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Palin Shines Through the Rain
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- Natalie and daughter Etta with Sarah Palin at the Machine Shed Restaurant – Photo by Chet Nichols
Sarah Palin arrived to a packed house in the farm-themed “Machine Shed Restaurant” in Urbandale, IA Friday night. The ever-amassing crowd began arriving at about 6:30 p.m. to congregate and socialize with fellow “Palinistas” from across the country. Supporters stood around talking and catching up, many long time online-friends were meeting for the first time in person. The atmosphere was more like a family reunion than a political gathering. There were children playing, doting parents, young professionals, and the elderly maneuvering through the crowd with the assistance of canes. I encountered people like myself and my family, who had driven in from Dallas, TX, those who had flown in from Virginia, some who hailed from Florida, Georgia natives, Iowa hometown fans, and Miki Booth, a woman from the president’s neck of the woods, Hawaii.
The meet and greet went on for an hour and a half when the front entry way suddenly began to buzz. When the camera crews darted for the doors, all eyes turned to see that those “Guess who’s coming to dinner” rumors were true…Sarah was in the building. She had a twinkle in her eye as she greeted those whose lucky positioning had placed them in the Read More→
I spent some time with the Governor, but it was my 4 year old daughter who got Sarah’s attention that day.
When I introduced her to my daughter, Sarah had genuine adoration on her face. She asked my daughter her name. She was shy, so I answered, “Etta.” She said, “Ooh, that’s a pretty name, Etta! How old are you?” Etta spoke up then and told her that she was 4. I told Sarah that Etta had been asking if she could play with “Hyper.” And with that Sarah laughed, looked at Etta and said, “We call her ‘Hyper Piper’ too!” We chatted for a moment or two more, before she was beckoned away.
Palin continued to make her way through the crowd to the dining room which was already full. She worked the room and visited with those who had come out to join together to support her in her endeavors. Unlike the typical “politician,” Palin held real conversations with those present.
Take Lynda Armstrong, for example, who made the trip from Roswell, New Mexico. Lynda will be giving a couple of presentations in the coming weeks, one to the Toastmasters and the other to a Women’s Republican Club in Roswell. She met with Governor Palin who took the time to look at her outline and was impressed with her accuracy. “She actually took the time to look over what I put together, and seemed very interested in the parts of my outline that referenced her record as governor, and why she left.” Lynda said, “That’s one of the highlights of my presentation because many of the people I meet are still unaware of her outstanding accomplishments as Governor.”
Perhaps the most outwardly and permanently supportive Sarah Palin fan of the evening was 64 year old Eric Pierce, of Burleson, TX. Pierce rode in with us on the Texas 4 Palin bus from Dallas, coordinated by Del Parker. Pierce asked Governor Palin to autograph his forearm when he chatted with her in the restaurant. He says she asked why and he explained to her that he planned to have her autograph tattooed on his arm that night. According to Pierce, Palin said that she’d be honored. She will forever have the honor of holding a special place on Pierce’s arm because he held true to his word. Accompanied by a few other Organize 4 Palin members for support, he found a late-night tattoo parlor in what he says was “not a real smooth part of town” and had Palin’s John Hancock “inked in” his forearm. Ouch!
Saturday morning saw the arrival of even more Palinistas to Indianola for the Restoring America Event, featuring Governor Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker. They began arriving around 6:30 a.m. At that point the weather was great. As the morning wore on, they felt a sprinkle or two. And around 11 AM it started raining, and raining, and raining. One might have assumed that there would have been a mass exodus. But to the contrary, those who came prepared with a poncho donned the vinyl suits. Those with umbrellas held them high. Those who could fit, huddled under one of several open tents for shelter. And those who did none of the above just put on their best patriotic smiles, awaiting the arrival of the keynote speaker, Sarah Palin. The crowd was so dedicated that many of the people stood in the torrential downpour. All of those I asked quickly forgot about how soaked they were when Sarah Palin took to the stage. They repeatedly interrupted her with chants of “Run, Sarah, Run!” and “Sa-rah, Sa-rah!”
