Obama's Wrong Left Turn

President Obama is in trouble. His poll numbers fluctuate wildly on a daily basis. The polls themselves are all over the place increasingly reflecting the bias of the poll takers so it’s hard to grasp what’s what. Unfortunately for Obama, these poll fluctuations seem to be based more on the state of the Republican primary rather than on Obama and his policies. Depending on which Republican is slamming whom, Obama alternately moves between winning against various Republican candidates then losing to the same guys only a few days later.

Sooner or later Obama’s record will catch up to him, and that will be a tough nut for him to crack. When the Republicans finally do settle on a candidate, increasingly looking like Republican moderate Romney, then Obama will have to face the most devastating poll number of all…his approval rating, which is abysmal. This stand alone figure indicates the American public is ready for a change so long as the generic Republican is not objectionable.

While Obama and his buddies in the press and Hollywood gleefully exfoliate what they perceive to be right wing whack jobs, the truth of the matter is Barack Obama made a wrong turn to the left in 2010 when the America overwhelmingly objected to his progressive policies and punished anyone associated with Obamacare. Instead of moving to the middle, Obama returned to his true roots, the extreme left. His White House advisors deserted him in droves. He replaced all of them with folks even more to the left. The one exception was the appointment of White House Chief of Staff Bill Dailey, a pragmatist from Chicago, who made polite excuses and resigned this past January.

What is left in White House are left wing academics and “bomb” throwers. It was embarrassing to watch Energy Secretary Chu in front of Congress back track on his left wing statement of just two years ago that America has to find a way to allow its gasoline prices to rise to the level of Europe in order to promote “alternative” energy in the United States. He doesn’t own a car. He defines the proverbial left wing Ivory Tower.

So what is the White House to do? Run against Sarah Palin and gin up issues like contraception with a Democratic operative pushed in front of the cameras to feign poverty and reproductive rights for women. It backfired, and the all of the hate and vitriol from left wing hate mongers has spilled out all over alternative media and the blogosphere showing these folks for what they are. 

In an overt play to stir up fear in the Hispanic community, the left wing press has been ginning up the issue of whether English should be the primary language in Puerto Rico should it become the 51st state.  I am certainly going to lose sleep over that one notwithstanding Puerto Rico figured out a long time ago that it gets the benefits of statehood without any of the responsibility by just leaving things as they are.

While the media had been focusing on those horrible tea party folks and ignorant, toothless right wingers from the south, they have ignored the grass roots rumblings from the far left in the Democratic Party. A group called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an extreme left wing organization with roots in Moveon.org has begun to identify moderate Democrats at various levels of government from Congress down to mayor, and is beginning to run “true” Democrats, translate: leftists, against them with identifiable races in New Mexico and Illinois. These folks will make the Tea Party look like a walk in the park.

At the end of the day, political propaganda loses out to the truth. It happens 100% of the time. Sooner or later Obama is going to have to produce his vision for his second term. More of the same won’t cut it…and neither will the strategy of running the 2008 campaign all over again. Sarah Palin isn’t running this time. He may be liked, but his credibilty among the electorate is sinking...because in all things Obama, look at what he does...not what he says.  America is becoming more and more afraid of what he is doing.

Afghanistan: The Just War

A friend said at lunch today that American troops should be proud for their service keeping America safe. The non-existent War on Terrorism was, and is, being fought over there instead of here. He is right. God bless our troops.

But like it or not, wars are political. The Mideast wars are no different. How much can we expect of our troops before they snap? Case and point, the master sergeant who lost it and went on a killing rampage in Afghanistan this past week. This followed several weeks of violent protests and threats by the Islamists because of the accidental burning of two copies of the Koran used by prisoners to pass messages. We have since found out that this soldier had already served three tours in Iraq, and sustained a head injury on the last tour before being sent to Afghanistan. I know very little about the military, but am I the only one who wonders how this guy was sent on four tours of duty in a war zone over a relative short period of time?

