Government $ Meltdown?

It takes a few days for news to cycle around, and it takes another day or two after that for people to catch-on to what the news means. This one is easy so I’ll give it to you straight between the eyes… WE ARE BROKE!

It’s time for Congress to consider one more piece of legislation. This is the bill I want to see passed immediately after our representatives get back from the August recess. I don’t care what we call the bill so long as it has this in it “Until further notice, or until the mid-term elections are over, whichever comes first, Congress will NOT consider any legislation that has the approval of president Obama and/or his Democrat lap Dogs. We do this in an effort to not spend any more of the citizens hard earned money for at least 1.5 years.”

Then they can go home and wait it out until the 2010 elections.

Gio-

Meltdown 101: Huge budget deficits expected

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER (AP) – 2 hours ago 

WASHINGTON — Get ready to hear a lot of huge numbers Tuesday: The Obama administration is expected to boost its estimate of the federal deficit over the next decade by $2 trillion, a move likely to trigger political wrangling over who’s to blame and how harmful all the red ink will be.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget is expected to forecast $9 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years, up from a $7 trillion estimate earlier this year, according to White House officials who spoke last week on the condition of anonymity. The increase is largely due to lower-than-expected tax revenues as a result of the recession.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office will issue its own deficit forecasts Tuesday. The CBO estimated in March that the deficit for 2010-19 would total $9.1 trillion.

Here are some questions and answers about all the numbers.

Q: Why do the agencies’ estimates differ?

A: Both the White House and Congress have their own budget agencies to analyze tax and spending trends, and both agencies are required to issue regular budget updates.

The OMB’s 10-year estimate was smaller than the CBO’s earlier this year because its economic assumptions were more optimistic. The White House projected that the economy would shrink by only 1.2 percent in 2009 and grow at a healthy pace in 2010 and beyond.

The CBO, meanwhile, projected that the economy would contract at a 2.2 percent annual rate this year. That seems closer to the mark, as the economy shrank at a 6.4 percent clip in the first quarter and a 1 percent annual rate in the second quarter.

Many economists criticized the administration’s forecasts earlier this year for being too bullish. Some Republican critics contend that’s still the case.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director, wrote in a memo Monday to the House Republican leadership that the administration is overestimating the amount of revenue it will receive and underestimating spending. For example, the White House is including $640 billion from a program to restrict greenhouse gas emissions that Holtz-Eakin says won’t pan out.

Some private economists, though, have become more optimistic recently. Many are forecasting growth between 2 percent and 3 percent in the second half of this year.

Q: Does that mean the CBO is more reliable?

A: In general, the CBO is seen as the more independent of the two agencies, said Gary Burtless, an economist and budget expert at the Brookings Institution.

While both answer to politicians — the OMB director is appointed by the president, the CBO director by the leaders of whichever party controls Congress — “people tend to think (the CBO) doesn’t bend to the political winds of (its) masters” as much as the OMB, he said.

Still, both can be “wildly inaccurate” because 10-year forecasts are “at best guesswork,” said Stan Collender, a partner at Qorvis Communications and former congressional budget official.

Collender notes that there will be five congressional elections over the next 10 years and any number of foreign and domestic challenges that will make the actual deficit figures very different from the estimates.

Q: Still — $9 trillion! Isn’t this going to harm the economy?

A: Most economists are concerned about the government’s budget gap, but many consider it a longer-term problem to be addressed in the next couple of years. Getting the economy to grow again is a more pressing issue, they say, and increasing taxes or cutting spending could interfere with that goal.

Taking steps to reduce the deficit now “makes no sense,” Collender said. “The right time to do it is when you have unambiguous evidence that the economy is recovering and the recovery will be strong.”

Once that is apparent, “we really will have to change government (budget) policy,” Burtless said. Otherwise, the sea of red ink could soak up so much capital that it would raise interest rates for businesses that want to borrow and expand.

Q: How did it get this large?

A: Like an overextended shopper, the government is spending more while receiving less revenue. According to the CBO, government spending is up 21 percent in the first 10 months of the budget year that ends Oct. 1, compared to the same period last year, while revenue is down 17 percent.

The OMB is expected to say Tuesday that the deficit for 2009 will come in at $1.58 trillion, a record, though down from an earlier estimate of $1.84 trillion. That’s because the administration no longer expects to spend an extra $250 billion it had earlier set aside to help banks.

Much of the additional spending is from the $700 billion bank bailout enacted last October and the Obama administration’s $787 billion stimulus package.

The temporary nature of those programs could make the deficit easier to reduce, according to both Collender and Burtless. They note the stimulus package will end in 2010, and other spending should drop once the economy improves.

For example, the government will spend more than $100 billion on unemployment compensation this year, more than two and a half times the amount spent last year. That should automatically decline in a recovery, without Congress having to make any changes, Burtless said.

Associated Press Writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Democrats May Get Wee-Wee’d

Democrats Brace for Tough Congressional Races in 2010

It’s no secret that mid-term elections are generally unfavorable to the party in control of the White House. But some say the public backlash to Democrats’ health care reform plans, along with growing discontent over job losses and the way stimulus money is being spent, prove Democrats have substantial challenges ahead in 2010. 

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is taking a cautious view of the 2010 mid-term elections, but analysts predict the GOP will score big next year. 

It’s no secret that mid-term elections are generally unfavorable to the party in control of the White House. But some say the public backlash to Democrats’ health care reform plans, along with growing discontent over job losses and the way stimulus money is being spent, prove Democrats have substantial challenges ahead in 2010. 

“Right now I wouldn’t be surprised if Democrats lost anywhere from 15 to 25 seats in the House,” said David Wasserman, an editor with the Cook Political Report. 

But Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has been preparing for a tough fight in 2010 and urging his party colleagues to do the same. 

“Way back in January, we made it clear to our members on the Democratic side — get ready, fasten your seat belts, because this is going to be a tough cycle,” he said. “And the good news for us is they’ve been preparing from day one.” 

But Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested Democrats have dug their own holes. 

“It’s a combination of the work they’ve done and where they’re going,” he said. “But it’s also about arrogance — the arrogance of not listening to constituents.” 

New polling shows Democrats are failing to connect with a key group of voters. According to a recent Gallup Poll, a whopping 70 percent of independents now disapprove of how the Democrat-controlled Congress is doing its job, while just 22 percent say they approve. The poll of 1,010 adults was taken Aug. 6-9 and had a 4-point margin of error. 

The numbers raise questions about whether the party that rallied supporters to the polls in the last two congressional elections is losing its luster now that its members are in control. 

“Democrats were great at selling this broad message of change in 2008, and now they’re having trouble selling the specifics because they can’t seem to agree on them,” Wasserman said. 

