washington post: confidence in obama reaches new low

"Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/12/AR2010071205453.html

"free market" obama

"There was a time when "free market" meant the functioning of the private sector without the intrusion of government. Now Obama tells us that capitalism really means government control of the private sector. What Obama has espoused in Las Vegas is nothing less than state capitalism -- the same relationship between government and business that exists in every totalitarian society.

Whoever wrote Obama's speech ought to be awarded the Orwell Prize for political deception. The American people have soundly rejected Obama's brand of socialism, so why not call it something else? Call it free-market capitalism, even if it is state capitalism. Call it support for the private sector, even if it is control. Call it free enterprise, even if it is socialism."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/free_market_obama.html

will the real racists please stand up?

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/liberal_racism.html

krauthammer: selective modesty

"It is odd to have a president so convinced of his own magnificence — yet not of the magnificence of his own country."

http://article.nationalreview.com/437808/the-selective-modesty-of-barack-obama/charles-krauthammer

the case against the SC confirmation of elena kagan

can we get some better looking supreme court justices? just a thought.

http://article.nationalreview.com/437869/the-case-against-confirmation/orrin-g-hatch

barone: spending cant fix the economy

"Government policies designed to stimulate the economy seem to be having the opposite effect. Consumers aren’t buying, businesses aren’t hiring, and those fortunate enough to have some cash on hand don’t seem to be investing.

I call it the mattress economy."

http://article.nationalreview.com/437919/government-spending-cant-fix-the-economy/michael-barone

the stimulus FAIL

"The Bush and Obama administrations have spent more on stimulus than on the Iraq and Afghan wars combined — to no avail."

http://article.nationalreview.com/437879/mechanical-failure/stephen-spruiell

record LOW temps in Los Angeles

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/07/record-cold-at-lax-airport-as-july-gloom-continues-in-southern-california.html

businesses step up criticism of obama's agenda

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66A0AV20100711

obama "Science Czar" called for carbon tax to redistribute wealth from global 'north' to 'south'

if this isnt the economic philosophy of karl marx, then i dont know what is.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/69081

one giant leap backward

"Liberalism is caught in something of a Catch-22. Under Obama, liberals are determined to reinvigorate the reputation of government, to prove that only the state can get important things done. That is why the Gulf oil spill, for instance, is so vexatious for the White House and its liberal supporters. Why can’t the government be more nimble and resourceful?

President Obama likes to say that “if we could put a man on the moon,” we can do anything, from socializing medicine to abandoning fossil fuels. That’s nonsense on stilts for a host of reasons. But it’s also ironic, given that we can’t even put a man on the moon anymore. Not when NASA’s foremost priority is boosting the self-esteem of children and Muslims."

http://article.nationalreview.com/437678/one-giant-leap-backward/jonah-goldberg?page=1

the United States vs. Arizona

"The suit against Arizona is a direct attack on America's safety and security."

http://article.nationalreview.com/437692/open-borders-doj-vs-america/michelle-malkin

sex, youth, the left, and gender nonconformism

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/the_lefts_use_and_abuse_of_chi.html

"progressivism" in the 21st century

"Progressivism has progressed; now the President can take over the auto industry, hiring and firing executives and handing the leftovers to the unions while refusing to pay bondholders what they are owed; he can force Congress to hand him the entire field of medical care plus the student loan industry. He can run up or back off wars almost at will and his regulators decide much that citizens are allowed or denied.

He can't spend the country rich; there is no money, only debt, but he spends anyway. Bernard Madoff lied, spent peoples' money and went to jail; the President says we are recovering by spending taxpayers' money and is a savior. The economy, not knowing to do what he tells it, pays no attention and sinks.

No politician will stop the wild ride to sort out the finances; the pain from immediate greater unemployment will cost him election. He will keep his job while awaiting ultimate collapse and much greater but later pain. The democratic process rewards him for corruption and punishes him for honesty.

Freedom and government are contradictory. Democratic processes have favored the growth of government power in U.S. history; individual freedom has diminished. Unless a lot of voters disagree, that looks like the way which will prevail."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/can_freedom_endure_democracy.html

the coming GOP tsunami: an in-depth look at the prospects for 2010 midterm elections

http://www.frumforum.com/the-coming-gop-tsunami

romney on obama's foreign policy failures

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/05/AR2010070502657.html

the right vs. the left on american exceptionalism

read this. it's a really good article. i personally believe that obama is the first President of the United States to not believe in american exceptionalism, but you can judge for yourself.

