Majority Think Bloated Big Brother is a Threat to Individual Freedom

In a CNN poll of 1,023 people, 56% (37% of Democrats, 63% of Independents and 70% of Republicans ) said they thought the federal government had become so large and powerful that it now posed an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of citizens. 44% saw no threat but 86% of all Americans think that the U.S. government is "broken." http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/21/poll.broken.govt/index.html

Kamikaze Politics: Dems Planning on Reconciliation

Apparently nothing was accomplished at the bipartisan health care summit today and now the Democrats are vowing to pursue reconcilition to push through the $950 billion "big bill." Wait. You mean they didn't iron out a bipartisan health care plan during a six hour summit? Shocking. The entire dog and pony show was to allow the administration to claim that it tried to legislate legitimately, but the Republicans were so rigid that they had no choice but to ram through Obama's gigantic health care entitlement disguised as a budgetary measure. If reconciliation is attempted, it will be the biggest example of political suicide committed by a party that our country has ever witnessed as only 25% of people questioned in a CNN poll said Congress should pass legislation similar to the bills passed by both chambers, while 48% said lawmakers should work on an entirely new bill and 25% wanted Congress to stop all efforts on health care reform. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/02/24/cnn-poll-health-care-provisions-popular-but-overall-bills-unpopular/?fbid=rHs6bcIySC4 Oh, and the best part? Obama decried reconciliation when used by Republicans when in power. So much for not being hypocritical. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/stop_whining_about_the_filibuster_0m7VeNSeIk54BzSTJK5yAK Apparently, though, Eric Cantor says despite their best efforts, the big bill won't garner the votes in the House to pass. I am holding onto this hope as the Dems seem hellbent on this kamizaze flight. http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjgxNDEzMWFhMzg0OTNhZmZiNjNkYmM3YzMwNzg1MWE

25% of U.S. Mortgages Under Water

The number of under water U.S. mortgages increased by 620,000 from the third quarter. Additionally, another 2.3 million mortgageholders had less than 5% equity in their home, which could easily lead to an increase in under water holders if the housing market takes another small dip. It only fell about 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to Standard & Poor, but some analysts predict another small dip. Analysts say the rise in negative equity is tied to increases in pre-foreclosure activity as once a homeowner owes 25% more than the house is worth, foreclosure rates spike. Negative equity exceeded 25% in six states and topped 20% in six others. The problematic mortgages are worst in the so-called sand states of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona and also in Michigan and Georgia. In Nevada, 70% of mortgages are under water. In California, more than a third of mortgages are upside down.

Ohhhhhh, Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Danny Williams traveled to Miami this month for heart valve surgery rather than undergoing treatment in his native Canada under its public health system. He unapologetically said it was his "choice" and his "health." Indeed. He continued, "I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics." True. Apparently, his doctors in Canada presented him with only options that required breaking bones while the American doctor that performed the surgery simply made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage. I have no problem with his decision. It makes sense to me. If someone offered me the option of breaking my chest bones or making a small incision, the choice would be easy. However, if the disparity of care is so vast, why are Canadians always crowing about how fantastic their system is and urging us to pursue the public system? It reminds me of their vibrato about "Owning the Podium" in Vancouver. (At present, the U.S. has 24 medals and Canada 9. See: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/22/sportsline/main6232427.shtml). I know it's hard to be the red-headed stepchild of a superpower, but I wish they'd just keep quiet. It's embarassing to watch them constantly eat their words.

Gritty Speech by George Will

This is worth a listen.

