They fail to report on some pretty significant drops in the poll….drops that if it had been swung the other way would of been in big bold letters:

Fifty-four percent of respondents to the latest CNN poll disapprove of Barack Obama’s performance on the economy, a 17-point swing in six weeks. That isn’t the worst of the poll, either; 57% now disapprove of Obama’s performance on health care, a 19-point swing in that same time.

~~~

a 17-point reversal on the economy and a 19-point reversal on health care would be, well, news. One has to wonder why neither get mentioned in a report on the popularity of a president whose central issues are health care and the economy. The rapid disintegration of his popularity on these positions will have enormous implications for Obama’s ability to push his agenda through Congress in both arenas, and also on the midterm elections a year from now if this becomes a trend.

In fact, it’s hard to find an issue where Obama has not lost ground:

• Economy – 46%/54%, was 54%/45%
• Foreign affairs – 51%/47%, was 58%/38%
• Health care – 42%/57%, was 51%/47%
• Afghanistan – 42%/56%, was 49%/46%
• Taxes – 49%/50%, was 52%/42%
• Helping the middle class – 50%/49%, was 67%/32% (six months ago, last time question asked)

His numbers stayed roughly the same on Medicare, with just a rounding difference. Otherwise, Obama has lost serious ground on every issue, mainly over the last six weeks.

17 point and a 19 point swing into the disapproval area and nary a peep in the article. Ed also notes they fail to note the party identification numbers. Quite telling.

Another quite telling note about the poll. His approval rating on nearly every issue has declined but he is still approved of by 54% as a whole?

Bradley effect?

I suppose she remained unphased by his dazed teleprompter failure (Hat tip: Freedom Eden):

Maybe TotUS grew confused- in HAL 9000 fashion- as to the purpose of the MIT trip:

Elizabeth Williamson reports on President Barack Obama’s remarks in Boston.

President Barack Obama flew to Boston today for a speech at Massachusetts Institute of Technology about energy and the economy, or energy and jobs, or about energy and climate change legislation.

From the beginning, the White House press corps speculated that Obama’s trip to Cambridge was less about energy news than about two high-wattage fund-raisers he was scheduled to attend afterward: one for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and one in Stamford, Conn., for Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut.

Aboard Air Force One enroute to Boston, reporters asked spokesman Bill Burton what president’s “main energy message” was.

“The president is going to talk about the importance of investing in innovative energy technology, how it can create jobs and help this economy grow in the 21st century,” he said.

“Sounds like the same message that’s been out there for a while,” a reporter said.

“It’s an important message, and the president is going to continue to talk about things that can help grow the economy,” Burton said. “There are few things in this administration that are more important than creating jobs and getting this economy on track.”

Another reporter asked if the president would use the speech to “talk about the need to push forward on energy legislation, climate change legislation, pending in the House and Senate?”

And Burton said no, “This event is more about jobs and the economy, and specifically some of the investments that we’ve made.”

But a few minutes later, Burton corrected himself: “I just read the remarks more closely. The president will, indeed, address comprehensive legislation that helps to make renewable energy a profitable kind of energy in America. He’ll talk about it how can create millions of jobs, combat global warming…I also didn’t mention earlier that Sen. Kerry is on the plane,” referring to Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.).

A reporter ventured: “And so after initially refusing to talk about the energy legislation, he’s…I’m kidding.”

And another reporter: “This means that the speech is largely a push for the climate change legislation….”

Burton: “No, no, I wouldn’t say that. It talks about the importance of investments in order to create jobs in this field of, you know, innovation and finding ways to make clean, renewable energy. But definitely gets into comprehensive energy legislation.”

After a minute or so, he tried again: “He talks about its importance and he’s urging all of us to work hard to get it done.”

Um, okay.

Does this Administration understand anything it’s doing?

Mike posted earlier on how Democrats plan to memorialize commemorate the events of September 11th, this year:

Van Jones, an Obama environmental adviser, said 9/11 would be an opportunity to “connect, to find other people in your peer group who are also passionate about repowering America but also greening up America and cleaning up America.”

Musings of a blame-America Firster:

We need to get down on our knees and thank these Native American communities. But also the Latino community, Asian community, and every other community that’s willing to come here and help us out, ’cause we obviously need some help. We need some wisdom from someplace else. ‘Cause what we’ve come up with here don’t make no sense at all.”

* [W]hat about our sisters and brothers that are in prison right now?

Yeah, America’s the worst of all possible nations- a blight upon the planet earth that “don’t make no sense at all”. Throw it all out- bathwater, baby, rubber ducky, and all.

Any surprise he’d also believe 9/11 was orchestrated by the machinations of our government than by Islamic takfiri terrorists?

Gee…what was I thinking?!

Sometimes, I can be such an @$$hole….

From the pending takeover of 17% of  economy under the auspices of health care reform, to the government takeover and subsequent ownership of automobile companies, to the unconstitutional interference in the formerly private market under the rubric of stimulating the economy. Not to mention the proposed cap and trade legislation which would give the federal government unlimited powers of taxation and regulation under the guise of saving the planet.

Totally ignored by elected officials of both parties is the tenth amendment of the Constitution, which states very clearly, “The power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Many Americans don’t agree with the left’s idea of a ‘living constitution’, arguing that the intent of the founders should govern the interpretation and application of the Constitution, not the whimsical and politically motivated present day politicians. And, largely unreported by the media, they are starting to stand up to the federal government.

To date, 37 states have introduced sovereignty resolutions, asserting their state’s sovereign rights under the tenth amendment.

Earlier this month, Louisiana became the seventh state, joining Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Idaho and Tennessee to officially adopt a resolution affirming their sovereignty. These states are putting the federal government on notice that politicians in Washington do not have the right, under the Constitution, to continue to impose their increasingly onerous federal mandates on sovereign states.

Some states, with Arizona leading the way, are going a step further.

Under Arizona’s Health Care Freedom Act, which was passed by the Arizona state legislature this month, a voting initiative will be placed on the 2010 ballot that, if passed, will allow Arizona to opt out of any federal health care plan.

Following Arizona’s lead, five other states — Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming — are considering similar initiatives to opt out of federal health care for their 2010 ballots This, even before Congress has created the program.

Arizona is also preparing for the misnamed ‘climate’ bill, that passed the House this month. (With eight Republican votes.) The Arizona state Senate voted 19-10 to approve a bill banning the Department of Environmental Quality from enacting or enforcing measures with language pertaining to climate change.

to climate change.
Other states are stepping up to the plate and asserting their state’s sovereign right under the second amendment – a right that guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

On July 6, Florida introduced the Firearms Freedom Act which seeks to provide “that specified firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition for personal use manufactured in state are not subject to federal law or regulation” in the State of Florida.

Increasingly, the representatives ‘we the people’ have elected to preserve and protect our rights, are ignoring the clear, unequivocal language of the Constitution. Our politicians seem unaware of the fact that the Constitution does not include  congressional power to override state laws.

In fact, the power our representatives are now accruing to the federal government was expressly voted down, not once, but several times.

During the Constitutional ratification process, James Madison drafted the ‘Virginia Plan’ which advocated a strong federal government. It proposed, among other things, giving Congress legislative authority, and a veto over state laws. Each of Madison’s proposals was soundly defeated. Our founders clear intent was vesting all powers in the states, with but a few, listed exceptions.

Ever since 1938, when FDR used the occasion of the great depression to drastically expand the scope of federal government (Wickard vs Filburn) using an absurd reading of the Commerce Clause, this unconstitutional taking of power by the central government has gone virtually unchallenged. Until now.

Though the media has ignored these efforts, ‘we the people’ are starting to fight back, via our state and local representatives.

Politicians need to be reminded that our Constitution is still in effect. And Americans need to be reminded that just because some believe the trendy notion that our Constitution is a ‘living, breathing’ document, doesn’t make it so.

Crossposted from Right Bias

For example, could you grasp the full impact of Nemo, Cars, Shrek etal by viewing merely a single cel (short for a single celluid frame of film) of the animation? Could you grasp the enormity of the ethics complaint assault on Palin by only learning about one or two of them?

But of course not. And much is the same with Obama’s cinemascope production to destroy the US economy… all using single cel trailers and razzle dazzling us with fuzzy math. And until those cells are edited together, the plot of this morbid “cartoon” does not become clear.

The O’faithful show you a single cel of his spending… ala the Stimulus/ARRA, the TARP bailout decisions, cap and trade, or health care, etc. By throwing out a number we are becoming far too comfortable hearing – a few trillion here and a few trillion there – Joe and Josephine Q. Public, as well as the partisan Congress members, merely shrug it off, assuming we’ll figure out a way to pay China back.

The problem is, until you start viewing all Obama and Congress’ spending in full wide screen version, you don’t feel the impact of the extremely flawed fuzzy math used to advance these programs in the media.

Case in point… let’s start with health care. Today the ever stellar Jake Tapper gives us the summary of the cost of health care to our individual pocketbooks. It’s easy to boggle the minds of the voter when you package “free” benefits and unprecedented spending in one national bill, then promise all those rich people and small businesses making over $350K (at least today…) will be paying for it. “Not I, said the Little Red Hen”. That couldn’t possibly affect me.

But first, take some time and absorb some personal realities about the tax rates Mr. Tapper lays out. I want you to close your eyes, and picture the this… taxpayers in the top 50% of tax brackets pay 94% of the nation’s tax bill. The top 1% earners pay 33.7 percent alone, and the top 5% pay 53.8%.

When you remove these “evil rich types” from the equation, there is a hefty amount of entrepreneurial small business types – who hire most of the US workers – that shoulder the current US tax bill for that 6% poverty group to which Obama caters.

Do you have that picture firmly in mind? That we’re not talking about the Bill Gates and Warren Buffetts only here? Okay…

The current buzz is that Obama’s “only” trying to take the tax rates up for group of Americans that support Congressional spending to 39%. After health care, that’s bogus, bupkis and a serious political whopper.

A study by the non-partisan Tax Foundation finds that the 5.4% surtax on top wage-earners proposed by House Democrats to help fund health care reform would push top tax rates over 50% in 39 states.

“That means government would be taking more than half of every additional dollar from high-income taxpayers,” said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge. “The lowest top tax rate would be about 47% –and that’s in the nine states that don’t tax wages.”

