Peter Baker writes in the New York Times, “Good Will, But Few Foreign Policy Benefits for Obama,” that

“As much as they may prefer to deal with Mr. Obama instead of his predecessor, George W. Bush, foreign leaders have not gone out of their way to give him what he has sought.”

Well, duh, who didn’t see that coming?  Who doesn’t prefer to negotiate with someone who wants to be your best friend, so that they can clean your clock before you realize what hit you?  I take that back, liberals didn’t see it coming and they never do.  One liberal that I can think of who could see it, is no longer with us, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  He wrote a book about it referring to the world in it’s title A Dangerous Place.

So what has Obama’s policy of “engagement” gotten us?

• Putin getting Obama to drop missile defenses based in Poland and the Czech Republic for… “a player to be named later” from Putin?
• Ahmadinejad fixes an election in Iran, kills and rapes the opposition, presses on with its intention of getting nuclear weapons and the Obama administration says, “That’s a no, no,” as if chiding a tot.  Ahmadinejad can’t believe his good fortune.  He will play Russia off the U.S. and merrily stall until he has nuclear weapons and the missile technology to deliver them anywhere.
• Chavez is trying to help a dictator abolish democracy in Honduras, and Obama and Clinton try to help him by telling the Honduran people that have to allow their law breaking former president to return to power.
• Chavez is getting buddy-buddy with Ahmadiniejad, so as soon as Iran has nuclear weapons, we may soon see nukes in South America.  JFK went to the brink of nuclear war to keep such weapons out of this Hemisphere.  Does anyone believe Obama would do the same?
• North Korea continues to thumb its nose at the Obama Administration, while it test more missiles until it gets one that can hit Kansas City.
• Europeans dismiss Obama’s calls for more troops in Afganistan
• The Saudi’s dismiss (dispite or because of,  the bowing of Obama to their king) his requests for concessions on Israel
• Israel refuses to stop building settlements on the West Bank
• Obama has marginalized the State Department.  What is Hillary Clinton actually responsible for?  Biden seems to be handling (?) Russia; George Mitchell the Middle East; Holbrooke Afganistan; Dennis Ross for Iran.

Foreign policy could not be more fundamental to the office of the President (Constitution: Article II, Section 2), but today President Obama will appear on five Sunday talk shows to continue to push his health care initiative that 56% of the American people don’t want and the Constitution doesn’t identify as a federal function.  If he doesn’t get back on track with foreign policy it won’t be health care we need but medical triage in the aftermath of another terror attack or war on our soil.

As the number of czars continues to grow Americans are becoming more concerned about losing control of their government.  What can be done about it?  Try this.  If a czar comes calling to check on your salary, tell him to go stuff it.

What is a czar?

Czars are special advisers to the President.  As such they do not require Senate confirmation.  The President can have his Uncle Charlie as an adviser, for all that matters.  He can get advice from anyone.  However, he cannot legally give his authority to a czar.  So let’s do this about the czars.  Ignore them.  If President Obama wants his czars whispering in his ear all day long, so be it.  If he wants to give them any authority, then he should appoint them to a political position in his administration that is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.  In that process we will learn a lot more about who these characters are, and we can voice our opinions of them.  Otherwise, President Obama is going to have to do the heavy lifting and take responsibility for everything he brought his czars on board to do.

The statists like dissent if they are dissenting from a conservative view point, as Hillary Clinton explains here:

Hillary Defends Challenging the Administration

But if you stand for liberty and against big government dissent is a very bad thing, as Nancy Pelosi explains:

Nancy Pelosi Hints Town Hall Opposition are Nazis

So if you bash Bush, you are a patriot.  If you question Barack Obama, you are a Nazi.  So our statist friends only believe the First Amendment applies to them and it is not available to those who oppose them.  Turn them in to the White House!  Have union goons give them a beat down.

Camerawoman is Hit by SEIU member

In this raw video an SEIU member attacks a man for selling flags that say, “Don’t Tread On Me.”

SEIU Member Attacks a Black Conservative

Does this not sound like Hitler’s brown shirts? his Gestapo?  The left who like to throw down, in addition to the race card, the Nazi card look more like Nazis than conservatives ever did.

a “wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”  — Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address

“It’s not that I want to punish your success. I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success, too.  My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”  — Barack Obama speaking to Joe “The Plumber” Wurtzelbacher and explaining the virtue of taxing successful businessmen and women more.

“We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people.” “It’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”  — Joe Biden in an interview during the presidential campaign [emphasis added].

Now, tell me, which of the three quotations above move you?  Which of them speaks to you of the greatness of America?

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence speaks eloquently about freedom.  While recognizing the need for government he believed that that which governs least governs best.  Government’s main purpose is to “restrain men from injuring one another.”  So we need some basic laws for to protect freedoms of the minority while recognizing the right of the majority to govern.  For that we have the Bill of Rights.  We need some basic laws to be able to create and enforce contracts.  We need national defense to protect us from enemies foreign and domestic.  Some pretty basic things.  Other than that which is spelled out in the Constitution, stand back and let each man and woman live in freedom to pursue their own happiness.

Barack Obama

Obey

Contrast that to Barack Obama’s conversation with Joe Wurzelberger.  Joe asked him why, as he works 10 to 12 hour days with no guarantee of success or income to build his business and create jobs, candidate Obama, should he become president, would want to take more from Joe in taxes.  Obama says, it’s not that he wants to punish Joe, but he needs to take the fruit of Joe’s labor and give it to someone else so that they can be successful too.  He doesn’t ask Joe for the secret of his success.  He doesn’t ask him how he can keep going for 10 to 12 hours per day.  He basically says, this is going to be a new America and you keep working, Joe, but remember part of what you make, I take, and I give it to whom I decide needs it more than you do, because we won.

Joe Biden

Joe “Buck a Day” Biden, doesn’t even try to spin what they plan on doing.  He basically gets in your face and says he is going to take money from those who are successful and put it in the pocket of the middle class and then tries to shame the audience by saying it would be un-patriotic to object.  This comes from a millionaire who gives about $1 per day to charity from his own pocket.  He doesn’t define who the middle class is, that is for the political class and his cronies to decide, most likely based on where the most votes are to keep them in power.

The Decline of America

When you consider the heights of principle from which this country was founded, with ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, to the depths we have sunk today, with little more than bag men going around shaking down legitimate businesses and citizens to pay for a massive expansion of government and control over our lives, with the smug, pompous politicians in Washington directing the smallest detail of our lives.  It is truly sad.

Lady Liberty weeps.

WE SAVED THE ECONOMY!

President Barack Obama announced last night at his press conference that his policies have brought the economy back from the brink of collapse. ( Obama Talks About the Economy).  So I guess it’s Mission Accomplished!  Despite unemployment climbing toward 10% when he promised he could hold it at 8% if we implemented his stimulus package and that it would be 9% if we didn’t.  With only 3/4 of the fiscal year over, we already have a deficit in excess of $1 trillion dollars for the first time in our history.  The House passed a Cap and Trade bill that will, if implemented, add to the cost of everything that uses energy, just don’t call it a tax because only Bill Gates and Warren Buffet will be taxed under the Obama Administration.  On top of that, we absolutely must nationalize health care to cut the cost of health care and increase coverage.  The only problem is that the CBO says it will increase costs and reduce the amount of care.

What’s the Mission

If you are foolish enough to think that Obama’s policies are failing, then you don’t know what the mission is.  The mission is not to fix the economy.  It is not to curb global warming.  It is not to make health care more affordable.  It is to increase the size and scope of government to a point where it can never be rolled back.  Our liberties will be crushed and we will be ruled by a cadre of bureaucrats who will tell us what we can do and when we can do it.  He will form a block of voters that can get him and his fellow Democrats elected in perpetuity, by showering them with government handouts and place punishing taxes on a minority of productive people.  Why do you think he is smiling in the picture?  His mission is proceeding just as planned, thank you very much.  He only hopes that it is too late before you realize what happend to you and your rights.

Dred Scott Redux

In case you didn’t believe me in my post Stay on the Plantation that liberals think all “good” blacks belong to the group labeled “blacks” and if you don’t conform, watch out.  California Senator Barbara Boxer, blithely walked into a buzz saw named Harry Alford, when he called her on gratuitously trying to put him in a box with the NAACP.  Watch here: Senator Boxer Accused of Race Politics

The Audacity

You see, Harry Alford, CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce, which represents business interests, has an issue with some legislation before Senator Boxer’s committee.  He had the temerity to oppose what she wanted to do.  So she said she was going to enter into the record a study by the Pew Research group (okay), a resolution by the NAACP (uh-oh), and a statement by John Grant, the CEO of “100 Black Men of Atlanta,” (huh?).  And Harry pounced.  What do these other black groups have to do with what he’s saying?  He was quite incensed that as a black man, the Senator obtained documents from other black organizations who agreed with her, despite the relevance to energy policy.  It was clear, the point was to isolate Harry Alford.  Clearly show that he was off the plantation and that he better get back on the plantation, or trouble was coming.

Dred Scott Redux

Blacks are supposed to belong to the Democratic party.  If a black person should be so audacious as to speak their mind and not in concert with Democratic party orthodoxy, then send out the troops to bring them back.  It doesn’t matter if what they bring to bear on the recalcitrant person is relevant, just pile it on until they are shamed into returning to the fold or fading away into obscurity.

Liberty is under attack in the most vile way.

It now appears that both sides in the Honduran standoff are waiting on the United States to weigh in.  Despite those on the left (Chavez, Castro) continuing to push for less involvement by the U.S.  in Central and South America so they can step into the void, they are now calling on the United States to take a stand, on their respective sides, of course.  Chavez had this to say:

“Do something,” Mr. Chávez had said to reporters. “Obama, do something.” – NY Times, July 12, 2009

Hillary Clinton has joined with Castro and Chavez in calling for the return to power of Manuel Zalaya.  But as Mary Anastasia O’Grady reports in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“If there is anything debatable about the crisis it is the question of whether the government can defend the expulsion of the president. In fact it had good reasons for that move and they are worth Mrs. Clinton’s attention if she is interested in defending democracy.”

There’s the rub, if she’s interested.  It seems that the Obama administration has an aversion to democracy, once they get in office.  When polls in the U.S. show that 68% of the people believe a second stimulus is coming while 60% oppose a second stimulus, that tells you something about their feelings about democracy.  Their silence on Iran and their speaking out on Zalaya’s behalf, reinforces that belief.   The Obama administration’s goal is to get power, and do whatever they can as quickly as they can to consolidate it.  It seems like a page out of any tin pot dictator’s playbook.  Chavez could have written it himself.

Now the Obama administration has gone silent on the situation in Honduras.  Will they find their voice?  Will it be the voice of our Founding Fathers, or Che, Hugo, and Fidel?

$18 Million for This?

$18 million folks, that’s how much the federal government is going to spend to improve the web site that tells us how they are spending the stimulus money. $18 million. They will be spending $9.5 through January, and another $8.5 million through 2014.  I don’t need a calendar nor a calculator to figure out that’s five years from now.  Are they trying to tell us now that this recession is going to last five years?

Stagnant Stimulus

If we remember President Obama and Vice President Biden telling us how urgently we needed the stimulus package and that there was no time to waste to avert a catastrophe.  Right now the unemployment rate with the stimulus is higher than they told us it would be if they did NOTHING.

Less than 10% of the stimulus money has been spent with most of it being transfers to state and local government.  The economy is showing signs of turning around on its own, and I say that because with such a small percentage of the stimulus having been spent it contributed little to the improving conditions.  So naturally, the political class is starting to talk about another stimulus package.  You would almost think that they wanted to drag this out.

Reminiscent of Roosevelt

Through the Great Depression, the steps that Roosevelt took didn’t turn the economy around.  Unemployment remained high until World War II absorbed every able bodied man into the armed forces.  Yet Roosevelt was elected to four terms in office.  Why?  The first three terms were through the Depression.  Although Roosevelt’s policies didn’t work, he knew how to communicate on a personal level.  He held “fireside chats.”  He, through the radio, came into people’s living rooms and soothingly assured them that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.  Trust Roosevelt, he will take care of us, he will see us through.

President Obama’s personal approval ratings continue to fly high, even as the wreckage of almost every campaign promise is strewn around the countryside.  He is certainly likable and his election is historic, but will that be enough to carry him as his inexperience is laid bare at every turn.  But, as the former governor of New York and Secretary of the Navy, Roosevelt had executive experience.  Obama brought no executive experience with him.

Czars Aplenty

So who is running the government?  Obama had 16-18 Czars, depending on who is counting, who are not vetted by the Senate like Cabinet Secretaries and a host of other appointees are.  So where are the checks and balances?  Even Robert Byrd is concerned that the may be violating the Constitution.  If this weren’t so serious, you would think it was a pilot for a sitcom.  What aspect of this administration is not out of control?  Let’s hope we can all survive long enough to make it back to the voting booth.

Money for Nothing

The Commerce Department released the second revision to first quarter GDP and it is the second time it was revised upward.  Originally it was reported that GDP fell by 6.1%, not much different that the fourth quarter’s 6.3%.  Subsequently it was first revised to 5.7% and the last report pegs it at 5.5%.  So what does this mean?

The Economy Bottomed in 4Q08

These figures point to the economy hitting bottom in the fourth quarter of 2008, which means the economy was already on the mend before President Obama took office.  Since President Obama didn’t take the oath of office until 2/3 of the way through January, and rushing through the stimulus package that nobody read took until the mid-point of the first quarter,  the economy improved without any help from the new president.

Medicine or Poison?

With the massive government spending that the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress is heaping on us, the other economic data bears watching.  The inflation rate nearly doubled to 1.6% in the first quarter from 0.9% in the fourth quarter.  The unprecedented borrowing that the government is undertaking will drive up interest rates and inflation and may likely kill the recovery.  Again, since the Obama effect has not yet kicked in, we haven’t seen anything yet.

Today, the House of Representatives is poised to pass the most massive tax increase in history with Cap and Trade.  Energy costs will skyrocket so that global temperatures will be curtailed by 0.2 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years.  I’m feeling better already.

Money Down the Drain

$787 billion is being spent to stimulate an economy that is recovering on its own, spread pork across the land, and saddle us with unnecessary debt.  That works out to $2,300 for every man, woman, and child in America.  Add in health care at $1 trillion to $1.6 trillion ($4,700 per man, woman, and child), Cap and Trade that will double the cost of gasoline, heating your home, cooking your food, etc.  When will this stop?  If you still believe that no couples making under $250,000 will see any increases in their taxes, snap out of it! We do not have enough rich people in this country to cover the bill even if we tax them at 100%.

At the state level we are already seeing the mobility of the wealthy.  Maryland slapped a new tax on the rich and then discovered that 1/3 of the rich moved out of the state of Maryland.  So you say, “What are the rich going to do?  Move out of America?”  While you giggle over that one, ask your self this.  Why did the Beatles all move to America?  If you don’t know the answer to that one go read the lyrics to their song, The Taxman. It was to avoid the crushing tax burden in the U.K.  Don’t think that trend can’t reverse itself.

I’ll see you at the next Tea Party.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised that his administration would usher in a new era of open government.  One of those pledges included posting legislative bills on the Internet for five days before he would sign them so that the public could read them and comment.  Like so many of his other promises he is finding that putting it into action is

“…a tacit acknowledgment that the campaign pledge was easier to make than to fulfill…”

He also pledged to have no lobbyists in his administration until he found he would have no one in his administration.  He pledged to have open and honest government and then he fires an Inspector General who was looking too closely at a friend and campaign contributor.  It seems like half of his cabinet appointees had problems paying their taxes.

Is there a campaign pledge that he has actually kept, unmodified?