Barack Obama's Pursuit Of Carter's Second Term Is In Full Effect

Anti-American protests break out in the Middle East: U.S. diplomatic compounds came under attack Tuesday in Egypt and Libya, where U.S. envoy Christopher Stevens (pictured above), and three other U.S, diplomats were murdered. Image Credit: Washington Post  

Barack Obama's Pursuit Of Carter's Second Term Is In Full Effect

Outside of a really, really bad economy and inept public sector leadership, the one thing that the 39th Presidency of Jimmy Carter principally known for is direct attacks by Islamist mobs against American embassies in the Middle East.

Today, Americans are waking up with news on Google, cable, TV, and what few newspapers folks read anymore, to the news that U.S. Embassies in Cairo, Egypt and Benghazi, Libya were over run by mobs and a U.S. Ambassador to Libya John Christopher Stevens and three other American diplomats have been killed Tuesday in the assaults.

No official comment has come from the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attack “in the strongest terms.” She said she had called Libyan President Mohamed Yusuf al-Magariaf “to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya.”

So this is where our "Lead From Behind" foreign policy has led us and it is time for an immediate change. Clint Eastwood said it best at the Republican National Convention held in Tampa, Florida a couple of weeks ago when he spoke into the microphone these words - "Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or whether you're libertarian or whatever, you are the best.  And we should not ever forget that. And when somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go."

This excerpted and edited from the Washington Post -

The attacks — apparently prompted by outrage over an amateur, anti-Muslim film made in the United States — are likely to prompt a deep rethinking of U.S. policy toward both Libya and Egypt, where the United States supported Arab Spring revolutions and has been instrumental in providing financial and diplomatic support for their newly-democratic governments. Local security officials in both countries appeared slow to provide protection for the American diplomatic installations, and have issued no firm statements explaining the violence or expressing strong concern.

The film, produced in the United States and posted online, denigrated the Islamic prophet Mohammed. In her statement, Clinton said that while she “deplores” any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, “there is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”

The crisis quickly spilled over into the U.S. presidential campaign, as Mitt Romney issued a brief statement saying he was “outraged” by the assaults. Romney then said “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn the attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”
----
 A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, of which [Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi] Morsi is a member, said that the United States should do a better job of protecting Islam.

“It isn’t a matter of freedom of speech,” Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Gozlan said. “It’s a matter of a holy Islamic symbol.”
[Reference Here]

Charles Krauthammer, a political commenter for Fox News, probably stated this outrage best - “That statement is an embarrassment,” Krauthammer said. “That’s a hostage statement (official White House statements link here). That’s a mob of al-Qaida sympathizers in Egypt forcing the United States into making a statement essentially of apology — on 9/11 of all days — for something of which we are not responsible. I would issue a statement saying to the mob, ‘Go to hell.’ The way America works, the way a democracy works, is that everybody has a right to express themselves. We don’t police our speech and you ought to apologize to the United States for storming an embassy and the violation of the ultimate sacred principle of democracy, which is protecting embassies and missions abroad. For the U.S. to what, essentially, issue a veiled apology, I think is disgraceful.”

Welcome to, hopefully, the end of days of this "full effect" experiment of a 44th Presidency ... welcome to Carter's Second Term!


** First published as "Barack Obama's Pursuit Of Carter's Second Term Is In Full Effect" at Technorati **

The Sad Blow-By-Blow Of Obama WH Storytelling On UBL

The White House has said that the story changes because of the "Fog of War". How about the "fog of insecurity" - maybe what we are really witnessing is the "fog of Alinsky". Image Credit: Daily Mail (2009)

The Sad Blow-By-Blow Of Obama WH Storytelling On UBL

Here in Carter's Second Term, we are beginning to learn that this 44th Presidency of Barack Obama has nothing on the 39th Presidency of Jimmy Carter when it comes to getting a story straight.

In the Carter era, we were used to hearing a change of the narrative in a story (or correction) maybe once or twice. Here in the Obama edition of Carter's Second Term it is not uncommon to hear at least two or more corrections on the information communicated to us down in the lowly masses and that is just the way it is - take it or leave it. The problem with this is we live here, we know that credibility relates directly to the accuracy of what one communicates, and having to correct one's account of a situation, often, over a period time, is never good.

Employment numbers are commonly corrected at least twice, usually to a more negative direction (as reported today, we are now back at 9% up from 8.8% ... expect this to be adjusted upward a tenth or two in a couple of weeks).

The reporting on what is in the new healthcare law - ObamaCare - gets to the point where the only thing that this law doesn't effect is the daily outside temperature and that is only because one can not control the forces of nature or God ... unless, of course, you belong to one of this Administration's favored companies.

The President was consistent on stating that under this new healthcare law, we would be able to keep our Doctor and current healthcare plan. Yet, over this last year the law has been in effect, over 1,000 institution exemptions/waivers have been issued in order for some to have this statement remain true ... temporally.

It is great that Barack Obama and his administration acted and killed Usama bin Laden (UBL) but, again, what can anyone trust in regards to the truthfulness of the account of what happened May 1, 2011. Here is what we know that has been said by this 44th Presidency of Barack Obama during Carter's Second Term.

Obama as his motorcade navigates through the fog. Image Credit: Daily Mail (2009)

This excerpted and edited from Michelle Malkin's Facebook Posting -

The Fog of Fog
by Michelle Malkin on Friday, May 6, 2011 at 5:36am

Take One: Bin Laden died in a bloody firefight.

On Sunday night, Obama dramatically told the world that “after a firefight,” our brave men in uniform “killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

Embellishing the story the next morning, White House deputy national security adviser John Brennan said at his briefing that bin Laden “was engaged in a firefight with those that entered the area of the house he was in. … And whether or not he got off any rounds, I quite frankly don’t know. … It was a firefight. He, therefore, was killed in that firefight.”

Take Two: Bin Laden did not engage in a firefight.

The day after Brennan disclosed such vivid details, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney walked them back Michael Jackson-style. Bin Laden, he said in version 2.0, “was not armed.” Brennan had clearly implied that bin Laden “resisted” with arms. Carney amended the narrative by insisting that “resistance does not require a firearm.” How exactly bin Laden resisted, Carney would not say.

It’s been all downhill, uphill, K-turns and 180s ever since. Fasten your seatbelts:

Take Three: Bin Laden’s wife died after her feckless husband used her as a human shield.

Take Four: Bin Laden’s wife did not die, wasn’t used as a human shield and was only shot in the leg. Someone else’s wife was killed, somewhere else in the house.