~~~

The hardest-hit states in terms of the highest tax bracket would be Oregon (57.5%), Hawaii (57.2%), New Jersey (57.1%), New York (56.9%), California (56.8%), Rhode Island (56.2%), Vermont (55.8%), Maryland (55.6%), Minnesota (54.4%) and Idaho (54.3%).

In case you’ve forgotten what I said above, I’ll repeat it again. Small business owners employ the largest % of the American worker… not evil big business and corporations. And it is these employers who fall into these tax categories.

Now, let’s add another cel to the fantasy animation movie Obama is producing and directing… unemployment realities. Of those “hardest hit” states above, four of them are between 7.2 and 12.4 unemployment as of May 2009, and OR, CA and RI all between 11.5 to 12.4%. None of these are improving and, in fact, progressively worsening month to mone with little end in sight.

Needless to say, I’m quite curious as to how they intend to draw blood from the same turnip field they are eradicating by starving the crops for water.

Which then brings me to the Sarah Palin v John Kerry/MoveOn.org battles over Sarah’s op-ed in WaPo that Mike’s A posted in it’s entirety here a few days back. Aside from the irony that Palin’s perspective is printed in MSM’s WaPo, and Kerry finds himself tilting at enviro wind mills on Huffpo and via his own diary atDaily KOs, Kerry’s rhetoric is perpetuating the Obama “single cel” fuzzy math version of a fantasy animation film.

Note Kerry’s main beefs… that Palin doesn’t care about the health of the planet and doesn’t want “… to tackle global climate change which imperils everything from our economy to our national security”… and then refers to the PERI report from the self-described progressive think tank, Center for American Progress to dispute Palin’s claim about cap and trade being a prescription for job loss and economic disaster.

“Palin’s column ignored the entire problem and didn’t even get right the things it did cover,” he says. “For example, she said, ‘Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.’ ”

“This is wrong,” Kerry scolds. “The pieces of energy reform legislation are job-creation machines. A joint report by PERI Center for American Progress Report calculated that $150 billion in clean-energy investments would create upwards of 1.7 million jobs.

So how does Kerry and PERI come up with 1.7 jobs, and why doesn’t he mention that it’s $150 billion *annually*? They optimistically predict 2.5 million job creation (temporary and a few permanent), and contrast that with the same spending that would only create 800,000 jobs in fossil fuels.

As we see in Table 8, an annual $150 billion clean-energy investment level would generate a total of about 2.5 million jobs. By contrast, spending the same $150 billion within the fossil-fuel industry would produce about 800,000 jobs. This is a difference of roughly 1.7 million jobs. In Appendix 2, we break out these economy-wide estimates for net employment expansion through clean-energy investments on a state-by-state basis.

Of course what they forget to mention is that fossil fuel jobs are created at the cost of the oil and gas companies… not the taxpayers. So we could save that $150 ANNUAL billion (times ten or however many years) from the national debt. oops

Yet without clarifying, Obama and Kerry as his minion depend on a dumbed down, uncurious public to accept his word and the PERI report as God’s truth handed down on stone tablets. If that’s not enough, he then employs the Alinsky tact of putting them on watchdog alert against their fellow citizens.

“I’ll be back throughout the fall with specific things you can do to help, but for now — keep your eyes and ears open. When you see something in your local paper that’s wrong, let them know you notice. When your friends or family members say something that’s wrong, let them know the truth,” implores the Massachusetts Democrat who has made global warming a key issue as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Tell you what, Mr. Kerry… you set your prozac wolf hounds on the rest of the population, and those of us who question authority and have a healthy distrust of government and elected officials will keep biting at your ankles with some facts to combat your rhetoric and threats.

And now… a few ditties from Kerry’s “gospel”… i.e. the PERI report analyzing cap and trade. Because I have to say, I wanted to see just where those 1.7 mil jobs were coming from. So first, let me give you one of the pretty pictures and graphs to peruse. You can find the originals in the PERI report linked above.

The first below is PERI’s breakdown in how much of the $150 billion annually (for four? ten?? years) as it relates to job area creation. Note retrofitting taking up the bulk of the $150 bil annual cost. Pg 19 of the PDF report. Suggest you open the PDF and follow along… pics are small…

You do see where the bulk of the “job creation” lies? With mandated “building retrofitting”. This cap and trade is less legislation than it is regulatory changes and Congressional appropriation to implement those changes. And a huge part is brand new “green” building codes. Why how can that hurt, you say? Because all existing buildings must undergo “retrofitting” to meet current codes.

