Archive for November 1st, 2009
How long and at what cost to cut 1 degree of Global Warming?
Assuming Al Gore is right – and he’s not – what would it take and how much would it cost to lower the earth’s temperature by One Degree?
Can Obama Blame Bush for Crumbling Poll Ratings?
The Rasmussen monthly presidential approval poll reports a steep drop in Obama’s approval rating. “In October, for the third straight month, 39% Strongly Disapproved of the president’s performance. The number who Strongly Approved fell two percentage points to 29%, the president’s lowest full-month total to date. That leads to a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10, also a new low for Obama.
Also in October, the president’s total approval slipped a point to 48%. His total disapproval remained stable at 51%.”
Last Friday in the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer wondered, “Is there anything he [Obama] hasn’t blamed George W. Bush for? The economy, global warming, the credit crisis, Middle East stalemate, the deficit, anti-Americanism abroad — everything but swine flu.”
For Barack Obama, his dwindling poll numbers cannot be blamed on George Bush. They are instead, the direct result of Obama’s big-government liberalism.
Speaking Truth to Power
“Valerie Jarrett announced the other day that “we’re going to speak truth to power”.
Who’s Valerie Jarrett? She’s “Senior Advisor” to the President of the United States – ie, the leader of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth. You would think the most powerful man in the most powerful nation would find a hard job finding anyone on the planet to “speak truth to power” to. But I suppose if you’re as eager to do so as his Senior Advisor, there’s always somebody out there: The Supreme Leader of Iran. The Prime Minister of Belgium. The Deputy Tourism Minister of the Solomon Islands. But no. The Senior Advisor has selected targets closer to home:
“I think that what the administration has said very clearly is that we’re going to speak truth to power. When we saw all of the distortions in the course of the summer, when people were coming down to town hall meetings and putting up signs that were scaring seniors to death…”
Ah, right. People “putting up signs”. Can’t have that, can we? The most powerful woman in the inner circle of the most powerful man on earth has decided to speak truth to powerful people standing in the street with handwritten placards saying “THIS GRAN’MA ISN’T SHOVEL READY”. Was it only a week ago that I wrote about this Administration’s peculiar need for domestic enemies?
The Senior Advisor seems to have forgotten that she is the power. Admittedly, this is a recurring lapse on the part of the Administration. There was Barack Obama only the other day blaming everything on the President – no, no, silly, not him, the other fellow, the Designated Fall Guy who stepped down as head of state in January to accept the new constitutional position of Blame Czar. Musing on problems in Afghanistan, Obama blamed the “long years of drift” under his predecessor. The new President – okay, newish President – has been Drifter-in-Chief for almost a year but he’s too busy speaking truth to the former power to get on top of the situation. It could be a while yet. In his more self-regarding moments, such as his speech to the UN, he gives the strong impression that the “long years of drift” began in 1776.”
The Swine Flu “Emergency” is a Foretaste of Pelosi Health Care
From William Kristol, The Weekly Standard:
“Politicians aren’t altogether stupid. No president or congressional majority has tried to raise taxes since 1993. No president or congressional majority has tried to slash Medicare since 1995.
Until now. With Barack Obama as her front man, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi–the real power in the Democratic party–has gone Clinton and Gingrich one better. Clinton tried to hike taxes. Gingrich sought to cut Medicare. Pelosi wants to do both at once. This is quite a feat: She’s combined the most unpopular Democratic and Republican proposals of the last generation in one piece of legislation.
And her timing is impeccable. Pelosi has decided to raise taxes and discourage employment just as joblessness approaches 10 percent. She’s decided to cut Medicare reimbursements just as seniors’ retirement accounts have shrunk. She’s decided to advance a huge spending bill just as the deficit is at historic highs. She’s decided to insist on federal funding of abortion just as the issue seems to have reached some sustainable middle ground. And she’s decided to put forward a 2,000-page piece of legislation with a mind-boggling array of scary instances of bureaucratic coercion and farcical examples of nanny-state liberalism–all nuggets of political gold for Republicans–at a time when the public is sick of statist overreaching and big-government meddling.”
“…We’re seeing a big government health care program in operation right now–the Obama administration’s effort to deal with the swine flu problem. No, come to think of it, it’s now the swine flu emergency. Last week, President Obama so legally designated it. How’s that test case in government-run emergency care going?
Turn on your local news to find out. You’ll see false reassurances, broken promises, rationing which doesn’t provide the promised rations, queues lengthening while supplies run out, and lots of bureaucrats explaining just why things aren’t working quite as their centrally planned plans had planned.
The swine flu emergency is a foretaste of life under the Pelosi Plan [Government-run Health Care]. Surely this spectacle, happening in real time before us, will give even more Democrats pause. Do they really want to be known as the Swine Flu Democrats?”
