Winners and Dinners ..........

I have scoured the text of Senate Bill 1070 and I have found no mandate that those from beyond our Southern border wear an armband with a yellow sombrero on it and so I feel bound to ask, is there no end to the perfidy of the Left.

On the one hand they scream about the "Nazis" in Arizona and demand that immigration control be the sole responsibility of the Federal authorities while remaining secure in the knowledge that the Feds haven't in the past, don't now, and will not in the future while the current ethos persists.

The Obama administration and Democratic Congress's hardcore progressive base is demanding that the liberal-dominated government get to work on its promise of immigration "reform."And judging by the rhetoric and movements of the Democrats, it looks like that's their plan.While the timing of the fight has been in question -- though it's now looking more and more imminent -- there should be no doubt that the pro-amnesty Left is preparing for the open-borders battle royal.

After months of sitting on the sidelines of the health care debate, immigration advocates brought their message directly to Washington. Tens of thousands of immigrants and their supporters descended on the nation's capital to participate in the pro-amnesty "March for America."

While the House of Representatives wound down the final votes on ObamaCare, liberal activists paraded around the National Mall wielding signs that read, "No Human Being Is Illegal" and "We Work for America." Their message for President Obama and his colleagues in Congress was clear: “We want amnesty, and we want it now.”

The rally's list of participants reads like a who's who of the Left's heavy hitters: National Council of La Raza; NAACP; SEIU; Southern Poverty Law Center; AFLCIO; National Urban League; ACORN; National Education Association; Code Pink; George Soros' Center for American Progress and many more. It is no coincidence that groups on the Left are growing more and more anxious about pushing through their plans for "comprehensive" reform as the close of the 111th Congress draws nearer.

The electoral support of liberal, pro-amnesty groups such as the National Council of La Raza and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is key to Democrats' electoral success. These groups were ardent supporters of Obama's health care overhaul legislation, and now their leaders are weighing in on immigration reform. Groups such as SEIU know a plan for amnesty translates into millions of new votes for liberal causes and candidates that union leadership fervently support.

In June 2009, SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina told a crowd of progressives gathered for the America's Future Now! conference that the Left's battle for immigration reform is a battle for political power. "When they voted in November, they voted overwhelmingly for progressive candidates," Medina said, referring to Latino voters. "Barack Obama got two out of every three voters that showed up."

Medina, a long-time union heavyweight, has been honored by Chicago's Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) for his ongoing work for progressive immigration reform and became an honorary DSA chairman in 2004. He has been advising Barack Obama on immigration policy since 2008 when he joined Obama's National Latino Advisory Council."I think there's two things that matter for the progressive community," he continued. "No. 1, if we are to expand this electorate to win, the progressive community needs to solidly be on the side of immigrants, that we'll expand and solidify the progressive coalition for the future. ... No. 2, we reform the immigration laws, it puts 12 million people on the path to citizenship and eventually voters ... if we have 8 million new voters who ... will be voting, we will be creating a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle."

Not only would a new policy of amnesty mean bigger support for the Left's political causes, but as vice president of the radical SEIU, Medina knows his union also stands to drastically expand its dues-paying membership.Obama and his progressive colleagues know that liberal immigration reform would be strategically advantageous for the Left's political future and have worked for more than two decades to secure an easy path to citizenship for America's growing number of illegal aliens.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus added "earned amnesty for illegal immigrants" to its list of top priorities in 2006. That same year, Obama's strongly pro-union secretary of labor, Hilda Solis, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote in The Nation: "It is time to implement a plan that grants legal status to hardworking and taxpaying immigrant workers already established in this country."

In remarks delivered in July 2008, then-candidate Obama announced to a crowd of La Raza supporters, "Make no mistake about it—the Latino community holds this election in your hands. ... I know how powerful this community is. Together, we won't just win an election; we will transform this nation."

So there you have it. This is not a “stealth” strategy. It’s out there for anyone to see. Note this though; No mention is made of the “humanitarian” issues which the liberal Left trumpets through bull horns at every march or demonstration. On the contrary, it’s all about politics and power and ultimately money. But challenge it and the Obama regime and you’re a Nazi and a Racist.

I know that for a fact as I was labeled thus last night at another dinner. Perhaps I should dine alone in future. At least, it would minimize my heartburn !

The Shot Heard in Washington DC .....

Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution of these United States reads as follows:-

“The United States shall guarantee to every State of this Union a republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.”

Within the borders of these United States there are at least 20 million people who are here illegally. Note that I did not specify any one nationality nor any one ethnic group.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 7000 homicides annually are committed by illegal aliens. Now this does not mean that every illegal alien is a murderer but it is, surely, a number to be reckoned with.

No one really knows how many illegal aliens there are within the State of Arizona but the best estimate for Metropolitan Phoenix is in the many tens of thousands and the real number may be as high as an order of magnitude greater than this.

But we do know with more reasonable certainty that more than 1000 cross the border between Mexico and Arizona every 24 hours. Again, I make no accusation or generalization about ethnicity or nationality as, on several occasions, abandoned Korans and Islamic prayer rugs have been found in the Sonoran Desert.

Now, if these kinds of numbers don’t constitute “invasion” to you, I’d like to know what it would take to change your mind.

Clearly, therefore, the Federal Government of the United States is not living up to it’s constitutionally mandated responsibilities and so last week the State Government of Arizona decided to do something about it. Thus, last Friday Governor Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 into law and certain predictable factions went ballistic. Among these were, of course, many Hispanic groups such as “La Raza” which for the Spanish-challenged translates into “The Race”.

One of the goals of this racist organization is to incite its members to overthrow the legitimate governments of the United States and certain individual States and return huge swathes of the southwestern U.S. to Mexico. That said, no matter how improbable it might be, why would people who risked everything to leave Mexico want to rejoin it by moving the border a few hundred miles north?

Perhaps it’s a bit like the Palestinians who insisted that Israel forsake Gaza. And when the Israelis did, the Palestinians trashed the greenhouses and the agriculture including a vibrant flower industry and are doing their best to return it to desert.

Anyway, back to SB 1070: Al Sharpton had to get into this as it seems that he’s Obama’s “Man in the Street” or the “Rent a Mob personified" even though, as he allowed on his radio show that, many African Americans are dead set against illegal immigration and amnesty because both would rob Americans of job opportunities. But Al really doesn’t care about that. He’ll be on TV with a bullhorn and that’s what really matters.

OK. It’s time to stop setting the scene and raise the curtain.

The provisions of SB 1070 require nothing more than the provisions of federal law.

I am an immigrant and for years, I carried my “Green Card” and I assimilated.

