Views on the News

September 19, 2009

Views on the News*

Last week we were treated to “All Barack, All the Time,” and it seems he is “Stuck on Stupid,” since he seems incapable of listening to criticism. Time and again, this President has shown himself a pedestrian thinker unable to move himself, much less anyone else, beyond partisan politics. First we were treated to A Very Special talk to students by the president, A Very Special appearance before the AFL-CIO and A Very Special address to Congress on health care, to be followed by A Very Special appearance on 60 Minutes and A Very Special address on the financial crisis. This is Hollywood governance, designed to distract the nation from a show that has lost credibility and audience at an alarming rate. Ordinary Americans -- the ones clinging to guns, God, health care and life are uneasy. The problem for Obama and Democrats is that, in poll after poll, Main Street does not trust them. They had been promised by the nation's elites a blockbuster of hope, a show set in Washington that would completely change the richly deserved popular view of beltway politicians as simply another variety of American cockroach. Yet Obama didn't help his cause in last week's speech by saying so many things that are counterintuitive to the facts. Americans see a different reality, a uniquely unsympathetic Obama media production. Scriptwriters seem determined to insult every category of taxpayer in the country. The star of the show is "smug, self-involved, and egotistical." And another commentator wrote "this president's self-regard is boundless." A nation cannot live on eloquence alone. Speeches without substance wear thin quickly. The President regurgitated the same worn-out talking points, tired platitudes and baseless rhetoric he’s been spouting for months, generating more confusion than clarity. As was most painfully clear from your performance last week, the mere repetition of rhetoric, no matter how elegantly delivered, doesn't make the message any less partisan and divisive. Repeating the same half truths and distortions only serves to highlight Obama’s credibility problems and is reminiscent of the Nazi propaganda “Big Lie” technique. The real anger from independents arises over disappointment, false merchandising, and hypocrisy, that arises from a sense of betrayal of former trust. It took millions of Americans months of fair and judicious examination to conclude that Obama’s real weaknesses were his once-advertised strengths: He seems not a healer at all; he is not particularly sincere; and he is not especially veracious. A Washington Post-ABC News poll following President Obama’s speech to Congress about his health care plan discovered that 54% say the more they hear about the plan the less they like it. American voters are finally feeling pangs of “buyer’s remorse” about their “Hope and Change” President being very different from the real “spend and tax” leftist that they elected into office!

(“Barack Obama Jumps the Shark” by Stuart Schwartz dated September 13, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/barack_obama_jumps_the_shark.html

“Obama blows chance to lead” by Sherman Frederick dated September 13, 2009 published by Las Vegas Review-Journal at http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/59169107.html

“In Obama we don’t trust” by Salena Zito dated September 13, 2009 published by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review at http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/zito/s_642720.html

“Obama Lied, His Credibility Died” by Matt Barber dated September 14, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/MattBarber/2009/09/14/obama_lied,_his_credibility_died

“So far, Obama’s failing miserably” by Jeremy Lott dated September 15, 2009 published by Politico at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27134.html

“Dr. Barack and Mr. Obama” by Victor Davis Hanson dated September 18, 2009 published by National Review Online at http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTRlZjM0MjNkZmEzMGI4ODZjZTBkNzJhYmFlNjFiOWM= )

President Obama has exaggerated the economic downturn to appear as traumatic as the Great Depression as a pretext to transform the American economy into centrally controlled socialism. A comparison of the economic and fiscal attributes is equally illustrative here.

