"(Michelle and I are) not that far removed from what most Americans are going through. It was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there."
President Obama, who could only spend $70,000 on date night last year instead of the $75,000 planned
PS Of course, that doesn't include the "private, mother-daughter trip" to Spain next week for Michelle and Sasha where 30 rooms have been reserved in a five-star hotel in Benhavis near Marbella for their getaway. Or the 10 vacation days for the entire family at an "upscale northeastern resort island of Martha's Vineyard."
The Obamas really do get it. Just last week, my mom wanted to come visit me but couldn't afford the $10 lunch eating out. So we had to cancel our private, mother-daughter trip to Qdoba.
Good to know we have a President who understands the financial plight he's putting us all in.
Every week, before burdened down and drooping with the verbose and non-directional speech of current politicians, we should get a New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie soundbite to remind us there is a way to be in government, to speak, and to actually say something.
Jake Tapper talks to him about tax cuts, teachers unions, immigration, stimulus, and even Jersey Shore. It's ten minutes of clear thinking. Call it your weekly political B-12 shot.
Liberal rules of engagement: When you don't have anything of substance to say, repeat these words in various sequences, "FoxNews", "racist", "fringe", "right-wing".
It seems to work. The left love it. Not that it makes sense or that facts appear to matter, but those words are like a lullaby. Howard Dean gave it a try and Chris Wallace handed the man's dragging chin back to him on a platter.
Do facts matter Mr. Dean?
The issue with Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod isn't that fact she made a racist statement before she made an unracist statement, or some such nonsense. The issue is that Obama forced her resignation. He made a move that didn't bode well for his minions and they need to blame it on someone.
Breitbart has said the significance about Sherrod's speech at the NAACP was the applause she received after her racist statements. A similar speech and move on the opposite side of the aisle, like at a Tea Party event, would have gone viral. Heck, the fact there are white people at a Tea Party automatically, in the minds of the liberal media, makes it racist.
Which, by the way, is actually racist.
Breitbart almost always focuses on media bias. That was his objective. But here is a video of the speech for you to decide for yourself.
Nevertheless, if you think, per chance, her statement was only racist for a moment before she wasn't racist again and thus isn't racist at all, let's hear from her husband, Charles Sherrod. Oh, what a civil rights leader and hero. He's not racist. No way.
Hmmm...Maybe the lesson to learn here is that this couple needs something else to talk about other than race.
For that special someone who didn't get it before the election but gets it now. No reason you should live in shame while the nation plummets into generations of economic ruin.
I keep hearing the voice of Heather Ledger's Joker in my head saying, "Here...We...Go." The keg is powder and the boom is big.
A subject that has been beaten to death is being exhumed, spritz with Febreeze, dressed in Armani, and beaten to death again. The conversation of racism in America has been given pixie dust and handed immortality. It will never be satiated, it will never devour enough, and no matter how many people and places and events are tossed into it's sharp-teethed mouth, it'll simply burp and demand more.
So here we are. Again. Talking about racism. And the conversation is the same, though the players change. The NAACP has now passed a resolution calling the entire Tea Party movement racist. Of course, it denies the presence of minorities in the assembly, as speakers, in the planning committees, on videos, ad nauseam. If you want to make your own talking points out of thin air and no evidence, the beast will surely never want for a four-course meal.
Let's get to it.
Note: The incident Hilary Shelton of the NAACP is so upset about has never been proven. In fact, its been unproven. Several times. Despite extensive camera coverage, not one person has been able to produce a picture, audio, or video of any slurs, spitting, or hateful remarks made during the health care assembly. They've produced video and pictures of the moment it supposedly happened. But no racist remarks or spitting happened.
In fact, Jesse Jackson armed with a film crew attempted to rile protesters during the health care debate a day or so later, taunting them and grabbing their signs, to catch an alleged racist moment on camera. He didn't get one.
And still to this day, not one person has claimed the $100,000 prize offered by Andrew Breitbart of a video showing any racism to the Black Caucus during this supposed spitting incident.
And yet the dream lives on.