Years ago, California built a fence from the Pacific Ocean almost to the Arizona border and so the major influx of illegals moved east. Which is why Arizona’s efforts have caused Governor Richardson of New Mexico to protest. Well, he’s Hispanic to start with and he’s the next border state to the east of Arizona. And he doesn’t want our problems. Tough. Then he should get on Obama’s case as well.

As I said earlier, SB 1070 does not build a wall. The Arizona governor has deployed some National Guard to the border. Of course, they cannot arrest illegals crossing but can only report the incident to the US Border Patrol.

And here’s a number to wrestle with. New York City has more cops than the United States has Border Patrol Agents.

The “Shot heard around the World” heralded the start of the American Revolution at Concord, Massachusetts. Well this later shot was surely heard in Washington DC as now “Cap and Trade” is shelved and Immigration Reform is on the fast track.

But the Democrats have a problem. Yes, this nation wants the Feds to address immigration. Most people including 70% of Arizonans want it curtailed and controlled. On the other hand, Cardinal Roger Mahoney is opposed to controls because he wants to see butts in pews. And Obama and his party want to see Dems in Polling Booths.

And it really doesn’t matter who they are nor how they got there.

But this is not the kind of reform which the American people want to see as the elections in November will surely attest.

Read 'Em and Weep!

The British National Health Service employs more people than almost any other organization in the World except for the Military of the People’s Republic of China and/or the Railroad System of India

Thus the revelation yesterday that the much touted cost of Obamacare is not accurate was not surprising. This was admitted in a publication by the Department of Health and Human Services. As I said, no surprise there and neither was the extent of the discrepancy

Those vulnerable Democrats whose votes for health care reform were predicated on the conceit that it would not add to the nation’s bloated deficit have today found themselves in a precarious position, as a new report by federal regulators indicated the health care remake will add $311 billion to the national deficit over the next ten years. So before the ink is dry on the legislation, we are well over the $1 Trillion which Obama crowed about.

“We estimate that overall national health expenditures under the health reform act would increase by a total of $311 billion (0.9 percent) during the calendar years 2010-2019,” the report, authored by the chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, read. “Although several provisions would help to reduce health care growth, their impact would be more than offset through 2019 by the higher health expenditures resulting from coverage expansions.”

The memorandum also warned the spending hike associated with the legislation may be understated, since the cuts in Medicare may be untenable and impractical.

Obama insisted the nation’s economic recovery and health care system were inextricably linked, and not reforming the latter could further depress the former. We could not afford not to reform the health care industry, the White House said at numerous junctions in the year-long debate.

But for all the talk over the past year about “bending the cost curve down,” CMS, the agency that is tasked with tracking national health care expenditures, has now projected that the new law will actually bend the cost curve in the opposite direction. That is, up. Not surprisingly, CMS notes that, “Numerous studies have demonstrated that individuals and families with health insurance use more health services than other-similar persons without insurance.” Thus, expanding coverage will mean greater usage of health care services. And this is precisely what the British NHS found as people would go to see their doctor to get a prescription for aspirin.

So just where is all the money going to go?

For the list of new Boards and Commissions which follow, I am indebted to a friend in Colorado who sent it to me and to Congressman Lee Terry of the 2nd District in Nebraska who compiled it. If you lack either the interest or the stamina to go down the list, I'll save you the trouble; There's 159 of them. As they say in poker games, Read ‘Em and Weep.

