Obama's Lowlights (12/29/11)

Occupy Wall Street – The Milk Street Café in NYC, the restaurant whose business dried up in the face of the Occupy Wall Street barricades, is shutting down.

AP Poll – “We are the 99 percent” was chosen as the top quote of the year. Although I am part of the so called “99%”, Occupy Wall Street does not remotely represent my views.

Race Card – This is a quote from Eric Holder in a NY Times piece about the increased scrutiny he has received for the terrible job he has been doing as the head of the DOJ: “This is a way to get at the president because of the way I can be identified with him,” he said, “both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we’re both African-American.”

Obama Vacation – The price tag is in and it will cost the taxpayers 4 million dollars for his 17 day vacation in Hawaii.

Public Employees - The latest government employee numbers at the state level are down by 80,000 jobs since the recession started whereas the federal government has added 110,000 government jobs since 2009.

Joe Biden – Joe had this to say in a Newsweek interview: “Look, the Taliban per se is not our enemy.”

Crime – A report in the USA Today claims 1 in 3 youths will be arrested by the time they are 23. This is an increase from 50% over the past 50 years.

Oil – For the first time since 1949 U.S. exports of oil based products is more than its imports. The reason for this is due to technological advances that enable the U.S. to manufacture oil from tar pits using “fracking” technology.

David Axelrod - "Some folks [Republicans] over there think somehow screwing up the economy, throwing a wrench in the works, is somehow a god political strategy for them." What a surprise, more finger pointing and blaming by the Obama administration.

Syria – AP Reports “Since the revolt against Syrian president Bashir Assad began in March during the "Arab Spring," over 5,000 protesters have died at the hands of Assad's brutal regime. Looks like these protesters know which president would have been a friend to their burgeoning democratic movement (Bush instead of Obama)...”

EU - Michael O'Leary, the CEO of the Irish airline Ryanair, believes his company is being relentlessly persecuted by the European Union for the oh-so-heinous crimes of innovation, free market competition, and producing a service that people actually want to buy.

Bill Clinton – In an interview with Bill O’Reilly, Clinton admitted he felt the media was biased against Hillary in the 2008 primary against Barack Obama.

Department of Agriculture (DOA) - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in an interview in Politico, is trying to spread the word that the USDA is a large government network involved in many different types of projects—“it's not just about farming anymore”. This is another sign that big government is once again overstepping its bounds. First, we do not need a DOA and secondly, the DOA is getting involved in things outside the realm of agriculture. This is an unwarranted power grab.

EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules this past week that will require the oldest oil- and coal-fired power plants nationwide to cut down on their emissions of mercury and other pollutants, or else be forced to shut down--ostensibly because of the EPA's concern for the public's health.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights 12/26/11

Medicare – Republican representative, Paul Ryan, and Democratic Senator, Ron Wyden, have put together a bipartisan plan to save Medicare. "Beginning in 2023 there will be a cap on cost growth of 1 percent over Gross Domestic Product, plus inflation. Any increase over that cap will be reflected in reduced support for the sectors most responsible for cost growth, including providers, drug companies, and means-tested premiums." Unfortunately, waiting to 2023 is too long to wait to begin cost control measures.

Native American Poverty – John Koppisch wrote a good article about the reason for Native American poverty citing “the vast majority of land on reservations is held communally.” This is a socialism model at work. Koppisch explains when people do not own their land they have no equity and they do not properly care for the property. Case in point, look how the Occupy Wall Street people are destroying park lands.

Dollar Coins – The U.S. will stop printing its one dollar presidential coins because of a lack in interest. Interestingly, it only costs the government 18 cents to manufacture dollar coin pieces and if they replaced dollar bills it would save the country 6 billion dollars over 30 years (because coins last longer than paper bills). Actually, the government should stop manufacturing pennies and nickels because the government loses money making these coin pieces. The US Treasury is like all government entities; they are wasting taxpayer money and making bad decisions.

Occupy Wall Street – Adam Carolla had a good YouTube video that went viral explaining why Americans have both envy and jealousy over the wealthy and argues most people who got wealthy worked their a%s off to get there. In other news, over 50 protestors were arrested in Times Square New York.

China – China has imposed a 21% tariff on U.S. automaker exports. This was a direct response to the tariff Obama placed on China made cars (this is good example of why protectionism policies do not work). In other news, China bought less U.S. Treasury debt in October than in past months, the Treasury Department reported this past week. China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt, owns $1.13 trillion in government debt.

Spending - President Obama has issued an executive order mandating that federal agencies cut unnecessary travel in an effort to promote efficient spending.

