Tag Archives: Politics

Media, Politics, War On Terror

It's What Passes For Safe That Matters

2 Comments

That the Obama administration has made America less safe in the war on terror isn’t even debatable, but you’re welcome to try.

Starting with

  • conferring constitutional protections afforded to US citizens to foreign terrorists
  • to trying to dismantle the most effective parts of the Patriot Act that the Left calls domestic spying
  • to the apology tour where the words terrorist and terrorism were not mentioned
  • to the revelation (whether or not they are ultimately released) of more 6 or 7 year old fun pictures of terrorists being uncomfortable
  • to closing Club Gitmo (11 months remaining) and trying to put the jihadists in the American prison system, where they can do some recruiting
  • to re-defining acts of terrorism as a ‘man made disaster’ for the purpose of not offending the enemy that wants us dead
  • to limiting missile defenses and halting development of missile defense systems while North Korea fires off ICBMs and nuclear bombs
  • to the seismic shift from fighting a war to a law enforcement task where the FBI will be mirandizing terrorists captured alive on the battlefield
  • to putting a lawyer/professor/politician in charge of the CIA.

Putting people with no experience in top positions seems to be a hallmark of this administration. Leon Panetta was Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff from 1994-1997. With change like this, hope is all that’s left.

Taking all that into consideration, you’d have to be a fool to think that what vice president Cheney said was not true. He said the policies of this administration have made and will make America less safe. Fact is, Cheney didn’t say he hopes we get attacked again.  That is the Left’s spin of what he said which, the AP dutifully repeats as an unchallenged fact.

Which brings us to this article in the AP where CIA director Leon Panetta is doing what liberals are quick to do. Ignore the message, attack the messenger. Close debate, end of discussion.

CIA Director Leon Panetta says former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s approach to terrorism almost suggests “he’s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point.”

The reason Cheney spoke up to call it as he sees it was because no other elected Republicans were. He loves this country and believes the people need to know what this administration is up to, including its attempt to re-write history. Which is especially important right now because the media will not. The Liberals in charge of Washington don’t like that inconvenient truth but, it is what it is.

Remember the infamous 911 Commission’s report that liberals were quick to pounce on in some areas, while ignoring other parts? The parts that the Left chose to ignore speak directly to Cheney’s remarks and our security at home and abroad.

They (the terrorists, al-Qaeda) were at war with us and we were not at war with them. And, it is not a matter of if but a matter of when another attack will come.

The same article quotes Vice President Biden on the NBC show ‘Meet the Press’ this morning who said ‘I think Dick Cheney’s judgment about how to secure America is faulty, I think our judgment is correct.’

What say you?

related links: CIA head says Cheney almost wishing US be attacked | Cheney Responds to Panetta

Economy, Politics

Small Business Loan Program (ARC)

1 Comment

Compared to the trillions of dollars being dumped on future generations of Americans to grow government and to create temporary jobs with make-work programs, here is one program, maybe the only program, that is designed to help small business. Emphasis on small.

America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program is a new temporary guaranteed-loan program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act). ARC Loans provide small businesses access to the capital needed to drive economic recovery and to retain and create jobs.

ARC Loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 available through SBA’s 7(a) participating lenders. Potential borrowers are viable, for-profit small businesses located in the United States that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing, qualifying loans. ARC Loans are interest-free to the borrower, 100% guaranteed by SBA to the lender, and have no fees associated with them. SBA pays the interest to the SBA 7(a) lender making the loan. ARC Loan funds are to be used for payments of principal and interest for up to six months on existing, qualifying small business loans.

The program sounds good to those that don’t own or run a small business,  though not near as bold as the programs the administration is implementing to grow government.

The practicality of a program like this is limited in scope and effectiveness. $35,000 would only last a few months at best for a typical small business, depending on the overhead, number of employees, and benefits associated with employment. It is fair to say that the economic troubles this economy is in will last a lot longer than a few months. However, it does account for the ‘save or create’ rhetoric coming out of Washington.

Why this program isn’t in the news is another story.

Below is a communication sent to SBA employees by Eric R. Zarnikow, Associate Administrator for Capital Access.

Continue reading Small Business Loan Program (ARC) →

Media, Politics

When Good Is Bad, Obama Fires IG

3 Comments

In what will become the most unreported action by President Obama, in his supposedly open and honest administration, Chicago-style politics rears its ugly head yet again. The president removed the Inspector General in charge of overseeing how government grant money is spent after he found discrepancies. After he found the abuse of public funds, the U.S. Attorney balked at having the justice department take a look at it.

