Filed under: Liberalism, News, News the Media Doesn't Want You to Hear, Politics | Tags: Democrat Corruption, Democrats, Obama, Worst President Ever
Contrary to what liberals will say, this FOX News poll, showing that only 43% of voters would vote to re-elect Obama, is actually middle of the road. This is also the first time the FOX poll has shown Obama with less than 50% approval. Other polls have had him at majority disapproval for some time now. (Rasmussen, for example, which has been the most accurate in terms of election results.)
Indeed, there doesn’t seem to be ANY area in which a majority of Americans think Obama is doing a good job:
Afghanistan: Approve 41 Disapprove 43
Iran: Approve 44 Disapprove 43
Economy: Approve 48 Disapprove 49
Health Care: Approve 42 Disapprove 50
Indeed, a majority of 54% disapprove of the health care plan now being rammed through congress, and 51% would prefer that we keep the health care system exactly as it is over the Democrat plans, while only 34% prefer the Democrats plan.
One thing majorities of ALL groups agree on is that Obama and the Democrats have divided America more than ever!
Finally, in a rare example of bipartisan agreement, majorities of Democrats, 53 percent, Republicans, 78 percent, and Independents, 61 percent, agree the country is more divided these days. All in all, 64 percent of Americans think the country is more politically divided today — that’s more than twice the number who say it is not more divided, 31 percent.
So the good news in these bleak, divisive, dark days for America, is that people are waking up to how monumentally bad these Democrats truly are.
Filed under: Capitalism, Foreign Policy, Freedom, Liberalism | Tags: Democrat Corruption
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research 2009 Wriston Lecture, “Decline is a Choice: The New Liberalism and the End of American Ascendancy” by Dr. Charles Krauthammer is a must read for conservatives. Our country is in a recession. “The weathervanes of conventional wisdom are registering another round of angst about America in decline. New theories, old slogans: Imperial overstretch. The Asian awakening. The post-American world. Inexorable forces beyond our control bringing the inevitable humbling of the world hegemon.”
If you need an antidote to the preposterous awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama — not for accomplishments, for there are none — but for the cult of personality and improbable promises of undefined hope and change, it is here. Dr. Krauthammer is very, very good.
The transcript is to be found here, and a video of the speech is here. I always prefer to read so I can underline and make notes, but others choose a video. In any case, do not miss it.
Filed under: Economy, Health Care, Law, Politics, Taxes | Tags: Death Panels, Medicare, Obamacare, Senior Citizens
The old folks are not happy. Democrats have been working since January to find a way to adopt government-run health care that does not bankrupt the economy. Their solutions all depend on spending less money on Medicare. $500 billion less is the most often mentioned sum.
They propose dropping Medicare Advantage plans, which many seniors really like. They propose cutting payments to heart specialists and cancer doctors. They suggest that when the old folks get sick, they simply cost too much, and the money is better spent on young healthy adults. Democrats plan to tax medical devices like wheelchairs, stents, dialysis machines, pacemakers — that sort of thing.
The old folks are, understandably, opposed to ObamaCare. They had the idea that the purpose of health care was to care for those who get sick, not to lavish health care on those who do not need it. Everybody dies, but the government is not entitled to rush us into it.
There is, however, one very interesting thing about older Americans. They vote. They vote reliably and consistently. President Obama has noticed. He called on Congress yesterday to approve $250 payments to 50 million seniors who will not be receiving a cost-of-living increase in their Social Security payments this year or next year.
So you can call it a bribe, or you can call it a second Stimulus Bill. The money— $ 13 billion — will simply increase the national debt a little more, and won’t create a single job.
You really want to be careful when you start messing with the old folks.
(h/t: wattsupwiththat)
Filed under: Liberalism, Media Bias, News, News the Media Doesn't Want You to Hear, Politics, Socialism, Television | Tags: Democrat Corruption, Obama
Imagine that! Empty platitudes of “hope” and “change” spawning hero worship of unknown newcomers who promise to deliver you heaven on Earth if only you give them power over you! Who insist in return only that the media not ask uncomfortable questions. But as always, people who want power over you have agendas of their own!