- Sarah Palin speaking at the Restore America TEA Party in Iowa. Palin laid out her plan to restore America. – Photo by Chet Nichols
“We’re not celebrating red America or blue America! We’re celebrating red, white and blue America!” said Palin of a conversation she and husband Todd Palin had after leaving supporters at The Machine Shed in Urbandale, Iowa the previous night. She spoke about some of her own experiences, referring to the “sudden and relentless reform” she brought about during her tenure as Governor of Alaska early on in the speech. Those who don’t follow Palin closely may not realize that one of the sections of the documentary, The Undefeated, was called ‘Sudden and Relentless Reform’.
As the speech went on, a very notable correlation was drawn between the person Sarah Palin thinks is needed to restore America and the one she just described as having fought crony capitalism in Alaska since entering public service 20 years ago. Palin began to describe what she believes is needed in this way, “It’s not enough to change uniforms. If we don’t change the team and the game plan, we won’t save our country…we need sudden and relentless reform…and that requires deeds not just words.”
Palin has been criticized in the past as being simply a political celebrity, not qualified to run the country, and someone lacking a real plan. On the 3rd anniversary of her famous RNC speech accepting the Republican Vice Presidential nomination, Sarah Palin sought to put those criticisms to rest. She gave a hard hitting speech which hit on some of what she calls “real reform” and was able to accomplish during her tenure as Governor. She spoke about her years as a public servant and highlighted her specialized experience in the energy sector, while at the same time contrasting that with what she says are failed policies of the current administration. And finally she laid out a five point plan of “real solutions” and “the way forward.”
Palin explained, “We’re going to speak truth today. It may be hard hitting, but we’re gonna speak truth today. Because we need to start talking about what hasn’t worked and we’re gonna start talking about what will work for America…So let’s talk about real solutions.” She went on to say “I wanna tell you what my plan is!”
With those eight words, Palin announced what many believe is the beacon of hope for America; the staple of a potential Presidential campaign, her plan.
1st Let’s enforce the 10th Amendment! Devolve powers back locally where the founders intended them to be.
2nd We must repeal Obamacare and reign in burdensome regulations that are a boot on our neck. Let the private sector breathe and grow.
3rd We must prioritize and cut. Cancel unused stimulus funds and have that come to Jesus moment where we own up to the debt challenge that is entitlement reform. The status quo is no longer an option. Entitlement reform is our duty now and it must be done I n a way that honors our commitment to our esteemed elders today while keeping faith with future generations.
4th It is time for America to become the energy super power. The real stimulus that we’ve been waiting for is robust and responsible domestic energy production. We have the resources. Affordable secure energy is the key to any thriving economy and it must be our foundation. Drill here, drill now, let the refineries and the pipelines be built stop kowtowing to foreign countries and dictators… We need to move on tapping our own God given resources that are part of our reserve. I promise you this will bring real job growth. There are enough…projects just waiting in the wings, waiting for government approval that could create more than a million high paying jobs all across the US and this is true stimulus. America’s economic revival starts with America’s energy revival.
5th To make America the most attractive and competitive place to do business, to set up shop here, and hire people here, to attract capital from all over the globe that will lead to an explosion of growth instead of chasing industry offshore. I propose to eliminate all corporate income tax, and hear me out on this…this is how we create millions of high paying jobs, this is how we increase opportunity and prosperity for all. But here’s the best part to balance out any loss from this tax cut we eliminate corporate welfare and all the loopholes and we eliminate bailouts. This is how we break the back of crony capitalism because it feeds off corporate welfare which is just socialism for the very rich. We can change all of that. The message then to job creating corporations is that ‘yeah we’ll unshackle you from the world’s highest taxes, but you stand or fall on your own just like all the rest of us out on Main Street.
Let us seek that hand once more…We will fight for freedom, we will fight for America. We are at the tipping point. United we must stand and we shall nobly save, not meanly lose this last best hope on Earth!
In the end, Jelayne Sessler, of Texas Organize 4 Palin, walked away with what she described as an “amazing speech” by the Governor. “In my opinion, it was the platform for her upcoming campaign, as I believe an announcement is imminent.” When compared to those already in the Republican field, Sessler thinks a Palin administration would be “a completely different approach,” adding that Palin is known for “exposing corruption in her own party,” something she believes the other candidates “would not do.”