Will Shelton attend a Tea Party? Of course not. He's afraid, although the only black man hurt during a Tea Party meeting was Kenneth Gladney, a man attacked by Obama'sSEIU thugs. Gladney has been given no support by the NAACP, no support from the compassionate liberal media, and no support from anyone except conservatives at Tea Parties. Maybe they haven't gotten the memo yet that they are all racists.
Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina had something to say about the resolution. But first, let's meet him.
Brave man, allowing himself to be surrounded by white Republicans. They must not have realized he's black.
I love what he had to say about the NAACP resolution and the Tea Party. Impressive man. He knows, as a black conservative, he's a prime focus of attack by the very people who claim to fight for minorities. And yet he speaks his convictions anyway. That earns my respect.
Here's his quote:
“I understand that the NAACP, at its annual conference in Kansas City, will vote today on a resolution condemning the Tea Party movement as “racist”. I believe that the NAACP is making a grave mistake in stereotyping a diverse group of Americans who care deeply about their country and who contribute their time, energy and resources to make a difference.”
“As I campaign in South Carolina, I participate in numerous events sponsored by the Tea Party, 9/12, Patriot, and other like-minded groups, and I have had the opportunity to get to know many of the men and women who make up these energetic grassroots organizations. Americans need to know that the Tea Party is a color-blind movement that has principled differences with many of the leaders in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans. Their aim is to support the strongest candidates – regardless of color or background – who will fight to return our country to its Constitutional roots of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and free markets.”
And to wrap it all up, Megyn Kelly attempts to ask Kirsten Powers, a liberal, to actually talk about the DOJ voter intimidation case after a California congressman playing dumb at a Townhall meeting enlivened his audience. Kelly gets nothing from Powers but the standard liberal answer, "But what about Bush?"
Constantly, repetitively, inexhaustibly and indiscriminately saying the name "Bush" as the answer to any White House administration problem is really savvy. I mean, that's just a solid argument they've got there. And it solves so many issues.
It appears the Vice President apple doesn't fall far from the President's tree. Now we know what Clinton and Gore had in common.
In the wake of an investigation by a massage therapist concerning a sexual assault by Al Gore in 2006, liberal journalist Melinda Henneberger, editor of Politics Daily, casually, like a slithery handkerchief slipping through her fingers and pooling on the ground, admits that 'Oh, yeah, Gore. He attacks women casually. Everyone knows that. What? Haven't I mentioned that before?'
But that was always a caricature; Gore was also sarcastic, droll, and fully capable of playing hard ball. A journalistic colleague I had no reason to doubt told anyone who would listen that Vice President Al Gore had tried to stick his tongue down her throat out of nowhere at a New Year’s Eve party in the mid-90s, when all she’d been expecting was a friendly peck.
Anderson Cooper is peeved. And for rather good reason. Newsbusters has the story.
Effectively reporting on the Gulf oil spill is now a Class D felony, punishable by a fine of up to $40,000.
That's right, the most transparent administration in history has made it a felony, effective July 1, to get within 65 feet of what the Coast Guard determines are essential recovery efforts. According to Anderson Cooper, officials tried to up that number to 300 feet.
Well, it was either that or have Joe Biden walking around putting his palm over the camera lenses. And you know Biden. He'd make a spectacle of being a spectacle.
When no other options are available, make a law to cover your political behind. Also, add some hefty fines. The government has unions to pay off, you know.
Cooper reported that CNN had been prevented twice from taking photographs.
The press is "not the enemy here" he pleaded. The new policies, he said, make it "very easy to hide failure, and hide incompetence."
If you're going to hide failure and incompetence, might as well make it easy. That way you can focus on your short game.
With the criticism of the new felony charge, the Coast Guard suddenly had a change of heart and removed the policy. I'm sure there were some forehead slaps happening when they realized that, heck, that's not really a felony after all.
Reporters are now allowed access. Isn't a free press grand? Too bad they rarely act free.
My mom taught me the lesson rather early on. When there isn't money, there isn't spending. I actually wrapped my mind around that notion around age seven when I wanted a package of grape bubble gum and there wasn't 50 cents to buy it.