Obama and Dems Still Threatening Reconciliation

Obama allegedly has his team writing health care legislation aimed at reconciling the differences between the House and Senate bills, which he is threatening to attach to a budget bill to avoid a Republican filibuster. The White House blankly stated that it will attempt the process if Republicans fail to agree to certain bill stipulations that would allow passage via the legitimate route. The president's proposal will apparently be available on the internet by Monday and might still contain certain features such as the expansion of coverage to 30 million, the requirement that Americans carry insurance or face financial penalties, and the provision to block insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions. If the process next week ends in a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats, and Obama and Pelosi attempt reconciliation, which is widely opposed by Americans, I predict a failure to garner the necessary votes in both chambers and the last and most devastating of Obama's public embarassments. It is already certin in the Senate that Nelson, Lincoln, Lieberman, Bayh, Landrieu and Byrd will not support such manipulative, subversive tactics and I predict at least a handful more senators will be compelled to vote "no" based on polling data which suggests that Americans are wholly against it.

Still in the Woods: Jobless Claims, Inflation on the Rise

Initial state unemployment benefits claims rose 31,000 to 473,000 this week. (The expectation was a slight decrease to 430,000.) More troubling, gasoline rose 1.4% while food prices rose .4% after increasing 1.4% in December. With joblessness and inflation on the rise, many are begging the federal reserve to raise interest rates. However, they have projected no intent to do so.

Suburban Homelessness on the Rise

"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's annual survey last year found homelessness remained steady at about 1.6 million people, but the percentage of rural or suburban homelessness rose from 23 percent to 32 percent." The spike of first-time homeless is credited to job loss and foreclosures in the country's suburbs. Sadly, about 60% of the county's homeless are children 9 and younger.

52% Say They Wouldn't Reelect Obama

A CNN Poll found that voters opposed Obama's reelection 52 to 44 among both all Americans and registered voters. Four percent had no opinion.

Bayh Bailing

My decision was not motivated by political concern," Bayh said. "Even in the current challenging environment, I am confident in my prospects for re-election." Riiight. The Democrats can repeat the mantra that "there are more Republicans retiring than Democrats," but it doesn't change the fact that the vacated Democratic seats are far more vulnerable than those held by retiring Republicans. In fact, for the first time, many commentators are predicting a win in ten states for the GOP in the Senate, which would give them control of the Senate. At this stage, lobbyist and former Republican Senator Dan Coats, looks like the favorite for the seat. He will likely be challenged by either Reps. Baron Hill or Brad Ellsworth, one of which will be chosen by their party to run. Bayh's bow out at least signals that someone in his party understood the consequences of Massachusetts. In fact, Bayh warned his party not to ignore the Massachusetts Senate race as it would "lead to even further catastrophe" for the party and that "if you lose Massachusetts and that's not a wake-up call, there's no hope of waking up." At this point, it seems most of them are comatose.

Pol Follows Through on Promise: Christie Freezes Spending and Fires Up NJ Dems

Chris Christie, love him or hate him, is doing what he promised to do if elected New Jersey's Governor - he announced a budget freeze on state spending to address budget shortfalls that could soon bankrupt the state. Specifically, he declared a fiscal emergency and announced drastic cuts on aide to school districts that have excess surpluses as well as the embattled New Jersey transit system. Christie said that he hoped it would force management in these areas to stop wasting money and renegotiate unsustainable union contracts that keep the undeserved employees in the transit system and worse, the state's schools. See...http://teachersunionexposed.com/protecting.cfm

Jobs Bill Won't Create...Ummm...Jobs?

No one expects the newly proposed jobs bill to actually create jobs. Neither the White House nor leading economists believe that it will be effective as companies are unlikely to hire workers to receive a tax break. Simply put, before businesses hire, they need increased demand, which would spur more work for their employees, which would create more revenue to pay new workers. Specifically, "a company could save a maximum of $6,621 if it hired an unemployed worker after the bill is enacted and paid that worker at least $106,800 — the maximum amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes — by the end of the year. The company could get an additional $1,000 on its 2011 tax return if it kept the new worker for at least a full year." Obviously, companies are not going to outlay $106,800 to receive a $7621 tax credit. This seems like simple economics to me. Why can't anyone in Washington devise an idea that would spur demand and job growth?