Obama’s move follows an investigation by IG Gerald Walpin of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group that Johnson headed.

Walpin was criticized by the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National Community Service. The corporation runs the AmeriCorps program.

The IG becomes the focus of the story, that the matter wasn’t handled right, instead of the corruption of the person responsible for handling the public funds.

Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) felt an explanation was needed, since the IG had identified millions of dollars that were mis-appropriated.  White House Counsel Gregory Craig, in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, cited the U.S. attorney’s criticism of Walpin to an integrity committee for inspectors general.

In the end, Chicago style politics takes the day. The bad guy is good, and the good guy is bad. Keeping the matter out of the courts and out of the media, the U.S. Attorney worked out a ‘deal.’

The U.S. attorney’s office reached a settlement in the matter. Brown cited press accounts that said Johnson and the nonprofit would repay half of nearly $850,000 in grants it received.

This is not change. This is more of the same.

Economy, Politics

Prius US Sales Down 45 Percent

It’s fair to say that auto sales of any brand is down, and down significantly and for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is government intervention. Current economic conditions aside, the Prius and vehicles like it are not what the market demands. And for whatever demand there is, there is no demand to eliminate the SUV and American cars as we know them. That demand is coming from Washington, not the market.

Despite claims that Americans turning their backs on gas-guzzlers have contributed to the present dire straits faced by GM and others, Toyota’s latest sales figures point to a stagnant market for more efficient Japanese models as well.

Sales of the Prius in the US were down from 15,011 in May 2008 to just 10,091 for the same month this year. For the year to date, sales of the Prius in the US stand at 42,753 compared to 79,675 in 2008 – a drop of more than 45 per cent.

Markets don’t respond well to political direction. Markets are self-correcting when ‘allowed.’  That is to say, when they are not interfered with.  Above everything else, markets don’t do well in an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. In light of the power grab the Obama administration has perpetrated over various industries and companies within his first 100 days, the only message Barack Obama is sending to business is watch out, you could be next.

Economy, Energy, Politics

'Green' Transport Not All That Green

Here’s an interesting bit of information about how environmentally-green mass-transportation is not simply ‘green’ by default. Written not by politicians, but by scientists, which probably qualifies them as card carrying extremists.

Its authors point out an array of factors that are often unknown to the public. These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple “tailpipe” tally, which is based on how much carbon is spewed out by the fossil fuels used to make a trip.

Environmental engineers Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath at the University of California at Davis say that when these costs are included, a more complex and challenging picture emerges.

In some circumstances, for instance, it could be more eco-friendly to drive into a city — even in an SUV, the bete noire of green groups — rather than take a suburban train. It depends on seat occupancy and the underlying carbon cost of the mode of transport.

Which reminds me of a related subject, biofuels. Did you know that it is greener to burn our fossil fuels than to produce and burn biofuels?

links: Think twice about ‘green’ transport, say scientists | Fossil Fuels Out-Green Biofuels

Immigration, Media, Politics

European Union Moves 'Center-Right'

The European Union held parliamentary elections over the weekend and the results indicate a rejection of socialism as they see it and of left-leaning parties in most member nations.

Conservatives raced toward victory in some of Europe’s largest economies Sunday as initial results and exit polls showed voters punishing left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain.

First projections by the European Union showed center-right parties would have the most seats – between 263 and 273 – in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were expected to get between 155 to 165 seats.

The EU seems to get it. They’ve seen it all before. Even more reason for the Obama administration to keep his socialist plans on the fast track. Before most Americans figure him out and what he is doing. The US media are not talking.

You can kind of tell when a media outlet doesn’t like what they’re seeing. Look how the left-leaning Telegraph.co.uk describes the victories. They get very creative in adjectives for the winners.  Extremists, far-right, fringe parties, anti-immigrant, anti-Islamic immigrant party, anti-gipsy extremist, ultra-nationalist. See any bias there?

Far-Right parties and extremists made gains across Europe this weekend as protest votes and low turnouts marked the European parliament elections.

Support for centre-Left parties and governments crashed across the EU as fringe parties, not the Socialists, picked up protest votes while the centre-Right weathered the storm.

Anti-immigrant and far-right groups made significant gains in the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland.

In Slovakia a low turnout of just 19.4 per cent propelled an anti-gipsy extremist ultra-nationalist into the parliament and Hungary’s far-Right Jobbik took three seats for the first time.