As she exited stage right, Tea Party of America’s Judd Saul took us back stage for the final moments with the Governor. She made sure to spend some time with a few men in uniform before she and Todd got into their black SUV and rode away. But I had one final question that I just had to ask. I had to know if all the critics and haters in the media were having their desired effect on her, or, as I suspected, was it actually having an opposite effect and making her want to fight back even harder? She put her pen down, her eyes brightened up, a smile spread across her face and in her usual feisty manner that so many have come to love, she said “Heck ya! That’s that independent Alaskan, pioneering, fighting spirit pushing back!”
She didn’t say the words, but in what she did say and the excitement with which she said it, I swear I could almost hear her recite a line from one of her famous speeches:
“Mr. President, Game On!”
All Signs Point to a Palin Announcement Sept. 3rd
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Sarah Palin in Iowa
If the Republican Presidential race were a poker game, you could say that Palin, the underdog has remained in late position long enough to see the full ring, to expose the live ones. She’s learned their tells, and she’s seen some bust, but now it’s time for her to go all in with what looks to be a royal flush.
If you’re not a poker player, you may need a poker dictionary to decipher my analogy. And “they” think she doesn’t know how the game of politics is played. The good old boys just never realized that she wasn’t playing by their rules.
If, or rather when, Sarah Palin announces her candidacy for President; Republican polls will likely shift in her favor. There are droves of Republicans and Independents who like Sarah Palin and what she stands for. But if there is one common thread you will hear as a negative, it is “but I don’t think she can win.” Yet she continues to pack in larger crowds than declared presidential candidates. The media loves to hate her, and to her credit, she’s probably Read More→
It’s looking more and more these days as if Sarah Palin will announce her run for the White House in short order. If you keep up with Palin’s history, you may come to the conclusion that there is no accident in her decision to go to Iowa September 3rd for what many believe will be her big announcement. September 3, 2011 is three years, to the day, from the day that Sarah Palin accepted the nomination for Vice President and gave her famously rousing speech during the Republican National Convention. In the last few days, even those in the media have noted that it appears that Sarah Palin will announce in the early weeks of September.
Palin herself has even alluded to as much August 18th when she said,
“…still looking for that candidate whom I can put my heart and soul behind to support. If I don’t see that person here in short order, I would be willing to put my name forward in the name of service.”
The pundits and commentators are even weighing in:
“She’s out with a new video that looks an awful lot like a campaign commercial,” said Carl Cameron on August 19, 2011.
Dick Morris tweeted August 19, 2011, “It looks like Sarah Palin will announce on Sept. 3 in Iowa.”
“[Palin] has a schedule next week that looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity…This is her last chance, she either gets in or gets out. I think she gets in,” Karl Rove said August 20, 2011.
I tend to agree with Dick in this instance. To see why, just take a look at her newest video which many are calling her first campaign commercial.
embedded by Embedded Video
YouTube DirektIowa Passion
For those who like to look at numbers, then look no further than a Rasmussen Report released August 16, 2011.
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters, taken Monday night [August 15, 2011], finds Perry with 29% support. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, earns 18% of the vote, while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the high-profile Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picks up 13%.”
Palin was not an option in the poll, but Perry and Bachmann were and both share a base support of the TEA Party which heavily support Sarah Palin. Without Palin as a choice, the majority either went with Perry or Bachmann, unless you consider the 16 percent undecided voters. But with a Sarah Palin announcement, things change dramatically. Although Perry will capture a little more of the establishment crowd than Bachmann, you can count on a fairly equitable split of both candidates’ supporters when Palin enters the ring. It’s reasonable to assume that, given the prospect of a Palin candidacy, Palin will capture about 40 percent of Perry’s supporters and roughly half of Bachmann’s.
If you do the math, not counting support Candidate Palin might take from Cain, Paul, Santorum and the others, the result of a Palin announcement, fresh out of the gate, looks like this:
Romney 18%
Palin 17%
Perry 17%
Bachman 8%
Throw in the undecided voter who will likely swing toward Palin, given the fact that they already had the opportunity to choose one of the other candidates, and didn’t; it looks even more promising for Palin. If this particular scenario plays out, then the pendulum swings toward Palin in the lead when given the Mama Grizzly option. And if you consider who Sarah Palin’s strongest base is, the TEA Party, a newly released Rasmussen poll indicates that they will play a very large role in selecting the GOP nominee, in that 58% of primary voters think the TEA Party will help the republicans in 2012.