Even if Democrats win enough seats to maintain control of both chambers in Congress, there is still a downside for the party. Unlike Bill Clinton in 1996, President Obama would not have a Republican Congress to blame in 2012 should his ambitious initiatives stall. 

FOX News’ Shannon Bream contributed to this report. 

——————————————————————-

Ms. Pelosi sure knows how to piss-off the citizens of this great country of ours. Check out the letter below…

Pelosi_L[1]

ObamaCare, The Musical!

Make sure you crank up the volume, then sing along!

~Eowyn

Do You Wanna be a Community Organizer?

I received the following from my Meetup “tea party” group.

Obama’s grassroots movement, the 13 million-member strong Organizing For America, is inviting people to a 2-day community organizer training in southern California.

What say we inundate this website http://ca.barackobama.com/CampOFACA with requests to sign us up for training?

It’d be way cool if one of us, who lives in southern California, can sign up and attend the training, then report back to Giovanni’s World — with photos!

~Eowyn

………….

You’re invited to join Organizing for America as we help train California’s next generation of community organizers.

Passing the President’s bold agenda for change on major issues like health care and education reform will require the same kind of grassroots support that helped us win the election. Camp OFA Community Organizer Training is specially designed to give you the skills you need to help build that support in your area. This is the perfect chance to take your local efforts to the next level and make a huge difference.

Camp OFA Community Organizer Training will be taking place all day Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th. Please note, participants must be able to attend both days.

Please register right now to reserve your spot in Camp OFA Community Organizer Training:

http://ca.barackobama.com/CampOFACA

Here are the details:

What: Camp OFA Southern California – San Fernando
When: Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th

—-OR—-

What: Camp OFA Northern California – Stockton
When: Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th

RSVP here:

http://ca.barackobama.com/CampOFACA

I hope you can make it,

Mary Jane

Mary Jane Stevenson
California State Director
Organizing for America

P.S. — We’re planning Camp OFA trainings throughout the state. Click below to let us know if you’re interested in a future training:

http://ca.barackobama.com/CACampOFAUpcoming

———————————————————————
Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee — 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

End of a Love Affair

Remember “journalist” Chris Matthews’ orgasmic exultation during the ’08 campaign that he had “thrills going up his leg” from listening to Obama?

Well, like all steamy romances, the infatuation between WeeWee Obama and the Mainstream Media seems to have cooled. LOL

H/t enterprising GiovanniWorld member Steve!

~Eowyn

…………

The thrill is gone for Obama and the media

By Chris Stirewalt – August 24, 2009 – http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/The-thrill-is-gone-for-Obama-and-the-media_08_24-54389032.html

There’s nothing like a summer vacation to rekindle a romance. So maybe a week on Martha’s Vineyard can bring back some of the magic between the Obama administration and the media.

Before White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left town, he tried to clarify President Barack Obama’s comment that “everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up.” Gibbs explained to reporters that what the president meant was that they were a bunch of bed wetters who made too much out of the implosion of the White House health care strategy.

Gibbs has grown more sardonic and patronizing as the summer wears on and Obama’s poll numbers wilt.

The press secretary has lectured reporters on the nature of their jobs — apparently to defend the administration against “misinformation” rather than asking impertinent questions like “How will you pay for it?”

When asked recently about the administration’s endless evasions on the public option, Gibbs instead opted to define a monopoly.
“If you had one place to eat lunch before you came to the briefing, do you think it would be cheap?” Gibbs demanded of CNN’s Ed Henry.

Henry should have asked Gibbs to define monopsony: a market in which one buyer is so large that it can control suppliers and ruin competitors. Henry could then explain he’d rather pay too much for the sandwich he wanted than have to eat at a government chow line opened across the street to encourage “competition.”

Gibbs is so crabby because, incredibly, the administration blames the media for the president’s problems.

It tried blaming Republicans, but the GOP is too far out of power. When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems.

Team Obama tried blaming special interests, but that was a bust too. The president’s deal with the pharmaceutical industry gets him $150 million worth of ads to boost his plan, whatever it is.

The same people who bombard us with ads for products that promise to prevent hardened arteries or encourage hardening elsewhere will soon be selling you Obamacare.

“If you experience doubts about the plan lasting more than four hours, seek immediate help from Organizing for America.”

Democrats tried blaming the “mobs” of “un-American” protesters and “evil mongers” who were giving raspberries to members of Congress at town halls.

That flopped too, leaving the administration to blame the messenger.

And one can understand why Gibbs would be a bit shocked by the slightly less accommodating tone of the media.

Reporters who traveled with the Obama campaign tell horror stories about the organization — dishonesty, rudeness and abysmal access. But those reporters still served up the glowing coverage.

Obama was the hottest news story of their generation. Rather than covering the long-shot freshman senator who would be crushed in February, Obama campaign reporters experienced the reflected glory of being along for a historic journey. There was plenty of motivation to keep that journey going.

Conversely, Obama making a hash out of health care provides plenty of good copy for the White House press corps. And because Obama fatigue has set in with the reading and viewing public, skeptical stories match the national mood.

Some are still in the tank for Obama. But many liberal reporters think the president is blowing the Left’s big chance.

In talking about how everything got so “wee-weed up,” Obama observed that in August of 2008 the media predicted doom because John McCain began to close the gap after picking Sarah Palin.

In trying to explain that the president was talking about media incontinence, Gibbs referred to August and September of 2007, when most predicted Hillary Clinton would roll to victory in Iowa.

So not only are Obama and his people still reliving the campaign, they’re drawing the wrong lessons from it.

At this point in 2007, Obama was coming up in the polls, making Iowa a three-way race with Clinton and John Edwards. Now, the president’s numbers are sinking.

And if the trend line in the late summer of 2008 had held, Obama would have lost. It took a tsunami of bad economic news and the McCain campaign’s mishandling of it to put Obama back on top.

But there is no opponent here other than public opinion and no finish line other than the end of his term.

With only the steady breeze of favorable coverage of a typical Democratic president instead of the gale of positive press that once helped drive Obama to victory, it’s going to be a very long journey.

S. S. Obama Sinking

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 40% of the nation’s voters Strongly Disapprove of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President, vs. 28% who Strongly Approve, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -12.

Today’s Approval Index rating reflects a slight improvement from yesterday’s record low of -14. Today is Obama’s third straight day with an Approval Index rating in negative double digits. He has never had four straight days with such low ratings.

The Presidential Approval Index is calculated by subtracting the number who Strongly Disapprove from the number who Strongly Approve.

Meanwhile, the re-election of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is in big trouble. Reid is trailing a GOP challenger, former basketball player Danny Tarkanian, by double digits (Reid’s 38% vs. Tarkanian’s 49%). Reid also trails another challenger, chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party Sue Lowden, by 5 points (Reid’s 40% vs. Lowden’s 45%).

For more on this story, go HERE.