• The bill would implement new standards based on the International Energy Conservation Code for commercial buildings and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers standards for residential buildings, with the two standards based on “each model code or standard released after the date of enactment of the Act.”3 The bill also requires the federal government to provide financial support for commercial and residential retrofits in order to achieve compliance with the standards.

~~~

Building retrofits
An average-sized single-family home in the United States would require an investment of as little as $2,500 in energy-efficiency retrofits to produce a cost savings in the range of 30 percent per year.7 This would involve caulking to plug air leaks in the house and adding insulation to attics and basement ceilings. For an additional $2,500, further energy savings are available through replacing windows with air leaks and installing energy effi cient appliances.

[Mata Musing: love to know where *they* shop for windows...]

Despite these potential savings, most homeowners have not retrofitted their homes because they are unaware of the costs savings available to them or they cannot afford the upfront expenses and time commitment involved. But these barriers to retrofit investments will come down through the specific government spending programs that finance retrofits, the building codes that establish higher efficiency standards in buildings, and the more general regulatory environment that raises the costs of burning conventional fossil fuels. As the market becomes more extensive and efficient, this will further encourage new investment in retrofits. In particular, banks, utility companies and various types of nonprofit groups will increasingly organize themselves to supply the upfront financing for these projects. [Mata Musing: In a credit crunch market with declining values? see more on this later...] In addition, construction crews will begin to organize their services to take advantage of the expanding opportunities.

The potential market for building retrofits is huge. There are roughly 110 million occupied housing units in the United States, including 80 million single-family detached homes, as well as smaller numbers of attached units, apartments, and trailers. As a rough approximation, assuming an average investment in retrofits would be around $4,000 per unit, implies an overall potential market of $400 billion. We would then add the corresponding market for non-residential structures. The U.S. Green Building Council surveyed the existing stock of these structures in 2008, including all educational buildings, hospitals, retail outlets, and office buildings of various sorts. They estimated the costs of retrofitting all of these buildings at $358 billion.8

It was, of course, this new regulatory “green” code that fueled the half-true rumors begat with a CNS article that said these mandates *may* require upgrades prior to the ability to sell. Media Matters further muddied the half truth when they labeled a FoxNation article (not to be confused with FOX News) saying this could require homes to be upgraded prior to sale as “distorting”.

Housingwire also chimes in presenting it as akin to harmless “labeling”.

A section in HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which narrowly passed a US House of Representatives vote Friday, falls short of mandating an energy audit on homes, according to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Section 204 of the cap-and-trade bill establishes a building energy performance labeling program for homes and commercial property. The section would provide potential buyers and investors in those properties a label explaining that property’s energy efficiency.

Much like a nutrition label on the back of a candy bar, the performance labeling program is a consumer right-to-know provision in the cap-and-trade bill, but it is not required, according to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Section 202 of the bill develops the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program. If the owner of the building — residential or commercial — seeks financial assistance from REEP, the property must pass the energy audit.

Energy savings for residential properties are determined by the Home Energy Ratings System (HERS) Index, and the final score is selected by an objective third party, according to the bill.

After the audit is conducted, state and local REEP programs may grant funds to owners for retrofit improvements on energy efficiency.

But is it distortion, and how does this affect a future sale of an older home? As the bill states, the regulations create a new code and standard, and “… leaving it up to the states to figure out exactly how to do that.”

Have any of you ever tried to sell a home with outdated wiring and unpermitted improvements to buyers that were obtaining lender financing? The fact is, by creating a new “code” that homes will be required to meet, the government gets to step back and allow either the lender or state regulations to be the bad guy, and force the upgrades prior to transfer of vested ownership. Lenders will be the most likely culprit to assume this as a demand prior to funding. They will want to make sure that any home they pile cash into will not incur additional upgrade costs in the event of foreclosure and default.

And while we’re on that track of “sorta mandated” homeowner upgrades, exactly what will the expense of new appliances and weather proofing add to your homes value in a market where home values are anticipated to decline until 2011? [... told you I'd get to this...]

To sort that out, let’s look at the latest stats from the Cost vs Value annual report for 2008. And the ugly truth is, whether it’s a complete kitchen remodel or new windows, you only recoup a national average of 76%-77% of your cost outlay. Meaning that not only does it make your home NOT worth more to a lender or appraiser, but that you’ve just lost an extra 23-24% of the money you just spent to meet the new government codes.

Well ain’t that a pile of manure?

So let’s look at Kerry’s claim of jobs via the PERI report straight up… the single largest “investment/job creation” is manifested by forcing homeowners to spend money for mandated retrofits that will [in all probability] be required by any lender to bring a home up to current code.

And to pay for, or subsidize, those retrofits, they’re blood-sucking *every* taxpayer – homeowner of new homes, or even renters with no homes – to finance everyone’s mandated upgrade.

I swear I am living in a parallel universe.

Now… burning question… what happens to all those “retro fit” jobs when the 80 million homes are retrofitted?

These are not permanent jobs created. They are temporary jobs. Which brings me to the second of the pretty pictures and graphs in the PERI report. The job descriptions of those 1.7 million supposedly created jobs…. Pg 31 of the PERI report.

The “top three” investment categories that are supposed to translate into “job creation” are the retrofitting, building mass transit, and smart grid creation (which doesn’t include the anticipated lawsuit costs that enviros will be filing to prevent solar and wind grids crossing “protected” lands….)

Now look thru those, and how “permanent” are the other categories after retrofitting. Once the rails are laid, the civil engineers are done designing, the train/bus parts built and ordered, what do we have left but a shadow staff to maintain the (mostly rail) transit? After the smart grids are built, how many employees does it take to man those facilities? The same with wind and solar farms?

In short, we’re talking about spending beaucoup cash on infrastructure that in no way justifies it for permanent job creation… not to mention the larger expense of “clean energy” that puts a huge divot in our earning capacity.

But wait! There’s MORE! All these jobs are supposed to be “created” in an economic repression/depression/downturn… what ever you want to call it. And those jobs are supposed to be created by the very people that Obama is robbing more than 50% of their earnings.

And what are they supposed to use to “create” these jobs? Oh right… more taxpayer money. How silly of me. But why bother if they’re raped for half their earnings?

Since this conundrum of less entrepreneurs and new business creation doesn’t make much sense, PERI decides to spin that one too. They, in fact, say that the high unemployment and desperate economy is more fruitful for the job creation while, speaking off the other tongue’s fork, rely heavily on “self-reinforcing investment momentum”…. which I guess comes from someone who has enough left after creaming more than 50% off the top of their earnings.

Starting on pg 21 of the PERI report, they discuss their methodology used for estimating unemployment and GDP growth. And their first sentence is a disclaimer:

The consequences of public policies on U.S. economic growth and employment growth necessarily happen over time. That’s why we cannot know with certainty what the effects of policy will be. That’s also why we rely on economic models and various forecasting techniques to generate estimates of what future outcomes are likely to be.

If I remember rightly, wasn’t this the group who seriously “misread” the economic indicators right out of the gate? Isn’t this also the group who seems to have major discrepancies with CBO estimates? Pardon me if I’m not too impressed with the rosy “models” of the progressive mindset.

But the progressive think take continue the specifics of their model deductions and projections in the current economic decline on page 28. This is when they launch into the argument, “hey, the worse the economy is, the better chance this has to work” schpiel. Which may, in itself, explain Obama’s headstrong determination to destroy the US economy as fast as possible.

Induced job creation

It is more diffic ult to estimate the size of the induced employment effects—or what is commonly termed the “consumption multiplier” within standard macroeconomic models—than to estimate direct and indirect effects. There are still aspects of the induced effects we can estimate with a high degree of confidence.

In particular, we have a good sense of what is termed the “consumption function,” or what percentage of the additional money people receive from being newly employed will be spent. But it is more difficult to project accurately what the overall employment effects will always be of that extra spending. [Mata Musing: you mean like the employment you *don't* create because living expenses are higher for energy, inflating all end-user products? Or the deflated dollar that means higher costs overal? You mean that "induced effect" of non-employment??]

~~~

First, the magnitude of the induced effect will depend on existing conditions in the economy. If unemployment is high, then this will mean that there are a large number of people able and willing to take jobs if new job opportunities open up. But if unemployment is low, then there will be less room for employment to expand—even if newly employed people have more money to spend.

Similarly, if there is slack in the economy’s physical resources, then the capacity to expand employment will be greater—and the induced effects larger. If the economy is operating at a high level of activity, there is not likely to be a large employment gain beyond what resulted from the initial direct and indirect effects.

Given the rapid deterioration of economic conditions over the past 18 months—including rapidly rising rates of unemployment—the U.S. economy is not likely to bump up against this kind of capacity constraint in the near future. Thus we would expect the induced effects to be significant in the current climate. More generally, the U.S. economy has not come close to approximating a full employment economy since the late 1990s, and even then, the tight labor market conditions were sustained only briefly, until the dot.com… stock market bubble burst. Consequently, it is unlikely that the induced effects of a direct and indirect employment expansion will be diminished by excessively tight labor markets in the future.