1. Grant program for consumer assistance offices (Section 1002, p. 37)
2. Grant program for states to monitor premium increases (Section 1003, p. 42)
3. Committee to review administrative simplification standards (Section 1104, p. 71)
4. Demonstration program for state wellness programs (Section 1201, p. 93)
5. Grant program to establish state Exchanges (Section 1311(a), p. 130)
6. State American Health Benefit Exchanges (Section 1311(b), p. 131)7.
7. Exchange grants to establish consumer navigator programs (Section 1311(i), p. 150)
8. Grant program for state cooperatives (Section 1322, p. 169)
9. Advisory board for state cooperatives (Section 1322(b)(3), p. 173)
10. Private purchasing council for state cooperatives (Section 1322(d), p. 177)11. State basic health plan programs (Section 1331, p. 201)
12. State-based reinsurance program (Section 1341, p. 226)
13. Program of risk corridors for individual and small group markets (Section 1342, p. 233)
14. Program to determine eligibility for Exchange participation (Section 1411, p. 267)
15. Program for advance determination of tax credit eligibility (Section 1412, p. 288)
16. Grant program to implement health IT enrollment standards (Section 1561, p. 370)
17. Federal Coordinated Health Care Office for dual eligible beneficiaries (Section 2602, p. 512)
18. Medicaid quality measurement program (Section 2701, p. 518)
19. Medicaid health home program for people with chronic conditions, and grants for planning same (Section 2703, p. 524)
20. Medicaid demonstration project to evaluate bundled payments (Section 2704, p. 532)
21. Medicaid demonstration project for global payment system (Section 2705, p. 536)
22. Medicaid demonstration project for accountable care organizations (Section 2706, p. 538)
23. Medicaid demonstration project for emergency psychiatric care (Section 2707, p. 540)
24. Grant program for delivery of services to individuals with postpartum depression (Section 2952(b), p. 591)
25. State allotments for grants to promote personal responsibility education programs (Section 2953, p. 596)
26. Medicare value-based purchasing program (Section 3001(a), p. 613)
27. Medicare value-based purchasing demonstration program for critical access hospitals (Section 3001(b), p. 637)
28. Medicare value-based purchasing program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 3006(a), p. 666)
29. Medicare value-based purchasing program for home health agencies (Section 3006(b), p. 668)
30. Interagency Working Group on Health Care Quality (Section 3012, p. 688)
31. Grant program to develop health care quality measures (Section 3013, p. 693)32. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 3021, p. 712)
33. Medicare shared savings program (Section 3022, p. 728)
34. Medicare pilot program on payment bundling (Section 3023, p. 739)
35. Independence at home medical practice demonstration program (Section 3024, p. 752)
36. Program for use of patient safety organizations to reduce hospital readmission rates (Section 3025(b), p. 775)
37. Community-based care transitions program (Section 3026, p. 776)
38. Demonstration project for payment of complex diagnostic laboratory tests (Section 3113, p. 800)
39. Medicare hospice concurrent care demonstration project (Section 3140, p. 850)
40. Independent Payment Advisory Board (Section 3403, p. 982)
41. Consumer Advisory Council for Independent Payment Advisory Board (Section 3403, p. 1027)
42. Grant program for technical assistance to providers implementing health quality practices (Section 3501, p. 1043)
43. Grant program to establish interdisciplinary health teams (Section 3502, p. 1048)
44. Grant program to implement medication therapy management (Section 3503, p. 1055)
45. Grant program to support emergency care pilot programs (Section 3504, p. 1061)
46. Grant program to promote universal access to trauma services (Section 3505(b), p. 1081)
47. Grant program to develop and promote shared decision-making aids (Section 3506, p. 1088)
48. Grant program to support implementation of shared decision-making (Section 3506, p. 1091)
49. Grant program to integrate quality improvement in clinical education (Section 3508, p. 1095)
50. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 3509(a), p. 1098)
51. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women’s Health (Section 3509(b), p. 1102)
52. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women’s Health (Section 3509(e), p. 1105)
53. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 3509(f), p. 1106)
54. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women’s Health (Section 3509(g), p. 1109)
55. National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council (Section 4001, p. 1114)
56. Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health (Section 4001(f), p. 1117)
57. Prevention and Public Health Fund (Section 4002, p. 1121)
58. Community Preventive Services Task Force (Section 4003(b), p. 1126)
59. Grant program to support school-based health centers (Section 4101, p. 1135)60. Grant program to promote research-based dental caries disease management (Section 4102, p. 1147)
61. Grant program for States to prevent chronic disease in Medicaid beneficiaries (Section 4108, p. 1174)
62. Community transformation grants (Section 4201, p. 1182)
63. Grant program to provide public health interventions (Section 4202, p. 1188)64. Demonstration program of grants to improve child immunization rates (Section 4204(b), p. 1200)
65. Pilot program for risk-factor assessments provided through community health centers (Section 4206, p. 1215)
66. Grant program to increase epidemiology and laboratory capacity (Section 4304, p. 1233)
67. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 4305, p. 1238)68. National Health Care Workforce Commission (Section 5101, p. 1256)
69. Grant program to plan health care workforce development activities (Section 5102(c), p. 1275)
70. Grant program to implement health care workforce development activities (Section 5102(d), p. 1279)
71. Pediatric specialty loan repayment program (Section 5203, p. 1295)
72. Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program (Section 5204, p. 1300)
73. Allied Health Loan Forgiveness Program (Section 5205, p. 1305)
74. Grant program to provide mid-career training for health professionals (Section 5206, p. 1307)
75. Grant program to fund nurse-managed health clinics (Section 5208, p. 1310)76. Grant program to support primary care training programs (Section 5301, p. 1315)
77. Grant program to fund training for direct care workers (Section 5302, p. 1322)78. Grant program to develop dental training programs (Section 5303, p. 1325)
79. Demonstration program to increase access to dental health care in underserved communities (Section 5304, p. 1331)
80. Grant program to promote geriatric education centers (Section 5305, p. 1334)81. Grant program to promote health professionals entering geriatrics (Section 5305, p. 1339)
82. Grant program to promote training in mental and behavioral health (Section 5306, p. 1344)
83. Grant program to promote nurse retention programs (Section 5309, p. 1354)84. Student loan forgiveness for nursing school faculty (Section 5311(b), p. 1360)85. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors and outcomes (Section 5313, p. 1364)
86. Public Health Sciences Track for medical students (Section 5315, p. 1372)
87. Primary Care Extension Program to educate providers (Section 5405, p. 1404)88. Grant program for demonstration projects to address health workforce shortage needs (Section 5507, p. 1442)
89. Grant program for demonstration projects to develop training programs for home health aides (Section 5507, p. 1447)
90. Grant program to establish new primary care residency programs (Section 5508(a), p. 1458)
91. Program of payments to teaching health centers that sponsor medical residency training (Section 5508(c), p. 1462)
92. Graduate nurse education demonstration program (Section 5509, p. 1472)
93. Grant program to establish demonstration projects for community-based mental health settings (Section 5604, p. 1486)
94. Commission on Key National Indicators (Section 5605, p. 1489)
95. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 6102, p. 1554)
96. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 6103(a)(3), p. 1561)
97. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 6103(b)(3), p. 1568)
98. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 6112, p. 1589)
99. Demonstration projects for nursing facilities involved in the culture change movement (Section 6114, p. 1597)
100. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1619)
101. Standing methodology committee for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1629)
102. Board of Governors for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1638)
103. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (Section 6301(e), p. 1656)104. Elder Justice Coordinating Council (Section 6703, p. 1773)
105. Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation (Section 6703, p. 1776)
106. Grant program to create elder abuse forensic centers (Section 6703, p. 1783)107. Grant program to promote continuing education for long-term care staffers (Section 6703, p. 1787)
108. Grant program to improve management practices and training (Section 6703, p. 1788)
109. Grant program to subsidize costs of electronic health records (Section 6703, p. 1791)
110. Grant program to promote adult protective services (Section 6703, p. 1796)111. Grant program to conduct elder abuse detection and prevention (Section 6703, p. 1798)
112. Grant program to support long-term care ombudsmen (Section 6703, p. 1800)
113. National Training Institute for long-term care surveyors (Section 6703, p. 1806)
114. Grant program to fund State surveys of long-term care residences (Section 6703, p. 1809)
115. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 8002, p. 1926)
116. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 8002, p. 1927)117. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 8002, p. 1931)
118. Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 8002(c), p. 1938)
119. Multi-state health plans offered by Office of Personnel Management (Section 10104(p), p. 2086)
120. Advisory board for multi-state health plans (Section 10104(p), p. 2094)
121. Pregnancy Assistance Fund (Section 10212, p. 2164)
122. Value-based purchasing program for ambulatory surgical centers (Section 10301, p. 2176)
123. Demonstration project for payment adjustments to home health services (Section 10315, p. 2200)
124. Pilot program for care of individuals in environmental emergency declaration areas (Section 10323, p. 2223)
125. Grant program to screen at-risk individuals for environmental health conditions (Section 10323(b), p. 2231)
126. Pilot programs to implement value-based purchasing (Section 10326, p. 2242)
127. Grant program to support community-based collaborative care networks (Section 10333, p. 2265)
128. Centers for Disease Control Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
129. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
130. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
131. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
132. Food and Drug Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
133. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)
134. Grant program to promote small business wellness programs (Section 10408, p. 2285)
135. Cures Acceleration Network (Section 10409, p. 2289)
136. Cures Acceleration Network Review Board (Section 10409, p. 2291)
137. Grant program for Cures Acceleration Network (Section 10409, p. 2297)
138. Grant program to promote centers of excellence for depression (Section 10410, p. 2304)
139. Advisory committee for young women’s breast health awareness education campaign (Section 10413, p. 2322)
140. Grant program to provide assistance to provide information to young women with breast cancer (Section 10413, p. 2326)
141. Interagency Access to Health Care in Alaska Task Force (Section 10501, p. 2329)
142. Grant program to train nurse practitioners as primary care providers (Section 10501(e), p. 2332)
143. Grant program for community-based diabetes prevention (Section 10501(g), p. 2337)
144. Grant program for providers who treat a high percentage of medically underserved populations (Section 10501(k), p. 2343)
145. Grant program to recruit students to practice in underserved communities (Section 10501(l), p. 2344)
146. Community Health Center Fund (Section 10503, p. 2355)
147. Demonstration project to provide access to health care for the uninsured at reduced fees (Section 10504, p. 2357)
148. Demonstration program to explore alternatives to tort litigation (Section 10607, p. 2369)
149. Indian Health demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (S. 1790, Section 112, p. 24)
150. Office of Indian Men’s Health (S. 1790, Section 136, p. 71)
151. Indian Country modular component facilities demonstration program (S. 1790, Section 146, p. 108)
152. Indian mobile health stations demonstration program (S. 1790, Section 147, p. 111)
153. Office of Direct Service Tribes (S. 1790, Section 172, p. 151)
154. Indian Health Service mental health technician training program (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 173)
155. Indian Health Service program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 192)
156. Indian Health Service program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 194)
157. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 204)
158. Indian youth life skills demonstration project (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 220)