~Eowyn

The Glenn Beck Wars

Liberals are loving every minute of this, but it’s all for naught. They rallied their troops and got people to call or write to any advertisers on the Glenn Beck program, so the companies pulling their ads are in direct response to these libs. Some however, figured out after the fact that they wasted their time because the advertisers did not pull their ads from Fox News just Glenn’s show.

Besides, this won’t amount to a hill of beans. The Glenn Beck program has ratings through the roof and Fox News is not run by a bunch of dummies. They didn’t get to be where they are by playing favorites. Glenn comes back from his vacation tomorrow and he’s promised an incredible week of stories. Let’s show how much support he has by making sure everyone tunes in the entire week. His ratings will be the deciding factor if he stays or if he goes, so let’s make sure he stays!

Go to DefendGlenn.com and see what you can do to tell these advertisers that you may boycott them for pulling their ads. This needs to be done because there are two sides to this story, the left, and the RIGHT one!

Gio-

 

Political Talk Shows Talk Themselves Out of Ads

Cable TV Genre Draws Viewers, but Advertisers Skittish; Clorox Pulls Out

by Brian Steinberg
Published: August 24, 2009

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Could Glenn Beck be killing off an entire cable genre?

After the recent controversy over the cable talker, marketers seem to be considering pulling ads from the politically oriented cable news shows that have helped NBC Universal’s MSNBC and News Corp.’s Fox News Channel thrive in the ratings — no matter what their political leanings.

Walmart Stores, Berkshire Hathaway’s Geico and Men’s Wearhouse have already said they’ve taken steps to ensure their ads will no longer appear during Fox News’ “Glenn Beck” show. Procter & Gamble and S.C. Johnson recently said they had never intended to advertise on the show and ads were placed there by mistake. Now Clorox Co. has said it is taking its ad dollars out of all politically oriented talk programs.

“Clorox holds true to our advertising standards and we hold true to our nation’s heritage of free expression of political opinions. However, consistent with our standards, we do not want to be associated with inflammatory speech used by either liberal or conservative talk-show hosts,” the company said in a statement. “After a comprehensive review of political talk shows across the spectrum, at this time we have made a decision not to advertise on them. Clorox has done very little advertising on political talk shows overall, and given the sometimes inflammatory nature of these shows, we feel our advertising investment is best directed elsewhere.”

A website called DefendGlenn.com, which supports Mr. Beck, had previously posted a similar letter from Clorox.

Revenue-neutral
A Fox News spokesperson said advertisers “have all moved their spots from Beck to other programs on the network, so there has been no revenue lost.” An MSNBC spokesperson said Clorox hasn’t pulled any advertising and has not contacted the network regarding removing any ads from political talk shows. At Time Warner’s CNN, “no advertiser has requested to withdraw any dollars from CNN, and we have not seen any loss of revenue,” said a spokesperson.

A decision to end support of a political program is particularly thorny. It’s one thing to yank money from a really noxious reality program or a drama that features brief nudity. With every political gabfest tilted toward a particular set of beliefs and values, however, an advertiser looking to reach the broadest possible audience could find it difficult to suspend support of a right-leaning pulpit without also cutting ad dollars to a left-leaning one, or vice versa.

“I’ll bet [networks] are going to have to dial it down for all of them. [MSNBC's 'Countdown With Keith] Olbermann’ will have to drum it down, and Fox is going to have to drum it down,” said Ira Berger, director-network broadcasting at independent agency Richards Group. The question the cable-news networks will face should more marketers pull out, he said, is whether they are “about the cause or about the money. We’ll find out. Stay tuned.”

But those expecting a quieter, more-civil discourse on cable shouldn’t get their hopes up. It’s not clear that any one marketer’s decision to cut ad support would force the extremely radical move of making a host change his or her tone, or of taking that person off the air.

As Clorox itself noted, it’s a small advertiser in the genre. According to TNS Media Intelligence, the company in 2008 spent about $231,800 on CNN, about $568,300 on Fox News and about $466,800 on MSNBC.

And it certainly doesn’t make the ranks of the top 50 advertisers on cable news, which was dominated in the first half of 2009 by Nutrisystem, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble Co., Delaware Co., Scooter Store and the AARP, according to TNS.

Added complexity
Any marketer’s unwillingness to appear during shows featuring popular hosts such as Mr. Beck, Mr. Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly would certainly make the traditional marketer-to-media relationship more complex. These hosts form the bulk of MSNBC’s and Fox News’ prime-time lineups. Ending support of their shows would confine a particular advertiser’s commercials primarily to daytime news programming, where ratings are lower and commercials are sometimes purchased in an arrangement known as “run of schedule,” which means they can run at any point during a block of several hours.

Of course, one could make the argument that daytime blocks on the cable-news outlets bring in viewers from many backgrounds, not just viewers of a specific political stripe.

Should other major marketers follow Clorox’s lead, however, a shift isn’t inconceivable.

There is precedent. In spring 2007, advertisers including General Motors, American Express and Staples decided to bar their ads from appearing during MSNBC’s now-defunct morning simulcast of popular radio host Don Imus’ program. At the time, Procter & Gamble and GlaxoSmithKline pulled their advertising from the network’s daytime schedule because the host had made racist remarks about the women’s basketball team at Rutgers University. Not too long afterward, NBC Universal canceled the simulcast of the program.

A deciding factor in any advertiser’s stance toward the hot-potato political genre could be how long the issue of advertising on any of these programs remains part of the broader public debate. Typically, decisions to suspend advertising are made to protect advertisers “in the short term,” said Steve Kalb, senior VP-director of broadcast media at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Mullen. P&G, for one, declined to comment regarding advertising plans for other political talk shows on Fox News or elsewhere. TV networks will “have to ride it out,” Mr. Kalb said. “Whether they reconfigure the lineup or make the programs more accountable, that remains to be seen.”

~ ~ ~
Jack Neff and Andrew Hampp contributed to this report.

Democrat Shoots To Kill

Ain’t it grand how the Mainstream Media loves to leave out the persons party affiliation when it might look bad for the Dems, but never hesitates to let you know if they are a Republican. 

Another way of looking at this is… Don’t break into homes in NC, it could be your last. Especially if it’s mine!

Gio-

Sheriff: Sen. Soles shoots intruder at his home

August 23, 2009 By The Associated Press  

TABOR CITY, N.C. (AP) — A sheriff says North Carolina‘s longest serving lawmaker has shot an intruder at his Tabor City home.

Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten tells The Star-News of Wilmington that 74-year-old state Sen. R.C. Soles shot one of two people who kicked in the front door Sunday.

Batten says the intruder was taken to a hospital, though he did not know the extent of his injuries.

The sheriff’s office referred a call from The Associated Press to the State Bureau of Investigation.