It's time Obama and the liberals were denied their Hubba Bubba.
Stan Cox doesn't want you to turn on your air-conditioning. It's going to get hot. Sweaty. Uncomfortable. Even dangerous as the heat rises. But you're doing this for the good of the earth, the good of the entire world. And what's the death of a few senior citizens and those affected with respiratory problems? In fact, what's so wrong with a bit of dehydration, heat headaches, damage to your electronics, and a bit of nausea. Huh? Are you really that selfish?
This guy who wrote a book about his nemesis - cool air - has penned a most fascinating article at the Washington Post, who printed it because I'm sure their offices, at this very minute, are sweltering since they turned off their a/c due to their dedication in practicing what they are preaching.
I'm impressed. Who doesn't appreciate a movement to make us all sick and miserable? Heck, yeah. In fact, why even have windows or walls at all? If we stopped building homes or offices, think of the benefit to the planet? Find a cave and move in. Or, better yet, live in the open plains and get back to your pioneer roots. Who needs clean water to drink? Or safety? So you're life span will be shortened. So what? You can be used to fertilize Mother Earth. And won't that make you feel good?
This man is simply brilliant. Long live...not really long, though, because that's not environmentally friendly...Stan Cox!
Here are a few of my favorite highlights of his remarkable mind explaining the utopia of a life without air-conditioning:
In a world without air conditioning, a warmer, more flexible, more relaxed workplace helps make summer a time to slow down again.
Or you'll have a heat stroke.
Three-digit temperatures prompt siestas.
Otherwise known as commas.
Code-orange days mean offices are closed. Shorter summer business hours and month-long closings -- common in pre-air-conditioned America -- return.
We can frolick with abandonment as summer means less productivity, less income, and a lower national GDP.
Business suits are out, for both sexes.
Finally, an end to being uncomfortable. Now we can be easy-breezy in our pit-stained tank tops, the shorts sticking to our thighs, and the sweat dribbling down the backs of our necks.
In the air-conditioned age, fear of crime was often cited by people reluctant to open their homes to night breezes. In Washington, as in most of the world's warm cities, window grilles (not "bars," please) are now standard.
Because calling them grills makes them not look like bars.
Home utility bills plummet.
Which is good since your income is plummeting with it.
The hot stove is abandoned for the grill, and dinner is eaten on the porch.
Where you and the mosquito's can enjoy a leisurely meal.
Saying goodbye to A.C. means saying hello to the world.
Who you won't want saying hello back due to the world's intensive body odor.
With more people spending more time outdoors -- particularly in the late afternoon and evening, when temperatures fall more quickly outside than they do inside -- neighborhoods see a boom in spontaneous summertime socializing.
Because all those hot temperatures won't create hot tempers and everyone will be in a real neighborly mood.
Because there are more people outside, streets in high-crime areas become safer.
It's a well known fact that the biggest deterrent of crime is open doors, open windows and people too drained from the heat to fight back.
As a result of all this, a strange thing happens: Deaths from heat decline.
That would be strange since everyone's so blasted hot.
Elderly people no longer die alone inside sweltering apartments, too afraid to venture outside for help and too isolated to be noticed. Instead, people look out for one another during heat waves, checking in on their most vulnerable neighbors.
Well, they would if they, too, weren't dying from heat exhaustion.
"Green roofs" of grass, ivy and even food crops sprout on the flat tops of government and commercial buildings around the city, including the White House. These layers of soil and vegetation (on top of a crucially leak-proof surface) insulate interiors from the pounding sun, while water from the plants' leaves provides evaporative cooling.
Known in the south as "humidity".
This is the kind of thinking that happens when you've been in the sun too long.
I had considered watching this movie at the theater. Now, not going to bloody happen.
Cute, spunky Juno-star Ellen Page, possibly old enough to vote but not tall enough for certain rides at Six Flags, attacked Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin during an interview about the movie, noting all the "fear" Palin is breeding to us mindless conservatives.
When out promoting a movie, the most important thing is to insult at least half of your projected/paying audience. That way they don't show.
