Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

• Obama Stimulus: Jobs Saved or Created in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist
  Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.
  There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

  And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.

  Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

  (tags: barack_obama economic_stimulus)
• Sarah Palin on Politics: President Obama 'Disingenous' on 'Death Panels'
  Sarah Palin may be mum about her presidential ambitions, but the former GOP vice presidential candidate is opening up about her campaign experiences and has some harsh words for President Obama.
  In an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, Palin, whose book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," lands on bookshelves Tuesday, said she would give the president a mere four for his job performance on a scale of one to 10.

  "There are a lot of decisions being made that I — and probably the majority of Americans — are not impressed with right now," said Palin, the former governor of Alaska. "I think our economy is not being put on the right track, because we're strayed too far from, fundamentally, from free enterprise principles that built our country. And I question, too, some of the dithering, and, hesitation, with some of our national security questions that have got to be answered for our country."

  (tags: sarah_palin barack_obama)
• Democrat NY Governor David Paterson Rips Obama White House For NYC 9/11 Trial
  Gov. David Paterson openly criticized the White House on Monday, saying he thought it was a terrible idea to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists to New York for trial.

  "This is not a decision that I would have made. I think terrorism isn't just attack, it's anxiety and I think you feel the anxiety and frustration of New Yorkers who took the bullet for the rest of the country," he said.

  Paterson's comments break with Democrats, who generally support the President's decision.

  (tags: david_paterson Khalid_Sheik_Mohammed 9/11)
• Doug Hoffman 'unconcedes' in N.Y.-23 House race – Vote Margin Narrows
  Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has "unconceded" in New York's special House election after reports that the vote margin between him and Rep. Bill Owens (D) has narrowed.

  Hoffman conceded the race on Election Night after learning he trailed Owens by 5,335 votes. But the Syracuse Post-Standard reported last week that the margin had shrunk to 3,026 votes after recanvassing.

  (tags: Doug_Hoffman)
• Twitter to overhaul user list seen as partisan – Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman Listed
  Social-networking site Twitter plans to end a service that links prominent message posters with new users, a service that was criticized in California because of perceived unfairness toward GOP gubernatorial candidates.

  Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said Monday the San Francisco-based company will overhaul its "suggested users" list, which links Twitter users with a pool of about 500 celebrities, sports figures and politicians they might want to follow.

  "That list will be going away," Stone said at a conference in Malaysia. "In its stead will be something that is more programmatically chosen, something that actually delivers more relevant suggestions."

  (tags: carly_fiorina Meg_Whitman)
• Chuck DeVore Trying Too Hard to Attack Fiorina’s Record – License With The Facts
  Nobody denies that Chuck DeVore is a hard-working candidate. His bid to replace Barbara Boxer as senator is centered on tirelessly driving up and down the state building grassroots support. But he’s also working hard—maybe too hard—at painting his primary opponent, former Hewlett Packard chief Carly Fiorina, as a liberal “Scozzafava” Republican. Being loose with her record simply to score cheap political points threatens to damage his credibility in the long term.

  It’s not that DeVore doesn’t have a case to make—he owns the more conservative resume—it’s that in his zeal to cast Fiorina as a moderate he takes artistic license with the facts.

  (tags: Chuck_DeVore carly_fiorina)

• Rudy Giuliani Statement on Brinnging Guantanamo Detainees to NY for Trial
  A statement from former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani concerning today's news that Guantanamo Bay detainees will face trial here in New York:

  Returning some of the Guantanamo detainees to New York City for trial, specifically Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, has now brought us full circle — we have regressed to a pre-9/11 mentality with respect to Islamic extremist terrorism. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed should be treated like the war criminal he is and tried in a military court. He is not just another murderer, or even a mass murderer. He murdered as part of a declared war against us — America.

  This is the same mistake we made with the 1993 terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center. We treated them like domestic criminals, when in fact they were terrorists. In the dangerous world we live in today, a nation unable to identify and properly define its enemies is a nation in danger.

  (tags: rudy_giuliani Guantanamo_Bay Khalid_Sheik_Mohammed)
• After spending binge, White House says it will focus on deficits
  President Barack Obama plans to announce in next year's State of the Union address that he wants to focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010 – and will downplay other new domestic spending beyond jobs programs, according to top aides involved in the planning.

  The president's plan, which the officials said was under discussion before this month’s Democratic election setbacks, represents both a practical and a political calculation by this White House.
  ++++++++
  Yeah, right!