The SBI is investigating a claim by a man that the senator tried to fondle him more than a decade ago. The accuser later said he made up the claim. Soles has not been charged and denies the accusation.

A call to an SBI spokeswoman was not immediately returned. Two calls to a number listed for Soles’ Tabor City home went unanswered.

A Marine Defends The Constitution

If someone else has posted this video I apologize ahead of time. A big Giovanni’s World h/t goes out to Deborah for turning me on to this video.

God bless our veterans!

Obama’s Revolution

A great piece posted at Muddling Toward Maturity .

Gio-

ANDY McCARTHY: “OBAMA’S PURPOSE IS REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE IN AMERICAN SOCIETY”

Andrew C. McCarthy hits it out of the park once again.  (I wrote about his insights a few days ago as well).  Today, in a National Review Online article, McCarthy notes that Obama is no ordinary politician. 

. . . These last seven months ought to tell us that the usual political rules don’t apply when predicting this president’s behavior. His purpose is revolutionary change in an American society he grew up understanding to be fundamentally unjust, racist, materialist, imperialist, and the agent of global misery. He is in Washington to transform the nation from the top down. Nationalized health care is key for him. If he gets it, sovereignty shifts from the citizen to the state. By law, government will be empowered to manage minute details of our lives. Over time — when, as the “American Thinker’s” Joseph Ashby observes, a “1,000-page health-care law explodes into many thousands of pages of regulatory codes” — that is precisely what government will do.And Congress may still give him his wish.

Things may appear to be going well at the moment for opponents of Obamacare, but the stubborn fact remains that only one thing can stop this monstrosity: wavering congressional Democrats’ discovery that they have more to fear from their districts than

from their leadership and the White House. The ardor of public opposition will determine whether this battle is won or lost.

As for “death panels,” McCarthy says:

In the Wall Street Journal, former Bush White House official Jim Towey alerts us that, at the Veterans Administration, Obama has reinstated a 52-page “end of life planning document” authored by a medical ethicist who has advocated doctor-assisted suicide in a Supreme Court brief. This Orwellian “Your Life, Your Choices” questionnaire, in the familiar “push poll” manner, methodically steers the patient toward the notion that he is a malingering near-vegetable causing a “severe emotional burden” for his family. I don’t know what the correct, non-hysterical term for such a process is, but “Grim Government Reaper” strikes me as more accurate than “Your Life, Your Choices.”

Me: The stakes are high.  The future of this nation will be determined this year, maybe next month.  We can be grateful ordinary citizens have awakened, but Obama, as McCarthy warns, is a committed man.  This is no time to relax.  This man must be defeated.

Friday, 21 August 2009 in Obama reign | Permalink

 

Obama is not a normal politician. He’s a visionary, and using health care to radically expand the scope of government happens to be central to his vision. For my money (if I have any left), achieving it is more important to him than is getting reelected. . .

Obama Deficits “Unsustainable”

As of 3:25 pm, West coast time today, August 23, 2009, our country’s outstanding public (i.e. government) debt is $11,743,665,070,729.00. Each U.S. citizen’s share of this debt is $38,243.45.

~Eowyn

………….

New deficit projections pose risks to Obama’s agenda

By Jeff Mason – Aug 23, 2009 – http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE57M0WV20090823?sp=true

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s domestic policy proposals will face the reality of skyrocketing deficits on Tuesday when officials release two government reports projecting huge budget shortfalls over the next decade.

The White House budget office and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan arm of Congress, release updated economic forecasts and deficit estimates on Tuesday, providing further fiscal fodder to opponents of Obama’s nearly $1 trillion healthcare overhaul plan.

Many of the figures are already known.

The White House has confirmed that its deficit estimate for the 2009 fiscal year, which ends September 30, will inch down to $1.58 trillion from $1.84 trillion after eliminating billions of dollars originally set aside for bank rescues.

Looking forward, an administration official told Reuters the 10-year budget deficit projection will jump by about $2 trillion to roughly $9 trillion from an original forecast of $7.1 trillion.

“One message the numbers will send is that the medium- and long-term deficits need to be addressed,” said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an analysis and research organization.

Obama has promised to do that. The president, a Democrat, says he will cut the deficit in half by the end of his four-year term, and he sees lowering healthcare costs as a key ingredient toward achieving long-term deficit reduction.

But Republicans charge that his proposals to extend coverage to uninsured Americans and create competition for private insurance providers are too expensive, especially as deficits go up.

UNSUSTAINABLE TRAJECTORY

“We’re still on a long-run trajectory that’s not sustainable,” said Rudolph Penner, a fellow at the Urban Institute and former CBO director from 1983-1987.

“In an ideal world they would be doing a lot more to get health costs under control and, in my view, we wouldn’t be talking about expanding coverage right now,” said Penner, who describes himself as a moderate Republican.

The CBO had previously forecast that deficits between 2010 and 2019 would total $9.1 trillion, generating heat for the White House, which stuck to its original $7.1 trillion forecast earlier this year. The new number will bring White House projections into line with the CBO, the official said.

In line or not, the political challenges of the updated deficit projections are numerous. With Congressional elections looming next year, Obama will need to show he is serious about cutting costs in order to neutralize an otherwise politically radioactive issue for both political parties.

Many economists think it is unlikely that the government can curtail spending, which means taxes would have to rise to cover the increasing costs of providing retirement benefits and healthcare to older people. That could slow economic growth.

Stanford University economics professor John Taylor, an influential economist, told Reuters Television on Friday the U.S. budget deficit poses a greater risk to the financial system than the collapse in commercial real estate prices.

“If that gets out of control, if interest rates start to rise because people are reluctant to buy all that debt, then that can slow the economy down. So, that’s the more systemic concern I have,” Taylor said.

Conservative Blogs Are Effective!

The Peasants Are Revolting

by Dan Gainor - August 21, 2009 – http://townhall.com/columnists/DanGainor/2009/08/21/the_peasants_are_revolting

Count de Monet: “It is said that the people are revolting.”
King Louis XVI: “You said it. They stink on ice.”

– “History of the World: Part I”

Out of the mouths of babes … and B-movie comedies come our words of wisdom. The people are indeed revolting. It makes sense. Americans have found their politicians revolting for decades. Now the tables are turned.

Politicians don’t just find citizens revolting. They actually fear their constituents. Liberal congressmen and senators are avoiding their voters out of a sense of impending doom. Fears of angry town hallers were fanned by MSNBC hosts like Rachel Maddow, but are overblown. If you want to find protest, look for conservatives. If you want violence, look for the union label.

Ordinary voters have been angry since the early 1990s and maybe as far back as the 1970s – often at one or even both political parties. Call it a mixture of populism, distrust in government and economic anxiety. All three are present today.