Take Five: A transport helicopter experienced “mechanical failure” and was forced to make a hard landing during the mission.

Take Six: A top-secret helicopter clipped the bin Laden compound wall, crashed and was purposely exploded after the mission to prevent our enemies from learning more about it.

Take Seven: The bin Laden photos would be released to the world as proof positive of his death.

Take Eight: The bin Laden photos would not be released to the world because no one needs proof and it’s more important to avoid offending peaceful Muslims who supposedly don’t embrace bin Laden as a “true” Muslim in the first place.

Take Nine: Bin Laden’s compound was a lavish mansion.

Take Ten: Bin Laden’s compound was a glorified pigsty.

Take Eleven: Bin Laden’s compound had absolutely no television, phone or computer access.

Take Twelve: Bin Laden’s compound was stocked with hard drives, thumb drives, DVDs and computers galore.

Take Thirteen: Er, remember that statement about bin Laden being armed? And then not armed? Well, the new version is that he had an AK-47 “nearby.”

Take Fourteen: A gung-ho Obama spearheaded the “gutsy” mission.

Take Fifteen: A reluctant Obama dithered for 16 hours before being persuaded by CIA Director Leon Panetta.

Take Sixteen: Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and close advisers watched the raid unfold in real time — “minute by minute,” according to Carney — and a gripping insider photo was posted immediately by the White House on the Flickr picture-sharing website for all to see.

Take Seventeen: Er, they weren’t really watching real-time video “minute by minute” because there was at least nearly a half-hour that they “didn’t know just exactly what was going on,” Panetta clarified. Or rather, un-clarified.

Take Eighteen: Stalwart Obama’s order was to kill, not capture, bin Laden.

Take Nineteen: Sensitive Obama’s order was to kill (SET ITAL) or (END ITAL) capture — and that’s why the SEAL team gave him a chance to surrender, upon which he resisted with arms, or actually didn’t resist with arms, but sort of resisted without arms, except there was an AK-47 nearby, sort of, or maybe not, thus making it possible to assert that while Decisive Obama did tell the SEALs to kill bin Laden and should claim all credit for doing so, Progressive Obama can also be absolved by bleeding hearts because of the painstakingly concocted post facto possibility that bin Laden somehow threatened our military — telepathically or something — before being taken out.

Take Twenty: “We’ve been as forthcoming with facts as we can be,” said an irritated Carney on Wednesday.

And they wonder why Americans of all political stripes think they’re blowing smoke.
[Reference Here]

How about the "fog of insecurity" - we could only wish this crowd children acting in adult roles would get their act level up to "Bush League"! Maybe what we are witnessing is the "fog of Alinsky".

The truth has a funny way of bubbling to the surface. How many times has the story changed and why can't this 44th Presidency get its story straight? On this issue it doesn't matter because UBL is STILL dead and not an intelligence node (but we got his thumb and hard drives - best of both worlds) or a terror threat here in Carter's Second Term.

Most disturbing quote from Barack Obama's first ever speech from the Oval Office

President Barack Obama in the Oval Office on his first day in office 1/21/09, at his desk, chin in hand, pondering his new job as President of the United States of America. Image Credit: United States Government Works

Most disturbing quote from Barack Obama's first ever speech from the Oval Office

The most disturbing quote lifted from the speech delivered by our 44th president in his first speech delivered from the impressive backdrop of the Oval Office of the White House was "We have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -- our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we're unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don't yet know precisely how we're going to get there. We know we'll get there."

This quote is disturbing on many levels ... but mostly, it is disturbing because it highlights the determination of the progressive political mind to control without being sure of the result.

The part that says "Even if we're unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don't yet know precisely how we're going to get there. We know we'll get there." is a little like piloting a rudderless dingy aiming for an island paradise ... and that is the biggest problem. As a nation, we have always had the capacity to, at least, adhere to the guiding principles laid out by our founding document - The Constitution of the United States backed up by the Bill of Rights.

The statement "Even if we're unsure exactly what that looks like." suggests a target rooted in pure idealism without the informed temperament of historical precedent. Conventional wisdom has its place when one is attempting to reach a target with a high probability of success on a first or second try.

What this President, and the Congress he directs, doesn't understand is that the shotgun approach (passage of the Stimulus Spending Bill, Omnibus Spending Bill, Obamacare, the pursuit of Net Neutrality, Immigration Reform with Amnesty, moratoriums on drilling for oil and limits on the pursuit of other forms of conventional energy combined with the Cap & Trade carbon taxing human activity agenda) to reaching an ideal universe without the informed guidance of historical result will be doomed in waste and the corruption of greed which all result in a lack of personal freedom which the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written to protect.

Some of the lessons that were learned during the 39th Presidency of Jimmy Carter are now being repeated on a much larger scale. This is where the idealistic philosophy of the progressive political mind ends up taking us all ... and THAT passes for "Conventional Wisdom" here in Carter's Second Term.

The Executive pursuit of destruction in Carter's Second Term

President Barack Obama talks with, from left, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs Phil Schiliro, and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, along the Colonnade of the White House, June 10, 2010. Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

The Executive pursuit of destruction in Carter's Second Term

Didn't Barack Obama, in the broadcast speech he delivered from the Oval Office from the White House, look like the room was beginning to swallow him up? The chairs, picture frames and flags in the background appeared to grow in size.

The President rambled on using the Oval Office as a backdrop to highlight his views in four areas - 1.) Stop leak 2.) Clean-Up 3.) Restoration 4.) Cap & Trade. A promise of having the breech at the BP/Deep Water Horizon at being 90% contained very soon, additional Czars and more commissions to look into dealing with the protection of the coast in the gulf and the clean-up of the wetlands, and an evoking of FDR, World War II, and God's blessing is what passes for command and control leadership in a disaster for this President and his Administration.

Sitting on the sidelines for the better part of 57 days since 11 people lost their lives in an explosion that eventually sank the oil drilling and capture platform, Deep Water Horizon, that created a massive leaking breech of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and is now threatening the livelihoods of people dependent on fishing, tourism, and oil drilling operations along the shores of the Gulf. The President has implemented a shut down moratorium of all drilling and oil recovery which will place as many as i20,000 thousand people out of work unnecessarily, reducing tax receipts the Government was looking to collect to pay for its takeover agenda and putting additional stress on the economic strength of the Gulf States. If people are not being paid for work ... they have no money to pay for goods and services and those people begin to suffer.