"Oates, as is true of the far left generally, dislikes much of what America has traditionally stood for — individual political and economic freedom to make one's own choices. The left prefers collective decision-making through government. Indeed, it is the singular importance of the individual in this country that is at the very heart of American exceptionalism, so it is not surprising that the left doesn't like the idea.

President Obama doesn't go as far as the anti-American left. Asked about American exceptionalism, he responded with a clever dodge —saying that "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." In other words, to Obama, American exceptionalism is nothing more than casual chauvinism."

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/07/04/2010-07-04_bring_back_the_old_glory_its_time_to_rescue_the_idea_that_america_is_exceptional.html

is it NASA's job to make muslim countries "feel good"?

"A more serious task might be to make them feel terrible about the present level of education in Muslim lands, not least for women and girls, in the hope that we could spur them to reform and improvement. The dismal state of science, math, and engineering in Muslim nations is quite clear, but Mr. Bolden isn’t assigned to improve their performance (which would presumably be the job of USAID, but whatever). No, he’s to be another Dr. Feelgood, a sad assignment for this former astronaut. Mr. Bolden should not be criticized for telling the truth about his job, for the problem is at the top, not at NASA. The space program is being transformed into a tool of Obama foreign policy, which views American national greatness as an anachronism."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjQwZWI1ZDZkNzBmMDNmMzk3NGI0YzQ1Nzc5NWYxMzE=

good read: losing the freedom to fail

"The fraud is a perfect illustration of the doomed and misguided zeal to sandpaper failure from American life. Students waste their educational years and are not forced to develop the knowledge and skills that will prepare them for life after school. Most realize they have been duped only when they collide with a wall that hasn't been lowered to meet their stunted abilities. Had they been allowed to fail earlier, they'd have a far better chance of leading productive lives as adults.

Just as we don't know pleasure without pain, fullness without hunger or black without white, we can't define success without its opposite. Someone who is not free to fail is not truly free to succeed."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/why_we_must_be_free_to_fail_zBkv0U1ZWVhUqxdKn2SeCK

the democrat's disconnect on creating jobs

"Pelosi’s remarks clearly show the disconnect between the Democratic Party and Main Street businesses. A quick look at Pelosi’s bio shows that, like President Obama, she’s never run a business or had to meet a payroll. She doesn’t seem to understand the uncertainty that so many businesses are facing because of the massive expansion of government and the spiraling deficits: Most businesses are facing the specter of unknown healthcare costs and higher taxes. So no wonder unemployment remains so high--most businesspeople I know are waiting to see where it all shakes out. “High uncertainty is the enemy of investment and growth,” economist Allan Meltzer wrote in a great piece this week in the Wall Street Journal on the common-sense reasons why the president’s stimulus plan has failed to solve the unemployment problem."

http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/mary-kate-cary/2010/07/02/Why-Pelosi-Democrats-Are-Wrong-on-Unemployment-Extension

really good article: everything you need to know about the financial regulation bill (dodd-frank)

take a wild guess if it's good for the people of america.

are you starting to see a weird trend here?

slash/ when reading this, think "status quo" AND what obama campaigned on. it starts with a c.

such a bigot.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/The-Recovery-Prevention-Act-of-2010-97887214.html

the great jobs killer

"It's time to call Obama what he is: The Great Jobs Killer. With his massive spending and tax hikes -- rewarding big government and big unions, while punishing taxpayers and business owners -- Obama has killed jobs, he has killed motivation to create new jobs, he has killed the motivation to invest in new businesses, or expand old ones. With all this killing, Obama should be given the top spot on the FBI's Most Wanted List."

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/barack-obama--the-great-jobs-killer-97758294.html

why islam will never accept the state of israel

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/06/why_islam_will_never_accept_th.html

quote of the century.

"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."

-Norman Thomas, six time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America

no one's capital is safe in obama's america

"Obama's poorly coded message to investors is to take your money out of America and keep it out. Whether through excessive taxation, suffocating over-regulation, or thuggish confiscation, the lesson to be drawn by anyone with excess capital is to look for friendlier places to put it to work.