Variable	Great Depression	Obama Recession
GDP	4 straight years of negative growth	4 straight quarters of negative growth
Unemployment Rate	24.9%	9.7%
DJIA Change	89% contraction	53.8% contraction
Bank Failures	Over 4,000	120

Federal Spending	12% of GDP in 1941	26.1% in 2009
Federal Revenues	7.6% of GDP in 1941	14.9% in 2009
Federal Deficit	5.9% in 1934	11.2% in 2009

Their effect on the economy, GDP, is the first variable and the Great Depression was an order of magnitude longer. The unemployment rate is the second comparison point and Great Depression unemployment was longer and deeper with its average never dropping below 14.6% until World War II. The stock market cratered in both, but the Great Depression DJIA contraction was almost twice as deep. Bank failures were a critical problem during the Great Depression that has reappeared but at a much reduced rate. When it comes to spending, the Obama Recession is clearly more expansive and debilitating. The Depression topped out at 12% of GDP in 1941, 12 years after the Crash and including the pre-War military build-up. The Obama Recession, just a year and a half long, has already reached 26.1% of GDP according to the latest Congressional Budget Office baseline. The same mismatch applies to the level of taxation. The Great Depression saw federal revenues reach 7.6% of GDP in 1941. The Obama Recession will claim 14.9% of the economy in revenues this year, according to CBO estimates. The final fiscal variable, the deficit, shows the Obama Recession as the clear leader. The Depression’s federal deficit peak was 5.9% of GDP in 1934. The Obama Recession is estimated to hit 11.2% of GDP this year. The Great Depression was a much larger problem for the country to solve, while the Obama Recession has used a normal recession as an excuse to expand government scope and reach well beyond the bounds of actions required to address the economic situation.

(“The Current Recession versus the Great Depression” by J.T. Young dated September 14, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=cc888a27-8fdc-4fd6-9204-01f084a00db5&t=c )

If there are $635 billion in waste and fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid systems by all means fix that and save that money without delay… and separately from any health care reform… that is change we can believe in!

· Obama's health care plan will be written by a committee whose head doesn't understand it.

· Passed by a Congress that hasn't read it.

· Signed by a President who smokes.

· Funded by a Treasury chief who did not pay his taxes.

· Overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese.

· And financed by a country that is nearly broke.

· What could possibly go wrong?

· (Credit for the above goes to a reader named June A. Harrison.)

If coverage is the problem to be solved, then make health care insurance mandatory for everyone and stop providing health care coverage for those not covered. If cost is the problem to be solved, enact tort reform to limit the need for defensive medicine, repeal any restriction to offing a free market for insurance available in all states. If price is the problem to be solved, enact a personal tax deduction for those who purchase their insurance directly. If quality is the problem to be solved, require that total cost is available for all procedures and performance data is available on doctors and health care providers for more informed decision-making. If Health Care is the problem to be addressed, put the Patient (end user) in charge so they can make the best decision for themselves.

(“Let Me Get This Straight” by Jerry Della Femina dated August 26, 2009 published by The Independent at http://www.indyeastend.com/Articles-i-2009-08-26-89184.113117_Let_Me_Get_This_Straight.html )

There is a new President in town and he is willing to say and do anything in order to get his health care bill passed. The Democrats and their bedfellows, the mainstream media, are with him all the way. Their aim is to make sure this President is treated like royalty, never held accountable for what he says and does, and that he gets his health care bill passed. One of the secrets of being a glib talker is not getting hung up over whether what you are saying is true, and instead giving your full attention to what is required by the audience and the circumstances of the moment, without letting facts get in your way and cramp your style. Obama has mastered that art. Con men understand that their job is not to use facts to convince skeptics but to use words to help the gullible to believe what they want to believe. No message has been more welcomed by the gullible, in countries around the world, than the promise of something for nothing. That is the core of Barack Obama's medical care plan. President Obama tells us that he will impose various mandates on insurance companies but will not interfere with our free choice between being insured by these companies or by the government. But if he can drive up the cost of private insurance with mandates and subsidize government insurance with the taxpayers' money, how long do you think it will be before we have the "single payer" system has he has advocated in the past? Mandates by politicians are what have driven up the cost of insurance already. Politicians love to play Santa Claus and leave it to others to raise prices to cover the inevitable costs. When there are "advisory" panels on what treatments to approve and the White House's existing medical advisor has complained of Americans' "over-utilization" of medical care, what does it take to connect the dots? The Zogby International/O'Leary Report survey of likely voters found that a large majority oppose key provisions of Obama and the Democrats' healthcare reform proposals, including plans to extend health insurance to as many as 50 million uninsured Americans and to incorporate a form of healthcare rationing in the reforms. Over 70% disagree that the federal government should require all Americans to purchase health insurance or face a fine. A resounding 75% of respondents said that taxes should not be raised to fund a government-run health insurance program for Americans who do not have health insurance. Nearly 59% oppose the creation of an 'Independent Medicare Advisory Council' with powers to deny payment for procedures it deems unnecessary or futile. More troubling is that two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found.