This begs the bigger question. What are we doing there? Obama criticized Bush during the last presidential election because of the war in Iraq. Obama said Afghanistan was the right war...the just war. We were in Iraq because intelligence accepted by the entire world showed Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction. We didn’t find any, and there is strong evidence that they were spirited out of the country into Syria during the worthless political kabuki dance in the United Nations. But at least we had a reason. And don't be surprised the world doesn't find some of these weapons during the course of the Syrian civil war.

We also had a reason in Afghanistan. The Taliban provided safe harbor to Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda thugs. The first battle of the 21st century was a cavalry charge in northern Afghanistan. Unbelievable! But over the years, Al Qaeda has been just about neutralized, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

The Taliban is another story. These folks are a bunch of religious zealots fed by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. There is an infinite supply of Taliban. The Russians with 400,000 plus troops couldn’t defeat these guys. What makes Obama think he can? Obama has already announced we are pulling out with a date specific. And that is going to make the Afghani good guys, such as they are, snuggle up to us? They have already bought their plane tickets to Miami.

Obama has failed to define what the objective is in Afghanistan. How does he define victory? He can’t. And to be frank, I don’t blame him because it is unwinnable. Since he already has announced a full withdrawal date, he might as well pack up the machine guns and come home now before more people lose their lives in a struggle that he can’t define, can't be won, and already has a termination date. What’s the point of dragging this on any longer?

Through the Bush years and now the Obama years, I suggested that the United States lease a large portion of land and establish a major military base like Guantanamo in Cuba just to keep our eyes on things in case they get any more ideas about blowing up some of our buildings. Then to paraphrase Newt Gingrich, let the Afghan people alone to live their own miserable lives.

A Fluke by any other name....: Pay for my Sex Part Deux

Sandra Fluke is a Georgetown University law student who went before Congress to testify she wants you to pay for her sexual activity. She believes health insurance should cover birth control pills. After all, she has tuition to pay and can’t afford her estimate of $3,000.00 for her birth control pills while she is paying tuition. Well, her tuition is actually paid for and she does get a stipend for living expenses. It just doesn’t cover her birth control pills. And the cost of those pills is closer to $1,000.00.  Her testimony was refused.

So here is this sanctimonious law student, going to school on somebody else’s dime, receiving a grant for living expenses, and whining that she doesn’t want to have to pay for birth control. On top of everything else, the news commentator tonight pronounced her name as if it rhymed with “duck”. You can’t make this stuff up.

Rush Limbaugh analyzed this situation on the radio, and came to the same conclusion as me. He called this woman a slut. By definition, asking people for money for sex makes you a slut, or a whore, or a prostitute. His comments caused quite an uproar, and he has since apologized for them unlike his liberal equivilents who used much worse names to describe Sarah and Bristol Palin as well as other conservative Republican women.  Then there is Bill Maher repeatedly calling George Bush a "douche bag."

Of course, I was attacked at a meeting by a prominent local Democratic lawyer who looked at me across a conference table and announced to every one sitting there that my political party hates sex. I replied “Counselor, Republicans love sex. We just think you should pay for your own sex, not us. I suggest you buy a condom. They cost fifty cents.”  And I suggest that Ms. Fluke buy a condom, or learn the rhythm method since she is attending a pricey Catholic School, or just refrain if she is so broke. I know it’s difficult. But she can do it.

Obama has once again shown the progressive view: to hell with tomorrow, if it feels good, do it today. What we end up with, contraception notwithstanding since it is widely available for free anyway to those who can’t afford it, is a bunch of people procreating like rabbits with no eye to any responsibility. How have we reached this point?

Piers Morgan on CNN was appropriately incensed at Rush Limbaugh’s comments. Morgan opined that if Ms. Fluke wants to have sex, it’s her business. He is right. It is her business. Not mine. But if I am paying for it through insurance premiums, then it becomes my business. Government has mandated it, and now it is subject to government control and scrutiny.  You know...we the people...want to know about Ms. Fluke's sex life.

The Progressives have miscalculated on this one. First, the United States Supreme Court does not live in a bubble and is seeing firsthand the practical consequences of Obamacare vis-a-vis individuals and religion, right before it hears arguments on Obamacare’s constitutionality. Second, the American public isn’t stupid. How we survived paying for our own birth control all of these years is beyond me. The public will tell the pollsters politically correct answers pollsters want to hear; but around the water cooler, the kitchen table, and the voting booth, in their heart of hearts, people see this for what it is.