As icing on the cake, here is another little gem for you. The poll also gives a little more insight into the heart and soul of today’s voter. That said; let’s get back to that earlier mention of the one negative common thread I’ve heard uttered regarding a potential Sarah Palin run: “I like her but I don’t think she can win.” Here is what the poll reveals:
“72% of likely Republican voters say when casting their primary vote, they favor a candidate who shares their views over one who has a better chance of winning.”
That turns the notion of people agreeing with Sarah Palin, but “don’t think she can win” from a negative, into a potential strength. They are going to vote for her regardless, thus, breaking the mold of the typical voter. With that in mind, you can throw the idea that people will be voting for the perceived winning candidate right out the window. And, if you think about it, doing so also changes who the perceived ultimate winner is.
When you add it all up, and the dust settles to the ground, the poll numbers support a Palin decision to run. And don’t lose sight in the fact that the September 3rd date is highly significant in Palin’s life and to her supporters.
Like thousands of other Palin supporters from around the country, I’m joining in for the ultimate road trip from Dallas, TX., thanks to Jelayne Sessler and Del Parker of Organize4Palin. We had originally planned to ride in charter busses, wrapped with “Texas is Palin Country,” of course, to the Restoring America TEA party in Waukee, IA. Since that time, reports have circulated that event organizers have had to move the event to a larger venue due to parking logistics. The TEA party, and hopefully Sarah Palin’s candidacy announcement, will now be held at National Balloon Classic Field in Indianola, IA.
I like poker, and my money is on Palin going all in. If she announces September 3rd in Indianola, IA, I’ll be there.
Oh, and you can bet my blog, Facebook and twitter accounts will be lit up and churning along the way bringing you the play-by-play.
Long Lost Land of the Free
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s all sing…”O’ say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” Wait a minute, back the truck up! Are we not in the “land of the free?” Certainly this is still the land of the free where any man can come and make his own way in life in the ultimate pursuit of happiness. Isn’t it? Not lately. Let’s look at a few recent asinine examples of how over-regulation is ‘fundamentally transforming America’. Oh, you recognize that phrase do you? Keep reading and think about how different the America of today is from the City on a Hill that our Founders envisioned.
The Blaze is running the story of an 11 year old girl who saved a baby bird from being her cat’s lunch. Yay! What a fine, upstanding young lady this is, right? Wrong. The baby bird happened to be a Woodpecker and 11 year old Skylar Capo’s selfless actions landed her mother a hefty $535 fine under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. From The Blaze’s coverage: ”The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to Federal regulations.” The mother faced both the fine and up to a year in jail. Oh the horror of having a child who does the right thing in this day and age. Thank goodness the national media picked up on this story and as they typically do when confronted with sunlight, the lame-brained, over-reaching bureaucrats suddenly found their scruples and back-tracked. The citation never should have been issued. It was a clerical error. Umm hmm. They sent out an under cover agent and a State Trooper to this little girl’s home, further wasting your tax dollars and leaving wildlife and the highway unprotected because someone forgot to enter “common sense” into the computer? Not buying it. I thoroughly enjoyed and commiserate with this sampling of comments to this story from The Blaze: Read More→
“Nowhere in the list of things you cannot do does it say “save.” However, apparently if you save a migratory bird you are what… possessing it? Why didn’t they put the cat down for violating the act?” – Flagwaver
“While I‘m watching this I can’t help but wonder if the woman with the snake on her front windshield wasn’t making an illegal transfer of wildlife….. One never knows anymore….” – Tikesissy
“Just think of the life lesson this little girl has learned at such a young age. You’ll be punished for being kind, don’t tell anyone anything, be secretive and hide what you do, be afraid of law enforcement, don’t trust the government….sounds like the same lessons a lot of us adults are learning. Thank you Obama and all the rest of you gestapo agencies trying to terrorize us.” – Captain Crunch
In another case of your tax dollars going down the garbage disposal like this morning’s soggy Cheerios, rest assured that the poor, defenseless bikers in Coralville, IA will not be put at risk by a 4 year old girl’s greedy attempt at capitalism and free market principles. That’s right, she thought she was going to clean up while helping hydrate the bike riders, but the crazy-law-crusade struck again and promptly shut down the villainous tyke’s pop stand. I’m left to wonder if the Coralville, IA city code enforcers have failed to do their jobs completely. What do you think the odds are that her crayon-adorned “L E M o N – A D E” sign was in violation of the municipality’s signage codes? Maybe she just got away with that one. Nonetheless, the authorities pulled the plug on the preschool child’s lemonade stand. It seems that her parents got lucky and weren’t issued a citation or a fine. Is it me or are they just not very good parents? Shouldn’t they have encouraged their daughter’s entrepreneurial spirit and just bought her the permit and sprung for the full-fledged health inspection? Aye aye aye, I’m only kidding. This is just insanity. In my America adults have enough of a risk-taking streak that we can decide for ourselves if we want to drink lemonade that a little girl mixed, even if she *gasp* didn’t wash her hands first. For goodness sakes she is FOUR years old! We might even buy it and pretend to drink it because we think it’s cute. But by golly let us make our own decisions and get out of our lives.