With all the celebrity political spewing, Page must feel insulated and secure. Oprah can do it, why can't Page? But the vertically challenged star isn't paying much attention to the numbers. Stars aren't the shoe-ins they use to be. A celebrity doesn't automatically make a movie golden, anymore. And even Oprah, the Queen of whatever they want to call her the Queen of, is watching her audience dwindle ever since she started channeling spirits on her internet network and became "unleashed" for Obama.
The buying public is starting to vote with their dollar. And my dollars, the few I have or will consider spending on entertainment, won't be going to Inception, unless I'm in dire need of entertainment and it's available for a $1 at Redbox. In other words, she just lost my vote.
And then there's Leonardo DiCaprio, a tireless and overly groomed hero for the planet. Who feels deeply. Who loves the earth. Who would sacrifice anything to heal the pain of this world, unless it means flying commercial to a soccer game.
While FIFA looked for ways Thursday to reimburse several hundred very unhappy fans, authorities were still trying to piece together what went wrong when Durban's King Shaka International Airport was brought to a standstill before the Germany-Spain semifinal match.
The airport apparently was not prepared to deal with the unexpectedly large number of private aircraft arriving. As a result, runways were jammed and five passenger aircraft had to be diverted back to Johannesburg and Cape Town, while others experienced severe delays.
The congestion on the ground, caused in part by earlier bad weather on Wednesday and in part by the arrival of large numbers of private aircraft, led to what one British Airways pilot described as “absolute chaos.”
According to a report in Britain’s Financial Times, “Some of the fans had spent upward of $1,300 for semifinals tickets but were stuck in Johannesburg while private jets carrying Spain’s King Juan Carlos, South African President Jacob Zuma, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and socialite Paris Hilton landed.”
John Nolte at Big Hollywood cuts through the garbled nonsense of this Hollywood trio for an excellent outline of why celebrities make us nauseous. Don't miss it.
It's taking back Hollywood, John Wayne style. I love a worthy fight.
I'm joining Declaration Entertainment. It might just be the catalyst that renews my love affair with movies.
I'm an old movie buff. Started watching black and whites during my teen years and fell hopelessly in love with William Powell and Clark Gable and Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.
In the beginning, I watched because there was intrinsic goodness about the films. They were clean, entertaining, intriguing, and different. Maybe refreshing would be a better word.
I wasn't evolved enough to see it then. I only knew I felt good afterward. Those movies made me think, made me examine, pay attention, listen, learn, and reinforced the values that felt familiar because they were the same values honored in my home.
Now, looking back, I believe I was drawn to the classics because excellence has an indefinable magnetism. It's what draws us to certain composers, specific photographs, a well-written sentence. It has depth, degrees, texture. We recognize greatness initially out of instinct and later with our minds. I think that was how Jesus first affected His followers. They felt Him first. Recognized Him later.
I'm going to keep expecting better. And if I'm going to expect it, I have no qualms about giving it and supporting it, too. That's why I'm joining.
Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder is filing a "first of it's kind" lawsuit against the federal government concerning ObamaCare. I'm no legal scholar. In fact, I hate even reading those legal agreements before signing up for a book club, but he explains the premise clearly. And it won't be going away soon.
All I can say is long live the 10th Amendment. May it's backbone continue to harden and it's reach far exceed it's grasp.
“Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. Me in an army uniform, air force uniform, and me in my suit. They can make toys of me and my vehicle, especially for the holidays and Christmas for the kids. That’s something that would create jobs.
So you see I think out of the box like that. It’s not something a typical person would bring up. That’s something that could happen, that makes sense. It’s not a joke.”
Alvin Greene,
Democrat candidate for South Carolina and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle wannabe
PS That wasn't a joke? Too bad. As a joke, it was funny. As a serious suggestion, it's a bit insane.
This video explains the entire story but here's a brief rundown in my cracker-style: This guy, a name I'm not going to bother trying to figure out how to spell, is the leader of the new Black Panthers in Philadelphia. He was arrested, charged, and found guilty of voter intimidation, i.e. hanging out at voting polls in 2008 during Obama's ascension and carrying night sticks.
Fashion statement? I thought this year's accessory was scarves.