  (tags: economic_stimulus barack_obama)
• Dem senator James Webb opposes trying terrorists in civilian courts
  Virginia Democratic Sen. James Webb has just released a statement disagreeing with the president's decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorists in civilian courts in the United States:

  I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the President to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism. However, I remain very concerned about the wisdom of doing so. Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor. It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts.
  ++++++
  Read all of Webb's statement

  (tags: James_Webb Khalid_Sheik_Mohammed)
• Can Sarah Palin Make a Comeback? – Her poll numbers among independents are strong enough to give her a chance
  I don't typically watch Oprah. But I won't miss Monday's interview with Sarah Palin. The appearance is supposed to be about Ms. Palin's new memoir, but a lot more will be riding on the encounter than book sales.

  After last year's brutal presidential campaign, Ms. Palin is now reintroducing herself to the American public. Nothing less than her future in American politics—and a possible run for the White House in 2012—hangs in the balance.

  Ms. Palin has two problems. The first is that she's become one of the most polarizing figures in the country. The second is that voters continue to worry about her qualifications for the presidency, a concern that her abrupt resignation from office last July intensified.
  +++++++
  Absolutely yes. Palin can make a comeback. It may take some time and 2012 may be too soon. But, watch out for 2016 and beyond.

• Obama's and Eric Holder's Hidden Agenda – "The Reckoning"
  Today's announcement that KSM and other top al-Qaeda terrorists will be transferred to Manhattan federal court for civilian trials neatly fits this hidden agenda. Nothing results in more disclosures of government intelligence than civilian trials. They are a banquet of information, not just at the discovery stage but in the trial process itself, where witnesses — intelligence sources — must expose themselves and their secrets.
  +++++++
  Read all of this piece
  (tags: barack_obama eric_holder Khalid_Sheik_Mohammed)
• Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to Be Sent to New York for Trial
  U.S. prosecutors plan criminal trials for five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and military tribunals for five others held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.
  Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-described mastermind of the attacks, and four others will be tried in New York federal court. Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday he expects to order prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the five cases.

  Five other detainees held at the prison, including Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, alleged to have planned the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, will be tried in revamped military commissions, the Justice Department announced.
  +++++++
  I mean how stupid is this? How many terrorist bomb threats will there now be in New York City as a result?

  Eric Holder, the Attorney General is as big a moron as he is a crook.

  (tags: eric_holder Khalid_Sheik_Mohammed)

Barbara Boxer campaigning for re-election to the United States Senate (I mean touring) still cannot get her facts straight.

Watch the video above.

Doesn’t Senator Boxer seem confused?

The facts she does NOT mention are:

As San Diego TV station KUSI reports, Senator Boxer was at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) yesterday to try to promote the stimulus’ effect on job growth. One big problem though – earlier this year, Boxer said the stimulus was needed to keep unemployment under 8% but “instead the opposite has happened” – California’s unemployment is now over 10% and the state “is still losing jobs.”

What’s more — digging past Boxer’s rhetoric yesterday, KUSI also reports that of the $45 million in stimulus money UCSD is scheduled to receive, only 15% is actually targeted to job growth and to date, only ONE job has been created and credited to the stimulus in San Diego. Probably not the type of local press coverage Boxer was expecting before scheduling this made-for-TV tour at UCSD.

Senator, don’t you know where the money is coming from?

Answer: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) NOT your beloved pork-laden Democrat PORKULUS.

The Obama Administration, including Senators like California’s Barbara Boxer have been defending the $757 billion economic stimulus bill (using borrowed money) even though it has NOT delivered new jobs like they promised. The fact is the economic stimulus has been as much a failure as Senator Boxer in passing legislation. Watch Carly Fiorina bag on her in the video above.

Time for Senator Boxer to go in 2010.

Now, the Carly Fiorina campaign is weighing into the FLAP.

From the press release:

Barbara Boxer misrepresented the facts about the number of San Diego jobs created by the federal stimulus.