The city of Oak Park is keeping its residents safe from the offensive view of criminal vegetation. Don’t worry, they’re just looking out for you. To hear some tell it, Julie Bass thought she was going to pull one over on the authorities when she planted a garden in wooden boxes in her front yard. Food, glorious food is what one typically plans to get from a garden of tasty vegetables. But instead, Bass was faced with a misdemeanor. The economy isn’t great these days, but apparently they’re rolling in the dough over in Oak Park because they have enough of the green stuff laying around that they hold no qualms about paying a prosecutor and footing the bill for a full-fledged trial to show Julie Bass and other radical law-breakers like her that they mean business. It is after all HER yard, who does she think she is deciding what she can plant in it? What a crazy free spirit she must be. Does she think she lives in America or something? Oh wait, right, it is, my bad.
Recently in my own neck of the woods, in Bowie County, TX, I faced grand jury charges. Today it was announced that the case against me has been withdrawn, but only after a full-blown waste of taxpayer dollars on a Sheriff’s office investigation when the Sheriff himself was present for the alleged “disruption of a meeting.” Yes, the alleged crime was “disrupting a meeting” even though as County Clerk, I was a part of the meeting. I heard distortions of truth and factual artistry being employed and I called it out. I quietly said, “you’re lying.” I didn’t stand up, didn’t yell or curse. I told the County Judge, “you’re lying” and he was. Then, I sent out a public apology for what I thought might have come across as rude. Three days later, I was told by a reporter that I was facing a $2,000 fine and up to 6 months in jail. Oh, and if I had been found guilty of the Class B misdemeanor and it was deemed “related to official duties” it would have resulted in immediate and automatic removal from my elected office. Nice. Joe Wilson told the President of the United States, “You lie!” and it was water cooler conversation. I, as a small town County Clerk, told someone he was lying when he was and ended up facing the Grand Jury.
In recent times these crazy scenarios have played out time and time again. I’ve heard of mothers watching one another’s children before or after school so they are able to be safe and attended to, only to be told that Big Brother would prefer the children to be on their own than in the care of an adult of the mother’s choosing. After all, those moms were considered “unlicensed child care providers.” No, Mr. Crazy Bureaucrat, they are called moms. It’s what we do. A friend recently came to me for advice on how to handle a complaint from the city about her carport supposedly encroaching on a right away. Man, she sounds like a law-breaker doesn’t she? Not really, she hired a contractor to build the very nice looking carport on HER property and he forgot to get the required permit. And it was built TWO years ago. What is the city asking, you wonder? Oh, nothing big, they just want her to have the 2 year old carport that looks like it’s part of her home to be torn down. That’ll learn her!
