We all owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have defended our freedom since our nation was built. I hope everyone remembered why they weren't typing away at their desks today.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Rahm Pins Sestak Bribe on Billy Bob
The White House finally formulated a strategy in case Congress appoints a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Sestak's claim that he was offered a job to stay out of the Senatorial primary race in PA - Bill Clinton did it. This was the case, according to President Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel claims he used Clinton as an intermediary to see if Sestak would drop out of the primary if given a "prominent, but unpaid, advisory position." The White House argued that there was no impropriety in asking Clinton for a favor. The Justice Department is looking into whether the solicitation violated the Hatch Act, the act governing the political conduct of federal employees.
So much for cleaning up Washington.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Obama's BP Bungle
Journalists across the country are comparing Bush's Hurricane Katrina response to Obama's handling of his Louisiana problem - the British Petroleum oil spill:
But, is the comparison fair? Well, obviously, in terms of loss of life, there isn't a correlation as 11 men lost their lives in the explosion compared with 1800 individuals in the hurricane, but aside from the number of casualties, there are striking similarities between the two events.
During Katrina, the White House pointed out that the federal response was governed by the Stafford Act, which says that in natural disasters states are in charge, not the feds. The federal obligation is only to support the states in their efforts. Similarly, Obama's team pointed to a 1990 law that requires oil companies to clean up their spills, and that they are only offering oversight in response to this mandate.
State officials in Louisiana during Katrina, said Bush's response was too slow, bogged down in red tape, and their people lacked the equipment and necessities they expected FEMA to provide immediately. Again, Louisiana residents are crying out that they have begged, but have not been given necessary equipment, even as oil has invaded marshes and beaches. In fact, Governor Bobby Jindal said they haven't even received the oil-stopping boom they requested three weeks ago from the Coast Guard. Apparently, requests for more boom or other oil-fighting equipment are routed to a British Petroleum subcontractor for approval, then sent through two command centers, which delays the Coast Guard. So, not only does the Coast Guard have its own bureaucracy, but BP has set up a few stumbling blocks of its own. Brilliant.
In the wake of Katrina, people complained that Bush failed to issue an emergency plan to rescue, evacuate and house displaced residents. And now, Jindal and Louisiana are at a loss to understand how, when they came up with their own plan, Washington couldn't even manage to register its vote on their proposal to build a 94-mile-long string of sand berms across Louisiana's coast to keep the oil at bay. Louisiana requested an emergency permit for the plan from the Army Corps of Engineers that would bypass environmental impact reviews and the matter is still under review. As a result of the lack of decision-making, the oil has filled the marshlands.
After Katrina hit, Bush was lambasted for waiting four days to head to New Orleans. It took Obama 12 days to show up in the gulf.
So, doesn't it sound like the same finger-pointy, decisionless, inept response to you? Apparently, Obama now understands the red tape and headaches inherent in dealing with an emergent crisis.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Republicans Demanding Special Prosecutor for Alleged Sestak Bribe
The seven Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee formally asked Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Sestak's claim that a White House official offered him a job to induce him to bow out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter. The seven allege that the attempted White House arm twisting violated federal criminal laws forbidding the promise of a government position for a favor or “in connection with any primary election or political convention or caucus held to select candidates for any political office.” After all, Sestak is the one who told a reporter in February that the White House official committed a felony despite the fact that the White House lawyers denied it and judged everything “perfectly appropriate.”
Of course, the GOP will not take the word of the Obama lawyers regarding the people who hired them. They wrote that they “do not believe the Department of Justice can properly defer to White House lawyers to investigate a matter that could involve ‘a serious breach of the law.’ The White House cannot possibly manage an internal investigation of potential criminal misconduct while simultaneously crafting a public narrative to rebut the claim that misconduct occurred.” Indeed.
Holder will resist this probe until it becomes politically unfeasible and then he will relent. As although I believe special prosecutors are only marginally more insightful than White House lawyers, I think that Sestak's allegations raise serious issues that merit an investigation. The White House may legally make deals to muscle through legislation, but this is an altogether different, illegal breed of strong arming.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
One Cue We Should Take from the Brits
Most Americans, including me, have a hard time understanding how the Brits elect their Prime Minister. They operate under a very complicated parliamentary process that left the new Prime Minister, David Cameron, begging a minor party candidate to build a coalition government with him to defeat Gordon Brown. Due to this coalition, I thought Cameron, of the Conservative Party, would be hamstrung in cutting Britain's budget, and he may be, but he announced £6B worth of spending cuts today. Of course, a cut this small normally would not make the headlines, but this one did, because of the character of the items that were slashed - namely, ministerial cars and chauffeurs. All high ranking government officials in jolly ole England will now have to huff it to work like the rest of us unless they occupy one of four offices: the Prime Minister, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
As Steyn so deftly comments, "This is gesture politics. But symbols are important. Citizen legislators in democratic societies are not a ruling class. They should walk among us, rather than be swanking about on the public dime. If you want a chauffeured limo, get a gig in the private sector and earn it. And that goes for Nancy Pelosi's ludicrous Botox One jet, too." How soon do you think Pelosi and American politicians will follow suit? I would put all my money on "never" even though their approval ratings are apocalyptic and November is around the corner, as I have never seen such an unapologetic and entitled bunch inhabit Washington.
Obama's Approval Rating Hits New Low of 42%
I know I wrote about a poll yesterday, but I think this one is important to know about. Today, the Rasmussen poll tracking President Obama's popularity showed that only 24% of the nation's voters strongly approve of the way that he is performing his role as president while 44% strongly disapprove. This gives him an approval rating of 42% (or -20), the lowest he's been since taking office. It seems that his score on the economy is bringing down his average as only 39% give him positive marks in that area, but his numbers are also sagging in the low 40s on national security and environmental issues. So, finally we see Obama starting to fall with the rest of his party, and frankly, with Washington, as voter sentiment toward politicians remains abysmal.
Monday, May 24, 2010
63% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law
According to the latest poll, the percentage of voters in favor of repealing the health care law has jumped to an all-time high of 63% while those opposing repeal stands at a low 32%. (Before this poll, support for repeal ranged from 54 to 58% and never reached the 60s.) Those who strongly favor repeal number 46% and those that strongly oppose repeal stands at 25%.
However, 77% of the political class, otherwise known as the entitlement class, continues to support the plan in stark contrast to the 67% of mainstream voters that believe it will be bad for America.
Again, 63% of all voters expect the health care plan to increase the federal deficit, 12% expect the bill to decrease the deficit and 13% say it will have no impact. Fifty-five percent (55%) expect the health care plan to drive up the cost of health care rather than causing those costs to go down. Only 18% believe health care costs will indeed go down because of the plan’s passage and 16% expect costs to stay about the same.
The poll had a margin of error at + or - 3% and a 95% level of confidence.
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