on our side”.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/24/11)

SEIU – In Michigan, the union takes a portion of Medicare payments to families that support adults with disabilities – even if they do not belong to the union.

Obama – This is what Obama had to say about America when talking to CEOs in Honolulu: "But we've been a little bit lazy, I think, over the last couple of decades." "We've kind of taken for granted (that), well, people will want to come here, and we aren't out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new business into America,"

Occupy Wall Street – According to the NY Post, the movement in New York City has cost businesses around the protests over a half million dollars. Riot police moved in to take the movement’s camps this past week in New York and Oakland. Oakland was arguably the most violent venue. Also, a New York state judge ruled against protestors and their right to camp in Zuccotti Park. Protestors are so outraged many are on tape threatening to firebomb New York City using Molotov cocktails.

Anjem Choudary – The Muslim cleric is on record saying that Christmas is the pathway to hell and Sharia law will take over America.

ObamaCare – The Supreme Court will likely begin hearing oral arguments as early as next February or March. Many want Justice Kagan to recuse herself from the case since released emails show her support of ObamaCare as Obama’s Solicitor General. In other news, states that refuse to create a healthcare exchange can block a lot of ObamaCare spending, forcing Congress' hand on the law. Obviously, this is something that the president wants to avoid. Obama’s solution is simple? Create an IRS rule that allows premium assistance for everyone, regardless of state vs. federal exchange participation.

EPA – On the agenda for the administration next year includes tracking emissions that cross state lines; setting greenhouse emissions for fossil fuel plants, petroleum refineries, and chemical plants; water discharge permits for cooling towers; new mileage standards for automotive companies; and new regulations for emissions from boilers and solid waste.

Farm Subsidies – A report by Senator Tom Coburn shows that 30 billion in farm subsidies are going to millionaires such as Ted Turner.

Fast and Furious – The Arizona Daily Star’s, Tim Stellar, is reporting the federal case file on Brian Terry’s death has gone missing.

Solyndra – The White House pressured the company to delay layoffs until after the 2010 midterm elections.

Super Committee – The debt committee basically passed on all the tough choices such as tax reform and entitlement reform.

Biden – The Vice President says “You fired the first shot!” when addressing unions in Ohio. If a conservative made this statement, the media would say they are being uncivil, partisan, and invoking violence.

National Debt – The national debt passed 15 trillion dollars this past week.

National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act – The House passed the right for every American to carry a concealed handgun this past week.

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Obama Lowlights (11/21/11)

Nancy Pelosi - 60 Minutes aired a segment exploring whether legislation passed by House minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may have benefited her husband's stock investments. Pelosi also made an appearance on the Jon Stewart show and once again claimed that conservatives are against clean air, safe food, and clean water. This is nonsense; conservatives believe that private industry can provide clean air, clean water, and safe food more effectively than the federal government.

Privacy - The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on whether the government may use GPS to monitor citizens. Police have used this technique to track a suspect without gaining a warrant.

China - China is now out-producing the United States in carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Department of Energy, "China's emissions in 2010 were 8.15 billion tonnes. The US totaled 5.49 billion tonnes in 2010."

Dover Air Force Base – The Washington Post reports that soldier remains from both the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars were cremated and the ashes dumped in a Virginia landfill – disgraceful!

Occupy Wall Street – These folks say they care about our water, food, and air. What about our health? These protestors have been living in filth and unsanitary conditions polluting our parks, water, and air with their feces and stench. In Atlanta, there has been an outbreak of tuberculosis and hair lice are rampant at several other venues.

Food Stamps – Usage of the program (in terms of dollars) has doubled in the past two years from 35 billion to over 70 billion dollars.

Eric Holder – He claims to have apologized to the family of Border Agent, Brian Terry, for his death at the hands of guns used in operation Fast and Furious. The family claims they have yet to receive a letter or call. In other news, Holder is also asking the Supreme Court not to rule on the Arizona Immigration law, apparently he fears they will rule in favor of SB1070.