And, last but not least:-
159. Indian Health Service Director of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (S. 1790, Section 199B, p. 258)

And if that doesn’t make your head spin ............. By the way, if you got this far, you really need a new hobby,

There are more after effects to good dinners than weight gain!

The more I look back on the dinner party I attended a week ago, the more I glean from it in terms of fodder for this Blog. I’ve already written about the “knock-down drag-out” I had with another attendee on the subject of the healthcare legislation but there was more than that for me to ponder upon.

For a start from another guest who, parenthetically was the spouse of my aforementioned adversary, came this conclusion that Obama is stupid. Ever since I first heard about this man I’d assumed that he was simply an ideologue but now I was forced to contemplate that the man is just simple. And I had a think about it.

The spectacular orator that he is purported to be by his adoring disciples doesn’t do so well when deprived of his security “blankie”, the ubiquitous teleprompter. And we saw in San Francisco a few days ago that he gets positively testy and petulant when he’s forced off-script by hecklers.

And, then there is the old adage about a man being judged by the company he keeps. Now forget Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground and forget Saul Alinsky and forget the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of “G-d Damn America” infamy because were I to base my thinking on those “gentlemen” the liberal left would accuse me of regurgitating old news.

Instead I invite you to look at the people he chose to haul into his regime both to cabinet posts and as czars. Some of those were thrown under the bus when a spotlight was shone on them but some, like little Timmy Geithner became the Treasury Secretary despite the fact that he was a tax cheat.

And it doesn’t stop there does it? Joe Biden is no rocket scientist and after him in the order of accession is Nancy Pelosi who is memorable for the amazing statement that, “It’s a good job the U.S.A. has large reserves of natural gas because without them we’d have to burn fossil fuels”.

Then there was the now ex-chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, one Charlie Rangel who somehow forgot to report $1.3 Million of income and who can forget Henry Waxman of California?

This luminary was apoplectic when some major corporations took measures to reserve many billions of dollars when the healthcare legislation passed because they were unsure about their future financial position. Henry demanded that all the CEOs be summoned to answer to the House and to bring all their financial records with them. And he huffed and he puffed at every opportunity and in every forum until someone pointed out to little Hank that those corporations were simple following the law as promulgated by Congress and as enforced by the SEC.

Before we leave things financial, Obama and his Ivy-League confidantes are actually thinking about forcing mortgage lenders to forgive the principal on loans in addition to renegotiating interest rates and other contractual terms. If you really want to dry up the availability of credit I can think of no better way.

And, while the Left is cheering on the SEC by sticking it to Goldman Sachs, the Washington Post just a few days ago described the case and the evidence as “scanty”.

After Robert Gibbs denied a week or so ago that Obama was considering a “Value Added Tax”, the Great Leader himself yesterday floated just that.

Is there a picture emerging here? Taken in isolation any one of these may not be a big deal but put all together and I really began to wonder.

Then this week, the great state of Arizona hit the national scene by passing legislation giving law enforcement the power to request proof of legal residence. Not surprisingly that brought out the lunatic Left in force even though the Governor has not yet signed it but I suspect she will as it’s an election year and 70% of Arizonans approve of the measure. So now the Feds and Obama himself have been asked to intervene. And he may just be that stupid.

First we had the “Birthers” and now we have the “Tenthers”. This refers to the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution which deals with States’ Rights. There are some, and there was one at my now notorious dinner party, who believe that all power should reside with Federal Government. Then there are those, and I’m one, who adamantly do not. Thus it seems I’m a “Tenther”.

So is Obama an ideologue or is he stupid? You decide. Of course, there is a third alternative which is that he’s a crook and, considering the snake pit of Chicago politics from whence he emerged, that has a plausible ring to it.

Finally, a couple of days ago, Mikhail Gorbachev proclaimed that Obama is the “Gorbachev” of the current era because of the transformative policies being pursued.

As I recall it, Mr. Gorbachev’s “policies” destroyed his country!

Ashes to Ashes ........

I used to believe that a coin had two sides and one edge. And maybe it does in the world of spatial geometry but not in the world of the Obama administration and the media coverage thereof.

I do not make light of the funeral of the President of Poland and other members of their government. I mourn with that people for yet another loss piled upon those during World War II.

Nor do I forget the Jews who died in Auschwitz and in other camps in Poland nor those Jews who were starved to death in the ghettos of Warsaw and elsewhere and their guards were largely Polish.

But Obama couldn’t get there because of the ash from the volcano in Iceland and so he played golf instead. He could have gone to a church in Washington DC and prayed there but he didn’t. He could have stayed home and read his Bible or his Koran but he didn’t.

He played golf for the 32nd time since his “immaculation”.

In contrast, I remember the media’s scorn when W was reputed to be always on the golf course or in Crawford, Texas.

The same “independent” press corps delighted on reporting then that W played golf an “appalling”, 24 times in 8 years,

Words have meaning whether one is a member of the press or whether one is a president..

Former President Bill Clinton, while speaking at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund recently, said this:

“Words have consequences as much as actions do, and what we advocate, commensurate with our position and responsibility, we have to take responsibility for.”

Mr. Clinton makes a point about our current situation in general and President Obama in particular, though this was certainly not his intention. I think it a bit disingenuous of him to conflate anti-Government rhetoric with the Oklahoma City bombing in particular…but he’s on to something here with his overall concerns

And, while Clinton was quick to pat the Tea Parties on the back for exercising their first amendment rights by rallying and protesting against “big Government,” he was also quietly suggesting they should play nicer whenever and wherever they do it. And it is here that Mr. Clinton and I go our separate ways:

“What we learned from Oklahoma City is not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold - but that the words we use really do matter, because there’s this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike,” he said.

This is like saying we should not allow violent video games or questionable content only because a few people might take it the wrong way and do something terrible…that “law of good intentions fraught with unintended consequences” thing.