In his "call to action" plea he delivered during his speech last night ... he began to sound exactly as Jimmy Carter did 31 years ago in a speech he gave during the famed "odd/even" oil crisis.

This excerpted and edited from WGBH's American Experience -

President Carter stated in his now infamous "Malaise Speech" - "Energy will be the immediate test of our ability to unite this nation, and it can also be the standard around which we rally. On the battlefield of energy we can win for our nation a new confidence, and we can seize control again of our common destiny."

"These efforts will cost money, a lot of money, and that is why Congress must enact the windfall profits tax without delay. It will be money well spent. Unlike the billions of dollars that we ship to foreign countries to pay for foreign oil, these funds will be paid by Americans to Americans. These funds will go to fight, not to increase, inflation and unemployment."

"I will continue to travel this country, to hear the people of America. You can help me to develop a national agenda for the 1980s. I will listen and I will act. We will act together. These were the promises I made three years ago, and I intend to keep them."

"Little by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. We can spend until we empty our treasuries, and we may summon all the wonders of science. But we can succeed only if we tap our greatest resources -- America's people, America's values, and America's confidence."

"In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our country. With God's help and for the sake of our nation, it is time for us to join hands in America. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the American spirit. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail."
Reference Here>>

In contrast ... President Barack Obama said nearly the exact same things, the same vague points of fear and destruction through Government processes.

The President addresses the American people from the Oval Office for the first time on the ongoing Administration-wide response to the BP oil spill and America’s clean energy future. Image Credit: The White House - Public Domain

This excerpted and edited from a transcript posted at CBS News -

"The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude."

"Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs -- but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation -- workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors."

"When I was a candidate for this office [the only high level of experience he can actually point to - not leadership but a speech], I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill -- a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America's businesses."

"Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And there are some who believe that we can't afford those costs right now [STRAW DOG]. I say we can't afford not to change how we produce and use energy -- because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater."

"So I'm happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -- as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development -- and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development."

"But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet [STRAW DOG]. You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II [STRAW DOG]. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon [STRAW DOG]. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -- our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we're unsure exactly what that looks like [STRAW DOG]. Even if we don't yet know precisely how we're going to get there. We know we'll get there."

"Each year, at the beginning of shrimping season, the region's fishermen take part in a tradition that was brought to America long ago by fishing immigrants from Europe. It's called "The Blessing of the Fleet," and today it's a celebration where clergy from different religions gather to say a prayer for the safety and success of the men and women who will soon head out to sea -- some for weeks at a time."

"Tonight, we pray for that courage. We pray for the people of the Gulf. And we pray that a hand may guide us through the storm towards a brighter day. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America."
Reference Here>>

Today, Barack Obama has received his commitment that BP will set up a $20 Billion escrow account to be managed by the Obama Administration presumably to pay for damages and clean-up of wetlands but just who will keep an eye on the activities of where this money will go?

The Obama Administration will not be looking at itself ... especially with the current political party that is in control. Look upon this money to become a slush fund to perpetuate this current political leadership structure of destruction here in Carter's Second Term.

Barack Obama ... The Expiration Date Presidency

President Barack Obama said that the private sector is the “true engine of job growth in this country,” and that while the government "can’t reverse the toll of this recession overnight", it can help to spur job growth by providing incentives for companies to begin hiring again. The President recently signed the HIRE Act, a jobs bill that provides tax cuts for businesses that hire new employees, and makes investments in clean energy and schools to encourage job creation. He talked about the Recovery Act, which made significant investments in infrastructure, helping to create private sector jobs. [CTRL-CLICK image to launch "7 Lies In Under 2 Minutes" YouTube video - it came in only one speech!] Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Barack Obama ... The Expiration Date Presidency

When one befriends someone, one assesses the value of that person's word to see if the person can be trusted with telling the truth. Generally speaking, if a person is true to their word ... their word stands the test of time with the intention and commitment of maintaining what was said through actions and additional consistent statements. One does not expect an expiration date on statements made from a truthful person.

In politics, the American, mostly Center-Right, voter will fire people they have elected into office for making statements that do not hold up to the test of time ... remember "Read my lips, No New Taxes" POTUS 41 George Walker Bush who was swept into that office and not too long thereafter, raised taxes? He became famous as a one-term president for making a statement that had an expiration date, so the American voter gave one to him.

Since then we have had two, two-term presidents, and as politicians, have made statements that have had expiration dates. More often then not, they both got re-elected because most of the statements they made campaigning and then while holding the office they were elected, their statements held up with the test of time. One could take their word on major policy issues to the bank. Their expiration date for holding the highest elected office in the land was a mandate of law, not voter action.

Enter Barack Obama who campaigned as a center-left Democrat ... but has governed as a hard-left Progressive with strong socialist, single party rule and executive order deafness in defiance to the wishes of the majority of American voters.

Statements and actions this 44th President will surly make him become known as the "Expiration Date President" ... a title previously held by George Walker Bush.

This excerpted and edited from National Review Online -

A Long Post: The Complete List of Obama Statement Expiration Dates
By popular demand, a comprehensive list of expired Obama statements...
Jim Geraghty - National Review Online - Monday, March 29, 2010

HEALTH CARE MANDATES

STATEMENT: “We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.” Barack Obama, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate, February 21, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the individual mandate into law.

HEALTH CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

RAISING TAXES

STATEMENT: “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” (multiple times on the campaign trail)

EXPIRATION DATE: Broken multiple times, including the raised taxes on tobacco, a new tax on indoor tanning salons, but most prominently on February 11, 2010: “President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.”

RECESS APPOINTMENTS

STATEMENT: Then-Senator Obama declared that a recess appointment is “damaged goods” and has “less credibility” than a normal appointment. August 25, 2005.

EXPIRATION DATE: March 27, 2010: “If, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”

BORDER SECURITY

STATEMENT: “We need tougher border security, and a renewed focus on busting up gangs and traffickers crossing our border. . . . That begins at home, with comprehensive immigration reform. That means securing our border and passing tough employer enforcement laws.” then-candidate Obama, discussing the need for border security, speaking in Miami on May 23, 2008:

EXPIRATION DATE: March 17, 2010: The Obama administration halted new work on a "virtual fence" on the U.S.-Mexican border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday, diverting $50 million in planned economic stimulus funds for the project to other purposes.

GUANTANAMO BAY

STATEMENT: Executive Order stating, "The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." January 22, 2009.

EXPIRATION DATE: November 19, 2009: "Guantánamo, we had a specific deadline that was missed."