Just before this guy with the hard to spell name was sentenced, the DOJ, now under Eric Holder, dropped the case. Punishment for a crime? Nah. Go. Feel the wind. Chant your hate. And roam free.
Here's the video with the man's own thoughtful, peaceful, reasonable words:
Killing crackers and their babies? Peach of a guy. Perhaps Obama can find a spot for him in his administration.
This woeful and criminal negligence to enforce the law when dealing with minorities intimidation against white voters goes even beyond this incident. In fact, J. Christian Adams, a former Justice Department attorney who prosecuted the voter intimidation case, is speaking out and saying, under Holder and thus Obama, expect this to be the norm.
Megyn Kelly, doing what Megyn does best which is pretty much everything, has the exclusive story.
"The truth is the truth." It doesn't get more clear cut than that.
“Unemployment checks are the fastest way to create jobs.”
Nancy Pelosi, esteemed member of a brain trust
PS Huh? I...I...hmmm. Too much idiocy. Too much material. Too many joke possibilities. I'm overwhelmed. Feeling flushed. Getting a headache. I only hope her heels don't break under the weight of her gray matter.
When it comes to Gulf oil spills, the Obama administration knows the most important thing isn't cleaning the water, isn't cleaning the beaches, isn't taking care of the tainted food source and the negative economic impact to businesses. This is the age of Smart Power. He doesn't say things like "nucular" and aren't we all sighing with relief. And when it comes to environmental disasters, Obama isn't going to let an entire southern coastline ruin his good image. And that's what makes him such a valued member of the intelligentsia.
The oil...well it makes for bad pictures. But it's nothing that can't be fixed with a picture of Obama picking of sea shells on the beach while his brilliant team fudge the clean-up effort numbers. Bada bing, he's brilliant again.
Billy Nungesser, president of New Orleans’ Plaquemines Parish, sensed that a chart showing 140 oil skimmers at work — a chart given to him by BP and the Coast Guard — was “somewhat inaccurate.” So, Nungesser asked to fly over the spill to verify the number.
The flyover was cancelled three times before those officials admitted that just 31 of the 140 skimmers were actually deployed.
The incident is detailed in a report released Thursday by Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Republicans say the report provides evidence that the Obama administration misrepresented the assets devoted to the cleanup, misrepresented the timing of when government officials knew there was an oil spill and misrepresented the level of control the government had over the matter. It also claims the Obama administration seemed more interested in public relations than cleaning the mess and plugging the hole.
Okay, so it's a difference of 109 skimmers. They lied. About a horrific environmental disaster. Then they tried to cover it up. But shouldn't we be focused on more important issues here, like what Michelle will be wearing for the July 4th holiday?
Ah, now. Bill Clinton, that bastion of moral integrity, said we basically need to chill. So Sen. Robert Byrd wore a sheet over his head and terrorized black citizens, it was just the tiniest little mistake. A blip really. Like using the wrong fork at dinner.
"He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean?"
Fleeting. So fleeting, in fact, it didn't really even exist. Except it did. Michelle Malkin gives a brief account of his nearly imperceptible association with the KKK:
This ex-Klansman wasn't just a passive member of the nation's most notorious hate group. According to news accounts and biographical information, Sen. Byrd was a "Kleagle" -- an official recruiter who signed up members for $10 a head. He said he joined because it "offered excitement" and because the Klan was an "effective force" in "promoting traditional American values." Nothing like the thrill of gathering 'round a midnight bonfire, roasting s'mores, tying nooses, and promoting white supremacy with a bunch of your hooded friends.
He was only trying to earn a few extra bucks. Let's not criticize entrepreneurship. And now back to Clinton.
"I'll tell you what it means. He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia. He was trying to get elected."
Translation: All those Southerners in West Virginia were racists and forced Byrd to be a racist, too. His racism isn't even his fault. He needed votes and a Democrat will do anything for votes, even join the KKK.
"And maybe he did something he shouldn't have done..."
Maybe. But then again, there are plenty of instances when a white sheet over your head is really more a statement of fashion than of hate.
"and he spent the rest of his life making it up."