In the post-Vietnam/post-Watergate era, Jimmy Carter’s one-term disaster of a presidency brought Americans a second oil crisis, the Iranian hostage crisis and stratospheric interest rates. That anger subsided a bit during the Reagan presidency even as unemployment hit 10.8 percent before dropping and crack and AIDS terrified ordinary citizens. The first George Bush followed and lost the 1992 election after breaking a promise not to raise taxes. He excelled internationally but was perceived as ignoring economic problems at home. “It’s the economy stupid,” lives in infamy.

The Clinton years weren’t especially free of unrest either. The anti-government tide brought wacky businessman/reformer Ross Perot 20 million votes in 1992 and another 8 million in 1996. Those disaffected millions denied Clinton a majority in either victory. They also swept in Republicans in ’94. More and more voters demanded term limits on their elected officials, but were disappointed.

Ultimately, each of those problems – large and small – died down. None had the power to be self-sustaining. As soon as the media sensed the public was losing interest, those topics disappeared from the news just like Iran did this summer. The issues disappeared; the unrest did not.

The Bush years were something completely different. Out of power and angry over the war, the left latched onto new technology as a way to bash the GOP and rise to power.

It worked better than they could have ever envisioned. Bush was unprepared to fight both the mainstream media and the new alternative media at the same time. Crazy conspiracy theories, rumors and protests grew in cyberspace unchecked by the White House and often unremarked by the media.

In a few short years, that new technology helped undermine Bush and set in motion the Democratic revival seen in the last two elections.

Only now, Democratic politicians and their supporters have discovered new technology is a double-edged sword. Conservatives copied their opponents, and made serious in-roads into the Internet, social media, online petitions and lots more.

In just six months of the Obama presidency, those conservatives have altered the national agenda. After losing on the stimulus vote, they have been much more successful on health care. They know it, too. Hundreds of bloggers, think tankers and activists gathered in Pittsburgh last week for the Right Online Conference to hear one key message: “We’re catching up.”

Even the left would have to acknowledge that’s true. They saw the tea party rebellion dominate the early part of Obama’s presidency. More recently, conservative anger over health care has made once-friendly town hall meetings enemy territory.

Across town, at the liberal Netroots Nation convention, their activists were hearing the Democrats could lose 20 to 50 House seats in the next election. That bleak assessment came from Charlie Cook of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and pollster Nate Silver.

It’s a world turned upside down. Obama, the man of seven Time magazine covers since his election, is still adored by the mainstream media. Though hard-core lefties think he’s not radical enough, they still back him. The only difference is how conservatives have fought back. If Gallup polls are accurate, the movement is again on the rise – outnumbering liberals in every state.

In just six months, through Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube, conservatives have organized an effective opposition to team Obama. Ordinary bloggers have highlighted administration tax cheats, caught Obama and Biden errors and been a thorn in the president’s side. His once-high-powered tech team has struggled to make sense of it. And they’ve missed the big story.

The new tools enable voters of both sides to speak out and organize more easily. Whichever side is in power will discover that opposition can form even when the media ignore an issue.

The Internet revolution is inflaming political activists and politics may never recover. It’s less messy than the guillotine, but the tech rebellion is severing ties with old media just as cleanly.

Obama’s Organizing For America

A proud member of the No-Obama grassroots movement!

Here’s a peek into how our political enemy operates — Obama’s 13-million strong grassroots movement, Organizing For America.

~Eowyn

…………

Grass-Roots Battle Tests The Obama Movement

His supporters play catch-up on reform

By Eli Saslow – August 23, 2009 – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082202343.html?nav=hcmodule

RACINE, Wis. — The last three years had unfolded in an unrelenting series of what Jeremy Bird called Big Moments, and here began the latest on a sweltering afternoon earlier this month. Another rental car, another unfamiliar highway, another string of e-mails sent from his BlackBerry while driving 70 mph. Bird took a sip from his coffee and looked over at Dan Grandone, a co-worker riding in the passenger seat.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m running on adrenaline right now,” Bird said. “I love this feeling that we’re on the verge of something crucial.”

Bird had lived at that precipice ever since joining Barack Obama’s campaign as a top organizer in 2007, but rarely had he faced a challenge so daunting as the one awaiting in Racine. As deputy director of Organizing for America, a national network of Obama supporters, Bird was scheduled to speak with a group of volunteers who had been threatened at town halls, outshouted at local rallies and weakened by a general sense of post-campaign fatigue. With one 90-minute visit, Bird hoped to leave them confident, empowered and reenergized.

“We want these people to feel like they can control almost anything that happens in government,” said Bird, who had traveled from his office at Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington to spend two days visiting volunteers across Wisconsin. “They should feel like there’s no barrier between the regular people out in the states and the power players in D.C.”

The outcome of the health-care debate weighed partially on Bird’s success, and on the effectiveness of Organizing for America (OFA) in general. When Bird was named deputy director of OFA last year, he became the vanguard of much more than 13 million e-mail addresses collected from supporters during Obama’s campaign. He became one of the people most responsible for validating Obama’s campaign ethos: that grass-roots support can power government and shape legislation.

It is a theory that now faces a defining test. Conservatives have waged an angry and effective battle against Obama’s health-care legislation, and OFA has responded by asking its volunteers to visit congressional offices and flood town hall meetings in a massive show of support. This month, Obama sent an e-mail to OFA members: “This is the moment our movement was built for,” he wrote.

When Bird arrived at a Racine coffee shop called Cup of Hope and sat down with 10 OFA volunteers, he spoke with similar urgency.

“We need to flex our muscles on this, and we need to act fast,” he said. “We always said in the campaign that this was not just about one election but about a chance to make some major changes. Well, here’s the chance.”

Bird had a lifetime of experience thriving against long odds, and he relished the role. The son of conservative Baptists, Bird grew up in a Missouri trailer park before attending Harvard Divinity School. He organized underfunded schools in Boston, worked for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in 2004 and started a company that lobbied Wal-Mart — his mother’s former employer — to improve its benefits and wages. On behalf of Obama, he had moved to five states, helping the candidate overcome racism in South Carolina and Islamophobia in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

When Bird arrived in Wisconsin last week, he recognized all the familiar hallmarks of an underdog fight. Gone were the 44 field offices across the state where Obama organizers had worked during the campaign; now Bird spent his visit searching for power outlets in Wisconsin coffee shops and conducting conference calls at sidewalk cafes. Gone were the 100 paid staffers who orchestrated an Obama victory in the state; now OFA employed one person in Wisconsin, Grandone, who hoped to hire two or three assistants if the budget allowed.

“Right now,” Grandone said, “we are kind of building this thing as we fly it.”