Van Jones – He has a new video, which incidentally uses children, to push his 10 point “Contract for the American Dream”. The dream of course includes higher taxes and Medicare for all.

ObamaCare – According to Gallup, the number of people on corporate health insurance plans has steadily decreased since the passing of ObamaCare. Since 2008 the number of Americans on corporate health plans has decreased from 48% to 44.5%. I suppose liberals can point to this statistic and claim ObamaCare is working exactly as they had hoped since they want everyone on a single payer government run system.

American Flag - U. S. District Court Judge James Ware ruled on a case involving students at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, CA, who were banned from wearing American flag t-shirts on the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo in 2010. The judge determined that the Morgan Hill Unified School District did not violate the First Amendment and said that concerns by school officials over possible violence justified censoring the pro-American message.

Oil Pipeline - The Obama administration said last week it is delaying approval of a massive oil pipeline (1700 hundred miles from Canada to Texas) until it can study new potential routes that avoid environmentally sensitive areas in the state of Nebraska, an action that likely puts off a decision until after the 2012 election and kills 100,000 jobs.  

Occupy New York – Protestors defaced the 9/11 memorial at the World Trade Center site.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/17/11)

Solyndra – The executives of the failed solar company made one last decision before going bankrupt – they awarded themselves with large bonuses. Meanwhile, the White House refuses to comply with a congressional subpoena to release Solyndra documents.

Jon Corzine - Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine resigned as CEO of collapsed financial firm MF Holdings, which is accused of unlawfully using customer deposits to cover firm losses.

Super Committee - With the "Super Committee" at a stalemate over proposed reforms, House Republicans are pushing a balanced budget amendment. Republicans would need 290 votes in order to amend the Constitution. Thirty-three Senators signed a letter urging the Super Committee to balance the budget through spending cuts, without any net tax increases.

Egypt - American taxpayer money is being used to train Islamic political parties in Egypt. A State Department spokesman said the money is helping political parties in Egypt conduct polling, provide constituent services, and prepare for election season.  

Herman Cain – I certainly do not condone Cain’s behavior (if he is guilty), but why is this story bigger than Bill Clinton’s, John Edward’s, or Elliot Spitzer’s womanizing (who were all guilty)?

Second Amendment – MSNBC host Craig Melvin and Huffington Post writer Alex Wagner want to change or get rid of the second amendment.

Immigration – Bill Clinton has endorsed Rick Perry’s immigration plan which provides illegal immigrants the right to in state tuition for a college education.

Occupy America – ABC analyst Rick Klein suggests that Obama’s only hope for 2012 is to harness the anger of the Occupy Wall Street movement in his campaign.

Whistleblower Protection – Head of the House Oversight committee, Darrell Issa, introduced legislation to protect workers who report government fraud, waste, and corruption. Issa said the legislation was needed in the wake of the failed Fast and Furious operation where the ATF fired whistleblowers.

Poverty – The Census Bureau increased its count of Americans living in poverty from 46 to 49 million (16%) since September.

Occupy Wall Street – Poll after Poll is showing that the bottom 99%, supposedly represented by the protestors, is against the OWS movement by an average of 10 points.

G20 – Nickolas Sarkozy and Obama were overheard talking about their dislike for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when they did not realize their microphones were still on.

Chicago – New Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, will raise 220 million dollars next year by not only increasing taxes, but also by increasing fines and fees on its residents.

Eric Holder – He testified before the House Oversight committee about operation Fast and Furious and he blamed the “GOP House” for a lack of information on the program. Now there’s a surprise, he is blaming Republicans for his shortcomings.

Oil drilling – The Obama administration is ever so slightly easing up on its drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Alaskan coast. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, is proposing lease sales of 15 specific areas. However, the imposed rules and regulations may be enough to shun any company from making these purchases.

Taxes – The Obama administration has proposed a 15 cent tax on Christmas trees.