Idle Chinese Threats

Chinese officers within the People's Liberation Army (PLA) suggested to the Chinese government that it dump American bonds to punish us for out recent $6.4 billion arms sales to Taiwan. Word of this came after the Chinese government's renewal of an admonishment to Obama not to meet with the Dalai Lama, who they consider a traitor. (Obama did not meet with him after the initial mandate, but plans to meet him on his next trip to Asia.) A massive divestment of U.S. bonds could significantly destabliize the market as China has the world's biggest pile of foreign currency reserves, and approximately $798.9 billion of it is in U.S. treasuries. However, many see these threats as idle, as a negative impact on our economy, and the dollar, would have a devastating impact on China's U.S. holdings. I assume there will be no talk from Beijing about dumping bonds in the future but that there will be a continuous flow of skits like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL9Dd2IT7EU) on SNL.

Obama Wants to Pass $80B Jobs Bill by Friday

Obama met today with a bipartisan commission to discuss a potential jobs bill to spur job growth for the 15 million Americans looking for work. Some of the better ideas on the table included eliminating capital-gains taxes for investments in new firms, a $5,000-per-job tax credit for firms that hire new workers,and a break from Social Security taxes in 2010 for employers when they hire an unemployed worker. However, Obama also proposed a $30 billion plan to inject new capital into community banks, more "stimulus" money for infrastructure spending and green tax breaks for homeowners. My prediction is that without the filibuster-proof Senate majority, Obama gets no more bank handouts, infrastructure money or green initiatives. The most likely scenario in the newly bipartisan climate is a bill suspending taxes and providing other incentives for businesses to hire. Of course, I could be wrong since Obama once again mentioned reforming healthcare during the bipartisan talks. He may be too laser-focused on his agenda to allow his side to support conservative, tax-cutting strategies. We'll see.

Independents go 2 to 1 Negative on Obama

A Marist College survey found that 44% of registered voters approve of Obama, but among independents, his approval rating is only 29%. Half of all voters say Obama failed to meet their expectations in office during his first year. Specifcally, the poll shows 47% of voters, including a quarter of Democrats, 65% of Republicans and 53% of Independents believe he has failed while just 42% say he met their expectations.

Dems Snippy Over Health Care Stall as Obama Admits it May Not Happen

The legislators who autonomously cooked up and delivered the infamous few thousand page health care bill, are now asking for guidance from the President on how to proceed and getting downright snippy in the process. Apparently, they're angry with the lack of leadership on this issue from the White House. "Democratic senators are frustrated that the White House hasn’t done more to win over the public on health care reform and other aspects of its ambitious agenda — and angry that, in the wake of Scott Brown’s win in the Massachusetts Senate race, the White House hasn’t done more to chart a course for getting a health care bill to the president’s desk." (Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32561.html#ixzz0ehZPaOPP). Who spearheaded the slam on his own party's President? Ex-idiot comedian turned illegitimate junior senator, Al Franken. Yes, Stuart Smalley. (Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/32561.html). Franken's comments may have been spurred by the President's comments Thursday night which some saw as defeatist: "And it may be that ... if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," the president said. "And that's how democracy works. There will be elections coming up, and they'll be able to make a determination and register their concerns." Although Obama admits that the health care bill could potentially fail, he fails to realize that Americans have already "registered their concerns" with his health care bill, or at least, those Americans in Virgina, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Will he ever get this?

The End of the Kennedy Dynasty?

John Loughlin is throwing his hat in the ring to challenge Patrick Kennedy (http://www.patrickkennedy.house.gov/) in this fall's U.S. House race. If Loughlin should win, there would be no Kennedys left in public office.