Have you forgotten about the terrorizing actions of those rascally Amish unpasturized milk smuggling outlaws? There have been numerous raids of Amish family farms. The thing America has going for her is that we have “the authorities” who are willing to sweep in and confiscate cheese-making equipment “for our own good.” Ahhh, I can see Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson smiling with satisfaction at the sight of this beautiful nation bound and gagged with red-tape galore. Some of these horrible offenses listed on this page can be found at the aptly named dumblaws.com. Take this gem for instance. In Arkansas, it is a crime to honk your horn at a sandwich shop after 9 p.m. In South Carolina, it is a crime to sell a musical instrument on a Sunday. In Boulder, CO it is illegal to have a couch on your porch. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it is a crime against all things classy to have a couch on your porch, but whose porch is it anyway? You give ‘em an inch and they take a mile. First it’s your couch on your porch, tomorrow it’s the garden in your front yard, next year it’s the fact that you make cheese and milk to feed your family and earn a living (we do have starving children in this country, by the way), then they shut down your daughter’s lemonade stand on your lawn, and next they criminalize saving baby animals from sudden death and mutilation.
The more of these stories I come across, the more it is clear to me that this country is like two trains at a railroad crossing…of course in Texas both of those trains would have to come to a full stop and neither could proceed until the other has passed. With that, I’m left to wonder who on earth is writing these laws? Why have we turned a blind eye to the fact that our government is too politically correct, too heavy-handed, too into regulation, but not too far gone? It only changes when we say “Enough is enough. Stop the insanity!”
When are we, as freedom loving Americans, going to stand up and say to our overbearing, far-reaching, red-tape-wielding government, “GET OUT!!!”? Bear with me as I hum to myself and write these words to one of my favorite and extremely applicable songs for you.
If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d work for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife,
I’d thank my my luck stars to be livin’ here today,
’cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.And I’m PROUD to be an American where as least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the ones who died, who gave that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the USA.
Deal done, markets react – SURPRISE!
Posted by: | CommentsThis was supposed to be the deal that would put us back on track. It was supposed to be the deal that would save the perception that the faith in America’s credit had been restored. And just hours after the President spoke, and the deal was done, the market reacted with a phenomenal response:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 265.87 points, or 2.19 percent, to end below the psychologically-important 12,000 mark at 11,866.62. The last time the blue-chip index declined for eight-consecutive days was in October 2008.
All 30 Dow stocks ended lower, with Pfizer[PFE 18.14 -0.87 (-4.58%) ]and GE[GE 17.21 -0.76 (-4.23%) ]leading the biggest laggards.
The S&P 500 plummeted 32.89 points, or 2.56 percent, to close at 1,254.05, slipping into negative territory for the year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 75.37 points, or 2.75 percent, to finish at 2,669.24. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both below their 200-day moving averages.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, gained above 24.
In the last few months, the economy has had to absorb an earthquake in Japan, the economic head winds coming from Europe, the Arab Spring and the rise in oil prices, all of which have been very challenging for the recovery. But these are things we couldn’t control. Our economy didn’t need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis to make things worse.
I’m not sure about the “manufactured crisis” bit. But judging the reaction of the stock market to Obama’s announcement, manufactured or not, the crisis is still looming and it is as real as it gets. Let this be a reality check that our economic woes are much deeper than this debate. The follow days we shall see what has been cloaked, and I fear the real crisis will surface.
Numbers don’t lie, and the truth will be told in the coming days. Hold tight, it’s going to get bumpy!
Obama and the State of the Union: A Lesson in Smoke and Mirrors
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Obama started off his State of the Union Address with “…one year later, the worst of the storm has passed.” Apparently president Obama is not aware that the stock market has lost 529 points since January 19th, and that unemployment is still at 10% or higher, even though he promised it would not go over 8% once his stimulus plan was passed.
“And that’s why we’ve excluded lobbyists from policy-making jobs or seats on federal boards and commissions.” Hold on there, Buckaroo! Once again, in true Obama fashion, the truth is distorted to an extent that it is completely false. He did sign an executive order that would prevent lobbyists from being able to “work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years.” However, Obama failed to mention that there is a “waiver” that allows former lobbyists to serve.
But moving right along:
Last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests – including foreign companies – to spend without limit in our elections. Well I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse, by foreign entities.
Apparently, the President doesn’t like people playing in his back yard or looking at his playbook. Sure, he doesn’t want corporations, the likes of which the Democrats have been known to put the squeeze on, getting involved in campaign finances. And “foreign entities?” Please! Apparently the president has a chronic case of short-term memory loss. How much did he get for his presidential campaign from “foreign entities?” With that statement alone, we should challenge his current mental state with regard to his ability to make sound decisions.