In France, Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-Right UMP group was the big winner, with 28 per cent of the vote, as the opposition Socialists suffered serious losses, plunging the already weak party into further disarray.

Can hardly wait to hear David Axelrod’s spin on the election results. It is the writing on his wall.

Pensacola, Politics

Rule One Revisited

Of all the political discourse out there, Rahm Emanual’s ‘rule one‘ has received the least amount of attention, while the evidence of it abounds in spades. The synergy between the Obama administration and the social and political activist group ACORN deserves some exposure and scrutiny as well. It’s time we (the American people) had this examination and discussion.

“Never allow a crisis to go to waste, they are opportunities to do big things.” This is “rule one” as explained by President Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on national television last fall.

What does that mean to you? Just look at what President Obama is doing, as opposed to what he is saying.

To me it means President Obama is not going to rebuild the economy until he first transforms it into his socialist version, complete with a “youth corps” that will include ACORN.

ACORN, you will recall, is the community activist group that he represented as a Chicago lawyer to expand the toxic sub-prime mortgages that started this economic mess. All in the name of “social justice.”

It means that plans to rebuild the economy come last, not first. That is rule one. Or to put it another way, “the chickens are coming home to roost.”

links:

H/T to the Pensacola News Journal for taking the risk of printing my letter to the editor on this subject.

Rule One, What It Means

Economy, Media, Politics

American Capitalism Gone With A Whimper

On the day that the government takeover of GM is complete, which President Obama explained as just temporarily helping out the auto industry, as ‘reluctant shareholders,’ leave it to a Russian citizen to put it all in its proper perspective. They have been there, done that.

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

BM Barack Motors
In reality, its BM, Barack Motors

This morning, the President told the auto industry that they have to make the sacrifices, so that his children and their children and grandchildren can live in a country where we still make things. He fired GM’s president, replaced the board, put his advisers on it, dictated the kind of cars they are going to make,  and he also said that he doesn’t want the government to run the company. What he said was exactly this . . .

The federal government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental corporate decisions.

What? Just the most fundamental corporate decisions? Like who will be on your board of directors, what kind of car to make, and the mileage standard it must meet, the type of fuel it must run on, and where it will be made. It’s reassuring that he doesn’t want to run the company isn’t it?

And the change doesn’t stop there.

  • The nationalization of the auto industry, and giving ownership stake to the UAW over secured creditors.
  • President Obama’s Justice Department under Eric Holder, has dropped charges against some Black Panther members who were intimidating voters in Philadelphia. This, after the defendants failed to answer the suit, putting them in default. But instead of making arrests, the DOJ drops the charges. What was that noise about enforcing voting laws?
  • President Obama’s Justice Department under Eric Holder, just told the State of Georgia that they may not purge their voting rolls of dead people and illegal aliens.

Is it me or are things beginning to unravel? I can hardly wait to see what kind of cars that Obama, his auto industry advisers, and the UAW will produce.  And, besides the government, who will buy them?

That this seismic shift from a free market capitalistic society to a socialist / Marxist type society is happening without comment from our media gives credence to the ”passive, hapless sheeple’ comment from the writer. If you were a frog in a pot of water, the heat has just been turned up. It’s time to get out. If you’re not a frog, then it’s time to speak up.

Economy, Media, Pensacola, Politics, Venezuela

aSide Order

Alfonzo Rachel’s Zo Nation on the Economy

Chavez Trims 4 Day TV Anniversary Special In Half

The hemisphere’s idiot, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, is not having a good week. According to all the government controlled media hype about Chavez’s special 10th anniversary Chavez-a-thon, the planned 4-day TV special was quietly and mysteriously cut in half.

For the second consecutive day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has cancelled his TV show Alo Presidente. In the end, his four-day TV anniversary extravaganza was reduced to a handful of transmissions over just two days.

And on an unrelated related matter, have you noticed fewer Citgo gas stations around town? Hip Hip Horay! One can only hope that the Citgo employees are able to find employment at a real American oil company.

Hardin, Montana, A Place To Hold Guantanamo Terrorists

Never mind the mis-use of the ‘redneck‘ moniker, but you have to consider the source. The British media apparently is confused between the ‘wild west’ and rednecks. On the flip-side, would you have known of this if it weren’t for the foreign media? That aside, there is a town in America that wants to keep the detainees in their new prison, which is vacant. What?

I’d much prefer that GITMO and its residents stay right where they are. However, the idea of  solving a logistical problem and providing an economic stimulus in one fell swoop does sound interesting.