Election Results – Good news for Obama, the Democrats had a pretty good day at the polls this past week (at least much better than last year). Most notably, they won a referendum that repealed the law which would limit union collective bargaining rights in Ohio. However, in Ohio, the voters also said the federal government has no right to impose mandates on its citizens to purchase healthcare insurance.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/10/11)

Obama’s Student Loan Plan – According to the NY Post “At best, it’s a band-aid solution. The real problem is that we’ve been running a higher education bubble, one that -- like the real-estate bubble -- has been pumped up by cheap government money. Since 1999, student loan debt has increased by 511%, while disposable income has increased by only 73%.”

Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Royalty has offered a 900,000 thousand dollar reward for the capture of any Israeli soldiers.

OWS – Many businesses around protest areas are being forced to lay off workers since they are losing business (customers do not want to enter the protest regions for fear of their safety). Occupy Oakland has been particularly violent.

Obama – In his weekly addresses to the nation, the President has been pandering to the Occupy Wall Street movement by vilifying the top 1%. Doesn’t Obama realize he is part of the top 1%?

ObamaCare – Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of the nearly 2000 waivers, offered by the administration, to void certain provisions of healthcare law because as she claims “they are going to very small companies”. In fact, most of the waivers have been granted to very large conglomerates such as McDonalds and Jack in the Box. Small companies simply do not have the lobbying power (or campaign contribution influence) as larger and more wealthy corporations to obtain these waivers.

NRA – The National Rifle Association has launched a campaign pushing for the resignation of DOJ head, Eric Holder, for his handling of operation Fast and Furious.

More Pharmaceutical Regulations - Obama signed an executive order that gives federal regulators more power to track drug shortages, quickly approve replacement manufacturing sites, and punish price gougers.

Transparency – The DOJ wants new regulations that would enable the government to falsely claim documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) do not exist and are therefore, never released to the public. The White House is already using this power to deny public access to Solyndra documents.

PETA – The organization compared Sea World animals to slaves.

UC Berkeley – Professor Richard Mueller issued a study last week that seemingly gave conclusive evidence that global warming is caused by CO2. However, the Daily Mail reported that a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that the research shows global warming has stopped. Later Prof Curry said, “The project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties” – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Daily Mail has obtained.

Libya – The country is flying the al-Qaida flag as it prepares to impose Sharia law. It is hard to believe, but the new Libya government may be worse than the old Gaddafi regime.

Blame Game – This past week Debbie Wasserman-Schultz blamed the rise of Hamas on George Bush, and Michelle Obama is now on the campaign stump blaming Republicans for her husband’s shortcomings.

DOJ – Eric Holder is now suing the state of South Carolina over its immigration policy. The DOJ is also suing Arizona and Alabama over its immigration laws.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/14/11)

Harry Reid - The rich can "contribute a teeny, tiny fraction more to shore up the economic future of this great nation," said Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid on the Senate floor last week. Reid was pushing President Obama's latest jobs bill that subjects the top earners in this country to additional tax hikes. 

Taxes - A bipartisan group of 100 House members will call for the deficit “super committee” to include tax hikes along with spending cuts in its recommendations, which are due later this month. 

Debit Card Fees - The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Bank of America is calling off their plan to charge customers to use their debit cards. The bank joins Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase in retreating from the fees because of negative customer feedback. The fees were imposed after Congress imposed price controls on debit card transactions. 

Fair Sentencing Act - Changes to federal laws on crack cocaine could release as many as 12,000 inmates from prison early. The Fair Sentencing Act passed by Congress in 2010 reduces the disparity for future cases dealing with crack and powder cocaine. The U.S. Sentencing Commission decided to make the Act retroactive to inmates already serving time.

Federal Budget - By a vote of 69-30, Senators approved a $182 billion spending measure funding “seven Cabinet departments and major science agencies,” Politico reports.

Homeland Security – They started monitoring twitter communications in an attempt to head off any OWS riots or violence.