Tonight, I’m calling on Congress to publish all earmark requests on a single website before there’s a vote so that the American people can see how their money is being spent.
No he didn’t! I’m sorry, but I just have to give out a big “ROFL” with that one. I mean, come on! Obama is going to bring up posting things on the internet for all to see before a vote is passed?
Let’s see…where to begin?
Is that so?
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act was passed on January 27th, 2009 and signed TWO DAYS LATER by the president on January 29th, 2009. A few days later on February 4th, 2009, Obama signed the State Children’s Health Insurance Program only HOURS after it passed through Congress. Then the following month, Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009 on May 22, 2009 – only two days after it passed through Congress.
So pardon me while I “ROFL” when the president charges Congress with upholding a standard that he will not hold himself to, even after he promised he would. I think this falls under the category of “Do as I say, not as I do!”
On this occasion, he has found a new way of blaming Bush. Instead of blaming things on the “previous administration”, he now describes it as “the last decade.” That Obama, he sure knows how to choose his words carefully, doesn’t he? Although it does seem at times that he’s struggling internally when he disagrees with the words that are scrolling on the teleprompter.
I also noticed the rise he got when he said “If these firms [big business] can afford to hand out big bonuses again, they can afford a modest fee to pay back the tax payers who rescued them in their time of need.” Well, here is a thought, President Obama: If Congress can afford to give our legislators a raise when everybody else is losing money, then they can afford to give that money to the tax payers instead–who by the way pay them their salaries in the first place.
I’m glad that the president is finally focusing on jobs, but I am a bit perplexed. By the way Mr. President, why would you need to call for a “jobs bill” if your stimulus plan is working as well as you claim? Obama keeps telling of the stories of the business in Phoenix that is growing, the one in Philadelphia that has doubled its business, but he did not say what the business’ name is. He also wants to give $30 billion to small community banks, in the hopes that they’ll start lending to small businesses. It kind of reminds me of the phantom districts that received stimulus money and “saved or created” fictitious recordable jobs.
There was something I did like, no really, I’m serious. Obama said he wants to reduce the capital gains tax. I am all for cutting the capital gains tax and would have given him credit for bipartisanship had he given due credit to the Republicans (who have been pushing for that since he took office.) He also talk about persuing alternative energy. But instead, he chose not to acknowledge that, presenting it as if it was a novel idea.
As an aside, did you happen to notice where Joe Biden was reading ahead on the teleprompter and started to applaud before the prompt, when Obama was mid sentence? By the way: Way to go, Joe! That was a great rapid response in recalling the clap before everyone else noticed. Major gaffe averted. I can’t wait to find the video…that was priceless! It wasn’t necessarily of importance, but at least it was certainly humorous, and typical of Biden.
Obama said that what frustrates the American people most is a Washington in which “every day is Election Day.” Oh how wrong he is. If every day were Election Day, people like Obama wouldn’t be able to go back on promises of transparency and making deliberations public on C-SPAN. They’d be on their best behavior. He says that neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill, just because they can. Well how about if every single bill is corrupt, should we just pass it to let them win one, American people’s wishes be damned? First, he reminds the democrats that they’re still winning and should forge ahead. Then to Republicans, he says if they “are going to insist that 60 votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, a Super Majority, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well.” I’m sorry, maybe I was flawed in my thinking all along. I thought for some crazy reason that we sent both Republicans and Democrats to D.C. to REpresent us, to present our views in our absence. Perhaps I am mistaken and the president is correct, being a constitutional law professor and all, that the Republicans should lead by not serving the ambitions of their Republican constituents. So let’s show the American people that we can do what together, Mr. President? As usual, his rhetoric doesn’t match his actions, or even the rest of his rhetoric. The entire speech is 1 hour and 10 minutes of contradictions. He says he’ll be addressing Republican leaders finally, on a monthly basis. It’s only been how long since they’ve been requesting meetings? Better late than never, I suppose.
This man, Barack Hussein Obama, just said to the American people, that we can argue all we want about who’s to blame, “but I’m not interested in re-litigating the past.” Hmmm, I am not quite sure what to make of the numerous references to “who is to blame” earlier in the speech then. He wants to put aside the schoolyard taunts about who’s tough. Kind of like a few minutes prior when he spoke to Democrats and reminded them they still had the largest majority in history and should act on it. To me that sounded oddly reminiscent of “We won, we won! We shot the b. b. gun!” but maybe I’m alone in that.