What a bunch of hockey pucks… “not come close”. Here’s BLS unemploment stats back to the 40s. You can plainly see where it was between 5.4 to 6.9% in the mid 90s, when the dot.com… bubble came in to play… then burst followed by 911. The unemployment went up to a high of 6.0 before coming back down. “Not close” is a real stretch…

But back to this spin that if the economy is humming along, and unemployment is low, the “self-reinforcing investment” incentive is unlikely. Every bit of that belies market demand. If people demand electric cars, the private market provides electric cars. That just happens to be a very small percentile who only drive blocks at a time, and don’t haul critters, boats and toys for recreation.

What the “progressive” think tank relies upon is the Alinsky model of thought… the more desperate the population for jobs, and the less people that have a profitable business (thanks to highway robbery of taxes), the better chance Obama’s plan has of working.

Okay… can’t argue that.

This is the overview. We now know that Obama must sink the US economy to avail a government rescue of the economy. Cap and trade would do some serious damage on it’s own. But is it capable of tanking the economy single handed?

This is where “the full animated film” comes into play. Add the high tax rates for feel-good health care, add in the national debt from bailout after bailout…. the porkulus… the omnibus spending. Ignore the jobs cuts when you reduce military spending and shrink the national defense inventory. Borrow so much from foreign nations that the dollar is not worth toilet paper.

Welcome to the “cartoon” that is Obama’s economic plan. All cels together translate to the rock and hard place we need to be – desperate – for Obama’s “remaking” of America to be complete.

And like lemmings… we’re been led over the cliff because math is simply a lost art, and we are unable to recognize a single cel frame instead of envisioning the entire feature film.

Dear Mr. Obama

We are the heads of a few of your largest constituents, including Dow, GE and DuPont. This letter represents our sentiments in wishing to express our gratitude for your and Ms. Pelosi’s efforts on our behalf. We thank you, our shareholders thank you, and certainly all of us look forward to contributing to your Presidential Library, once you leave office, if we did not sufficiently contribute already prior to the election.

We can appreciate that neither yourself nor your dear friends in Congress have had time to read the new Bill that opens: “A BILL – To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.” This Bill is very, very, very long and boring. It is also very complex. We conceived it and structured it in such way that the fewer the readers, the less editing would take place. We therefore anticipate that its passage will be swift. The sooner that train leaves the station, the more impossible its progress will be to reverse. It would also not be advantageous if the irrationality, and fear surrounding humanity’s hand in the process of global warming were to subside. Now, is an opportune time to strike.

Attaching the name “Cap and Trade” to this whole business has been a stroke of genius. No one really understands what it all means, and the media believes everything you tell them, so keep plugging it, and keep promoting the “reduction in CO2” stuff. That works really well in LA. Have you seen the air out there? Terrible. Terrible, or “turbull” as Charles Barkley would say. We are all thrilled that you have successfully reconstructed the original intent of CO2 reduction, into an energy consumption reduction program. We knew you could do it.

The impact on consumption reduction will, in our view, be minimal, and fortunately, that is not our objective. We wish you much luck in managing this monster, and in building an administration capable of verifying such things as the veracity of corporately claimed offsets. This Bill is so complex that it will provide endless possibilities for abuse and excesses, and we can smell the fraud stinking up the air already. As you know, a transparent system such as a simple graduated carbon tax, paralleled with targeted caps on emissions, would not have been as financially beneficial for us. Not even close.

We are well aware that most of our smaller brethren in the business will get put out to pasture as a result of their inability to move off-shore quickly enough, or by the fact that they will not be able to afford the carbon pollution permits. We, on the other hand, already have unregulated facilities around the world to which we can reallocate resources at a moment’s notice. Our competitors will also not have our advantage of receiving significant Cap and Trade credits based on our being able to provide all necessary products supporting this bill, from solar panels to wind mills in the sky. Our smaller competitors will also be unable to sustain the sheer costs of managing the government’s bureaucratic intrusion into their affairs, as it deploys armies of newly hired climate science experts to distribute and oversee capping and trading of carbon dioxide emissions.

We anticipate much higher costs in the manufacture of many alternate energy sources, such as solar energy absorption cells, and this will impact the expansion of solar cell farms, but well, we have no choice.

The Bill will be very effective in rendering the cost of any carbon-based energy unaffordable through overwhelming taxation. That should help you refill the government coffers somewhat, although the hole you are digging for American taxpayers is becoming rather considerable. Households across the country will bear the brunt of the costs, through higher product prices and a heavier tax burden, but most people seem very accepting of a “price” for reducing climate change. Even if most don’t believe that they impact climate, they still feel that the air needs cleaning. We are unsure, however, how taxpayers will feel about being mandated into financing the adoption of efficient technologies overseas. They will probably not be thrilled with paying to prevent the clear-cutting of the Amazon, for example, at a time when many households are barely paying their food bills. We, on the other hand, will not be affected, whatever reactions surface on that front, although a couple of us feel bad for our buddies running operations like aluminum, or steel mills. They are in for some tough times.

We note that some of our other friends on Wall Street are very preoccupied, as we write this letter, coming up with new and extremely creative financial tools which they expect to launch upon the Bill’s passing. Those boys have amazing ways of getting in on any game with the potential of throwing off billions in cash. They look forward to a whole new set of opportunities opening up for them, replacing the ones eclipsed by the recent devastating financial compression. Listening to some of them, one might conclude that they have been holding séances with Jeffrey Skilling of Enron fame.

We are anxious to be in receipt of our free Trade Allowances, but most of all, we are excited with the anticipation of enjoying astronomical growth for many years. In passing, we should thank you for having allowed, and fuelled with cash, firms like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley to become even bigger, and more powerful than they were before the financial down-turn. This action set a tremendous precedent we look forward to duplicating in our industries. If you thought “too big to fail” applied to these giants before the crash, wait until you see how big a few of us get in the next five years.

We have one last request if we can be so bold. Could you repeat as often as possible to the Nation that this Bill will not cost over $3,000 per household each year, and that much like the national objective of being carbon neutral, so too the cost will be, … “neutral.” Explain to America that it is just a methodology for keeping track of excessive energy consumers, and polluters. Perfect, don’t you think? They’ll all buy it. The media will promote that theme for you.

We will continue to postulate assertively on the need for battling global warming, and look forward to your persistent oratory on getting this momentous Bill passed into law.

Sincerely.
Your Friendly Benefactors

Crossposted from The Pacific Gate Post

Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4385 (And he’s seriously considering running for Senate!)
Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765

You remember now don’t you?

Well, those who voted on it could not remember much seeing as how it DOESN’T EXIST:

Nobody could have read the bill the House passed last night because there is no bill. There apparently wasn’t time to pull together a finished product that accounted for the hundreds of pages of amendments because of Pelosi’s headlong rush to slam this lunacy through before anybody had a chance to learn what was actually in it. So there is no “it” that all the pages and pages of words can be found “in.” Democrats have passed a concept — not a bill.

The Washington Examiner:

Texas Republican Reps. Joe Barton and Louie Gohmert have just asked the chair whether there exists a complete, updated copy of the Waxman-Markey carbon-cap bill.

“If a bill for which there is no copy were to actually pass this body,” Barton asked, “could the bill without a copy be sent to the Senate for its consideration?”

Through a series of parliamentary inquiries, the Republicans learned that the 300-plus page managers’ amendment, added to the bill last night in the House Rules Committee, has not even been been integrated with the official copy of the 1,090-page bill at the House Clerk’s desk, let alone in any other location. The two documents are side-by-side at the desk as the clerk reads through the instructions in the 300 page document for altering the 1,090 page document.

But they cannot be simply combined, because the amendment contains 300 pages of items like this: “Page 15, beginning line 8, strike paragraph (11)…” How many members of Congress do you suppose have gone through it all to see how it changes the bill?