SAVE Act – Congress’s new Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act will force mortgage lenders to take into account housing energy savings when underwriting loans. Just what the declining housing market needs – more government intrusion and regulation!

Gregory Freidman – The Energy Department’s Inspector General testified before the House Oversight committee stating the administrations green agenda in the stimulus package was “unrealistic”.

OWS Demographics – From the OWS website (OccupyWallSt.org): Mostly male (61%), mostly white (81.2%), mostly employed full time (47%), mostly college educated (60.7%). Other interesting facts: the protest is largely past school-age, with 76.5% of respondents over age 25, and a third of them (30.1%) make over $50,000 a year. Only 12.3% are unemployed.

Forbes Magazine – Named Obama the most powerful man in the world for 2011 primarily for the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Taxes – Colorado voted down tax hikes by a 2 to 1 landslide. It is interesting how most people do not want higher taxes for themselves, but think it is okay for the government to tax their neighbors more.

Freddie Mac – Executives of the government run organization received large bonuses despite the fact that the company is still being bailed out with taxpayer funds. In fact, both Freddie and Fannie combined to receive another 6 billion dollars in bailouts this past quarter.

Michael Moore – He claims that there has been “no violence” or “destruction of property” during OWS protests in Oakland. He insists it is the police that are doing the rioting. I guess all those video images of the Oakland riots are just another right wing conspiracy to paint liberals as lunatics.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/7/11)

California - In Sonoma County, California, Mexican nationals can now show their Mexican identification card to law enforcement officials in lieu of a California identification card. "Accepting Mexican consulate-issued cards will reduce the number of people booked into jail for lacking ID, and ergo, will reduce deportations from Santa Rosa County Jail," the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.

TSA - Rep. John Mica (R-FL), who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, says a new report on the Transportation Security Administration will "absolutely knock your socks off". Citing high failure rates for body scanning equipment and botched pat downs, Mica argues that the "TSA’s role at airports could be undertaken in a more efficient and less costly manner by private companies".

The Economy – The economy added a meager 80,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate went down from 9.1% to 9%.

ObamaCare – Senate Democrats have made a motion to forbid the term “ObamaCare” to be used to describe Obama’s healthcare law on internal emails.

Homeless – Apparently many vagrants and homeless have been showing up to OWS protests just to receive a free meal. This freeloading is apparently catching the ire of many hard working protestors. Does anyone see the irony? The folks who want to freeload off the wealthy are not happy when people freeload off them.

Europe – They are in the process of setting up a 1.4 trillion dollar bailout fund to prevent the collapse of the euro.

Senate Democrats – The good news is they are urging the debt commission to find 3 trillion dollars in cuts over the next decade, but they also want them to increase tax revenues by 1 trillion over the next decade.

Alan Grayson – He’s back and is the gift that keeps on giving. He compared the “racist” and “homophobic” GOP to O.J. declaring them “as the real killers”.

Virginia Tea Party – They are seeking an 8000 dollar refund, from the city of Richmond, for being unfairly charged for rallies since Occupy Wall Street rallies have not been charged any fees and have been protesting in the same area for nearly 3 straight weeks.

Solar Energy Zones – The President is pushing for dozens of solar projects on public lands in six Western states. Can you imagine the outrage if Bush decided to open up oil drilling on public lands?

Kermit Gosnell – The Philadelphia abortion doctor pleaded guilty to the murder of seven babies and one mother when performing full term abortions in grotesque conditions.

Occupy Phoenix – The OWS movement in Phoenix has handed out pamphlets explaining justifiable cases where citizens can gun down police officers. Of course the OWS movement blamed the Tea Party for these pamphlets.

Fast and Furious – Eric Holder will testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the failed operation.

Marijuana – The city of Chicago is considering passing legislation to decriminalize the use of marijuana.

MSNBC – Commentator Karen Finney suggests that the only reason conservatives like Herman Cain is because he “knows his place”. What?