Big Government - Sixty-four percent of Americans say big government is a bigger threat to the nation’s future than big business or big labor, Gallup reports.

New Budget Bill – The omnibus budget bill suspends the ban on incandescent light bulbs; does not increase taxes on the wealthy; extends Bush tax cuts; and approves the building of the Keystone oil pipeline. This is a huge win for Republicans over Democrats.

Fannie and Freddie – The SEC has charged several executives of the mortgage giants with fraud.

Sackett v. EPA – The Supreme Court will hear arguments over a case where the EPA denied the Sackett family from building a home on property they own in a residential area. The EPA claims the .63 acre lot in Idaho is a protected wetland, which is incidentally surrounded by homes.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/21/11)

Immigration Law – The Supreme Court has announced that it will hear the case of Arizona's contentious immigration law, SB1070, in the coming year. Justice Kagan will recuse herself from the ruling.

Harry Reid – Wealthy job creators are “like unicorns, they don’t exist”. Now that is out of touch!

DOJ – Eric Holder is now filing lawsuits against individual states which have tightened voter ID requirements and have reduced the timeframe for early voting. Holder needs to realize the U.S. justice department has no jurisdiction over individual state election laws.

Pakistan – Congress has frozen 700 million dollars in aid to Pakistan as distrust between the nations continues to escalate.

Obama - "I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president -- with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln," Obama told Steve Kroft, "just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history." Obama has a point, he did accomplish a lot, but it was economically harmful, not beneficial.

Planned Parenthood – Officials are on record saying they need more funding to create jobs. In other words, the economy is more important than the life of an unborn child.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) – The NTSB is recommending a nationwide ban on all cell phone use while driving. I am not a big fan of government interference, but this is a good idea. Cell phone use while driving is out of control.

Energy Costs – According to a USA Today article, the cost for electricity has gone up over 20% the past 5 years. And it is no surprise that states with highest electric energy costs are liberally run states such as New York, New Jersey, California, and Illinois.

Taxes – The House passed a payroll tax extension, but it was dead on arrival in the Senate because it approves the building of an oil pipeline between Canada and the US. However, a deal was later struck between Parties when Democrats dropped their requirement for increased taxes on millionaires.

Obama Campaign - The Obama presidential campaign is launching an effort to collect Republican email addresses by inviting its supporters to submit information about their Republican associates to the Obama 2012 website. The president will stop at nothing to get reelected even if he violates the CAN-SPAM Act to do so.

Ethics – Dan Indiviglio reports “a pending clean energy bill on Capitol Hill certainly represents the possibility of a windfall for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.”

Department of Labor – The U.S. Department of Labor wants to prevent kids from being exposed to “farm-related safety hazards,” and is basically barring youths from any sort of employment in the agriculture industry.

Iraq – The war is officially over. Time will tell if it was the right decision to bring home all troops.

MSNBC – They apologized for comparing Romney’s campaign slogan to the KKK slogan.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/19/11)

MF Global - Jon Corzine, testified in front of the House Agriculture Committee last week about the sudden bankruptcy of MF Global in October. He was at the helm for barely a year, but while Corzine was CEO, the financial services company made some poor bets on European debt, and about $1.2 billion simply vanished.

Iran – The U.S. finally confirmed that Iran did indeed capture a U.S. drone that was spying on their nuclear program. To complicate things, the drone is nearly 100% in tact meaning Iran can reverse engineer much of the technology. Our naïve President has asked for the Iranians to return the drone back to the U.S.

Taxes - "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says his chamber won't approve a House Republican bill extending the payroll tax cut that also clears the way for construction of a controversial oil pipeline," the AP reports.

Debt - States may face up to $3 trillion in unfunded pension liabilities for government workers, according to new Congressional reports.

NRLB – Darryl Issa, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says he has issued subpoenas to the labor relations board for documents related to its case against Boeing, which he argued was political.

OccupyEducated.org - The far Left Occupy Wall Street movement is planning to use online sources and our public classrooms to indoctrinate the masses with a socialist propaganda.

Infrastructure – According to a USA Today article the federal government spends 40 billion dollars annually on road construction projects, but they do not track how the individual states use the funds.

Wasserman-Schultz – In a Fox News interview the DNC chair denies that unemployment has gone up with Obama as President.

Obama - "I always believed that this was a long-term project," the Democratic president told "60 Minutes." He added it would "take time" to reverse "structural problems in our economy that have been building up for two decades." What Obama does not acknowledge is the average recession only lasts 15 months – only bad policies will let a recession last 6 or 8 years.