MILITARY TRIBUNALS

STATEMENT: “Somebody like Khalid Sheik Mohammad is gonna get basically, a full military trial with all the bells and whistles.” September 27, 2006

EXPIRATION DATE: Ongoing. “President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash. Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.”

RECOVERY.GOV

STATEMENT: “We will launch a sweeping effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.” – President Obama, January 28, 2009

EXPIRATION DATE: “More than two months after some of the funds were released, [Recovery.gov] offers little detail on where the money is going… The government [spent] $84 million on a website that doesn't have a search function, when its purpose is to ‘root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government.’” April 2, 2009

Eighteen from his first 100 days:

1. "As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

2. "I will make sure that we renegotiate [NAFTA]."

3. Opposed a Colombian Free Trade Agreement because advocates ignore that "labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis."

4. "Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut."

5. "If we see money being misspent, we're going to put a stop to it, and we will call it out and we will publicize it."

6. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

7. "I want to go line by line through every item in the Federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work, and make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper."

8. "[My plan] will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell."

9. "Instead of allowing lobbyists to slip big corporate tax breaks into bills during the dead of night, we will make sure every single tax break and earmark is available to every American online."

10. "We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress's seniority, rather than the merit of the project."

11. "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

12. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the United States has to be frank with the Chinese about such failings and will press them to respect human rights."

13. "We must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights."

14. "Lobbyists won’t work in my White House!"

15. "The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result."

16. "I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills."

17. "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." Obama is 1-for-11 on this promise so far.

18. A special one on the 100th day, "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing I'd do."

And a list from of promises that expired during the campaign:

Monday, November 03, 2008

IRAQ

STATEMENT: “Based on the conversations we’ve had internally as well as external reports, we believe that you can get one to two brigades out a month. At that pace, the forces would be out in approximately 16 months from the time that we began. That would be the time frame that I would be setting up,” Obama to the New York Times, November 1, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: March 7, 2008: Obama foreign policy adviser Samantha Power, to the BBC: “You can’t make a commitment in whatever month we’re in now, in March of 2008 about what circumstances are gonna be like in Jan. 2009. We can’t even tell what Bush is up to in terms of troop pauses and so forth. He will of course not rely upon some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US senator.”

Also: July 3, 2008: "My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything I've said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe," Obama told reporters as his campaign plane landed in North Dakota. "And my guiding approach continues to be that we've got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I'm going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold."

STATEMENT: On June 14, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice called the RNC’s argument that Obama needed to go to Iraq to get a firsthand look "complete garbage."

EXPIRATION DATE: On June 16, Obama announced he would go to Iraq and Afghanistan “so he can see first hand the progress of the wars he would inherit if he's elected president.”

DEBATES

STATEMENT: May 16, 2008: "If John McCain wants to meet me, anywhere, anytime to have a debate about our respective policies in Iraq, Iran, the Middle East or around the world that is a conversation I’m happy to have."

EXPIRATION DATE: June 13, 2008: Obama campaign manager David Plouffe: “Barack Obama offered to meet John McCain at five joint appearances between now and Election Day—the three traditional debates plus a joint town hall on the economy in July [on the Fourth of July] and an in-depth debate on foreign policy in August.”

IRAN

STATEMENT: “We can, then, more effectively deal with what I consider to be one of the greatest threats to the United States, to Israel, and world peace, and that is Iran,” Obama speaking to American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Chicago, March 5, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny...They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.” – May 20, 2008

STATEMENT: Question at the YouTube debate, as the video depicted leaders of the countries, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?....."

"I would," Obama answered. July 27, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: May 10, 2008: Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate: “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”

JEREMIAH WRIGHT/TRINITY UNITED

STATEMENT: "I could no more disown Jeremiah Wright than I could disown my own grandmother."

—Barack Obama, March 18, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: on April 28, 2008, cut all ties to Wright, declaring, “based on his remarks yesterday, well, I may not know him as well as I thought.”

STATEMENT: Obama said that his church, “Trinity United "embodies the black community in its entirety" and that his church was being caricatured on March 18, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On May 31, 2008, Obama resigned his membership at Trinity United Church.

JIM JOHNSON

STATEMENT: Criticism of running mate vetter Jim Johnson loan from Countrywide was "a game" and that his vice-presidential vetting team “aren’t folks who are working for me.” June 10, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 11, 2008, when Obama accepted Johnson's resignation.

FISA

STATEMENT: Obama spokesman Bill Burton on October 24, 2007: “To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 20, 2008: “Given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as president, I will carefully monitor the program.”

NUCLEAR ENERGY

STATEMENT: “I am not a nuclear energy proponent.” Barack Obama, December 30, 2007

EXPIRATION DATE: The above statement actually was the expiration date for his previous position, “I actually think we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix,” expressed on July 23, 2007; the above statement expired when he told Democratic governors he thought it is “worth investigating its further development” on June 20, 2008.

NAFTA

STATEMENT: Tim Russert:: Senator Obama . . . Simple question: Will you, as president, say to Canada and Mexico, "This has not worked for us; we are out"?

Obama: “I will make sure that we renegotiate, in the same way that Senator Clinton talked about. And I think actually Senator Clinton's answer on this one is right. I think we should use the hammer of a potential opt-out as leverage to ensure that we actually get labor and environmental standards that are enforced. And that is not what has been happening so far.” February 23, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 18, 2008, Fortune magazine: “Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.

Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered.

"I'm not a big believer in doing things unilaterally," Obama said. "I'm a big believer in opening up a dialogue and figuring out how we can make this work for all people."

PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election.” Also, a Common Cause questionnaire dated November 27, 2007, asked “If you are nominated for President in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding in the general election campaign, will you participate in the presidential public financing system?”, Obama checked, “Yes.”

EXPIRATION DATE: June 19, 2008: Obama announced he would not participate in the presidential public financing system.

WORKING OUT A DEAL ON PUBLIC FINANCING

STATEMENT: “What I’ve said is, at the point where I'm the nominee, at the point where it's appropriate, I will sit down with John McCain and make sure that we have a system that works for everybody.”Obama to Tim Russert, Febuary 27.

EXPIRATION DATE: When Obama announced his decision to break his public financing pledge June 19, no meeting between the Democratic nominee and McCain had occurred.

WELFARE REFORM

STATEMENT: “I probably would not have supported the federal legislation [to overhaul welfare], because I think it had some problems." Obama on the floor of the Illinois Senate, May 31, 1997

EXPIRATION DATE: April 11, 2008: Asked if he would have vetoed the 1996 law, Mr. Obama said, “I won’t second guess President Clinton for signing” it. Obama to the New York Times.