Old GOPers Coming Out of Retirement to Run in November

After the Scott Brown win, a few conservatives waxed optimistically about a possible Republican senate takeover. Now, less than a month later, everyone in the mainstrean media is talking about the prospect. "Republicans are solidly ahead to take at least five seats now held by Democrats — in North Dakota, Delaware, Nevada, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. Five more are now considered winnable — Colorado, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and even liberal New York. Two other races, in California and Washington, are tightening daily." The beaten up Bush-league-era oldtimers are coming out of the woodwork to challenge Democratic incumbents. The uncontested New York seat appears to no longer be so. It looks like George Pataki will challenge the tepidly-received Clinton replacement, Kirsten Gillibrand, for the senate seat from New York. Why shouldn't he? He's polling 2.7% ahead of her and he hasn't even entered the race yet! Similarly, in Wisconsin, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold is faced with a real contest against Tommy Thompson before he's even entered the race. The most recent poll from Rasmussen Reports found Thompson leading Feingold by 47 to 43. Independent voters favored Mr. Thompson 53 percent to 36 percent, the survey found. In Illinois, Obama's former seat is being courted by moderate Republican Rep. Mark Steven Kirk. Kirk is running strongly against any likely Democratic opponent. In Colorado, the latest poll by Daily Kos, a liberal site, reported a one-point edge to freshman Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, but recent polls by Rasmussen show former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, a Republican, with a 12-point lead over the incumbent. In fact, all of the races that were considered safe for the Democrats are suddenly in play when a seat in California is in jeopardy. Still, many Democratic cheerleaders say that the election is months away, and Republicans would have to hold each of their 18 seats and pick up 10 of 16 contested Democratic seats. I'll admit, it's a formidable challenge, but I predict that the Obama administration's refusal to change course will propel them to take the Senate in November.

WSJ's Take on Obama's Budget

I laid out a few small details of Obama's budget plan yesterday, but the Wall Street Journal summed the President's plan up perfectly: "If this budget is Mr. Obama's first clear demonstration of his long-term governing priorities, then it's hard not conclude that this spending boom is deliberate. It is an effort to put in place programs and spending commitments that will require vast new tax increases and give the political class a claim on far more private American wealth. Despite talk of "tough choices" in yesterday's document, the Administration wants $25 billion in new spending for states for Medicaid, $100 billion for yet another jobs "stimulus," big boosts in spending for low-income family programs, for health research, heating assistance and education. If Mr. Obama's priorities become law, federal outlays will have grown an astonishing 29% since 2008." It is unfathomable that Obama would propose an increase to the tune of thirty percent more government spending while in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. I hope the braindead members of congress realize now that this is the opposite of deficit-reducing and the opposite of what the American people have urged Washington to do beginning with the Tea Party movement and ending with the election in Massachusetts. Let's hope they don't have the same hard-headed, full steam ahead mentality and they'll rip this loaded piece of garbage apart.

Budget Blow Out

Obama's publicized his budget plan this morning. If left unchanged, it would send the deficit to $1.56 trillion. His economists used a 5.7% increase for the current budget year and forecast that spending would rise another 3% in 2011 to $3.83trillion. I'm not suprised that Obama still believes that we can spend our way out of this recession, but I didn't think he would propose raising taxes before we were out of the woods, as he and his advisers have repeatedly said they would not do. So, what's in this brick of a budget exactly? His budget proposed tax cuts for small businesses, including a $5,000 tax credit for hiring new workers this year. This seems to provide a tangible incentive for small businesses to hire. However, on the flip side, his budget contains a provision to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire on the wealthiest Americans, or those making more than $200,000 (individuals) and $250,000 (couples) annually. Since small business owners generally fall into these categories, any hiring credit will be dwarfed by the increase in taxes small business owners must pay, which will cause them to abstain from hiring. Obama's budget also factors in the nationalized healthcare system he so desperately lobbied for last year. There are rumors that Obama is pushing Pelosi to ram it through the House by promising members that the Senate will vote for changes later through reconcilation, but all of this seems unlikely now, despite his persistence. I would imagine we'll see this stripped from the budget at some point, which would have to reduce the amount of bloat significantly. Obama also included a proposal to levy a fee on the country's biggest banks to raise $90 billion to recover losses from the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund. Of course, this won't cause banks to hand out smaller bonuses. It will cause them to levy higher and more fees to customers.