The theory works both ways here, and that is what Clinton is missing. Let’s remember how strongly the American people had stood up against the health care bill…its content and the process by which it was passed and signed.

The resistance was not displayed by Tea Partiers alone; a great many Americans were against the bill. This monstrosity proved to be a showcase for politicians being politically tone deaf to the demands of their constituents and going forward against the will of the people all the same…with total impunity.

And this brings me to President Obama and his cocky, mocking bravado now that he’s of the opinion he can do whatever he wants and assuming there’s nothing any of us can actually do about it:

I’ve already talked about his speech in Florida and so I shan’t do it again now. But I’ll try to start again where I left off last time. And what galled me. apart from the sycophants chanting in perfect rhythm was this thought.

Amused, Mr. President?

Laughing at the people you work for because they don’t like what you’re doing? That is not a good example of Executive Branch Leadership.

Rather than choosing that path of “Leadership” by embarking on an ongoing engagement with those of us opposed to his Health Care debacle in an effort to reassure us of its righteousness, Obama has chosen instead to taunt us:

President Barack Obama dared Republicans to try to repeal his new health care law, telling them Thursday to “Go for it” and see how well they do with voters in November.

During one of his early victory laps in Iowa, Obama further mocks and taunts those he means to lead with this little gem:

“Three years ago, we made a promise. That promise has been kept. Of course, over the last year, there’s been a lot of misinformation spread about health care reform. There’s been plenty of fear-mongering, plenty of overheated rhetoric.

So after I signed the bill, I looked around to see if there any asteroids falling or some cracks opening up in the Earth. And on and on and on ……”

Nice display of adulthood there Mr. President. Lots of people take being laughed at and mocked and taunted and made fun of, after losing something that meant a great deal to them, rather badly sir.

Your end zone celebrations, and pre-fight trash talking hype, do not enhance the tone of American dialog and actually serves to foment the anger and rage you routinely lament (and blame voices on the right for having brought to the surface).

And Obama’s use of the phrase “there’s been a lot of misinformation spread” is becoming the basis for every defense of every bill he means to inflict on us.

Consider his approach to addressing the issue of Financial reform - by kicking the lap dog he’s just finished housebreaking: Obama accused opposition Republicans on Saturday of spreading misinformation about a Democratic bill that aims to tighten oversight of Wall Street banks and their practices.

Obama’s words, as President Clinton pointed out regarding resistance to this Administration’s antics and childishness, are not helping. As President of the United States, and commensurate with his own position and responsibility, he must take responsibility for his own words and actions.

As Clinton said: “One of the things that the conservatives have always brought to the table in America is a reminder that no law can replace personal responsibility.

And the more power you have and the more influence you have, the more responsibility you have.”

Or putting it another way. Everything is an edge and there is only one side.

I hope you all enjoyed “Ash Sunday” or whatever you want to call it

Some things just p--- me off

It’s been an “interesting” couple of days even for me. I did worry that life in retirement would be boring, or at best predictable.

Neither have come to pass..

I went to a dinner at a friend’s home on Wednesday and now I wish I had not. The hors d’oeuvres were great and, after I’d turned off the omnipresent TV set, the conversation was too, for a while until it became clear that a husband and wife did not get along.

However, it was predestined to escalate when one of the two became an attack dog for Obamacare. I cannot blame my reaction on alcohol for I’d had only one drink.

But when I saw the thin lips drawn back, the teeth bared and sensed the venom, my hackles went up. I listened for a while which was clearly not long enough for my opponent and it wasn’t long before I discharged both barrels. All the spouse wanted to do was to change the subject because, perhaps, he’d heard it all before.

But she had the bit between her teeth and so did I.

Every once in a while, her husband would poke his nose out of the trench and plead her to at least cite a real example instead of a litany of liberal platitudes. Eventually, when she ran out of them, she agreed to change the subject. For a while. But only for a while. ………..

Needless to say, I got to bed late and I woke up early as usual. But I had things to do that day.

Around 5:30pm I arrived at Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Arizona for a Tea Party Event.. According to their turnstiles, more than 7,500 people joined me.

This was not a mob. This was not a Nuremburg Nazi Rally any more than the Freedom Concert I attended last August. It was a “festive and peaceful event” as reported by most media outlets to the disappointment of some. As far as I know the attempt to “Crash the Party” did not succeed.

While all this was going on, Obama was speaking at a fundraiser in Miami, Florida, and I quote.

“I’ve been amused recently by all these people holding rallies around the country. And they’re complaining about the tax burden they face; You’d think they ought to be thanking me?

A few minutes later the audience, carefully vetted and selected of course, and as if on cue rose and started chanting “Thank You, Thank You”. Now chants like that sound ominous to me. Shades of Leni Riefenstahl?

The difference between the Obama event and the Freedom Concert that my date found so disturbing was that at the former, the leader was there. While at the latter, the goal was to build scholarships for kids who lost a parent in the service of our nation whether that be in the military or police or fire. Perhaps to a liberal, if you wear a uniform, you’re the enemy.

George W. was often accused of the “smirk”. Well BO has his own and in street parlance, its known as the “strut”. And, we’ve all seen it either from him or from others.

In her Blog today, Michelle Malkin advised the following.

“Keep Laughing. You’ll need your sense of humor on the morning of November 3rd.”

I’ve already set my alarm clock.

And, as for my dinner opponent. She had spent a good chunk of the evening bitching about my refusal to listen to her “reasoned” arguments about the healthcare in Denmark and/or Japan. '

Now I know nothing about either and I'm prepared to bet that neither did she, but I do know something about the system in the UK and told her so and cited examples.

I should have saved my breath.

But, her parting shot was that she would never read this Blog.

Ah Well!

The Last Refuge!

“Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”

Or so it was claimed when the administration of President George W. Bush introduced the “Patriot Act” after the attacks in 2001.

The liberal left lost their collective minds as they sought to excoriate W while warning the rest of us of “the Secret Police” provisions contained therein while such luminaries as the current occupant of the Oval Office swore on a stack of Bibles and/or Korans to rid the nation of this "odious attack on our liberties".

We all know that he hasn’t kept that promise any more than he has countless others. And this would be bad enough except that now Obama seeks even more powers ostensibly via an unlikely process but read on and judge for yourself.

If the financial regulation bill that passed the House last year becomes law, President Obama and his Treasury secretary will acquire the right to take over any financial institution they wish to, provided that, in their sole opinion, it is both "too big to fail" and on the brink of insolvency. The House bill provides for no judicial review and does not require any objective evidence of imminent failure to trigger the takeover provisions.

Once the government takes over such a company, it will acquire the right to replace the entire board of directors, fire the management of the company, wipe out stockholder equity, and even sell off divisions of the company. Essentially, this bill permits the government to launch an unfriendly takeover of any financial institution it wishes without risk and with no poison pill or other counter-measures possible.