GAY MARRIAGE

STATEMENT: "Barack Obama has always believed that same-sex couples should enjoy equal rights under the law, and he will continue to fight for civil unions as president. He respects the decision of the California Supreme Court, and continues to believe that states should make their own decisions when it comes to the issue of marriage.” – campaign spokesman, May 5, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 29, 2008: “I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states… Finally, I want to congratulate all of you who have shown your love for each other by getting married these last few weeks.” — letter to the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club

PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION

STATEMENT: "Now, I don't think that 'mental distress' qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term." – Interview with Relevant magazine, July 1, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: July 5, 2008: “My only point is that in an area like partial-birth abortion having a mental, having a health exception can be defined rigorously. It can be defined through physical health, It can be defined by serious clinical mental-health diseases.” statement to reporters.

DIVISION OF JERUSALEM

STATEMENT: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." — speech before AIPAC, June 4, 2008

EXPIRATION DATE: June 6, 2008: "Jerusalem is a final status issue, which means it has to be negotiated between the two parties" as part of "an agreement that they both can live with." – an Obama adviser clarifying his remarks to the Jerusalem Post.
Reference Here>>

During the campaign, Barack Obama joked often, by saying that his opponent, John McCain, represented a George Herbert Walker Bush third term ... in all reality, given the leadership style and economic mayhem Barack Obama has shown, his presidency is Carter's Second Term ... on steroids.

It is time to give this president his own expiration date come November 2010 and elect people from any political party who are committed to stand in his way ... then on to 2012 when we all can send this 44th President of the United States his walking papers.

Bubble, Bubble, who has the Bubble now?

Bubbles - Image Credit: ventrella.com

Bubble, Bubble, who has the Bubble ... now?

Our cultural lexicon has been inundated with the concept and effects of the "Bubble" these last few years.

A Bubble is an artificially modified sustaining of an activity which has been created to attract attention and interest in people so that they either believe that something is better or good and to have people invest their time and/or money upon said activity to sustain the effect.

Generally, and this is why these activities are called Bubbles ... the activity BURSTS ... and people loose their well intended time and/or money.

Take the new jobs number released this morning for example. The number of people employed increased and showed the largest jump in the growth in jobs in three years - good news, right? Well, there is a trick behind the job growth, which represents 1/3 of the jobs created, and it is called temporary, single project government hiring - for follow-ups on the United States census. At $21.00 an hour, most people without a job would gladly sign up and take these jobs to knock on doors and gather information ... but these jobs come from Government spending (tax and borrowing against the deficit from China) and will only last until the census information taking is completed (months at best), and there is the rub - it is the next big Bubble to BURST!

We have seen Investment Bond bubbles, Dot.Com internet company creation and company investment growth bubbles, and most recently, Government seeded loose housing purchasing rules and Mortgage Packaging bubble run roughshod through our economy but the one Bubble no one wants to recognize is the looming Big, Bigger, Biggest Government Spending Bubble!

Imagine the world surrounded with bubbles. Image Credit: moolf.com

This excerpted and edited from Businessweek -

China’s Central Bank Sees New Asset Bubbles Emerging
Bloomberg - April 02, 2010, 7:41 AM EDT

China’s central bank said asset bubbles are emerging in parts of the world and in certain industries that may burst unless supported by real economic recovery.

Rapid asset price increases in major markets since 2009 have been pushed by “ultra-loose” monetary policies by governments around the world and “don’t mean real economies have recovered or will recover strongly,” the People’s Bank of China [PBOC] said in a report posted on its Web site today. Such gains “unless they receive sufficient support from macroeconomic fundamentals, may lead to a new round of asset bubbles that may burst,” the Beijing-based bank said.
----
Governments worldwide have spent more than $2 trillion in fiscal stimulus to spur growth and may face difficulty coordinating exit strategies because of the “unbalanced global recovery,” the central bank said. The withdrawal of support, together with the threat of inflation and the risks surrounding the sovereign debt of some economies complicate the process, the PBOC said.

Asset bubbles are the “real worry” as China emerges from the global financial crisis into a “boom time,” former central bank adviser Fan Gang said Feb. 1. Economists at the government- backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned Jan. 11 that the nation’s gross domestic product could expand as much as 16 percent in 2010 unless policy makers withdraw stimulus.
----
The PBOC’s comments today echo those of other international central bank officials. Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said Nov. 13 that he was “scared” that money flowing into Asia because of low interest rates in the U.S. could lead to another crisis in the region. World Bank President Robert Zoellick told Australian Financial Review on Jan. 13 that a liquidity-driven world recovery faces the risk of asset price inflation.
Reference Here>>

The Obama Administration has not learned the lessons of the past shown in the economic policies of the Carter Administration. During the one-term Carter Presidency, we saw inflation and recession happen at the same time and send our economy into a tailspin.

Now that Health Care Reform has just been signed into law, this effect will pale in comparison with the economic policies implemented here during Carter's Second Term! Just ask our biggest debt investor ... China. To have them tell it, we are drowning in Bubbles.

Stimulate This, Jimmy Carter

President Obama after meeting with, from left, National Economic Council Director Lawrence H. Summers, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). Image Credit: Bill O'leary/The Washington Post

Stimulate This, Jimmy Carter

The poor economic record of the Carter years ... and in particular, the unusual combination of high inflation and high unemployment ... was an important reason for Carter's loss of popularity and his 1980 defeat.

The 39th President of the United States has nothing on the potential for economic havoc that liberal federal government spending will have once the 44th President, Barack Obama, has his proposed $3.5 to $4 trillion dollar budget approved and placed into action.

The budget proposal released today is coming on the heels of the approval of $787 Billion dollars of tax monies to stimulate our economy ... the largest spending bill ever passed by our leaders in the U.S. Congress in the history of the United States.

Just try to understand how much money of our citizen supported spending, the Government has approved on our behalf, after hearing that the next budget President Obama wants to have approved may spend about $4 Trillion dollars.

This all becomes a little inconceivable.

Example:

If one was to spend only $1,000,000 (that's one-million dollars) a day and intended to spend this money until one had spent $1,000,000,000,000 (one-trillion dollars), one would not finish until three (3) thousand years from now.

So, TIMES FOUR (4) – that’s a million dollars a day for twelve-thousand years!

There are only three-hundred million (300,000,000) men, women, ... and children who live in the United States – do the math.