Around the table in Racine, Bird listened as the volunteers rattled off evidence of OFA’s growing pains. Local membership was relatively stagnant because Racine residents were exhausted after volunteering during the long presidential campaign. Newspapers had focused their coverage of health-care town halls on the most vocal conservatives, even when the crowd contained more Democrats. One OFA member said he was now the target of repeated threats. “I’ve had a guy say to me, ‘Why should I be afraid of a liberal when I have a .357?’ ” said Ryan Gleason, 32.

“It’s starting to feel like we’re always on the defensive,” Gleason said.

Bird responded by citing data aimed at demonstrating OFA’s impact. Since the organization sent an e-mail to its members asking for help on health care in May, more than 1.3 million have visited a phone bank, shared their personal health-care stories on the Internet or attended one of 12,000 local rallies. More than 150,000 people have given an average of $38 to OFA’s health-care campaign. This month, Obama spent an hour providing OFA members with “bullet points” for the debate during an Internet video.

“Usually, when a campaign ends, everybody is exhausted and people just go their separate ways,” Bird told the volunteers assembled in Racine. “But we knew from the beginning that this could be different.”

Bird and other top Obama operatives had decided as much during the first days after the election, when they began conceptualizing OFA at a conference held in Chicago. They polled thousands of Obama volunteers through a sequence of surveys and conference calls and sought advice from David Plouffe, the architect of Obama’s campaign. By the time of Obama’s inauguration, Bird and OFA Director Mitch Stewart had settled on a basic vision: OFA would get by with limited staff by relying on volunteers who would work as many as 30 hours a week to ensure grass-roots activity in each U.S. voting precinct.

Bird and others decided that OFA would succeed almost entirely based on the enthusiasm of its volunteers. In that spirit, he asked each person at the coffee shop in Racine to share a “how-Obama-inspired-me story.” There was the mother of two young children who now works as a lead community organizer for OFA, taking her children with her from one event to the next. There was a registered independent voter who had volunteered for Obama only once, on election night. There was Racine’s newly elected mayor, John Dickert, who had been inspired to run for office after volunteering for Obama.

These were now the key operatives in OFA’s health-care campaign. Bird’s visit coincided with the launch of two OFA initiatives. The group’s Web site offered artificial appointment times for volunteers to visit their congressional offices, prompting 15 or 20 OFA volunteers to pile into waiting rooms across the country. Bird also asked the supporters in Racine to attend as many congressional town hall meetings as possible in an attempt to drown out the vocal and disruptive opposition.

“Remember to stay classy, like we did during the campaign,” Bird said. “We want an educated debate. We are not going to outshout them.”

“Do you really think these things will have a big impact?” volunteer Glenda Alexander asked. “I guess it can’t hurt to try, but the chances that this debate will be determined by one person showing up at a congressman’s office — and not even seeing the congressman — seem pretty tiny. It’s like buying a lottery ticket.”

“It might seem small when it’s just you, but it’s big when you add up everybody who is going,” Bird said.

“But right now, we’re getting outshouted,” Gleason said.

“We can’t let that stop us,” Bird said.

“We are battling these false messages every day now,” Gleason continued. “It is getting to the point where some people are so angry that our safety is becoming a concern.”

“We can’t let that stop us either,” Bird repeated. “Look, it’s nasty because we are on the brink of a change and people are getting scared. If you stick with this, I’ll promise you: We will get health care passed this year.”

Some of the volunteers stood up and began to applaud. For a moment, at least, Bird had restored their optimism. He thanked the group, picked up his notebook and walked out. There were more volunteers to meet 45 minutes down the road at a restaurant in Milwaukee, another big moment.

“That went well,” Bird said to Grandone as they climbed into the rental car. “Now we just have to do the same thing again, and again.”

Obama at 174 MPH

Bush at 64 mph vs. Obama at 174 mph?

Next time some liberal tells you that Obama simply inherited America’s gargatuan national debt from George W. Bush, show him/her this video!

It’s easy to understand and entertaining and…you’ll know what I meant by “Bush 64 mph vs. Obama 174 mph”!

~Eowyn

…………

Oregon Is ObamaCare’s Future

Say "No" to ObamaCare!

Want to see what ObamaCare is like should Congress pass HR 3200?

It’s the state of Oregon’s health plan for low-income Oregonians — the Oregon Health Plan (OHP).

The following video is about a cancer patient in Oregon named Barbara Wagner.  In a letter to Wagner, OHP said “no” to her chemotherapy — a new promising chemo drug named Tarceva — but “yes” to physician-assisted suicide.

The plain truth is that in any government-managed health care system, cost — not an individual’s best interests or preference — is the prime consideration. A chemo drug like Tarceva costs $4,000 a month, whereas the drug for assisted suicide costs less than $100.

Take the UK’s nationalized health care system as an example.

The UK employs something called the Quality-Adjusted Life Year (QALY) in assessing the value for money of a particular medical intervention. The QALY is used in cost-utility analysis to calculate the ratio of cost to QALYs saved for a particular health care intervention. This is then used to allocate healthcare resources, with an intervention with a lower cost to QALY saved ratio being preferred over an intervention with a higher ratio.

Let’s say Barbara Wagner is in the UK system. A government bureaucrat will assess her situation and derive a QALY score for Wagner — based on the number of years of life that would be added if she were to receive chemotherapy. Each year in perfect health is assigned the value of 1.0 down to a value of 0.0 for death. If the bureaucrat determines that whatever extra years Wagner would have due to chemotherapy would not be lived in full health, then her extra life-years are given a value between 0 and 1 to account for this.

Put simply, the QALY method means that some people will not receive treatment because a government bureaucracy has determined that cost of the intervention is not warranted by the benefit to the patient’s quality of life. QALY’s supporters argue that since health care resources are inevitably limited, this method enables them to be allocated in the way that is most beneficial to society instead of most beneficial to the patient. [For more on QALY, go HERE.]

In Barbara Wagner’s case, although the Oregon Health Plan will not admit it, it is using the QALY method.

So will ObamaCare — if it’s passed by Congress!

~Eowyn

Hannity For Prez?

The Founding Fathers never envisioned an American republic of representatives who are professional lifetime politicians. Haven’t we had our fill of professional politicians?

Hannity is a true conservative, good family man, Christian, articulate, and knowledgeable. I’ll vote for him!

~Eowyn

……………………

President Hannity? Talker drops hint

Talk-show host says he won’t rule out bid for White House

August 21, 2009 – http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=107591

WASHINGTON – Talk-show host Sean Hannity, a vocal opponent of Barack Obama’s policies, said today he would not rule out a bid for the presidency in 2012.

Egged on by radio colleague Bill Cunningham, Hannity said he would consider entering the front lines of the political fray if God directs him.

“I’ve never made a decision in my life without – whatever destiny God has you’ve got to fulfill it,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s my destiny.”

Hannity would make a formidable candidate, with the likability of Reagan, good looks and strong convictions. He’s also a polished communicator and knows the issues inside out.

And he can debate.