President Medvedev (of Russia) promises Cisco a capital gains tax rate of zero; President Obama promises to retire the evil George Bush capital gains rate of 15% and increase it to 20% in 2011. Cisco is merely telecasting to anyone who wants to tune in that Russia is taking advantage of Obama's lurch towards socialism (or worse). While Russia is portraying itself as a stable bastion for capitalists, America is increasingly seen as the land that mauled Chrysler and GM bondholders. While erstwhile command economies are liberalizing, America under Obama is nationalizing. The lesson is clear: Don't leave cash within the American financial system, earning minimal returns, with the fear that at any moment your assets can be confiscated or redistributed by a lawless and capricious federal government."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/no_ones_capital_is_safe_in_oba.html

obama and the fiscal "road to hell"

"If it sounds strange to have European leaders lecturing the U.S. about fiscal restraint, it should. But that is where America finds itself after Mr. Obama's 17-month fiscal orgy."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703426004575338832391393128.html

the danger of moral equivalence

"A deferential and apologetic President Obama may think he is making those abroad like us --and he may be right in some cases. But if history is any guide, aggressive powers are paying close attention to these seemingly insignificant signs. Soon, they may turn their wild ideas into concrete aggression -- once they convince themselves that America neither wants to nor is able to stop them."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/07/01/even_a_few_words_matter_106161.html

we're looking more like france

"Obama has sought to remake America into a social democracy — like Germany or France — with a larger public sector, expanded entitlements, stronger labor unions and a changed political structure. He’s doing quite well so far.

Size of government. Are we really still a government of limited powers at the federal level? It’s hard to make that case.

The feds are running auto companies. They fired the General Motors board of directors and forced Chrysler bondholders into a settlement far less attractive than that given the United Auto Workers, strong allies of Obama."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39234.html

supreme court watch: kagan's nanny state

government should solve all our problems...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/elena_nanny_state_AEgahQ9QnpUkLwoLl74hVP

why obamanomics has failed

"Two overarching reasons explain the failure of Obamanomics. First, administration economists and their outside supporters neglected the longer-term costs and consequences of their actions. Second, the administration and Congress have through their deeds and words heightened uncertainty about the economic future. High uncertainty is the enemy of investment and growth."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704629804575325233508651458.html

americans identify with the founding fathers, not (obama) "progressives"

Democrats are reportedly planning to raise $125 million for a campaign to sell Obamacare to the voting public. Apparently, the idea is that what 50-plus presidential speeches and statements and months of congressional debate could not do can be done by $125 million spent on everything from TV ads to community organizers.

Maybe. But there seems to be a more fundamental problem here. The Obama Democrats didn't set out to produce an unpopular stimulus package, an unpopular health care bill and an unpopular cap-and-trade scheme.

They thought these initiatives would be popular. In their view, history is a story of progress from small government to big government, and as historians of the New Deal wrote, that progress is especially welcome in times of economic distress.

The massive unpopularity of the Obama Democrats' programs suggests that view of history is defective. Let me propose another, starting with the Founding Fathers.

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2010/06/28/americans_relate_to_founders,_not_progressives

good news on the jobs front: government jobs increased by 600,000

god bless america.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/good_news_on_the_jobs_front_go.html

steve wynn, hotel mogul, explains the incredibly stupid behavior of our government

why is the USA following european's (failed) ways?

"The Obama administration has been racing to transform the U.S. into a copy of the European social-welfare system, while at the same time those countries are being forced to come to grips with the failure of that welfare state. Greece, Hungry and Portugalhave received the most news media attention as their growing debt has threatened the viability of the euro. But all across the European Union, countries are discovering that they can no longer afford the massive cost of providing cradle-to-grave government benefits."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-06-26-tanner25_ST_N.htm

MUST READ. sowell: is US now on slippery slope to tyranny?

if you follow this blog, you know i post a lot of thomas sowell's articles. why? because he is a effing GENIUS. this article is a prime example of that. must read.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/537967/201006211813/Is-US-Now-On-Slippery-Slope-To-Tyranny-.aspx

obama labor chief: illegals have right to fair wages

must read:****obama's perception around the world****

"America right now appears to be unreliable to traditional friends, compliant to rivals, and weak to enemies. One renowned Asian leader stated recently at a private dinner in the United States, "We in Asia are convinced that Obama is not strong enough to confront his opponents, but we fear that he is not strong enough to support his friends."