Wonderful….just how I imagined a Pelosi run Congress would operate.

So, it passed the House. This tax, a tax in which Obama promised he would never force upon his adorers seeing as how he promised nobody making under 250 grand a year would pay any new federal taxes.

The left says, its not a tax! It’s a fee you see. Because any business that wishes to emit carbon will have to pay the fee to operate.

That’s a tax folks. Anytime you HAVE to pay our government and they use that money to operate the government…that’s a tax. We all know whats going to happen once the business’s are forced to pay more to operate, that burden will be passed on to the consumer. So our prices will go up for all sorts of goods. Then our utility bills will rise, as Obama promised:

So, as the Tax Foundation study stated, we are going to be paying about 2% more annually. Check that link for a calculator to find out how much more your gonna be paying per year because of the bill…or I should say, the bill that doesn’t exist……yet.

62 million Americans now have absolutely no voice in the way our country is being governed. No say in the quadrupling of our debt or in the onerous taxes being piled on top of record unemployment. They have no say in the pending trillion dollar health care ‘reform’ or the more costly ‘cap and trade’ legislation steadily making its way through Congress.

With Democrats firmly in control of the White House and the House of Representatives, and most likely the Senate, the left has found no need for bipartisanship. After all, ‘Obama won.’ Case closed.

Should any pesky Republican complain, the voice goes unheard – kinda like a tree falling in a forest. Did it really fall if no one heard it? The right is reduced to pondering questions like these as the left continues implementing radical change at breakneck speed. Changes that affect every segment of our society and every single American. Changes that are being implemented without the requisite ‘national conversation’. Why hold a conversation?

The left is in control and there is no need to consult with the people they were elected to govern. The politicians and the experts know best. And should the GOP try to halt this tsunami of ‘change’, a quick change of the filibuster rule to 51 instead of 60 is put in place. That’ll teach em.

Under the guise of fighting the non-crisis of global warming, the EPA has declared the very air we breathe to be dangerous. Not to worry. Uncle Sam will save us. Here comes cap and trade. It will only cost $3,100 extra in energy costs per family.

Under the guise of universal health care, our government is preparing to take over app. 17% of our economy by nationalizing health care. Not to worry, they are consulting with the policymakers in Canada responsible for the sterling healthcare in that country. The very same government health care that forces Canadians to come to the US to get their medical needs taken care of. 

Under the guise of saving the economy, the feds have taken over banks, insurance companies and car companies, prompting even thug dictator Chavez to joke, “Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right.”  

Under the guise of saving us from those nasty capitalists, Obama has appointed a new Pay Czar to make sure no-one is paid more than the politicians deem they are worth. At least those who are unfortunate to work for companies that have received bailout funds. And in one case, the formerly sovereign state of South Carolina has actually been forced to take bailout funds, and accept all the strings that come with it.

Consent of the governed is being ignored as the Obama administration hijacks ever more power to the federal government, in direct contravention of the 10th amendment and the Constitution. And 62 million Americans can do nothing except marvel at the audacity.

The left is rejoicing at finally being able to implement utopia here on earth. A utopian vision that has consistently failed whenever it has been foisted upon a populace, either through charisma or brute force. But never mind. Obama’s utopia will work, experts assure us.

The experts who now hold us hostage are first and foremost, political beings, having been appointed ‘czars’ on the basis of political connections as opposed to merit. They are thoroughly steeped in theory and liberal orthodoxy and severely lacking in real world experience.

These unelected czars (15 at last count) now have control of our tax dollars and the regulatory bureaucracy that enables them to enforce their whims. Whims which are based more on political expediency than the rule of law. They will never be held accountable when their theories are tested and fail. And fail they must, as history has taught the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama.

As we speak, the left, with the willing compliance of an adoring media, are kowtowing to our enemies while demonizing and penalizing capitalists, the very wealth creators whose money now allows the government to implement an agenda anti ethical to the American way of life.

The Obama administration, under the guise of tolerance, inclusion, multiculturalism, empathy and concern for the disenfranchised, are destroying jobs though regulation and taxation. A total of 2.19 million jobs have been lost since Obama became President. (The news that Wal-Mart will be adding 22,000 jobs this year is ignored, as they did it without unions or government help.)

The Democrats are enacting legislation that makes it impossible for America to become energy independent, while at the same time, partnering with Arab countries to help them develop nuclear energy.

Our ‘leaders’ are burdening America with an unsustainable level of debt while at the same time, continuing to send our tax dollars ($106 Billion) to the IMF to bail out the world. And sending $200 million more to Pakistan to help out with their refugees.

The Left, with Obama as its messiah, believing that all cultures and countries should be equal, are systematically reducing America to third world status. A level playing field at last. Whew.

Meanwhile, the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama wait in vain for their own elected representatives to stand up and say STOP. Alas, aside from a handful of Republicans like Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, Jim DeMint, Rick Perry and Dick Cheney, the silence from the Republicans is deafening.

62 million Americans are watching America squander its greatness on the altar of catchy, unproven, politically correct notions. And this American is wondering if the destructive policies that are being foisted upon us without our consent and without debate, are being enacted through stupidity or design.

During her visit she visited different historical and not so historical sites and met the residents of Auburn: (h/t to Conservative 4 Palin)

Bistro One got a very last-minute reservation request Thursday. But this was one they wanted to make room for.

Former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin participated in a breakfast event Friday morning at the Auburn restaurant. The event, which was attended by area supporters, kicked off a day of activities for the Republican governor at various local businesses, parks and organizations.