Hannity hosts the second-largest radio program in America, after Rush Limbaugh, and a highly rated nightly TV show on the Fox News Channel.

While Obama’s approval ratings have been plummeting in his first year in office, no clear Republican frontrunner has emerged. The candidates most often considered viable include Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Hannity’s Fox News colleague Mike Huckabee.

Cunningham, one of Hannity’s guests during a visit to Cincinnati today, said the nation and the Republican Party need Hannity.

When WND asked Hannity to repeat what he said on the air about a run, he said, “I ducked.”

Later in the program, a member of the audience asked what the host thought of a Hannity-Palin ticket.

The studio audience erupted in applause.

Hannity asked: “Would any of you really want me to run?”

Loud applause followed.

Hannity then asked, “How about I just stay on the radio?”

No applause.

Creation of Life “Within Months”

This has nothing immediate to do with American politics. But, in my judgment, this is earth-shattering news.

Scientists are on the verge — “within months” — of creating artificial life.

How do you feel about this?

I can’t help but recall this passage from Genesis 3:1-6:

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God….

~Eowyn

…………..

Artificial life will be created ‘within months’ as genome experts claim vital breakthrough

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:24 AM on 22nd August 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1208047/Life-order-Man-organisms-months-say-biologists.html

Scientists are only months away from  creating artificial life, it was claimed yesterday.

Dr Craig Venter – one of the world’s most famous and controversial biologists – said his U.S. researchers have overcome one of the last big hurdles to making a synthetic organism.

The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.

But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels.

They could also be used to create new vaccines and antibiotics.

The prediction came after a breakthrough by the J Craig Venter Institute in Maryland.

Researchers successfully transferred the DNA of one type of bacteria into a yeast cell, modified it and then transferred it into another bacterial cell.

The pioneering ‘gene swap’ was performed on a simple species of bacteria called Mycoplasma mycoides.

Carole Lartigue and colleagues removed the bacteria’s entire genome and inserted it into the yeast – an organism that is distant from bacteria on the tree of life.

Yeast is easier to manipulate in the lab and this process allowed the team to alter the genes – in this case, deleting one gene not necessary for bacteria to live.

The cell went on to divide normally, producing a new healthy strain of the modified bacteria.

In January, the team created the entire genetic code of a new bacterium. They now hope to transfer such artificial DNA into a host cell to create a new species, the journal Science reported.

Yesterday Dr Venter said: ‘Assuming we don’t make any errors, I think it should work and we should have the first synthetic species by the end of the year.’

The team successfully transplanted the genome of one bacteria into another for the first time in 2007.

They then created the first entirely man-made genome. But previous attempts to introduce the synthetic genome into another organism and take control of the new bacteria all failed.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1208047/Life-order-Man-organisms-months-say-biologists.html#ixzz0OveUK8M9

Obama Is Faithless And Un-American

 

 

 

Obama's America.

Every time I post about Obama I seem to find subjects that raise my blood pressure, and yours. And seeing how this is a Friday night where most people are trying to forget about the problems of the last week and do a little unwinding, I come along and be a real party pooper. That’s not my intention.

 

 

 

I promise all of you, this will be my very last negative story about Obama until sometime tomorrow. Fair enough?

WARNING… This is going to send you over the edge.

The subject I’m about to cover has to do with the lack of trust and credibility of our incompetent president. And, I’m going to do this the easy way. I will take you from item#1 directly to item#2, and then finish with item#3. With me so far?

For some reason Obama seems to think that we are all quite stupid. If not, then why would he do the following… First (#1.), he goes out of his way to record a message to all Muslims in the USA because they are about to kick off their holy month of Ramadan.  Praise Allah and all that. Second (#2.),he then goes out of his way to USE religion to help him pass his healthcare initiative by talking to faith leaders and over 1,000 Rabbi’s. He actually had the nerve to ask them to push Obamacare from the pulpit.

HERE COMES THE KICK IN THE GUT…. Thirdly (#3.), he decides that you can’t mix religion and politics (I know, calm down and take in slow breathes), so what does he do? He cancels all Air Force flyovers for an event called “God and Country festival” which Idaho has been holding for the past 42 years!

This one man is so full of Sh** I can smell him from here in NC. Below is the proof of what I just wrote. You can watch it on video or read it in black and white, but either way you do your going to come away from this posting with a lot LESS respect for this man than you did before. Barack Hussein Obama is an embarrassment to the rank of president!

#1.Obama marks beginning of Muslim Holy Month with special message 8/21/2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D376WnU4nv4

#2.  Army of the Lord? Obama Seeks Health Care Push From Pulpit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9S9L5t3Q20

Thousands of religious leaders got a call from on high Wednesday as President Obama reached out to Jewish and Christian clergy, asking some to sermonize in favor of health care reform.

If President Obama has his way, you’ll soon be hearing about his health care package when you go to your church or synagogue to pray.

Thousands of religious leaders got a call from on high Wednesday when Obama reached out to Jewish and Christian clergy, urging them to push health care reform from the pulpit.

Obama spoke to about 140,000 people of faith in a conference call and webcast Wednesday evening. He and a White House official discussed the moral dimension of health care, telling the mostly Christian audience that “this debate over health care goes to the heart of who we are as a people.”

But earlier that day, Obama went much further, asking about 1,000 rabbis to preach his political agenda in their sermons on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year — one of the holiest days of the year.

The conversation was supposed to be off the record but was captured on the Twitter feeds and blogs of some rabbis who took part in the call, which was organized by the Union of Reform Judaism and included rabbis from other denominations.

“I am going to need your help in accomplishing necessary reform,” Obama said, according to Rabbi Jack Moline of Virginia, whose Twitter feed has since been scrubbed of the information.

Obama told the rabbis that “we are God’s partners in matters of life and death” and asked them to “tell the stories of health care dilemmas to illustrate what is a stake” in their sermons, Moline wrote.

Critics say Obama’s message seemed to “cross a line” and imply a kind of “scriptural or holy support for the program.”

“I can’t imagine why it would be appropriate for a president even to suggest a partnership with God somehow was connected to his ideas for health care,” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.

“Whenever politicians give a message that implies that God is on their side on an issue … this always troubles me.”

A White House official told FOX News that Obama spoke at the invitation of the rabbis, who had many questions about health care. Current events often come up in sermons, the official said, and during the highly attended holidays many rabbis and congregants are likely to be interested in discussing the topic.

“We are not asking Rabbis to give a political lecture — we don’t expect everybody will want to hear sermons on health care,” the official said.

Mark Pelavin, who organized the call from the Reform movement’s Washington office, said the president talked about why the health care system needed to be fixed, but Pelavin declined to discuss Obama’s specific remarks.

Pelavin, the associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said his office organizes one or two such calls a year with experts and politicians to discuss issues of great interest to Jewish leaders, and health care was a natural topic.