Occupy Wall Street – Boston is the latest city to evict rowdy protestors from city parks. Forty-Eight protestors were arrested making the total arrests nearly 4000 thousand nationwide. And yes, they claim to be the Party of civility. Meanwhile, some protestors are blocking access to major ports on the West Coast.

Border Security - The Obama administration, in an effort to make the border "more secure than ever," has issued a new proposal would allow people to check themselves into the United States through an electronic kiosk on the border, without a Border Patrol or I.C.E. agent physically present.

Happiness - One of the biggest reasons why conservatives are happier than liberals according a Yale sociologist profiled on PBS is because conservatives believe in equal opportunity and being rewarded for hard work. The violent anger within the Occupy movement is proof that liberals are less happy than Tea Party conservatives.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/15/11)

Spending vs. Revenue - Spending will skyrocket beyond its historical average of 20.3 percent of the U.S. economy, reaching 26.4 percent by 2021. Revenue, meanwhile, will surpass its historical average of 18 percent of GDP in the same year, according to Heritage Foundation calculations based on CBO data.

Europe - The Federal Reserve, along with the 17 euro zone national central banks, may help provide the International Monetary Fund with funds that could be used to aid debt-ridden states, a German newspaper said (Die Welt).

NFL - Hank Williams Jr. was yanked from Monday Night Football for comparing President Obama to Hitler during a Fox and Friends appearance. However, Madonna's vile words toward Sarah Palin weren't enough for the NFL to revoke her invitation to perform at the Super Bowl in February.

Standard and Poor - Standard & Poor's warned it may carry out an unprecedented mass downgrade on the credit ratings of euro zone countries if EU leaders fail to reach an agreement on how to solve the region's debt crisis in the near future.

Caitlin Halligan – Halligan was tapped last year by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but her nomination was defeated in a cloture vote. Moderate Democrats and Republicans voted against Halligan based on her record against gun rights and her philosophy of dealing with enemy combatants.

RNC – The Republican National Committee warned Republican candidates this past week to refrain from personal attacks against President Barack Obama. The RNC insists that while most poll numbers indicate that Obama’s approval ratings are low (job performance), most Americans still have a high opinion of the President personally.

CFPB - The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to Obama administration officials simplifies credit card agreements because it would help avoid confusion and stress for those struggling to make ends meet.

The Party of Civility – Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight last week for being uncivil (yes, liberals favorite Hollywood star).

Fort Hood Shooting - The Obama Administration still doesn't get it, and officially classified the Ft. Hood shooting carried out by Islamist Nadal Malik Hasan that left 13 people dead and 29 others wounded as "work place violence." Call it political correctness.

Rod Blagojevich – The former Illinois Governor was sentenced to 14 years for fraud and corruption.

Registered Democrats - 825,000 Democrats in the swing states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Pennsylvania have left the Party.

EPA – The agency is considering tighter regulations of dust created by farming.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/12/11)

Vacation – Obama is in the middle of a 17 day Hawaiian vacation that will not only cost the taxpayer millions, but doing this during a time when people are suffering and the economy is sluggish only proves the President is out of touch.

ObamaCare – More bad news has surfaced about the legislation. Minnesota Public Radio reports, “A loophole in the federal health care overhaul would allow many employers to game the system by dumping their sicker employees [into] public health insurance exchanges.”

Occupy DC – This past week the group protested outside a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Economy – In November, the economy added 120 thousand jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.6%. In a revised forecast, the number of jobs added in September and October was increased by 72 thousand jobs. This all sounds good, but it is estimated that 315 thousand people stopped looking for work.

Van Jones – The racial conspiracy theorist is trying to convince the Occupy movement to block major U.S. ports.

Kyoto Agreement - Canada, the country furthest from meeting its commitment to cut carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, may save as much as $6.7 billion by exiting the global climate change agreement and not paying for offset credits.

Firearms - US firearm sales reached a record 129,166 during Black Friday weekend that kicked off the holiday shopping season, this is a 32 percent increase from the previous all-time high, officials said.

Israel - “Obviously, no ally is more important than the state of Israel,” Obama said. “This administration – I try not to pat myself too much on the back – but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration,” he added. In other news, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to "reach out and mend fences" with Turkey, Egypt and other security partners in the Middle East, saying he is troubled by the Jewish state's growing isolation in the volatile region. This is nothing new; the Obama administration is placing the entire burden of peace in the Middle East on Israel. Meanwhile, speaking for most people here, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the emerging result of the first round of parliamentary voting in Egypt “very, very disturbing” and expressed concern about the fate of the landmark 1979 Egyptian Israeli peace treaty.