Her tour of the area precedes today’s first-ever Founders Day, which celebrates local history. During the Auburn festival, Palin will take part in a parade, speak at the city hall and attend a fundraiser luncheon at the Seward House.

~~~

One of about 40 in attendance at the breakfast was state Assemblyman Gary Finch. Finch said Palin gave a nonpolitical talk, and she expressed gratitude to the local community for inviting her.

Finch said that Palin, who brought her husband, Todd, daughter, Willow, her sister and nephew along, made sure to speak individually with each person at the event.

“She certainly conveyed to everyone that she is very glad to be here,” said Finch, who will also participate in Saturday’s festivities.

“She was very real, very genuine,” Finch said.

She also visited the Harriet Tubman Home:

At 10:15 a.m., a black SUV took her to the Tubman House for an unannounced tour away from the media pool. Palin’s family was shown through Tubman’s Home for the Aged, and site manager Paul Carter pointed out a print of a guardian angel leading a child. Carter said it reminded him that Tubman was “the guardian angel of us all.”

“That’s beautiful,” Palin said. “That says it all.”

In the Tubman visitor center, after hearing about Tubman’s resilience as she fought slavery, Palin called over her nephew Karcher, who is autistic, and said, “This is something for you, anytime you go through something tough. Keep going.”

And the Women’s Rights National Historic Park and the National Women’s Hall of Fame:

Shortly before noon, Palin’s party was led to the National Women’s Hall of Fame by Executive Director Christine Moulton. Moulton pointed out a number of inductees (including Ruth Colvin, founder of Literacy Volunteers in Syracuse) who had made great contributions to society after raising a family.

“That’s very hopeful for a lot of young moms today, who have to put things on hold,” said Palin, whose 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is raising a child.

At the Hall of Fame, Palin — wearing a Blue Star Mom pin and bracelet for her son Track serving in Iraq, and showing red toenails in open shoes — posed for pictures.

Moulton gave Palin flowers. Nozzolio gave Palin a DVD of Ken Burns’ series on Anthony and Stanton (”Not for Ourselves Alone”). Palin congratulated Seneca Falls Mayor Smith for being “a good mommy mayor” and “setting an example for young women who want to affect positive change.”

At one point, Palin said she shared with Susan B. Anthony a desire for the protection of women. “For me, that includes our youngest sisters, girls in the womb,” she said.

And one reaction from a resident needs to be repeated:

Adams and his daughter, Erin, got up at 5:30 a.m. to be in Auburn this morning. By 9 a.m., they were seated in folding chairs and talking with other Palin fans. John Adams likes Palin’s politics.

“She makes me think of Ronald Reagan,” John Adams said.

“For the first time since Reagan, I’ve found a candidate that … sounds like Reagan and that has some Reaganesque qualities,” said Adams, 56. “She’s not the speaker Reagan was, but she believes the same things Reagan believed and talk that way, and that inspires me.”

Later she led a parade through Auburn where 20,000 people showed up to cheer her on and gave a speech which definitely contained some red meat. As she reached the podium you can hear people yell “run Sarah run.” The video’s of the speech is below but a few spots of interest, at about the 2:20 mark in part 1:

We never need to fear that though we’re not a perfect nation, that we must apologize for being proud of ourselves.

Later in part 1 she honors a few Auburn son’s who gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq asking them to join her in “promising the gold star moms that our soldiers deaths are not in vain and we will continue to fight for our security, our democracy, our freedom.”

And she takes on those who criticized her for not taking the strings attached stimulus money from the federal government (part 4 below):

I recently turned down, or vetoed, stimulus dollars that were tied to implementing…some mandates from the federal government trying to take away more control of our local governments, and our families, and our businesses. In this case, implementing universal energy building codes that some claimed after I vetoed the money “oh, she’s just trying to make a political statement.” And, no, I’m actually trying to use some common sense here, and some may be uncomfortable with that, but it is the right thing to do.

You know the response I got when I vetoed these dollars? “Girl, are you crazy, the federal government is handing out free money and if you don’t take it another state’s going to spend it.” Oh this borrowed, debt ridden, government growing money – it is not free money, and taking it takes away anything that is free.

So many in Congress warned the states about the ramifications of accepting the money, and most legislators went around governors who didn’t want to take all the money, and they resolved via resolutions to take the money anyway. But opportunity for development and local control, that is what’s taken away when all of these dollars are accepted without questioning them, because, believe it or not, there are fat strings attached to this borrowed money. See that attitude of free money is wrong.

Finally I have just conceded, I’ve said ok, I just won’t claim that there are strings attached. I won’t use that term anymore. Because the more we dig into these mandates, these connections that the money would have that we would spend coming from the federal government, including the string attached to these dizzying federal debts that we are handing to our kids and to their kids to pay off for us – I can’t say strings attached anymore, now I say they are ropes…They are debt building, binding, controlling ropes and it is bigger government that ultimately will take away our opportunities and our freedoms.

And now precedent says government will bail you out, depending on the decisions that you’ve made if you’re not prudent with your business dollars. Government will buy you out. Anyone need a car? And this is a problem because we cannot afford this government largess and control and unrestrained spending. I don’t think that’s what Seward had in mind. And I do not believe it’s the will of the people.

Lastly she also speaks about the part Alaska plays in our national defense (part 5 below). Watch them all, great speech and a great lady.

President Obama took time out from pushing his massive spending and tax increase package to announce his new focus on health care, accidentally ‘mischaracterizing’ the data, but making clear the government’s intention to start tackling this new ‘crisis’.

One of the government’s first acts was to close down a New York doctor who had the audacity to propose a private market solution by offering uninsured patients a $79 flat fee for medical services, focusing instead on the government’s innovative Healthy Penis campaign, recently launched in San Francisco. (It pays for staffers walk around in giant penis costumes to promote syphillis testing)

Despite the increasing number of crisis requiring his attention, Obama still managed to find the time to attend to foreign affairs. In the interest of world peace, he extended a hand to Russia, offering to consider scuttling America’s missile defense system if Russia would, uh, help us with Iran. Russia agreed to talk about disarming America. Period.

Meanwhile, politicians in Washington were successful in diverting attention from the roughly $2.5 trillion investors have lost since Obama took office by designating private citizen and talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, as enemy number one. The 2.2 million jobs lost in the last four months were also overlooked, as the orchestrated media frenzy examined the vital question: ‘Is Limbaugh the face of the GOP?’

Stoically, Obama remained silent as Hugo Chavez ordered the expropriation (theft) of an American owned company operating in Venezuela. He also refrained from comment on the news that an American citizen was beheaded in Mexico. Thankfully, Obama regained his voice to forcefully broadcast a new policy of pursuing international tax cheats. Who better to pursue tax cheats than… sorry, I digress.

Meanwhile, Obama’s new economic advisor took to the airwaves to reassure the nation that Obama has a team of really smart people working to fix the economic crisis. Why, she actually has a staff of 10 Ph.D. economists hard at work on it right now. Whew!

Obama followed up by unveiling a new emblem that will be displayed on all projects funded by the massive spending plan he just got enacted. (The vision of a dog peeing to mark his territory entered my mind, but that’s just me.)

Obama wisely ignored news of Iran’s new nuclear capability and focused instead on assuring the American people that, sadly, we are losing the war in Afghanistan. The solution, he opined, is reaching out to the moderate Taliban. As the hunt started for a ‘moderate Taliban’ Obama took the opportunity to denounce the news that his appointment as head of a U.S. intelligence council was identified as a member of the ‘Iran lobby.’ A big pshaw from The One set that right.

Our other elected officials also made sure America knew how hard they are toiling on the people’s behalf. Rep. Barney Frank announced that he will be pushing for prosecution of the people who caused the country’s financial meltdown. The fact that he himself was one of them didn’t seem to worry Barney. Or the media.

Senate Democrats, meanwhile, in a show of bipartisanship, held out a hand to Republicans, inviting them to join them in calling for a ‘truth commission’ to probe whether the Bush administration abused its power. No word yet on which Republicans have decided to be bipartisan.

Top dog Harry Reid exhibited his firm grasp of the people’s business by proposing that the federal government take over the power grid in the country so that it might string power lines all across the land. The fact that these power lines would be designated “special power lines to carry renewable energy” should allow the government to place them wherever they want, Reid suggested with a straight face.

Reid then hurried off to a closed door meeting with actor Brad Pitt, where Brad made an earnest case for nationalizing his “Make It Right New Orleans” campaign, in partnership with Congress. The media then gleefully highlighted Harry Reid’s first known instance of humor as he cracked wise with Brad Pitt before the cameras. What a funny guy!

After the media finished its gigglefest, they moved on to highlight the achievements of yet another public servant, Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen of England. He will now be referred to as Sir Kennedy. By everyone, I assume, except Mary Jo Kophecne who is otherwise engaged, spinning in her grave.

Speaking of the Queen, we are informed that she has agreed to meet privately with President Obama, despite the major disrespect shown by Obama to Britain’s Prime Minister last week. Apparently the Queen accepted Obama’s explanation that his rudeness was the result of him being ‘overwhelmed’ by the economic crisis. Besides, his aides say, he is very tired. Which doesn’t bode well for any 3AM moments, but I digress again.

One reason for Obama’s fatigue is being investigated by watchdog group Judicial Watch.
“Barack and Michelle Obama have been throwing taxpayer funded parties nearly every night with their ‘friends’ and supporters, with Michelle Obama even exhorting them not to ‘break’ White House property,” Klayman’s announcement said.

The media graciously overlooked Judicial Watch’s obvious racism by ignoring this issue, focusing instead on launching a new national campaign to help the Obama family name their new dog.

The media also did their part ‘for the people’ by playing down the threats of war by North Korea, news that Iran has crossed the technological nuclear threshold, the 15% increase in defense spending by China, the global meltdown and the spillover of the chaos of Mexican drug wars onto American soil. After all, they know ‘the people’ are much more interested in how Michelle Obama manages to keep her arms so buff and if she has set a new fashion trend by going sleeveless in winter. Inquiring minds want to know.

All is well with our elected officials, thank God. In the face of overwhelming and potentially catastrophic circumstances, our dedicated public servants toil bravely on, humbly accepting an ever greater share of responsibility over this nation and its people. I don’t know about you, but I’m sleeping much better these days, just knowing they’re looking out for me.

And tomorrow, instead of figuring out how to survive now that most of my money has disappeared, I’m going to the gym and work on my triceps – secure in the knowledge that Obama and the rest of our elected officials will take care of everything else.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is busy launching an online petition for readers to express their outrage at conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh. This, coming on the heels of triumphant Democrats confirming a tax cheat as our new Treasury Secretary, which came on the heels of giddy Democrats spearheading a new bill through Congress that would require camera phones to make a sound when taking a picture.

Six Democrats were busy enjoying a Caribbean junket sponsored by Citigroup after Congress obligingly approved the $700 billion bailout of financial services firms in October, while others were hard at work crafting a $819 billion spending package under the guise of stimulating the economy.

What spending millions of bucks on sexually transmitted diseases and giving billions of our tax dollars to corrupt left-wing groups like ACORN has to do with stimulation has yet to be explained. Instead, we’re urged to look at ‘the larger picture’.

The ‘larger picture’ that immediately comes to my mind is Father Earth, Algore, testifying before Congress, warning of the imminent demise of the human species because of global warming, while the storm of the century rages across 1,400 miles of the U.S. I digress…

President Obama meanwhile, continues his honeymoon, bravely shrugging off the arrest of his half-brother for dope and his aunt’s illegal status.

In response to news that Iran now has the ability to manufacture a nuclear weapon this year, Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo and changed the rules governing interrogation of terrorists, in order to assure these prisoners not be made “uncomfortable.” No mention was made of the 61 Gitmo inmates that had already been released and found, once again, engaged in jihad.