Rabbis may choose to discuss health care in their sermons but will “stay away from partisan politics, but certainly they’ll talk about issues that are facing the country,” he told FOXNews.com.

But other rabbis present noted their discomfort with the president’s message, and said they believed he was “using religious organizations to promote policy.”

“I find the blurring of church and state to be disconcerting, not only on political grounds … but also for competency,” wrote Rabbi Josh Yuter of Manhattan, who was also on the call.

“Rabbis have enough difficulty understanding the nuances and intricacies of their own religion to be promoting specific policies in areas for which they have no expertise.”

Lynn, of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said that although Obama is a religious man, he generally avoids emphasizing the religious basis for his decisions, adding he was disappointed that the president had “clouded this debate” with an underlying religious emphasis.

“This seems to, unfortunately, cross a line,” he said.

———————-

#3.  President shows no respect toward nation’s military

by James R. Myers

As a retired member of the U.S. Army, with two tours in Korea and one in Vietnam, I am appalled by the actions of our current commander in chief.

Anything containing the word God is overlooked and/or pushed aside by the new president.

Since 1967, a flyover was authorized for the “God and Country festival” conducted annually in Idaho, an event honoring the fighting men and women of our country.

That is, until this year when President Obama refused to authorize such a flyover. These flyovers are conducted by military aircraft and have been at this event for the last 42 years.

At the major league baseball all-star game, there was a flyover. Now I ask you, who is more important to this country?

Is it the overpaid prima donna ballplayers or the dedicated military personnel who risked their lives time and again to keep this country safe?

When I count the times that I pushed my family aside to serve my country, so those in Washington would be safe, I have to wonder why. I cringe at the thought that I risked my life so those running our country would be safe. They obviously do not appreciate it.

I believe that, as true Americans, we need to speak up before it is too late. Believe me, time is running out.

JAMES R. MYERS

America In Protest Mood

‘Tea Party’ Organizers Plan Anti-’Obamacare’ Rallies Across the Country

The same groups who made the “tax tea parties” possible in April are planning anti-Obamacare rallies across the country Saturday in all 435 congressional districts.

If Democratic lawmakers thought all the furor over President Obama’s health care plan expressed this month at town hall meetings was dying down, they might be in for a surprise Saturday.

That’s when citizens are planning anti-”Obamacare” rallies across the country Saturday in all 435 congressional districts.

And their message is clear: We will not stand for socialized, government-controlled health care.

The same groups who made the “tax tea parties” possible in April are behind this weekend’s movement. American Liberty Alliance, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity are working with The Sam Adams Alliance, among others, to stage the rallies.

Click here for more information on the rallies.

They come as town hall clashes between Democratic lawmakers and protesters of Obama’s health care plan have captured national attention. Some Democrats have dismissed those protesters as “mobs” organized by special interests. But many protesters have said they attended the town halls out of genuine concern.

Now they can express their concerns at Saturday’s rallies.

“Obviously the idea behind this was to have a unified day for those concerned about government-controlled health care to talk outside their representatives’ offices,” said Paul Miller, spokesman for The Sam Adams Alliance, a Chicago-based political organization which is one of several groups promoting the event through new media.

Miller said this is a personal issue for many opponents, including himself, a 22-year cancer survivor. Miller, who was diagnosed with a rare cancer at the age of 14 and had his right arm amputated to save his life, says he would not have received the same specialized and speedy medical care if the government was in control.

“There isn’t this great conspiracy to say there shouldn’t be health care reform,” Miller told FOXNews.com. “People just want to make their own decisions and keep their insurance if they like. When government’s get involved, they never do anything right.”

Eric Odom, executive director for American Liberty Alliance, the lead group behind the tea parties and the new rallies told FOXNews.com that the rallies differ from the tea parties in that they are being organized from the bottom up.

“We didn’t want to try and do what we did on April 15 because the logistics was a nightmare,” he said, explaining that local organizers now have more control over the rallies and have only received basic information from the top.

“People at the local level have taken it and created their own animal with it,” he said. “This is more bottom heavy.”

Odom shrugged at the fact that most of the lawmakers won’t be present at their offices on a Saturday because he said the ultimate goal is to get more people politically engaged.

“This Saturday is symbolic,” he said, adding that his group will e-mail information to rally-goers on how to air their concerns to their representatives. “Most of these people have never done anything political in their lives.”

Phil Kerpen, director of policy for Americans for Prosperity, cautioned that it’s “impossible to predict” the turnout at these rallies “because it’s very decentralized.”

“It could be another big success,” he said, or the crowds could be scaled back. Kerpen said the packed town halls this month don’t provide much indication either.

“I think there’s no better place to make your voice heard and make an impact when you get face to face with your congressman,” he said. “The impetus is greater to show up there than here.”

Jacki Schechner, spokeswoman for Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a coalition of groups supporting Obama’s health care plan, said the rallies are a waste of time.

“There is no government-controlled health care on the table,” she said. “They’re protesting something that doesn’t exist.

“There’s a lot of people out there feeding lies and misinformation and trying to get people hyped up about something that doesn’t exist. They’re wasting their energy.”

Odom found irony in the objections raised by proponents of health care reform.

“It’s interesting that the world’s most professional organizers are upset that we’re organizing communities,” he said.

But Odom said he hasn’t gotten a lot of pushback.

“Surprisingly, I don’t think they take this very seriously,” he said. But he said what separates his organizers from many of Obama’s supporters, including Health Care for America Now (HCAN), is the passion.

“For them it’s business as usual. It’s what they’re paid to do,” he said.

Schechner said the differences between the two sides goes beyond money.

“We didn’t pop up over night,” she said, noting that the group’s campaign began last summer. “We don’t scream. We’re not angry.”

She rejected the notion that community organizers who are paid lack passion. “There are different kinds of passion,” she said.

Schechner added, “I don’t discount their passion. I don’t ever want to undermine their passion. But I really wish they would take a moment to really understand what this legislation is about, because a lot of people would be helped by it.”

But Kerpen said it’s clear that Obama’s plan would lead to a government takeover.

“Read the legislation that’s been proposed,” he said, adding that the House bill has been “designed as an achievable way to reach a single-payer system,” in which the government acts as the sole middle man with greater leverage to negotiate prices. “A lot of people are playing games, as we would expect them to.”

A-America Calls Obama Liar

H/T to one of our favorite members, littlemissmuffin. (ok, all of our members are favs)

We have been trying to tell people for over a year now that Obama was/is nothing more than one very smooth snake-oil salesman. Even after we showed item after item that he lied about, liberals would come here to scold us for accusing “The One” of lying.

It’s now gotten so bad that the very liberal Air America has even figured it out. Yesterday they did an interview where they called him a “charming liar”. Listen to the audio here.