As for Ms. Fluke, my advice to you is to not discuss your sex life in front of Congress on national television. You may be a very nice person, but asking someone else to pay for your birth control makes you look like…well…A Fluke by any other name is still a Fluke.

A final word about the harrang surrounding Rush Limbaugh.  Nothing is more hypocritical than a liberal.  Do you remember what they called Sarah Palin?  Do remember how they savaged her daughter?  Do you remember what they did to Christine O'Donnell who ran for Senator from Delaware?  Do you remember what they did to ALL of the women who were accosted by Bill Clinton?  While anything coming from the mouth of Bill Maher, no matter how vile or disgusting, is perfectly fine.  Rush had no business apologizing.  Liberal commentators and sponsors, clean your own house first.

Let Them Ride Bikes

If you think for a minute that Barack Obama gives a rip about any of the economic strife going on in this country think again. If you think for a minute Barack Obama gives a rip about high gas prices, you need to think again and again and again. Not only does he not care about high gas prices, he approves. He is an ideologue, and that is his ideology.

Obama did the two-step yesterday and today on the now rapidly escalating cost of gasoline. He stood there and lied to the American public. He is not going to increase leasing. He is still closing off land to drilling. He said he is going to double down on green energy and make gasoline from algae. Oh boy!!! Where do I get some of that?

I am not opposed to making fuel from algae. I am not opposed to any green initiatives except those that are given to his friends who then steal the money ala Solyndra. I am for alternative energy. It is a good idea. But it doesn’t help us now. Sooner or later we will get there as oil supplies begin to deplete and it becomes economically feasible to do so. And yes, the government should fund research to allow this wondrous thing to happen. Brazil gets its all of its fuel for cars from sugar cane. It is a doable project. But we are years away from an practical implementation.

And it does nothing for the economic shock to our already fragile system that is coming over the next few months. We cannot tolerate another round of high fuel prices. I have written over and over and over again, energy is the key to the American economy. The financial industry was the fire that almost destroyed the American economy in 2008, but it was $4.00 plus gas that lit the fuse. Energy is THE center of our economy.

Obama hates fossil fuels. His ideology is not based on providing fuel for our cars. His ideology is based on redistribution of income and resources, and global warming. Fossil fuels, any fossil fuels, are anathema to him. He will pay lip service to taking care of the high cost of gasoline, but as in all things Obama, look at what he does, not what he says. He wants high gasoline prices to feed his ideological belief system. In the process, he may “open” areas for drilling, but the permit process will stop any drilling in its place. He is about to raid the big, bad oil companies. Public Employee Pension Funds…beware!!! You own the stock in those big bad oil companies. And he will continue his tax breaks for cars that take 12 hours to charge so you can drive 20 miles without gas. Of course, he hasn’t figured out what to do with those environmentally unsafe batteries when they wear out. Maybe he can store them with the spent nuclear reactor rods. Wait a minute. He hasn’t figured out where to put those either, or how to transport them without the environmental whack jobs laying across the train tracks.

Now he is mocking Republicans and their drilling proposals.  It will take 5 years before they produce any oil.  Guess what!!!  That's what they said five years ago, and five years from then is now.  Of course, approving the Keystone pipeline doesn't take any time at all. 

All energy is important from whatever the source. Right now, we need Drill Here…Drill Now!!! But don’t hold your breath…just hold onto your wallet when you go to vote in November. Anyone got a bike?

Whitney Houston's Gift to Chris Christie: The Republican Nomination

It’s time the Republican Party wakes up and smells the coffee. The Republican nomination for President should not be a longevity award like a gold watch. Unfortunately, it is that way more often than not, and when it happens, the Republicans lose. Over the past several years, two longevity candidates stand out: Bob Dole and John McCain. Both fine men, both lousy presidential nominees.