Welfare - A new Census Bureau report shows the number welfare recipients increased during the recession. According to Politico, participation in the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program among families with children under the age of 18 jumped from 1.4 million to 1.7 million between 2006 and 2009. 

AIDS - After criticisms that he wasn't doing enough to follow in the footsteps of George W. Bush on AIDS research, President Obama will increase AIDS funding by $50 million. 

DEA - In the latest U.S.-Mexico Obama Justice Department corruption saga, the New York Times is reporting Drug Enforcement Administration undercover agents have been laundering millions of dollars in Mexican Cartel profits in an effort to "catch the big fish," just as they tried to do by allowing thousands of guns to walk during Operation Fast and Furious.

Climate Change - Several animal species including gorillas in Rwanda and tigers in Bangladesh could risk extinction if the impact of climate change and extreme weather on their habitats is not addressed, a U.N. report showed on Sunday. Seriously? After UN reports that Polar Bears were drowning due to a rise in sea level was refuted, who believes any nonsense the UN reports?

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/8/11)

Chevy Volt - Federal officials say they are investigating the safety of the lithium-ion battery in General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt after a second battery fire following crash-testing of the electric car.

Homeland Security - Starting next year, jaguars will be the target of an extensive network of remote cameras (at a cost of 771 thousand dollars) placed across Southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico by Homeland Security.

Barney Frank – The Massachusetts Democrat will retire and not seek a 17^th term. The good news for Democrats is it is very unlikely this district will elect anyone but a liberal. That being said, it is becoming apparent that Democrat pollsters do not see significant House gains in the 2012 election.

Capital Punishment - A condemned inmate, Gary Haugen, who was scheduled to be executed next month in Oregon, is now slamming Gov. John Kitzhaber for giving him a reprieve, saying the governor didn't have the guts to carry out the execution. Kitzhaber does not believe in capital punishment.  

EU Debt - President Barack Obama pressed European Union officials last week to reach a definitive solution to their sovereign debt crisis which is emerging as a major 2012 U.S. election worry. How is that for hypocrisy – Obama, who is responsible for 4 trillion dollars of debt, is preaching others about debt concerns?

2012 – ABC’s Jake Tapper points out that our “unprecedented” President is making more history by “campaigning on taxpayer dime”.

Medicare – Unless Congress acts before Jan. 1, doctors face a 27 percent cut in their fees for treating Medicare patients. That could undermine healthcare for millions of elderly and disabled beneficiaries. This may also force many doctors to stop seeing Medicare patients entirely.

NY Times – Thomas Edsall writes that Democrats have abandoned the white working class in favor of highly educated liberals and minorities.

Egypt – Islamists won a 65% majority in their national election with the rogue Muslim Brotherhood Party being the largest faction.

China - The Chinese Defense Ministry is upset with the U.S. for upgrading our military alliance with Australia.

Solar Energy – Was Solyndra the beginning of a solar market collapse? “Of the few hundred or so solar panel makers worldwide, just 20 to 40 are expected to remain standing in a few years time”, said Mark Bachman, a renewables analyst at Avian Securities.

Gallup – The polling company now ranks Obama’s approval ratings lower than any President since Eisenhower (at this juncture of their presidency).

Fitch – The rating company has downgraded U.S. treasury bonds outlook from positive to negative, although they are still rated AAA.

National Debt Donations – Over the past 50 years the United States government has received 83 million dollars in donations to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, the contributions don’t specifically go to pay off existing debt (yes, there is a federal program which accepts donations for the national debt – but I do not see any of those wealthy liberals donating to it – you know the ones that want to be taxed more). The government deposits these funds in the Treasury Department’s general fund, in essence the government’s main checking account. “The gifts go toward funding the federal government, not to pay off the debt,” said Mckayla Braden, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of the Public Debt.

Obama's Lowlights (12/5/11)

Russia – According to the Christian Science Monitor “Russia will target US anti-missile sites in Europe, deploy advanced radars to monitor all missile launches from NATO territory, and might even withdraw from the New START arms reduction treaty that came into force this year unless Washington takes dramatic steps to allay Moscow's concerns over plans to deploy major elements of an anti-missile shield in several European countries, President Dmitry Medvedev warned this week.”

Congress - Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat and the head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said this past week he will not seek an eighth term in the House of Representatives, blaming congressional gridlock for his decision.

Economy – Black Friday sales were estimated at a record 52 billion dollars (a 6.6% gain over last year). This may be a good sign for the economy.

Wildfires – A recent report cited that as many as 30 wildfires have been started by illegal aliens along the Mexican border in Arizona.