America’s greatest strength has been our ideals, says Obama, we find unity in our diversity, the notion that no matter who you are, and what you look like, if you adhere to our common [Democrat] values, you should be treated the same. I’m guessing that those who were locking the doors to keep people out of town hall meetings during the health care debates weren’t embracing our nation’s great diversity. He’s touting the idea that he’s going to ensure that gays have “the right to serve” in the military. Why on earth are their entrance exams to be accepted into the military? Could it be that it is to screen those who should be serving from those who should not? Could it be that they are looking to see who is equipped to serve and who is not? Does the overweight guy who can’t pass the physical fitness test have the “right” to serve in our military? ABSOLUTELY he does! Just as soon as he CHANGES enough to meet the high standards that the strongest fighting force known to mankind has set in place. The military does not require that a person stop being gay in order to serve, only that they not proclaim it to those they’re working alongside. Likewise if an overweight person does trim down enough to meet standards, the military doesn’t require that they stop eating the same amount they used to eat, but it does require that they not do so to the extent that it might put fellow servicemen in harm’s way.
With regard to his earlier statement about Republicans and furthering their own ambitions, Obama ends his speech with a fervent, “We don’t quit, I DON’T QUIT!” Mr. “it’s not all about me, it’s just entirely about me” President, how about, “I don’t give up on YOU,” no, that won’t do, that takes the emphasis off of him and places it on the people he’s supposed to be serving. After all, Obama doesn’t quit…when his ambitions are on the line.
Abortion coverage MANDATORY in Senate bill exchanges!
Posted by: | CommentsWhere it is written “subsection A”, note that this is referring to “abortions for which public funding is NOT allowed.” And where it says “subsection B”, it is referring to “abortions for which public funding IS allowed. This begins on page 140 of the 1502 page newly submitted Senate Finance Committee bill.
‘‘(3) ASSURED AVAILABILITY OF VARIED COVERAGE THROUGH EXCHANGES.—
14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary [Kathleen Sebelius] shall sure that with respect to qualified health benefits plans offered in any exchange established pursuant to this title—
18 ‘‘(i) there is at least one such plan that provides coverage of services described in subparagraphs (A) [does not provide abortion coverage] and (B) [does provide abortion coverage] of paragraph (2); [line 20, pg 140]
The current bill mandates an abortion coverage option be available through any qualified health benefits plan in the exchange:
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assure that with respect to qualified health benefits plans offered in any exchange established pursuant to this title—
(i) there is at least one such plan that provides coverage of services described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2); and
(ii) there is at least one such plan that does not provide coverage of services described in paragraph (2)(A); [line 14, pg 141]
The next bit discusses segregation of funds, and in layman’s terms, this says that even though these entities may be federally funded or get large sums of government money, they have to segregate the funds which pay for (provide) abortions. What does this mean in terms of a family budget? It means a husband and wife both work. He brings home 2,000 per week and she brings home 1,800 per week. If this family budget was going to provide abortions, it would mean that even though their combined salaries benefit their household as a whole, the actual money spent on the abortions will have to come out of the 2,000 that he brings home for that week. So essentially it is the same 3,800 pool of money, but we’re splitting it up to make it sound better. Another way to describe it is if that man goes out and buys a new Corvette without discussing it with his wife. When she freaks out, he says, “Don’t worry honey, I’m going to make the payments out of MY salary, it won’t come from yours at all. See what I’m getting at here? It’s just semantics.
‘‘(c) NO DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF PROVISION OF ABORTION.—A qualified health benefits plan may not discriminate against any individual health care provider or health care facility because of its willingness or unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.’’ [line 6 pg 144]
This basically means that no plan, even one that was highly against abortion, could not discriminate (i.e. not cover services at facilities that provide abortions–like planned parenthood) against any doctor or health care provider because of their WILLINGNESS to provide or refer for abortions. This feels eerily like something we call a “loophole.” The plan itself may not cover abortions, but the plan cannot refuse to pay for services at…say…an abortion clinic.
Will be updated as time permits. It is however, a 1500 page bill!