The Obama Effect - This chart, showing the utter devastation Obama has wrought on the stock market, is from Investor's Business Daily.

This excerpted and edited from Commentary Magazine -

How Big Is Big?
Jennifer Rubin - 02.25.2009 - 7:07 PM

The spending numbers become meaningless after awhile. This helpful guide puts things in perspective:

$787 billion would buy 4.6 million homes here in the US at the most recent median price of $170,300 for January 2008.

$787 billion would send a check for $2,623 to every man, woman and child in the US.

$787 billion would fund 7.7 million four year scholarships to the average private university in the US at current tuition rates.

$787 billion would fund 30 million full four year scholarships to the nation’s public universities.

$787 billion would buy 27.7 million cars at the average price of an automobile sold last year in the US.

$787 billion would fund four full months of a tax holiday in the US.

This not only helps clarify how much we are spending, but how poorly we are allocating taxpayer dollars. If we actually did a couple of these things there might be broader support even among conservatives for the stimulus or the other spending projects Democrats have in mind. However, who thinks we’re going to get much value or immediate productive economic activity from the $787B?

You have the sense that, if they tried, they couldn’t spend the money in a more inefficient and less productive fashion. And you’d be right. The Democrats’ goal is to expand the public sector and pet liberal projects, not to worry about efficiency and productivity.They’re doing a fine job.
Reference Here>>

Then there is this little budget of $4 Trillion dollars and the claim that it will reduce the deficit by half.

This excerpted and edited from The Washington Post -

In President's Budget Plan, Broad Agenda and a Few Gaps
By Lori Montgomery, Washington Post Staff Writer - Thursday, February 26, 2009

President Obama's spending plan is built on the assumption that lawmakers can resolve some hugely contentious issues -- and it relies on a few well-worn budget tricks.

The request he will deliver to Congress today proposes to provide what administration officials are calling a "down payment" on a major expansion of health care coverage for the uninsured. It identifies $634 billion in tax increases and spending cuts to cover the cost of part of the program, but does not say how the administration hopes to raise the rest of the money -- hundreds of billions of dollars more. "TBD" has been penciled into categories for cost savings and benefit reductions.

Obama's budget also would make permanent a tax cut for the middle class enacted in the recent stimulus package. But to pay for it, the president counts on a big infusion of cash from a politically controversial cap-and-trade system, which would force companies to buy allowances to exceed pollution limits. Even if that plan is approved, some lawmakers have other ideas about how to spend the money.
----
"They've painted the worst-case scenario in order to make it as easy as possible to improve on," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which champions deficit reduction. “But I'd like to see them go much further in terms of fiscal responsibility in actually closing that deficit gap."
----
"It's a bold plan. This is big strokes. This is not a budget about little things," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the House leadership.
----
A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the budget has not been released, said the spending proposal is just a summary of a fleshed-out plan that will be complete in April. In addition, some details were intentionally left out of the document because the president did not want to dictate policy changes to lawmakers.

The health reform proposal, for example, "is the starting point of a conversation with Congress," the official said. "We're not going to go to Congress and say, 'Here's the plan.' We're starting a conversation and saying, 'This is what we want to get done.' "
----
The deficit is perhaps the trickiest issue in Obama's spending plan. He has pledged to cut it in half by the end of his first term. Specifically, administration officials say the annual gap between federal spending and tax collections will fall from something north of $1.4 trillion this year -- the highest since World War II -- to $533 billion in 2013.

But Republicans and some budget analysts noted that this highly touted goal is not particularly ambitious: This year's budget deficit is bloated by spending on the stimulus package and various financial-sector bailouts, expenses unlikely to be repeated in future years. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently predicted that the deficit could be halved by 2013 merely by winding down the war in Iraq and allowing some of the tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration to expire in 2011, as Obama has proposed. That alone would cut the deficit to $715 billion, according to the CBO.

"It's easy to cut the deficit in half after you've quadrupled it," said Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "The end of the recession, the drawdown of Iraq spending and the end of temporary stimulus spending will by itself cut the deficit in half. He should do more."
----
The official defended the administration's figures, saying they accurately represent recent war costs. "It's a change in our policy that is going to bring those costs down," the official said.

But several budget analysts criticized the speech as misleading.

"It's a hollow number," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, who recently withdrew as Obama's nominee to head the Commerce Department. "You're not getting savings if you're assuming spending that isn't actually going to occur."
Reference Here>>

Ahhhh! The benefits of Central Planning ... it took only 12 Five-Year Plans to bring down the Soviet Union. How long will it take to dismantle the freedoms we enjoy here in the United States (many say the freedom train has already left the station).

Carter's Second Term ... on STEROIDS!!!

Excitement On Stimulus Sends Stocks Reeling

Government spending of taxpayers money on social engineering and pork barrel projects help the stock markets plunge toward recession. Image Credit: CFNEWS 13

Excitement On Stimulus Sends Stocks Reeling

The Dow Jones opens today down by over 250 points on the anticipated news that Barack Obama has signed into law, the new $787 billion economic-stimulus package recently passed by the Democrat Party controlled Senate.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the time-value cost of this legislation and its spending will actually top 3 Trillion dollars once the borrowed monies interest has been paid.

The business markets know that this action will lead to inflation and recession at the same time, similiar to the conditions set up by the economic policies pursued by the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

Welcome to the second coming of "Stagflation"!

This excerpted and edited from CNN/Money -

Recession fears slam Wall Street
Stocks slump Tuesday morning as investors worry the stimulus plan won't go far enough. Financials lead the way lower.
By CNNMoney.com staff - Last Updated: February 17, 2009: 9:44 AM ET

Stocks slumped Tuesday morning as financial shares sold off amid worries that the recession is worsening, even as President Obama prepares to sign into law the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 210 points, or about 2.7% in the early going [and got worse].

The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index lost 28 points, or about 3.4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 47 points, or about 3.1%.
----
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners, said uneasiness over the stimulus package is the prime suspect.

"I guess there's a lot of second thoughts about the stimulus package from the public," said Cardillo before the markets opened. "Obviously, there's a lot of fear out there, and that fear factor continue to weigh [on the markets.]"
----
Enthusiasm over the stimulus plan and bank bailout have been tempered by an ongoing barrage of bad corporate and economic news. Last week, the Dow shed 5.2%, the S&P 500 fell 4.8% and the Nasdaq stumbled 3.6%.

Looking forward, the president on Wednesday is expected to unveil his long-awaited foreclosure prevention plan.
Reference Here>>

Gold will be up.