The United States for 60 years has met its responsibilities as the leader and the defender of the democracies of the free world. We have policed the sea lanes, protected the air and space domains, countered terrorism, responded to genocide, and been the bulwark against rogue states engaging in aggression. The world now senses, in the context of the erosion of America's economic power and the pressures of our budget deficits, that we will compress our commitments. But the world needs the vision, idealism, and strong leadership that America brings to international affairs. This can be done and must be done. But we are the only ones who can do it."

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2010/06/18/mort-zuckerman-world-sees-obama-as-incompetent-and-amateur.html

wsj: a snakebit president

"The administration's failure to take impressive action after the spill dinged its reputation for competence. The president's failure to turn things around Tuesday night with a speech damaged his reputation as a man whose rhetorical powers are such that he can turn things around with a speech. He lessened his own mystique. Reaction among his usual supporters was, in the words of Time's Mark Halperin, "fierce, unforeseen disappointment." Dan Froomkin of the Huffington Post called the speech "profoundly underwhelming," a "feeble call to action." Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the speech "vapid." Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times said the president looked "awkward and robotic." MSNBC's Keith Olbermann famously said "It was a great speech if you were on another planet for the last 57 days." Chris Matthews scored "a lot of meritocracy, a lot of blue ribbon talk."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704289504575313181930072638.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories

al-qaeda taunts obama/us

"In a taunting, 24 minute message that dwelled on Obama's setbacks, including the loss of Massachusetts Senate seat to the Republicans, Adam Gadahn set out al-Qaida's conditions for peace with the U.S., including cutting support for Israel and withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Gadahn said that if you compared the number of dead Muslims "with the relatively small number of Americans we have killed so far, it becomes crystal-clear that we haven't even begun to even the score," he said."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100620/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_al_qaida_spokesman

FCC in move to regulate internet

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/68003

china to overtake USA in manufacturing

"The US remained the world’s biggest manufacturing nation by output last year, but is poised to relinquish this slot in 2011 to China – thus ending a 110-year run as the number one country in factory production."

china's going up and we are going down. not good.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/af2219cc-7c86-11df-8b74-00144feabdc0.html

obama's crude grab for power never ends.

"Once again, President Obama channels Oscar Wilde, who famously said the only thing he couldn't resist was temptation. So it is with Obama's attempt to turn the Gulf oil debacle into a reason why America should embrace his cap-and-tax energy policy.

No matter the crisis, Obama can't resist the temptation to exploit it in his quest to grow the government. He did it during the financial meltdown, arguing the economic crisis proved America suddenly needed an idea he'd pushed all along, universal health care.

It didn't, and still doesn't.

Yet Obama showed last night he is ready for The Sequel."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/crude_grab_for_power_never_ends_GHFX1S3U5Qq767wBRTCe7L

obama vs. freedom of press

"By now, the Obama MO should be clear to all. As he has done with the banks, AIG and the car companies, he extends his left hand offering subsidies and then proffers his right laden with regulations. Should the government follow through on Leibowitz’s ideas and enact special subsidies and tax breaks for news organizations, it will induce a degree of journalistic dependence on the whims of government not seen since the days when the early presidents bestowed government advertising on favored periodicals.

Is it too difficult to imagine that the Democrats might pass laws favoring news organizations, only to question — as former White House communications director Anita Dunn did — whether or not Fox News is a news organization or an “arm of the Republican Party”? We can see a future in which news media are reluctant to be too partisan or opinionated for fear that they would endanger their public subsidy."

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/dick-morris/103373-obama-vs-press-freedom

the golden age of government unions is over

"People are finally starting to catch on .. at least we can hope that they are. The jig is up for government union workers. The people are sick and tired of footing the bill, in the form of tax increases, for the ever-increasing salaries and benefits of government union workers while they, the taxpayers, are having to cut back. Meanwhile, one would expect that the more you pay for something, the better quality you will receive. In fact, the opposite seems to be true: the more we pay to support government workers, the less productive and efficient they become. Of course this cannot be said for every government worker, but the system as a whole has returned very little for our increasing financial support. We, the taxpayers are, what the San Francisco Chronicle appropriately calls, "captive consumers." We can't choose NOT to pay taxes that fund government workers and their unions. This is different from the private sector where you, as a consumer, could choose to spend your money elsewhere, or not at all .. hence the word "captive." We are slaves of government workers, their union demands and the growing sense of entitlement in this country."

http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2010/06/the-golden-age-of-government-u.html