Don Berwick – The chief of Medicare has resigned. Berwick was the point man in the Obama administration for implementing ObamaCare.

Redistricting – A Texas court decided on a redistricting map, for the state of Texas, which heavily favors Democrats. Census results awarded Texas four additional congressional seats and they all could end up in the hands of Democrats with the proposed map.

China – Obama has been preaching the U.S. should be more like China when it comes to investing in infrastructure. This past week the roof blew off terminal 3 at Beijing’s airport (the 2^nd busiest in the world).

Dow – The Dow Jones posted its worst Thanksgiving week showing since the Great Depression.

Obama Gear – It is the holiday season and the White House is in the spirit offering consumers a 10% savings when they buy any Obama Gear.

Florida Prison – Lake County Judge, Donna Miller, provides non-violent offenders a chance to get out of prison early with her “lose-a-pound, gain-a-day” plan.

Religion – The military has ordered the removal of a cross from a chapel located on a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan.

Nanny State – A 200 pound Cleveland third grader was removed from his family and put in foster care.

Climate Change - A new study in the journal Science suggests that the global climate may be less sensitive to carbon dioxide fluctuations than predicted by the most extreme projections, and maybe slightly less than the best estimates of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Occupy Wall Street - The Associated Press is reporting that Occupy Wall Street is planning a benefit album, the proceeds of which will help fund the movement protesting income inequality.

GQ – MSNBC host, Ed Schultz, and President Obama made GQ’s list of the 25 least influential people in 2011.

Pakistan - As if Pakistan was not already a volatile ally, the death of 24 Pakistani soliders due to what the country says was a NATO drone attack has made the country decide to temporarily close border crossings used by NATO for their work in Afghanistan.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)

Obama's Lowlights (12/1/11)

Michelle Obama – The Obama’s are already in full campaign mode. Michelle attended the NASCAR final this past week, in Miami, and was booed loudly by the crowd.

Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen – In a Wall Street Journal piece, the two Democratic Pollsters have been pushing hard for Obama to step aside in 2012 in favor of Hillary Clinton.

Intelligence – Hezbollah and Iran have captured 12 U.S. spies, which is obviously a huge blow to our intelligence system. Meanwhile, the U.S. and allies are hitting Iran with more sanctions (that will not work) over its nuclear program. In other news, the FBI declined to pursue a case against an "al-Qaida sympathizer" accused of plotting to bomb police stations and post offices in the New York area because they believed he was mentally unstable and incapable of pulling it off.

Convicts – They are using Facebook, within prison walls, to harass victims and intimidate witnesses.

HIV – People with the HIV virus hit a record high, which is blamed partly on the fact that there are drugs to treat the ailment.

Super Committee – They announced this past week its inability to agree on a deal to cut at least $1.2 trillion dollars from the U.S. debt. This should surprise no one since the 12 members on the committee have voting records which are very partisan. Both parties are now playing the blame game (led by the President) for the committees’ failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Dale Kildee – The 18 term Michigan Democratic congressman has been accused of child sexual abuse by a relative. The crime took place 50 years ago.

School Districts – Districts strapped for cash have started to find ways to raise revenue by advertising on school buses and even on report cards.

Mexican Border – This past week, three drug cartel tunnels were discovered between the U.S. and Mexico.

Utah – Utah has become the latest state to face a lawsuit from the DOJ challenging its immigration law. Utah is now the third state to face DOJ lawsuits for their immigration laws (Arizona and Alabama have also been charged).

NOAA – Richard Gaines, a reporter from the Gloucester Times reports about the quid pro quo crony politics within the NOAA. In his article he states “A $5 billion foundation that has spent tens of millions of dollars promoting the catch share commodification of New England's and other U.S. fisheries has chosen a firm with close ties to NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco to evaluate the nation's newest catch share programs.”

Occupy Wall Street – The LA Times Reports “City officials have offered protesters a $1-a-year lease on a 10,000-square-foot office space near City Hall.”

Tony Rezko – The former Obama fundraiser received a 10 year sentence for extortion and fraud.

Economy – Third quarter GDP has been revised from 2.5% down to 2%. However, there was some good news because October housing sales rose by 1.4%.

Post Office – They will be raising prices across the board in January including a one cent increase on a letter.

American Bar Association (ABA) – The ABA has declared that many of Obama’s judicial nominees are “not qualified” to be federal judges. In fact, the ABA says Obama non-qualified candidates already outnumber the number deemed unqualified put forth during the entire Clinton and Bush administrations.

My Book: Is America Dying? (Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble)