• Del.icio.us Links

    links for 2009-07-29

    • Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urged Americans on Wednesday to join a "collective fight against terrorism" that combines the efforts of individuals, companies and local, state and foreign governments.

      Answering critics who have accused the Obama administration of downplaying the risk of terrorist attacks, Napolitano said the threat has not abated and outlined an approach that emphasizes burden-sharing as federal spending and political support for post-Sept. 11 security measures wane.

      "I am sometimes asked if I think complacency is a threat. I believe the short answer is 'yes,' " Napolitano said, speaking to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York before visiting the World Trade Center site destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

      "But I think a better question is this: Has the U.S. government done everything it can to educate and engage the American people? The answer is 'no,' " she said.
      ++++++++
      I thought after Bush there was no more war on terror?

    • The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government's burgeoning budget deficit.
    • The so-called generic ballot question was also very close. Asked whether they would support a Democrat or a Republican for Congress in 2010 if the election were held today, 42 percent said they would choose a Democrat and 43 percent a Republican, a difference well within the poll's margin of error (plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for each number in each question).
    • Forty-four percent of Americans believe a new healthcare reform law would improve medical care in the U.S., contrasted with 26% who say it would improve their personal medical care. Forty-seven percent of Americans believe reform will expand access to healthcare in the U.S., while 21% say it will expand their own access to healthcare.
    • In recent months, former Bush speechwriter and NewMajority.com editor David Frum has taken on conservative talkers like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh — the latter who became the subject of a Newsweek cover story.

      And yesterday, Frum described talk show host Mark Levin's book, "Liberty and Tyranny," as "suffused with this message of doom" under the headline: "Stop Whining!"

      That didn't go over well with Levin, who blasted Frum on the air today as a "complete and utter fraud" and boasted about selling more copies of their latest books (900,000 to 5,000).

      "You sit there with that permanent smirk on your face and contribute nothing," Levin said.

    • The White House may only have one of its top officials to blame for its difficulty in passing healthcare, one liberal California Democrat asserted Tuesday.

      Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) blamed now-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's work as head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), during which he worked to recruit many centrist candidates, resulting in landslide Democratic victories, for difficulties facing House leaders trying to pass reform legislation.

      "That may be difficult for Rahm Emanuel, because remember, he recruited most of them," Waters said during an interview on MSNBC when asked if the White House could lean on centrist, Blue Dog Democrats to pass reform legislation.

      "Now the chickens have come home to roost," she added.

    • Facing the first real rough patch of his presidency, President Obama and his supporters are once again resorting to a tried-and-true tactic: attacking George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

      In his White House press conference last week, Mr. Obama referred to the Bush era at least nine times, three times lamenting that he "inherited" a $1.3 trillion debt that has set back his administration's efforts to fix the economy.

      With the former president lying low in Dallas, largely focused on crafting his memoirs, Mr. Obama has increasingly attempted to exploit Mr. Bush when discussing the weak economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the difficulty closing the military prison at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

      As he took power, Mr. Obama promised a "new era of responsibility" that would transcend partisan politics.

  • Obamacare,  Polling

    Obamacare: More Americans Disapprove of Obama’s Health Care Plan Than Approve of It

    ObamaCare

    In fact, 46 per cent disapprove of Obamacare while ONLY 41 per cent approve of it. 13 per cent are not sure.

    Those numbers aren’t too far off from what former President Bill Clinton faced when he made an unsuccessful attempt to overhaul health care in his first term.

    In July 1994, 52% disapproved of Clinton’s plan while 40% approved.

    And, my bet is that most Americans don’t fully understand Obama’s plan to nationalize or socialize the health care system – while he lies that his plan does no such thing.

    While there will be NO Congressional vote on Obamacare before the August recess, the original House Obamacare proposal may be DOA when the U.S. Senate reconvenes in the Fall.


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  • Democrats,  GOP,  Obamacare

    Obamacare: Democrat Infighting Intensifies

    ramrieztoon072809

    Political Cartoon by Michael Ramirez

    Well, the Democrats in Congress were all GIDDY when Al Franken became the 60th vote in the United States Senate.

    Now, what is the problem?

    A House fight among Democrats on overhauling the nation’s healthcare system has spread to the Senate, where centrists and liberals are clashing over the direction the legislation should take.

    Trouble is brewing now that a bipartisan group of senators — led by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) — has signaled it will exclude a government-run insurance option from the committee’s draft legislation that could be marked up next week.

    Leaving it out would be a major step toward attracting Republican support for President Barack Obama’s signature issue. But it also would alienate liberals, who say the effort is wasted without it and are preparing a barrage of amendments for the Finance markup.

    The House legislation has divided Democrats in that chamber along similar lines and is built around a public option to be paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, an idea that has almost no chance of winning GOP votes. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee this month voted along partisan lines to approve legislation with a public option at its core.

    Infighting among House Democrats has led to an impasse at the Energy and Commerce Committee that is expected to prevent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) from meeting her deadline of completing work before the August recess.

    And on Tuesday it prompted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to hint that more liberal members of the party should consider challenging centrist Blue Dogs in next year’s primaries.

    Well. some Democrats know that they will have to run on Obamacare in 2010 with NO political cover and that will be – RISKY.

    Remember self-preservation on being re-elected TRUMPS party loyalty every time.


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  • Barack Obama,  Hillary Clinton

    Hillary Clinton Staying Campaign Ready – Raising Campaign Cash

    hillary-campaign-sharp

    Why, of course, Hillary Clinton is ready.

    Hillary Clinton says running for office isn’t on her “radar,” but she still has an eight-person political team and sports two overflowing campaign war chests.

    Her team transformed the former Democratic White House contender’s massive campaign debts into a $3 million mountain of political cash, according to federal fund-raising records through the end of June.

    Clinton’s failed presidential bid is now $1 million in the black, and her old Senate campaign committee has $2.1 million in the bank, much of it transferred in from the presidential account.

    The former First Lady paid eight staffers nearly $100,000 in the second quarter of the year to tend to the remains of her political empire.

    She officially pulled out of the political arena in January when she became secretary of state. But Clinton’s campaign Web site continues to accept contributions.

    So much for Hillary’s Presidential campaign debts. Wonder how much Obama helped with those?

    But…..

    This is another check on the left-wing radicals behind President Obama. As Obama’s poll numbers fall due to an overreaching lefty agenda, Hillary will be there as a moderating influence – just like hubby, Bill.


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  • Barack Obama,  Day By Day

    Day By Day by Chris Muir July 29, 2009 – Capitalist Running Dogs Don’t Lie

    day by day 072909

    Day By Day by Chris Muir

    Same as with the national Republican Party versus the Democrats.

    I cannot help but think that Karl Rove and Newt Gingrich KNEW that Barack Obama and the left-wing controlled Congressional Democrats would overreach with a socialist agenda. GOP leaders also knew that there were over 50 Congressional Districts where conservatism reigns and the Demcrats essentially misrepresented themselves to be elected – ala Rahm Emanuel’s strategy in 2006.

    Since the Democrats do NOT have an unpopular President or corrupt Congressional leaders to bash anymore, voters will focus on their left-wing agenda and policies. This, in turn, will return the GOP to power.

    Sort of a capitalism vs. socialism electoral cycle, no?

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