Obama then followed up by asking the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon’s budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent — about $55 billion.

Obama reacted to Republican Congressman and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra’s comment “There’s no way and no chance to stop the Iranian nuclear program,” by penning a Dear Achmadinejad letter to Iran, legitimizing the rogue regime by agreeing to direct talks, something Bush had refused to do.

Iran promptly responded, claiming that Obama’s offer signaled that America’s policy of “domination” has failed. “This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed,” Iran gleefully retorted.

No fool, he, Obama had already pre-empted Iran by appointing Gary Samore as our new Weapons of Mass Destruction Czar, allowing him to continue focusing on his plan to do away with the military’s ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ policy regarding gays in the military.

Anticipating this new policy, Army Secretary Pete Geren has approved adding legal personnel to help combat sexual assault among soldiers, which he deemed “repugnant to the core values” of the Army.

Meanwhile, our dedicated public servants on the state level are just as busy. New York’s Mayor Bloomberg, facing shrinking tax revenues that have turned the $1.3 billion November budget hole into a now $4 billion chasm, took to the microphones and declared a war on – salt. I’m not making this stuff up.

In California, the state was unable to give the taxpayers their tax refunds because, oops, there’s no money left. Not to worry, California is counting on being a big winner in the stimulus jackpot as soon as our public servants in D.C. can get rid of the pesky opposition and pass the much touted ’stimulus bill’, thereby relieving them of personal responsibility for the bad decisions of oh, the last 40 years, that have left the state in default.

Undeterred by lack of funds, California continued doing the people’s business by enacting a new law that provides millions of Californians with limited English proficiency the right to an interpreter from their commercial health and dental plans.

This law comes on the heels of another California eco-mandate that requires owners of gas stations to purchase new equipment to reduce vapor emissions at the pump.

In the name of Mother Earth, dozens and potentially hundreds of gas stations, unable to afford the cash to comply with these new mandates, are choosing to shut down. Unfortunately these small businessmen don’t have the promise of ’stimulus’ money to pay the piper so, poof, they’re green toast.

With foreign money fleeing the US at record rates, with a 2009 deficit already at $1.2 trillion, (your share is $175,000) and a 16-year high unemployment rate, states respond by continuing to spend money at boom-time rates, despite shrinking revenues.

Governors across the nation are reacting by making plans to levy higher taxes next year on clothes, soft drinks, gasoline, auto licenses and other items that likely will hit low- and middle-income families.

Joe six-pack will just have to cough up more dough. Obama has called on all of us to make sacrifices, and its our patriotic duty.

Noticeable only by its total absence, is any call for the one solution that would solve the economic crisis. Cutting taxes. Not only do ordinary Joes get to keep and spend more of their own money, thus doing some actual stimulating to the weak economy, but tax cuts, as shown by history, would also fill depleted government coffers.

But, hey, our public servants are the experts. And fortunately, they’re judged on their promises instead of their results. The recent election indicated that this is what Americans want. And now we’re getting it.

Soon, the government will own pieces of banks, insurance companies, mortgage companies, car companies, possibly airlines, media etc., etc. By this time next year, (if Iran hasn’t nuked us), you will be able to walk into any of those businesses and get the same service you now get from the government run post office – which by the way – will soon be cutting back on 6 day mail deliveries due to budget problems.

We asked for it, we got it. God bless America.

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel, an aide said on Tuesday.

“President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel,” an aide on Obama’s transition team said. “They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.”

Oil prices have fallen from a record $147 a barrel in July to under $50 this week.

Obama, who signaled early in his campaign for the White House that he would take an active approach to oil markets as president, had planned to use the revenue from a windfall profits tax to fund a tax rebate for low- and middle-income families struggling with high energy prices.

link

At this stage of the game, our best insight into what to expect will be just with whom Obama chooses to surround himself. Already the “picks” are beginning to surface, as Scott points out with Robert Gibbs as his first Press Sec’y.

The Obama podium mouthpieces interest me not. What does interest me are cabinet appointments… and, based on Obama’s stated energy priorities and today’s economic climate, two that are likely to be very busy from the first nanosecond are the Secy of the Treasury (the job I want! :0)… *yes*!) and the Secy of Energy. This post concerns the possible pick for the latter.

Reading a Junk Science hotlink in Skye’s post, Obama enviros demanding the green, says PA Gov Ed Rendell is rumored to be the Secy of Energy…

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a key Obama supporter and rumored Secretary of Energy candidate, lobbied on behalf of the green energy industry the morning after the election. Responding to a question from a CNBC interviewer about the merits of “undivided government,” Rendell said, “[Undivided government] is going to allow us to act quickly. We need… to send a message to the renewable energy economy, to the [20 to 25] companies in Pennsylvania and… in New Jersey who are hanging in the balance and, if that tax credit is not renewed or made permanent, they’re done in the next three to four months. This government is going to be able to move in the first weeks of the new Congress.”

To use one of Obama’s favorite phrases, “let me be clear”…. Rendell’s “undivided” government means DNC power, unchecked.

Back in Dec 2005, Rendell gave a speech (I believe to the DNC Governor’s convention, not sure) where he laid out his idea for a plan he calls “American Energy Harvest.

This plan for an American Energy Harvest calls on the federal government to take four common sense steps to change the course that our economy and our nation will take in the next decade.

First, the federal government can use its regulatory and legislative power to require greater reliance on alternative fuels by our utilities and energy companies.

Second, it can use its purchasing power to stimulate private investment in alternative fuel production and fuel-saving technologies.

Third, it can redirect subsidies enacted before the energy companies began making extraordinary profits and allocate those funds instead to alternative fuels production.

Lastly, it can launch a modern day Manhattan Project by unifying the disparate alternative fuels deployment strategies going on in the states, the private sector and across the vast federal bureaucracy to accelerate the rollout of alternative energy production.

“Common sense step one”, using regulation to require greater reliance on alternative fuels, is likely to be expensive, and catered to special interests. Much like Prop 10 fell to defeat in CA, opposed by greens and citizens alike, it was built on subsidies and benefitted primarily T Boone Pickens… evidently they don’t want to replace “big oil” with “big natural gas”…. The demons remain the same, only the pitchfork changes.

Step three is nothing more than windfall profits, or a government telling an industry how much they are allowed to make. Step four is standards, which always proves to limit the best quality product, plus competition. Remember Sony Beta vs JVC’s VHS wars? Or today’s HD vs Blue Ray DVD formats? Many of you may not realize just how and why there will be no more analog broadcasts come Jan 2009… it was a Congressional mandate that the NTSC standard be replaced with the wide screen format. They first mandated this to happen back in 2006, underinformed to the technology and massive costs the entire industry had to assume in order to meet the Congressional mandate. Costs that they, in return, will not recoup in profits for their efforts.

When an industry standarizes, the technology improvements become limited for the future as you must still function within a box. And when something better does come along, to change existing standards proves expensive, time consuming and cumbersome. Not good when it comes to energy R&D.

But Rendell’s plan of heavy government controls, forced alternative fuel legislation (despite the readiness and cost of the alternatives) promise to burden the taxpayer with promises of very expensive energy. And all at a time when the economy is in no position to take on the luxury of expensive alternative fuels.

Then there’s Ed Rendell himself…. It was not all that long ago that Rendell was making the talking head rounds, supporting Hillary and blasting Obama out of the water for everything from his campaign fundraising and bundling to blasting the media for their obvious lovefest.

But the nomination, and the promise of power proves to be heady potions indeed. Rendell – Governor of an important swing state – wasted no time altering his dialogue, and attaching himself to Obama coattails.

Even HuffPo in April of this year, while Rendell was still on the Hillary bandwagon, was chagrined at Rendell’s 1997 speech praising Farrakhan.

This is the transcript of former Mayor, Ed Rendell, who is Governor of Pennsylvania and the states most influential supporter of Presidential hopeful, Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking to a packed audience at Tindley Temple United Methodist Church on April 14, 1997 at rally: “A Solution Too Heal The Racial Divide.” The then mayor was the principal organizer of the rally that brought together diverse religious, political, and civic Philadelphia leaders, with Nation of Islam leader, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan as the keynote speaker.

“There were many people,” Rendell proclaimed, “who [said] we were running a great risk by sharing this platform with the National of Islam. But you know, I know and everyone here knows the terrible toll that racism has taken in our city. And we know that the real risk is not being able to talk about our differences and try and make progress. And if everyone cares about ending racism and I believe they do, if anyone cares they should have been here. They should have been ready to talk and they should have been read to listen.”

The Obama faithful will point out Rendell’s words above, lauding them for the “ready to talk” with those who not only dislike America, but actively work to subvert it to suit their own visions.

Rendell, with his echo way back when of Obama’s solution to the world’s ills as sharing a cuppa tea with our enemy, makes him a good fit for an Obama admin.

And that shared respect for Louie Farrakhan doesn’t hurt either. It seems these pesky ties to those of questionable character, and anti-Israel attitudes, will not be going away any time soon.

And the MSM tries to dismiss it with headlines like this one from CNN:

Palin knocks Obama over months-old coal comments

“Months old?” So what?

The SF Chronicle had the video of the interview up on the website but they conveniently neglected to include the quote in the article they wrote after the interview. THAT is the reason why Sarah is asking why the quote is just now making headlines. If the MSM had done its job and wrote about it, believe me….it would of caused a stir last January.

I have a feeling that if McCain had said his policies would bankrupt an entire industry while hurting blue collar workers in many states with skyrocketing utility bills it would be front page news.

But with the one, it’s ignored.

On another note, check out this ad Obama put out in May:

Obama: “I’m Barack Obama and I approve this message.”

Coal worker: “Barack originates from Chicago. But he came to southern Illinois and he seen the devastation and the loss of the jobs in the coal industry. Washington, DC is not listening to us. Barack understands.”

Graphic: “The Obama Record: $200 million for clean coal.”

Announcer: “In Illinois and in the USA Barack Obama helped lead the fight for clean coal. To protect our environment and to save good paying American jobs.”

Coal worker: “He’s figured it out. It takes trust in each other to get the job done.”

Yeah, trust Obama….he would never speak out both sides of his mouth right?

Finally, some reaction to the statement from the coal industry itself:

The senior vice president of the West Virginia Coal Association called Obama’s comments “unbelievable.”

“His comments are unfortunate,” Chris Hamilton said Sunday, “and really reflect a very uninformed voice and perspective to coal specifically and energy generally.”

Hamilton noted other times Obama and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden have made seemingly anti-coal statements.

“In Ohio recently, when Joe Biden said ‘not here’ about building coal-fired power plants — this is exactly what will happen,” Hamilton said. “Financing won’t be directed here. It will all go aboard for plants elsewhere in the world. The United Sates is importing more coal today from Indonesia, South Africa and Colombia than we ever have.

If we’re going to create a situation where coal-fired power plants are at that much of a disadvantage, there will be new ones built. But as Biden said, just not here.”

Including Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Indiana.

The coal industry as a whole has been worried about the downturn in new coal plants:

Others call the growing resistance to coal power worrying.

“It is a crisis for us because what we are not really focusing on is: Where is the electricity we need for the next 50 years going to come from?” said Gregory Boyce, chairman of Peabody Energy, at a “clean tech” conference recently in Palm Springs, Calif. “We view it as short-term and very unfortunate because we need to continue to build these new coal plants that are at least 15 to 20 percent more carbon-efficient than the plants they replace while we continue to work on technologies for the next generation of plants that are carbon-capture ready or that capture carbon and store it.”

With US energy demand growing about 1.2 percent a year, big utilities must get energy from somewhere.