John McCain is the more blatant of the two. The rank and file of the party didn’t want him. Even his own mother said people should hold their noses and vote for John. When Mom knows the score, that’s pretty bad!!! Huckabee, Giuliani, and/or Romney would have made a better candidate in 2008. Financial collapse notwithstanding, could any candidate be more boring and uninspiring than John McCain?

Here’s one. Bob Dole in 1996. Another war hero, but geez oh man. Couldn’t we get somebody breathing? (Although combine his vote with Ross Perot’s vote, the total was only 1.5% less than Bill Clinton’s, which says more about Clinton and Perot than Dole).

This year we are facing the same situation again. The Republican establishment, and the press, and most everyone I know think that Romney should and will win the nomination. The problem is he is as inspiring as a rock. Nice guy, probably qualified, but he’s like watching grass grow. Sometimes slow and steady is good. This isn’t one of those times.

Opposing him are Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. No matter what Romney does, he still can’t get over 38% of the vote. Right now, Santorum is the anti-Romney candidate after taking it over from Gingrich who shot himself in the foot as always. Nobody is sure Santorum can hold on, but he is showing strength in Ohio and Michigan, while Gingrich will probably win Georgia.

All of this is leading to a brokered convention. Romney cannot with a majority of delegates going into the convention with 38% of the vote.  Do you really think that Santorum or Gingrich or Ron Paul will release their delegates to Romney? Paul might because he has a personal relationship with Romney, but Santorum and Gingrich are shrewd. And I think in their heart of hearts they know they can’t beat Obama, and they don't like Romney.

Sitting in the wings is Chris Christie of New Jersey who just bought himself 5% of the black vote by ordering the flag flown at ½ mast for Whitney Houston and sticking by his decision against military criticism. He attended the 4 hour marathon funeral, and got praise from the pulpit.  What a masterful stroke of political genius!!!

Christie is the only candidate who can beat Barack Obama this fall. He sounds like a conservative and has stood up to the unions bolstering his conservative credentials. But he basically a Romney moderate with Santorum’s east coast blue collar appeal. He is the perfect candidate.

He appeals to independents by appearing on shows like Oprah. He has now endeared himself to the black community opening up an alternative to African Americans who would feel unable to vote for a white bread Mormon. All Christie has to do is to attract 2 or 3% of the African American community, and Obama is done. If he adds Marco Rubio to the ticket, it is a political strategist's dream: bringing together conservatives, moderates, Latino’s, and African American’s.  Christie can win New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and even maybe New York. 

Christie continues to impress me. He is taking advantage of every possibility to appear as a reasonable and sensible alternative to those who tearing each other apart in this bizarre primary season. One should not only look to where he is appearing, but where he is not. As the primary approaches on February 28 in Michigan and Arizona, don’t look for Christie in either of those states campaigning for Romney. On Super Tuesday, don’t look for Christie in Ohio, which is where Santorum has chosen to make his stand.  He has dutifully stood by Romney like a good little, well not so little, Republican.  Now it's every man for himself.

Here’s the deal. The Republicans will give the nod to Christie at the convention. They will give the nod to Rubio at the convention. Romney will be tapped to be Secretary of State, and Santorum can have his pick of whatever is left. Energy Secretary might be a good choice.

You can bet on it!!!!!

The Death of the Constitution: Obama/Ginsburg/New York Times

If you had any doubt as to how the progressive movement feels about our Constitution, this past week should eliminate it. These folks have finally exposed themselves for what they are. From the President, to the Supreme Court, to the press, we now have confirmation of their disdain for the founding documents of this country. This is why President Obama and his progressive movement colleagues are dangerous to America and our way of life. They view the Constitution as a flawed document and America as a flawed country. Their goal is to get around the Constitution rather than uphold it. Are you ready to throw the Constitution under the bus?

1) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, said in an interview aired in Egypt of all places: “I would not look to the U.S. Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012…I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary….You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights…” Really? Further references were made to human rights protected in other countries and not in the United States, including the right to a free education, free health care, and food. Guess how she is going to vote on Obama care?