• Boxer Touts Stimulus Jobs Actually Created Through NIH Grants. “The $787 billion stimulus package was rolled out as a jobs program to keep unemployment below 8%.  But the opposite has happened.  Unemployment is over 10% and we’re still losing jobs.  While touring the John Moores Cancer Center at UCSD, Sen. Boxer said federal dollars have launched fifty San Diego companies, creating more than 16,000 jobs. Launched with National Institute of Health grants, not stimulus dollars.” (KUSI News San Diego, 11/12/09)

• Highly Specialized Medical Doctor Reported To Be San Diego’s One Recipient Of A Job Provided By Federal Stimulus Funds. “The lion’s share of the $45 million coming to UCSD will go to research, a handful of technicians will be hired, so will a scientist, and [voice of Dr. Dennis Carson] ‘a Neurooncologist has been hired to help lead a program aimed at developing new therapies for brain tumors.’ That’s the first San Diego job created that we know of.” (KUSI News San Diego, 11/12/09)

• “The Failure Of The Stimulus Package, Boxer’s Record And Her Self-Importance Will Likely Be Issues In Her Re-Election Campaign.” (KUSI News San Diego, 11/12/09)

Nearly one year after Boxer claimed the stimulus would put “Californians to work now,” San Diego only has one job to show for
it.

• Lack Of San Diego Jobs Created By Stimulus Called “Amazing.” “ANCHOR: Just for clarity here, I want to make sure we
  all this right, that was the first job created in San Diego with the stimulus money, you said? REPORTER: That we know of. ANCHOR: That’s pretty amazing.” (KUSI News San Diego, 11/12/09)
  

• In February 2009, Boxer Said The Stimulus Would “Put Californians To Work Now.” “Senator Boxer said, ‘In the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the Congress has acted today to save or  create jobs in California and across the nation.  With so many Californians  anxious about the economy, this legislation offers help and hope.  This bill  will put Californians to work now building the highways, bridges, transit and  rail systems, and renewable energy sources of the 21st century.’” (Senator Barbara Boxer, “Boxer Praises Passage Of Economic Recovery Legislation,” Press Release, 2/13/09)
  
  
• Stimulus Plan Not Producing As Promised. “The  $787 billion stimulus plan is turning out to be far less stimulating than its
  architects expected. Back in early January, when Barack Obama was still  President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a  stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would  boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn’t quite  worked out that way.” (Time, 7/14/09)
  

• California’s Unemployment Rate Was An Abysmal 12.2% In  September. “In California, where  unemployment was 12.2% in September, the rate for October will be reported Nov.  20.” (Los  Angeles Times, 11/7/09)
  

• Nationwide Almost 16 Million Workers Now Have No Jobs. “Some 15.7 million workers now have no jobs, the  government said in releasing its monthly unemployment report, and an estimated 5  million more are working fewer hours and drawing smaller paychecks than they  were before the country fell into the worst recession in a generation.” (Los Angeles Times, 11/7/09)
  

• Worsening Jobs Numbers Are Actually Worse Than They Appear. “The jobless rate when Obama took office was 7.6%, and
  it was a mere 4.9% in December 2007, when the latest recession officially began.  Since then, the number of unemployed workers has increased by 8.2 million,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the government doesn’t count as
  officially unemployed the so-called discouraged workers who have given up  looking for jobs — and who numbered 808,000 last month, up from 484,000 a year  earlier. There also were 9.3 million people who reported that they were working  part time because their hours had been cut or they could not find full-time  jobs. If this group and discouraged workers are included, along with others on  the fringe of the labor market, the nation’s rate of unemployment plus  underemployment in October was 17.5%.”

Boxer continues to use the economic stimulus to keep her job while Californians continue to lose theirs.

• Boxer Was The Lead Defender Of Millions In Funding For Road Signs – Paid For By Stimulus Dollars – To Announce Where Stimulus Funds Are Being Spent. “They’re spending hundreds of  spend millions putting  up signs to highlight where the money is being spent. The road signs, which let  motorists know the paving and construction projects they see are being paid for by the $787 billion economic stimulus program, have popped up across the country. In a 52-45 vote, the Senate decided the signs should stay. Why on earth would you want to hide from the American people the fact that the recovery package we passed is putting people to work? asked Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat, who took the lead in defending the expenditure.” (The Washington Times, 9/17/09)
  

• A Bipartisan Group Of Boxer’s Colleagues Voted To Strip Funding For The Signs. “Five Democrats — Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Charles E. Schumer of New York — voted with all 40 Republicans to try to strip the money, but their support was not enough.  Mrs. Boxer called the effort ‘anti-jobs’ and said the signs are an example of government transparency.” (The Washington Times, 9/17/09)
  

• Boxer: People Who Didn’t Support Stimulus Are Frustrated That It’s Working. “It’s my sense that there’s a
  frustration by the people who voted ‘no’ on the economic recovery act, the stimulus bill, there’s a frustration that it’s working. They predicted gloom and doom, Mrs. Boxer said.” (The Washington Times, 9/17/09)

As I said before Barbara Boxer really has to go.