Bill Clinton – “No successful country in the world thinks government is the problem”. Interesting, since there are not many “successful” countries right now – most are loaded with debt and the prospect of default. So I guess Clinton means government is the problem when countries are unsuccessful.

Lobbyists – Kudos to the NY Times for breaking a story that uncovers how much money that Obama and Democrats not only received from Wall Street, but from lobbyists. Remember, Obama campaigned that he and the DNC not would accept ANY money from lobbyists.

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Obama's Lowlights (11/3/11)

Occupy Wall Street – The movement claims to represent the 99% of the people who do not earn more than one million dollars annually. In actuality, the threshold income for the top 1% (CNN Money Report) of earners in the U.S. is 344 thousand dollars annually (down from 424 thousand in 2007). In fact, only 14% of Wall Street workers are part of the top 1% of all earners. Medical professionals make up 16% and executives from other industries make up 30% of the top 1% of earners. And let’s not forget those lawyers who make up 8% of the top 1% of all earners. Besides, people like Alec Baldwin and Michael Moore are on record claiming they are not part of the top 1% even though they earn more than 10 million dollars per year. And if that is not enough hypocrisy, the Occupy Wall Street finance committee claims to have 1 million dollars in funding in the bank. OWS now has the backing of heavily funded organizations such as unions and ACORN and they are pouring money into the movement. Yes, OWS is backed by the same greed that they claim to be against. Protests in Oakland CA, this past week, were particularly violent with dozens of arrests. Michelle Obama – Michelle is writing a book on how the White House garden inspires Americans. Sounds like a thriller! Obama Job Grade – In a recent interview Obama gave himself a job grade of “incomplete” because “the work we started is not complete yet”. If this is Obama’s way to ask for four more years – it is not very convincing. Obama also initiated his new campaign slogan “We Can’t Wait!”. Yes, I agree, “we can’t wait” for Obama to leave the Oval Office. Joe Biden – The Vice President’s office is seeking an investigation into Jason Mattera. Mattera was the journalist who had the nerve to question Biden’s fear mongering remarks about “rape” when Biden was campaigning on behalf of the Obama jobs plan. Obama – “We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things to build the Golden Gate Bridge”. He is right, this is exactly what a welfare and nanny state fosters – a lazy nation happy with mediocrity. Obama Memoirs – The State Department has spent 70,000 dollars of taxpayer money to fill our nations’ libraries with Obama’s memoirs. The White House also plans on using many copies of Obama’s memoirs, he purchased using tax payer dollars, as Christmas presents. DOJ – They have imprisoned a border agent for being too “rough” when handcuffing a 15 year old drug trafficker. OWS – The movement has announced that Rush Limbaugh is a bigger threat to America than Al-Qaida. Maybe Obama should put a bounty on Limbaugh’s head and forget about murdering the likes of Bin Laden and Al Alwaki. Handguns – According the latest Gallup Poll a record number of Americans are in favor (73%) of citizens, other than the police and authorized people, carrying handguns. Fast and Furious – Janet Napolitano testified in front of the House Oversight committee last week but still claimed that she, Holder, and Obama knew nothing about the program that is blamed for the death of boarder agents Brian Terry and Jamie Zapata. Elizabeth Warren - Former Obama administration consumer advocate turned Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren believes she laid much of the "intellectual foundation" for the Occupy Wall Street protests. “I created much of the intellectual foundation for what they do,” the Harvard Law School professor told Samuel P. Jacobs of The Daily Beast. “I support what they do.” Obama Approval Ratings - Rasmussen reports President Obama's "strongly approve" rating has dropped to its lowest ever mark. Their poll shows that 18 percent of the nation's voters strongly approve of his job as President. Forty percent strongly disapprove. Housing Prices - Housing prices have fallen again. Bloomberg news reports, "Sales of previously owned homes fell 3 percent in September from the prior month." Experts predict that home prices could continue to fall due to the high unemployment rate and limited opportunities for mortgage financing. My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)