~~~

Some in the power industry also say gas-fired turbines are less reliable when used for “base load” power the turbines that spin day and night and not just for peak loads.

“There’s a serious crunch with respect to having enough generating capacity coming in the next 10 years,” says Rick Sergel, chief executive officer of North American Electric Reliability Corp., which serves the federal government as chief overseer of the US electric grid. “If coal doesn’t play its role, it’s going to be a major issue.”

~~~

“If they don’t start building coal plants, it’s going to be an economic prosperity problem for the country,” says Richard Storm, CEO of Storm Technologies, an Albemarle, N.C., company that specializes in optimizing coal-fired power plants. “We need coal. Coal is a national treasure.”

and now they have even more reason to be worried: (h/t Gateway Pundit)

The transcript of the interview:

Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else’s out there.

I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.

The only thing I’ve said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It’s just that it will bankrupt them.”

That was audio from an interview he gave to the San Francisco Chronicle. Funny thing is, the story written based off that interview did not include ANYTHING about the bankrupting of the coal industry.

Shocker!

And going along for the ride is the United Mine Workers Of America who say that “Barack Obama is on record supporting the development of clean coal technology in the United States.”

This coal industry union is fully behind Barack:

We got all of our local presidents to sign letters to the nearly 6,000 pensioners in Pennsylvania in support of Barack Obama. We are leafleting at every mine and non-mine organized unit and our members are taking part in phone banks and labor walks regularly….

But what will this unions response be to Barack’s bankruptcy plan for the coal industry? Will they still bow at the alter of the one?

How could they not know what was in store for their industry? He is on record as saying he wants to change the behavior of the American people by raising the cost of fuel and power prices:

“It’s not going to be painless” he says. Your damn right it’s not. Bankrupting an industry and raising the costs for everyday items needed by the people of this country is going to hurt quite a bit.

In the end it’s not going to be just the coal industry he bankrupts…it will be the country as a whole.

UPDATE

Transcript:

The problem is not technical, uh, and the problem is not mastery of the legislative intricacies of Washington. The problem is, uh, can you get the American people to say, “This is really important,” and force their representatives to do the right thing? That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Uh, and climate change is a great example.

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

If we can’t make that argument persuasively enough, you — you, uh, can be Lyndon Johnson, you can be the master of Washington. You’re not going to get that done.

As if our economy needs an increase of energy costs right now. The rise of oil caused havoc with our economy earlier this year. What he is talking about will shred this economy and make the 70’s look like a golden age.

UPDATE

Good time to bring this up again?