This legislation, essentially, confers on the federal government police powers that, under our system, are the exclusive preserve of state and local government. The blank check the bill gives the feds to take over any financial institution is really more of an exercise of eminent domain than it is an extension of traditional federal regulatory power.This grant of power to the executive branch is unprecedented and potentially totalitarian. Consider:

Will Obama, or any future president, target companies that are particularly vocal in their opposition to his policies or generous in funding his political opponents?

Will the fact that Obama would have this power force companies, investors, CEOs and managers to self-censor their opinions and political involvement because they fear the wrath of a vengeful president?

Will this grant of authority force companies to hesitate before they grow and expand? Will it function the same way the antitrust powers of the Justice Department do in making companies re-examine mergers and acquisitions with a view toward what Justice will think of their resulting market share? In antitrust situations, where a specific action brings companies under scrutiny — like a merger — such concern is not unreasonable. But when the simple act of making money, showing a profit and expanding in size puts a company in federal crosshairs, does this not have the potential to attenuate the capitalist focus on growth?

In an environment where the feds are looking over the shoulder of every financial institution to see if they should take it over and shut it down, will this not force financial companies to follow the most risk-averse lending policies possible? Doesn't this mean that it only makes sense to buy government paper, since consumer loans, mortgages and business lending could be considered risky and lead to a federal takeover? Isn't this policy precisely the opposite of what we need to catalyze economic growth?

In a political world where contributions from financial institutions are widely sought and widely given, doesn't this power give the president and his party unlimited fundraising ability, simply by baring its teeth and showing the power it has to take anybody over and fire anybody?

Given the fact that Goldman-Sachs was the second-largest donor to Obama's campaign, giving $954,795, doesn't this new power raise the specter that the federal government could take over financial institutions so as to make the competition lighter for its donors?

Already, there is considerable evidence that Goldman profited handsomely from the decision of its former CEO — Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson — to allow Lehman Brothers to fail. Now that the Treasury secretary will have the takeover power, might it not be used as irresponsibly and with as many bad consequences as Paulson used his power in the Lehman crisis?

While the focus on the regulatory bill has been on the consumer protection provisions which has some wide public support there has been far less scrutiny on these horrific expansions of federal clout.

Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez could only dream of this power.

A flame, flickering, but gaining strength

Perhaps every generation shakes it’s collective head at the ones who follow. And, although I swore I’d never do it, I have.

But every once in a while there comes a young person who brings a spark, nay a flame of hope and gives me a smile.

One such is a young man called Jason Mattera who claims that young Americans have been “brainwashed” into supporting President Barack Obama even though his policies are a “torpedo” aimed at their futures.

But he also says that conservatives should learn from the Obama team’s tactics during the 2008 campaign and reach out to young people — or risk losing an entire generation of young voters. When asked about his assertion that the Obama team brainwashed young Americans, Mattera says: “A lobotomy took place in 2008. John McCain lost the youth vote by almost 40 points. That was the biggest age demographic shift in presidential history.

Team Obama employed specific strategies and tactics to brainwash an entire group of people. They had “Students for Obama chapters”, more than a thousand of them, on college campuses. They were micro-targeting young people in their college dormitory. They were on Facebook doing it. They were uploading videos to YouTube. By the time the campaign ended, team Obama had uploaded more than 1,800 videos to YouTube, and John McCain barely scratched 330.“It was digital domination."

Team Obama was meeting young people where they were — on college campuses and on the array of social networking forums that the Internet has to offer.“So conservatives really need to have a wakeup call, because it’s not just about losing elections, it’s about losing an entire generation of young people who are uninformed about limited government, personal responsibility, and free market ideas.”

Young Americans have been particularly brainwashed about healthcare reform, according to Mattera.“Young people can be sold socialism, unfortunately, but you can’t sell it to a generation of hard-working Americans,” he says.

“Young people, my generation — except for the men and women fighting overseas — we’re made up of a bunch of spoiled brats who think we’re entitled to everything. So some politician like Barack comes around and says, I’m going to pay for your college tuition, I’m going to provide you with healthcare, I’m going to stop glaciers from melting."

Young people still support Barack Obama more than any other age demographic even though his healthcare plan punishes them, redistributes their wealth from young to old. Because now insurance companies can no longer vary price according to one’s age. "It affects people in my age demographic, and yet young people still, like circus animals, applaud this president even though his policies are a torpedo aimed at their futures".

Team Obama was able to harness the power of social networking sites and the power of the Internet, and these were applications and programs that were all created through the power and ingenuity of capitalism, through free markets.

“Conservatives need smart messaging to young people. They need to say, Why are you attracted to things like Facebook and the Internet and music? It’s because there’s nobody looking over your shoulder, telling you what to do.“The world is a mouse click away. It’s the ultimate expression of freedom, and by the way that’s what conservatives are about, the ultimate expression of freedom and individuality and personal responsibility.

It’s the left that wants to lock you in a one-size-fits-all healthcare plan, to redistribute your income, to tax your carbon footprint. Conservatives want you to express yourself, and that has to be our message. Our conservative bedrock principles do not change, but the way we communicate them to younger voters must.

Mattera says he sees some “buyers’ remorse” among young people who supported Obama, but notes that 57 percent of young people still back Obama. That will change, he asserts, when these young people graduate from college and can’t find a job in the “Obama economy.

But there is at least one sea change on the political horizon as Republicans are more energized than their Democratic counterparts and more likely to vote in the upcoming elections.

However, the GOP needs to reach out to younger voters to show them why conservatism is a much better option than liberalism.

“Our conservative message will resonate with young people because they don’t hear conservative ideas. So [the ideas] come across as bold and fresh and new — everything that young and hungry minds crave.”

And another thing the GOP has going for it is the fickleness of fashion.

What was hot yesterday is now a forgotten hula hoop discarded in the back of a million garages. Just like a cold, dead candle from last nights rave.

Or whatever that's called these days.

Idealists, Realists and Optimists

Sometime, early in the last century, Winston Churchill observed that, “if a man was not a liberal when he was in his twenties, then he had no heart. But if he were still a liberal in his forties, then he had no head.”

I think that Winston oversimplified the problem. Because I seem to detect another stage of political evolution. I have no problem with the first two but in older age there does seem to be a return to liberalism especially, but not entirely, on the part of women. Not for me you understand but then, I’ve seen what liberalism can do and does to a people and their sense of personal worth.

In a way, that view was expressed a different way by a different person a couple of days ago. The person was Newt Gingrich and the place was the Southern Republican Leadership Conference Thursday in New Orleans.