Welcome to Carter's Second Term!

Trickle Down Growth Or Trickle Across Poverty

Casting the tax debate as a “values” issue Saturday, Barack Obama said John McCain was "out-of-touch" for equating the Illinois senator's plan to cut taxes for middle class families with welfare. /// “It comes down to values – in America, do we simply value wealth, or do we value the work that creates it?” Obama said at a rally under the Gateway Arch. “I’m not giving tax cuts to folks who don’t work. I’m giving tax cuts to folks who do work. That’s right, Missouri – John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people ‘welfare.’ – Barack Obama in St. Louis Oct. 18, 2008 – Image Credit: Ethiopian Review

Trickle Down Growth Or Trickle Across Poverty

“Joe The Plumber” has really struck a cord with the average American that does not want to loose their hard fought freedoms.

The truth is that most Americans are not opposed to paying taxes to a Government that creates and maintains roads and infrastructure, creates and maintains laws that secure our sovereignty, and gives us protection from forces that want to take over our freedoms that our forefathers envisioned us having here in the United States – Religion, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit Of Happiness!

What most Americans do not want to do is pay taxes for WELFARE knowing full well that this is the cancer that attacks our productivity, creativity, economic health, and the wide variety of choices we have come to expect in our "7-11 society" (access to almost anything at anytime of the day).

One measure of how well people connect with a vision of America that “Joe The Plumber” articulates and its effect on our election process for President ... expect a machine generated “robocall” from the Democrat Party featuring “Bob The Plumber” - That’s right, BOB … THE PLUMBER! The inventive “Bob” is the main character in a phone call people get while they are eating dinner, espousing the virtues of a Barack Obama economic vision that invests in the middleclass.

This Reference (edited) found at The Huffington Post –

Obama Launches Own 'Joe The Plumber' Robocall
Sam Stein – The Huffington Post, October 18, 2008

Barack Obama's campaign is trotting out its own "Joe the Plumber" to counteract efforts by John McCain to make inroads on the white working class vote.

A reader in Colorado sends over word that the state Democratic Party and the Obama camp are blasting out robocalls from "Joe Martinez," a plumber in Colorado who vouches for the Illinois Democrat's tax plan.

A spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party confirmed the robocall and said he would try to track down audio. The rough script goes like this:

"...During this week's debate, Barack Obama talked about cutting taxes for
middle class families like mine, lowering health care costs for everyone and
bringing the change we need in Washington. John McCain ignored the issues and
used the debate to launch false attacks against Barack Obama. In fact, McCain -
for the third debate in a row - didn't even say the words 'middle class'. So,
take it from Joe the plumber, if you want a president who will put middle class
families first - join me in voting for Barack Obama. Paid for by the Colorado
Democratic Party...."

Reference Here>>

What "Barack The Socialist" says is that 95% of all working taxpayers will receive a tax cut – only about 60% of all Americans actually pay taxes so this means the rest of the taxpayers will receive a “tax credit” in the mail. If a taxpayer did not pay money into a tax system, a tax credit is wealth redistribution, which is WELFARE … or socialism.

This excerpted and edited from the Los Angeles Times -

McCain Compares Obama's Policies To Socialism
By BOB DROGIN and MARK Z. BARABAK Los Angeles Times - October 19, 2008

John McCain sharpened his attack on presidential rival Barack Obama's economic proposals Saturday, accusing the Democrat of seeking to turn the United States into a socialist country and convert the IRS into a giant "welfare agency" that would dole out cash at Washington, D.C.,'s discretion.

----

In recent days, McCain has seized on a comment that Obama made in defending his tax policies to Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man now better known as "Joe the Plumber." Obama, who was canvassing Wurzelbacher's neighborhood last weekend, told him: "When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

Delivering a national radio address before setting out for stops Saturday in North Carolina and Virginia, McCain said Obama's approach "sounded a lot like socialism."

"At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," the Republican nominee said. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut. It's just another government giveaway."

Obama has said that his plan would cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans, including Wurzelbacher. McCain has said 40 percent of Americans don't pay income taxes, either because they are elderly or don't make enough money."

In other words, Barack Obama's tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington," McCain said in his radio remarks.

----

For decades, Republicans have portrayed Democrats as acolytes of big government, top-down solutions. But socialist theory is more radical and arguably more sinister-sounding. It calls for collective ownership of most private enterprise and the creation of an egalitarian society. Karl Marx said that socialism was a transitional phase between capitalism and communism.

Reference Here>>

If one studies the economies of the countries that have embraced socialism as a component of their economic and governmental structure, what one finds with this practice is an average standard of living that becomes reduced. Socialism reduces incentive, investment, growth, and empowerment - the tenants of "Trickle Down Growth."

What Barack Obama aims to achieve with his tax plan besides having the Government be able to make more decisions over how one leads his or her life, is a wealth redistribution which amounts to an economic plan that can be termed as - "Trickle Across Poverty!"

Your Guns Will Be Safe In Carter’s Second Term

In an attempt to decrease the amount of drug-related violence plaguing their streets, Mexican police are offering to Xboxes to anyone turning in a gun. The program started Tuesday in Tepito, which police spokesman Ricardo Olayo called "a symbol of crime." Police raided Tepito last month, storming a tenement referred to as "The Fortress," supposedly a major cocaine and marijuana distributor. Scary stuff (pictured). Image Credit: Mohsin Raza/Reuters via WIRED - GAMELIFE

Your Guns Will Be Safe In Carter’s Second Term

So says the nominated leader of the Democrat Party for President of the United States, Barack Obama.

In his first appearance before a hand-picked crowd in a “town hall” setting at SCHOTT North America Inc., a glass factory in Duryea, Pa., Barack Obama spoke off-prompter and “ahhhh-ed” and “you know-ed” his way through a question he was not expecting.

In a response heard on the Hugh Hewitt talkradio program this afternoon, the audio response to the question about guns did not come across with a high level of confidence by the people in attendance … let’s just say most people were skeptical.

Obama was nervous and off the teleprompter, one can tell because he says “and”, “ahhh”, “you know”, and other ticks … a lot. He promised not to take our guns away … really.

This excerpted and edited from The Swamp -

Obama: 'Not going to mess with' guns
by James Oliphant - Posted September 5, 2008 1:49 PM

DURYEA, Pa.--At a campaign event here Friday, Barack Obama ran headlong into the one of the issues that dogs him in this battleground state.