No wonder ABC is rewriting the show…
The new one might be seen as commentary on contemporary politics. The teasers running on ABC offer a hint of this. “They gave us hope. We gave them our trust.” Who does that bring to mind? Of course, the Visitors (hence the title), after promising things like universal health care and peace in a one world government, turn out to be totally evil. They attempt to seize control of the media, favoring those who don’t challenge them or ask probing questions about their real agenda, which turns out to be the annihilation of humanity. The heroes are everyday people, who form a grass roots resistance movement. Supposedly, the show is being slightly reconceptualized to soften or remove events some might interpret as negative parallels to today.
…because it resembles the reality of Obama/Democrat rule too closely!
What do you want to bet the changes were demanded by the White House after the trailers first appeared last summer?
The same White House that hounds reporters and networks about how they portray Obama? And ABC? The home of ABC “News”? Former home of current Obama Snitch Czar Linda Douglass? The network that refuses to sell “The Path to 9/11” at the Clinton and Democrat’s request?
I’d put money on it!
(h/t: Ace)
Filed under: Capitalism, Economy, Health Care, Taxes | Tags: Democrat Corruption, Economy, Liberal lies
Daniel Mitchell of the Cato Institute explains in the video above, just what a Value Added Tax (VAT) is, and why it should be vigorously opposed.
Democrats believe that government does most things far better than they can be done by the private sector. As far as that goes, they don’t particularly like the private sector. They don’t like corporations, they don’t like business, they are opposed to the idea of profit which they feel is unfair. They especially don’t like business executives, who make far too much money — that is, they make more than congressmen do. They prefer to have government in charge. This allows them to control things, and especially to use taxpayer money to finance worthy causes in their own states which will help them to get reelected.
You remember the TARP money, the $787 billion Stimulus Bill, the Auto Bailout, “Cash for Clunkers”, taking over the car companies, AmeriCorps, and the yet-to-be-enacted Health Care Bill, the Climate Bill, the takeover of the Student Loan Program, the billions for Pakistan, the Smart Grid, the Amnesty Program, the high-speed rail system for the Midwest, the cash for appliances program, the second Stimulus Bill (to be called something else), new CAFE standards, and tax rebates for the folks at the bottom of the income pie who pay no taxes. I expect I am forgetting some programs.
I’m sure that you realize that the government has no money of its own. (Not everybody does). That means that all these exciting programs have to be paid for. Everything starts with getting rid of the evil Bush Tax Cuts, which is a huge tax increase in itself.
The video above explains a Value Added Tax which is very appealing to Democrats. Daniel Mitchell lists some of the other taxes that Democrats have either enacted or are considering enacting, but the video passes by the list so quickly that you may not have time to absorb the enormity of it all.
- Raise the top income tax rates.
- Limit itemized deductions.
- Increase capital-gains taxes and dividend taxes.
- Raise the social security tax.
- Tax employer-provided health benefits.
- Tax drivers on their mileage.
- Change the rules to raise the gift tax.
- Restore the estate (death) tax to 45 percent.
- Raise the cigarette tax by 62¢ a pack.
- Raise taxes on beer, wine, liquor and soda.
- Tax employer-provided cell phones.
- Raise taxes on overseas corporate earnings.
There are a number of taxes proposed in the Baucus Bill (Senate Health Care), like taxing “Cadillac” health insurance plans; taxing medical equipment like wheelchairs, stents, dialysis machines, pacemakers and so on; but since the Baucus Bill exists only as a series of vague concepts, it’s all pretty wispy. The Congressional Budget Office stuck some numbers on the Baucus Bill, but they are meaningless since there is no legislative language.
PricewaterhouseCooper and Heritage have looked at the CBO estimate and reject the idea that the bill will save money or reduce the deficit. They say health insurance will cost more and wages will decline. The Democrats are pulling some pretty sneaky tricks like estimating costs for the decade from 2010 to 2020 although health care doesn’t come into full effect until 2015, which makes it cheaper on paper, but phony. They are also proposing to take some expensive things out of the health care bill and tack them on somewhere else or in a separate bill so it won’t add to the cost of health care. Unethical, and a cheat.
But that is what you get when you start with the idea that things must be done by the government, and then work backwards from that, nipping and tucking and taxing. It is a sleazy process.
American Elephants 