Gingrich described Obama as "the most radical president in American history" who oversees a "secular, socialist machine." Gingrich then added that he (Obama) “is the most radical president in American history who has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people: 'I run a machine. I own Washington and there's nothing you can do about it.”

And until this coming November, he’s right because elections have consequences and that is a bitter pill for many Americans to swallow.

Another attendee at the meeting in New Orleans was Sarah Palin who took on Obama about his decision to telegraph our response to an attack from a country or a group. She, Palin, likened it to telling a bully on the playground to take a swing without fear of retribution.

Obama, the ever petulant, dismissed her comments with the lame excuse that she "knew nothing of things nuclear".

Mr. Obama, may I ask you what an adult lifetime in academia and as a “Community Agitator” taught you about the world of "real politick”? Not much, I would suggest.

But, if Ms. Palin is so vapid, so stupid and so empty, why does she attract so much negative attention from the liberal media? Why don’t they ignore her?

I got part of that answer from an Obamaniac who cited her “vibrancy”.

Now it wouldn’t be the first time that vibrancy and enthusiasm and patriotism have propelled an unlikely candidate to the presidency. Obama had two of those attributes but Ronald Reagan had all three. And so does Sarah. Not that I think she will prevail but I suspect that is the reason for the antipathy from the left. After all it does seem that liberals always tell us indirectly who they fear.

It’s also interesting to look at the divergence of opinion between men and women on the subject of Ms. Palin. By and large, men love her and women don’t. And, before the feminists go into attack mode, it’s not all about glasses and hairstyles and the skirts and the black hosiery although I feel compelled to admit that they don't hurt.

No, it has everything to do with the vibrancy cited, albeit perhaps reluctantly, by the Obama disciple coupled with Hope, real hope, and about Change back to the America I love and which Obama seeks to destroy.

I can’t wait for November to begin the process.

The VAT Man Cometh!

We are approaching the weekend before April 15th. Now that may not mean much to those outside these United States or the people in Lake Havasu, which is pretty much the same thing.

So let me describe to them the ritual involved. First one drags out all the checkbooks and a cookie tin of receipts from the previous year and with a calculator, a powerful cocktail and an even more powerful cocktail of muttered curses, the great American public gets ready to “render unto Caesar”. Yes, it’s tax time again.

I keep waiting for Hallmark to bring out cards honoring this annual ceremony and I envisage something like Halloween cards but with Obama depicted as Scrooge. Now Scrooge had his specters but an even more scary apparition appeared this week on the American scene as Paul Volcker told his ghost story.

Volcker works for Obama and is the chairman of the newly formed “Economic Recovery Advisory Board” and he floated the trial balloon of a Value Added Tax (VAT) in this country. This monstrosity is well known to Europe and elsewhere and it is their politician’s favorite tax. Let me explain.

A politicians first chore after election is to do whatever is necessary to insure reelection. The second is to spend money. Not their money you understand but anyone else’s is fair game. And the more the better and the sooner the better.

VAT does the latter because at every stage of production the tax authority gets a cut. Of course, at the end of the process, the eventual purchaser pays the piper but, in the meantime, the government has some money. Not all of it, but in the mind of a bureaucrat or a politician, anything is better than nothing. Now, contrast that with the process here.

For a start, there is no federal equivalent to a sales tax. Some states have one and some don’t but, even in the ones that do, the taxing authority gets nothing until the item is sold. So any money comes later and not sooner.

As tax day approaches in the United States, it was revealed that 47% of Americans will pay zero income tax. And, before anyone leaps on that as evidence of some kind of social injustice don’t overlook all the refunds including the “Earned Income Credit”.

On the other hand, the top 10% of taxpayers provide 74% of the Internal Revenue Service’s income.

But therein lies the problem for Obama and his “drunken sailors” on Capitol Hill.

47% are not paying federal taxes and they haven’t been able to figure out a way to screw those people too. Until now with VAT.

Because everybody pays VAT, even the poor, which would represent another promise broken. But what else is new?

And, in Europe, they never see the tax. It’s embedded in the price tag. So it’s so easy to up the rate whenever the need is felt.

Don’t believe me? At the start of 2010, the UK rate for VAT went from 15% to 17.5.

How many Bud Lights did this take?

It does seem that Obama is intent on leaving America undefended.

Not to mention her friends.

Months ago he straddled the fence over Afghanistan and before he committed troops for the “surge”, he insisted on telling the enemy when he was going to quit the battle. But now he’s gone one step further and announced what amounts to a unilateral disarmament on behalf of the United States.

According to Obama, this country will not respond to a chemical or biological or nuclear attack on American soil with its own nuclear capability. Just how stupid is that? So now we’ve told the bad guys what weapons we won’t use. And we’ve told them when we’re not going to fight any more.

What Obama seems to forget, or is determined to forget, is that some 30-odd countries rely on our nuclear umbrella. So does that mean that an attack on those countries will not trigger a massive response by us. Surely therefore, if the answer is no, this will give aid and comfort to the Taliban and Al-Qaida et al and thus encourage them to take their best shot.

If Obama’s goal is to reduce the chances for nuclear war, then he has failed. In fact he has increased it. If the countries who relied on the United States find themselves defenseless do they not owe their citizenry a home-grown defense?

The fact remains that only 2 nuclear weapons have ever been used in “anger”. And that was in 1945. Since then, it may have been only an uneasy peace every once in a while, but it was a peace.

Everyone has long known that the ultimate horror has kept the peace among the few nuclear-capable nations but now, it’s not that neat and tidy. Just factor in Iran, North Korea and their potential customers and the game changes.

I thank G-d that Bibi Netanyahu is in Israel and that they have nuclear weapons.

Somehow, I keep thinking about the woman in Germany at the Berlin Zoo who felt sorry for the polar bears and jumped into their enclosure to apologize for the destruction of their natural habitat by the developed nations. With one swipe of its massive paw, a big male killed her.

It seems that alcohol may have been involved.

What’s Obama’s excuse?

The Chrissy Regime.

I started out today with 2 posts in mind but I couldn’t come up with a common thread and then I did.

And, not for the first time, the common thread is MSNBC and little Chrissy Matthews who is beloved by some but not watched by many. But enough of the preamble and let’s get into it.

I don’t know if little Chrissy needs the male equivalent of a hormone patch but there is something awry.

I was not surprised when Congress was eager to get out of town for the Easter or Passover recess. They knew they were heading into a whole barrage of flak from their districts and from their states but, on the other hand, they knew that they would not have to vote on any more kamikaze legislation.

But they did leave one piece of business outstanding and now little Chrissy is apoplectic. The business in question was the extension of unemployment benefits -- again. As their corporate jets idled at Washington National Airport, thus seeking to fulfill Al Gore’s direst prophecies, the Senate was unable to persuade one Senator to break the law.