2) In one of his hard hitting interviews, Matt Lauer asked Barack Obama how he feels about his supporters being upset he was not the transformational president he promised to be. Obama responded that people are frustrated but “It turns out our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.” Really? Let’s see. You circumvented the congressional oversight of your cabinet by appointing a bunch of czars. You made “recess” appointments to various positions in your administration when Congress was not in recess. You are attempting to strangle the carbon fuel industry by fiat after Congress refused to pass your cap and trade bill. And now you are forcing the Catholic Church to give its employees an insurance policy that provides contraception, which is against the Catholic religion, while giving exemptions to all of your union buddies who don’t want to comply with Obamacare. Hail Caesar. The emperor is alive and well and living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

3) The New York Times, in an editorial written by Adam Liptak, states that the United States Constitution is in decline, and thus the country is in decline. He compares it to Windows 3.1, because it doesn’t guarantee things like health care, housing and education. He further states that most countries look to the framework provided in the constitutions of India, South Africa, and New Zealand…which are more “progressive.”

In a rebuttal commentary, Ben Shapiro stated that the United States is moving towards an international constitution rather than an historic constitution because the citizens of this country are coming to believe that the government is there to provide for them rather than to protect our liberties. Mr. Shapiro is exactly right. That is the fundamental change Barack Obama wants to impose on our country. Real rights, real freedom are perverted.  “The rest of the world has relied on America’s constitutional mindset to support it through trials and tribulations for well over a century. Who will support us when we abandon the philosophy that has stood for American freedom for centuries?” Amen, Mr. Shapiro. Amen!

Who Killed the Middle Class?

Ever wonder what happened to the middle class in America? Are you joining the class warfare whack jobs led by Barack Obama blaming the rich for the decline of the middle class? Do you think the rich got rich off the backs of the middle of the middle class? If you do, read Karl Marx…except for him it was the middle class who got rich off the working class. Who knew?

Folks, the middle class has declined in America not because of the rich, but because government policy has encouraged the decline and demise of things that allowed the growth of the middle class.  It’s the government stupid. Here are 5 reasons for the decline of the middle class.

1) Bad Tax Policy: It’s very simple. If you can build your factory over there and pay a lower tax rate….you will build your factory over there and pay a lower tax rate, and leave the money over there along with the jobs that go with it.

2) Minimum Wage: What a scam on the American public. Not all jobs should justify a wage that will support a family of four. The largest segment of unemployed people is those under the age of 25. Entry level jobs have become so expensive they just don’t hire grocery baggers anymore. It’s cheaper to buy a scanner.

3) Union Regulations: If you can build a factory where workers don’t have to join a union as opposed to where they have to join a union, you will go to where the workers don’t have to join a union. And unfortunately for union advocates, one doesn’t have to join a union in China or Mexico or Indonesia or Korea or Vietnam. Even within the United States, job growth occurs in "right to work" states unless there is a compelling reason for the manufacturer to be in a union state peculiar to that business.  Watch Catepillar, Canada, and Indiana.  America should take a lesson.

4) The EPA: If you can build your factory where you can get through a reasonable regulatory process without having to worry about the welfare of some obscure bug and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure you have high efficiency toilets…you will build your factory where there is a reasonable and timely regulatory process. As the man said, we fought WWII and beat the Nazis and Japanese in 3 ½ years in a world war…but it has taken more than 8 years to study the Keystone XL pipeline and Obama deferred it for political reasons. That's not funny.

5) Government Regs: Pretend you are Boeing. If you could build your plant in China where the government will not tell you what state you must build in through a fascist NLRB, you will build your plant in China. Contrary to what has been in the papers, Boeing will never build another plant in the United States.

And here is the interesting thing. Obama thinks that a muffin shop is the be all and end all of small business. It’s not. Small business is a factory that employs a couple hundred to a couple thousand people. As those companies move overseas to get away from all of that stuff, the owners of those small business GET RICH!!!!!! What a surprise as these folks learn how easy it is to do business over there as opposed to over here.

So…if you want to know where all those middle class jobs went, and you want to blame the rich robber barons, you better take a look at that government, the supposed defender of the middle and the working classes in America. With friends like that, who need enemies? This is not complicated stuff. Faced with the above, where would you build your factory?