"There are rumors going around that . . . you're going to take away our guns," said Joan O'Neil, a resident of tiny Susquehanna in northeastern Pennsylvania, a big-time area for hunting.

This gun issue that Obama has tried to deftly navigate throughout this long campaign and one that damaged him here in his primary fight with Hillary Clinton. And it's one that could do even him even further harm in the general election, as he is matched against a pro-gun ticket that includes a vice-presidential nominee who has been photographed firing an assault rifle.
----
"I believe in the Second Amendment, and if you are a law-abiding gun owner you have nothing to fear from an Obama administration," Obama said. "This has been peddled again and again. Here's what I believe: The Second Amendment is an indvidual right. . . people have the right to bear arms. But I also believe there is nothing wrong with some common-sense gun safety measures."

GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, now likely the most famous moose-hunter in the country, mocked Obama's stance on guns during her nomination speech Wednesday, when she accused him of talking "one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco," -- a reference to Obama's now infamous comment about some people in America who "cling to guns or religion."
----
"That kind of thing is common sense and has nothing to do with the guy who has got his rifle and wants to go hunting," Obama said. "Now the NRA -- I'll be honest and I'm sure there are NRA members here -- their general attitude is that we don't want anything, and if you even breathe the words 'gun control' or 'gun safety' then you must want to take away everybody's guns. Well, that's just not true."
----
At the campaign event Friday, Obama said that there are "two realities about guns" in the United States, one including lawful gun owners, hunters, and sportsmen and a second that involves the flow of illegal handguns and automatic weapons into cities such as Philadelphia, where they are used by "teenage gang-bangers."

"Surely, we can come up with a system that protects lawful gun-owners, but at the same time tries to do something about kids getting shot," he said. "That is, I think, the job of the president is to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.”
Reference Here>>

Obama really steps in it here in that the responsibility of the Executive Branch, the top office Barack Obama is running for, is to uphold the laws that exist … not “to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.” … THAT is the job of the Legislative Branch of our government, the Branch the junior Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, is currently a member of.

And this excerpted and edited from the Wall Street Journal -

Obama: ‘I’m Not Going to Take Your Guns Away’
Christopher Cooper, Wall Street Journal - September 5, 2008

The Obama campaign talks a lot about new ideas and expanding the political map, but in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which the campaign has focused on almost exclusively since the Democratic convention, old-school issues still rise to the fore.
----
A woman in the crowd told Obama she had “heard a rumor” that he might be planning some sort of gun ban upon being elected president. Obama trotted out his standard policy stance, that he had a deep respect for the “traditions of gun ownership” but favored measures in big cities to keep guns out of the hands of “gang bangers and drug dealers’’ in big cities “who already have them and are shooting people.”

“If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it,’’ Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room.

So he tried again. “Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said. “This can’t be the reason not to vote for me. Can everyone hear me in the back? I see a couple of sportsmen back there. I’m not going to take away your guns.’’
Reference Here>>

So, if we are to trust and take a “President Obama" serving his tenure of a President Carter second term at HIS word ... that if he actually HAD enough votes in Congress, he would NOT try “to reconcile this tradition of gun ownership in this country, with some basic public safety concerns.”

Really, do ya’ think?

Barack Obama And His Perfect Storm Of Peace In Iraq

Senator Barack Obama and Terry Moran of ABC News - "I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring.”, said Barack Obama. Image Credit: ABC News via my.barackobama.com

Barack Obama And His Perfect Storm Of Peace In Iraq

In an interview with ABC’s Terry Moran for Nightline (July 21, 2008), Barack Obama showed why he really isn’t ready for “Primetime” let alone “Nightline”.

Junior Senator Barack Obama will not say he was wrong about his assessment of the Bush Administration’s implementation of the military operation that has become known as “The Surge”. This is the operation where an additional 30,000 or so United States soldiers were placed in Iraq in order to stop the strengthening growth of anti-Iraq insurgent (Al Qaeda) combatants and provide security for the newly elected government of Iraq to begin to operate.

Eighteen months ago, it was estimated that there were 12,000 armed combatants working throughout the country to disrupt the newly formed government of Iraq. Today, the estimate is that there may be 1,200 armed combatants holed up in the western provinces of Iraq. One year ago in June 2007, we lost over seventy soldiers to violence and IED roadside bombs throughout Iraq … June 2008 saw that number drop to five.

Moran noted that Obama had claimed that the surge "would not make a significant dent in the violence."

Barack Obama insists that the reason the violence is down in Iraq is due to a convergence of factors that he could not anticipate happening … OH, and some “terrific work by our troops”.

The Perfect Storm of factors the junior Senator sites are disturbing ---

“… but the Sunni awakening in which a whole host of Sunni tribal leaders decided that they had had enough with Al Qaeda, in the Shii’a community the militias standing down to some degrees. So what you had is a combination of political factors inside of Iraq that then came right at the same time as terrific work by our troops. Had those political factors not occurred, I think that my assessment would have been correct.”

Sorry Barack, the Sunni tribal leaders could not have “had enough” and say so if the additional 30,000 troops were not on the ground to provide security and combative strength. The Shii’a community mailtias would not have stood down if there wasn’t a very capable and ready force (bolstered by 30,000 United States military troops on the ground) aligned against their violent power grabbing agenda.

Further, Barack Obama had this to say as it relates to what HE would do if he were President and the military was pulled out of Iraq … and the violence began to increase inside the country ---

"But," asked Moran,"if the country had pursued your policy of withdrawing in the face of this horrific violence, what do you think Iraq would look like now?"

Obama said it would be hard to speculate. "The Sunnis might have made the same decisions at that time. The Shii’as might have made some similar decisions based on political calculation. There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down," he said.

Obama also told Moran that there were circumstances under which he could revise his instruction to U.S. generals to begin withdrawing combat brigades at the pace of one-to-two per month.

"I've always reserved the right, uh, to say---let's say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again---I've reserved the right to say---I don't--I'm not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring. I'm not going to stand idly by if vital United States interests are at stake. Um, so in that sense yes, I retain the flexibility anyone who in the job of commander in chief is constantly reassessing facts, risks, and so forth."

--- So, basically Barack Obama advocates that our military go back to Iraq and start a third war insde Iraq.

This scenario actually would be an insult to Jimmy Carter and the suggestion that a Barack Obama presidency would result in a second term for the Carter Administration.

Actually, a Barack Obama Administration would be of a greater failure than a Carter’s Second Term.

By the way, the "Surge" has ended.
Resources Here, Here, and Here>>