He sure did. First, to right his wrongs, he filibustered against the Republican supported 1964 Civil Rights Act for 14 hours. And each hour was his way of making amends. Then he opposed the two black US Supreme Court justices' nominations, for the liberal Thurgood Marshall and the conservative Clarence Thomas. And he's quoted....oh...a few times of saying hateful, racist things like this:
He vowed never to fight "with a Negro by my side. Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds."
He didn't want to say it. A racist voter made him.
"And that's what a good person does."
And you'd know about good people Clinton, being such a fine, upstanding individual yourself who spins the truth for a bigot.
The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured.
ObamaCare's sole reason for existence is to provide coverage for the uninsured. Except when it doesn't.
Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the program sunsets and health plans can no longer discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.
Bummer. Health care appears to actually cost something. So the government must discriminate against sick people. Like the insurance companies do. But differently. Because when the government discriminates, their heart was right. And that will make all the difference as we lay dying.
Freedom isn't free. Soldiers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all the previous wars and skirmishes understand that better on a daily basis than I, as a civilian, can comprehend throughout my entire relatively peaceful life.
This is why I support them. Because I know enough to know I don't know anything about war and the fight against the pockets of evil in the world.
I can't embed the video. So I'll provide a link to an amazing six-minute video and article about Lance Corporal Adam Smith, a British Allied Forces soldier, shot in the face during his first patrol. The men in B-Company (Malta), 1 Mercians, have lost nine fellow soldiers in five weeks and nearly lost Smith. He, however, survived and returned to active patrol in 24 hours.
Corporal Lee Kelly, 32, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs, greeted us with a firm handshake. And with a wry smile, he said: "Welcome to Hell." The compound has no running water or electricity. And we soon learned that within its mud walls, tales of terror are told.
Last month, Taliban crept up under cover of darkness and planted nine booby trap bombs in a ditch. The following morning two British soldiers were killed and another three seriously injured.
What a great reminder of the thankfulness we should feel not only this particular July 4th weekend, but every day prior and post.
My sincere and humble thanks to the US and Allied Forces military who beat back the hatred in the world with their very lives.
James Kirkpatrick, the Commissioner of Human Rights in Minnesota, has declared that Ladies' Nights at local clubs are discriminating against men. So no more specials for ladies. And, thus, fewer ladies.
Hey, James T. Kirk, the specials were to get the ladies there for the men. That way there are more chances for them to strike out. Didn't you get that memo?
affirmative action: a policy designed to redress past discrimination against women and minority groups through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities.
In other words, affirmative action is special treatment for anyone who isn't a white male. But don't worry about that. What men really want is fewer women in bars drinking cheap beer.
"Senator McCain's first answer to this economic crisis was - get ready for it - a commission.That's Washington-speak for 'we'll get back to you later.' Folks, we don't need a commission to spend a few years and a lot of taxpayer money to tell us what's going on in our economy. We don't need a commission to tell us gas prices are high or that you can't pay your bills. We don't need a commission to tell us you're losing your jobs. We don't need a commission to study this crisis, we need a President who will solve it - and that's the kind of President I intend to be."
Presidential Candidate Obama, Said September 18, 2008. Back to bite him July 1, 2010.
PS What has been the President's answer to the economic crisis? Debt spending. Stimulus that doesn't stimulate. More debt spending. Printing money. Spending. Spending. Oh, then more spending. Then to figure out how to be more fiscally responsible, he appoints...wait for it...a commission.
In fact, a commission has been his answer to the Gulf oil leak, nuclear power, and the possible building of an American Latino museum. He's created four, so far. And he's not even half way through his term.
For a guy who promised to be "a President who will solve" the issues and not just start commissions, he's proven to be a President who acerbates problems and ... wait for it...starts commissions.
Here's my dilemma. I don't know whether to call that lying, incompetence, unoriginality, or laziness. Is there a word that means all four?
Make a movie about the spending of our futures? Why not. If we're going to pay for the debt, we might as well watch it go. And some fun animation should ease our painful goodbye. I Want Your Money. Dot net.
Socialism: accepted everywhere failed ideas are sold.