The sole holdout was Senator Tom Coburn of the great state of Oklahoma who insisted that Congress and Obama play by their own rules. And the rules are simple and they are played out over most American dinner tables every night. Well, in smart households they are and it goes like this. If we don’t have it, we can’t spend it.

In “Congress Speak” that’s known as “PAYGO”, and during 2010's State of the Union address to Congress, Obama urged the Senate to restore the pay-as-you-go law that "was a big reason why we had record surpluses in the 1990s."

Then on February 12, 2010, Obama signed House Joint Resolution 45, which contained a provision reinstating statutory PAYGO.

Little Chrissy saw it differently. He saw it as a callous act by one senator, Republican of course, to grind the faces of the poor into the unremmitting mire. I don’t. I call it living with the law that was enacted by Democrats at the behest of the regime leader. But more of that later.

Somehow, I’m faced with an image I can’t escape which is the family at their dinner table with more debt than they can handle deciding to buy another HDTV.

What would I do without little Chrissy? He took extreme exception; indeed he was beside himself when some commentators referred to this White House as a “Regime”.

He went on and on about how Obama had been elected while totally ignoring his use of the regime word after the 2000 election. And he also forgot his use of the word when referring to the Bush administration after the events of 911.

And it doesn’t take a lot of work to find that “The Washington Post” has done so as well as the New York Times did too under the pen of Maureen Dowd.

Well, little Chrissy, fewer and fewer people may watch you every day but you can rely on me for your idiot value.

And my birthday is coming up soon but I’ll settle for a card.

Does Biden Cometh?

As I said in my last post, a Bloggers job is to be an observer and a commentator. Of course I have some discretion about my topics and I can try to avoid those which I don’t think “have legs”. One of those has been the “Birther” issue but earlier this week the topic took a new twist.

A U.S. Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office.

His attorney has confirmed that the military has rescinded his impending deployment orders. A hearing on the questions raised by Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, an engineer who has said that he wants to serve his country in Afghanistan is scheduled for the summer.

"As an officer in the armed forces of the United States, it is my duty to gain clarification on any order we may believe illegal. With that said, if President Obama is found not to be a 'natural-born citizen,' he is not eligible to be commander-in-chief," he said only hours after the case was filed.

"Then any order coming out of the presidency or his chain of command is illegal. Should I deploy, I would essentially be following an illegal order. If I happened to be captured by the enemy in a foreign land, I would not be protected by the Geneva Convention”, he said.

Cook said without a legitimate president as commander-in-chief, members of the U.S. military in overseas actions could be determined to be "war criminals and subject to prosecution." He said the vast array of information about Obama that is not available to the public confirms to him "something is amiss."

"That and the fact the individual who is occupying the White House has not been entirely truthful with anybody," he said. "Every time anyone has made an inquiry, it has been either cast aside, it has been maligned, it has been laughed at or just dismissed summarily without further investigation.

"You know what. It would be so simple to solve. Just produce the long-form document, certificate of live birth," he said. His lawyer said she will attend the hearing to amend the temporary restraining order to an injunction because more members of the military have joined the cause.

She said there cannot be any harm to the president if he is legitimately holding office.

Obama has maintained he was born in Hawaii, and at least one hospital, Honolulu's Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children, claims it received a letter from the president declaring his birth there. The White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to confirm that the letter which was used by the hospital to solicit donations is, in fact, a real correspondence.

When doubts were raised about the authenticity of the letter because it was created with HTML computer code and had no presidential or White House seal, the hospital which for nearly six months proudly declared Obama was born at its facility commenced an active cover-up, hiding the White House letter from its original webpage and refusing to confirm such a letter actually exists.

It was also reported that two sources in the past week have cited Obama's birth in Kenya. Wikipedia also was found to have been reporting on Obama's birth in Kenya, before a series of scrubs placed his birth in Honolulu. And that came on the heels of several online information sites changing the president's supposed birthplace from one hospital in Hawaii to another, after World Net Daily broke the news of the letter said to be from the White House.

Complicating the situation is Obama's decision to spend sums estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars already to avoid releasing a state birth certificate that would put to rest all of the questions.

The "Certification of Live Birth" posted online and widely touted as "Obama's birth certificate" does not in any way prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same "short-form" document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii.

The true "long-form" birth certificate – which includes information such as the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny.

Among the documentation not yet available for Obama includes his kindergarten records, his Punahou school records, his Occidental College records, his Columbia University records, his Columbia thesis, his Harvard Law School records, his Harvard Law Review articles, his scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, his passport, his medical records, his files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records, and his adoption records.

Now, of course, everybody has their own take on this mess but, if you want my two cents worth; it simply doesn’t make any sense to spend what I suspect will wind up in the millions when the whole issue would go away by producing one document.

So I don't think he has it but make up your own mind but bear in mind that the alternative would be Uncle Joe Biden.

You're doing one heck of a job Whitey

Most Bloggers are merely observers for most of the time but every once in a while one gets to be directly or indirectly involved with the subject matter at hand.

I was back East in Connecticut for a week that encompassed two events one of which was memorable and one that was not. It’s not called New England out of any sense of whimsy but simply because it’s like the original England and that includes rainfall.

Anyway it did. A lot. The other event was Passover but more of that later.

The house I was staying in is cute. It’s old by American standards and goes back at least to 1864 and maybe earlier. It is on a bank of the Falls River which flows into the Connecticut River, which, in turn, flows into Long Island Sound .

And it rained a lot. Are you getting the picture?

It was pouring down still when the guests for the Passover Seder arrived and we even tried to invent some reference to an Ark in the ceremony but to no avail.

The dinner was great but the kitchen was a mess at the end of it as the guests departed. I tried for a while to help clear it up but eventually I had to go down the spiral staircase to my bedroom sometime after midnight.

A few hours later, a trip to the bathroom was necessary and, if you’ve never tried it, you’ll wake up fast when you swing your legs over and find your feet ankle deep in cold river water.

Now fast forward a few hours, and it got worse as the water continued to rise, and so eventually we repaired to an old New England Inn for Scotch and food and dry socks. But mainly for Scotch.

A day later Obama was scheduled to fly to New England for a couple of fund –raising events. He flew over Rhode Island which was hit even harder than Connecticut and he promised to visit on the way back. He didn’t.

But he did call the Governor while he was still in Massachusetts. That’s nice I’m sure and it must have been a real comfort for those homeowners who have lost everything,

Do you remember the collective outrage from the media when President Bush merely flew over New Orleans after Katrina. The conclusion then was that Bush didn’t care about black people.

Are we therefore to assume that flooded white homes are not “sexy” or that Obama doesn’t care about white people?

Oh, by the way, while all this was going on, the FEMA director was at a conference in Orlando, Florida.

“You’re doing one heck of a job Whitey”.