(“Obama’s Rhetoric vs. Common Sense” by Thomas Sowell dated September 12, 2009 published by Real Clear Politics at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/12/obamas_rhetoric_vs_common_sense.html

“The Protocols of Lyin’” by Harold Witkov dated September 14, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/the_protocols_of_lyin.html

“Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose ObamaCare on Key Points” by Jim Meyers dated September 14, 2009 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_healthcare_zog/2009/09/14/259999.html

“45% of Doctors Would Consider Quitting If Congress Passes Health Care Overhaul” by Terry Jones dated September 15, 2009 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=337909690110379 )

Like virtually every issue that faces the nation, our healthcare problem is greatly exacerbated by mass immigration, both legal and illegal. A total of 43% of non-citizens lack health insurance, compared to just 12.7% of native-born Americans. These uninsured immigrants impose huge strains on our healthcare system that helped create the crisis we currently face. While the current House bill claims to prohibit illegal aliens from receiving benefits, the Democrats repeatedly blocked Amendments that would screen for legal status. It is estimated that 6.6 million illegal aliens will be eligible for public healthcare. The 14^th Amendment of the Constitution has been interpreted to give children of illegal aliens born in the United States automatic citizenship (“anchor babies”). Under the plan right now, only one family member needs to be eligible for government healthcare, then the whole family can get free healthcare. In addition the process of chain migration, whereby legal immigrants and U.S. Citizens sponsor family members, has expanded this immigration stream out of control where eventually everyone’s cousin is eligible, regardless of skills or what they contribute to this country. It is estimated that legal immigrants and their children will be responsible for 78% of all increased healthcare costs by 2050 totaling 1.2 trillion dollars. Unlike illegal aliens, anchor babies and legal immigrants did not break any laws. Illegal immigrants should not be demonized, but we should not ignore the huge fiscal burden they impose on our already stretched economy. Republicans should embrace legal immigration as a key campaign issue highlighting this country as the land of opportunity and the home of liberty and freedom.

(“Legal Immigrants and ‘Anchor Babies’ Weigh Down ObamaCare” by Virgil Goode dated September 14, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/VirgilGoode/2009/09/14/legal_immigrants_and_anchor_babies_weigh_down_obamacare

“More (Legal) Immigration Please!” by Christopher Ruddy dated September 15, 2009 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/ruddy/GOP_immigration_Obama/2009/09/15/260217.html )

Our politicians have been telling us to "trust them" while they take over 1/6th of the US economy. The whole essence of Obama's big health-care speech was a series of half truths and outright lies from beginning to end, which the press never questions. The government’s own data debunk the hyper-inflated numbers put out by the White House intended to give the appearance of a crisis where there is none. Congressman Joe Wilson was chastised for remarking “You lie!” to the President, but there are a number of lies about health care that still need to be addressed:

· Obama's "Plan" doesn't have these problems you're talking about: There is no special Obama plan. His only "plan" is to sign anything that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi can ram through Congress.

· Obama's proposal is just minor, incremental tinkering. It does not take a thousand pages of legislation to implement minor, incremental changes The reality is that the proposals he advocates would create a vast new bureaucracy from scratch, with sweeping powers to regulate private health-insurance plans-eventually including employer-provided plans-and forcing individual health-insurance plans to be offered on a government-controlled "exchange." It is a plan for the comprehensive restructuring of the health-insurance industry-but Obama wants you to think that he's not really doing anything.

· The President is working with Republicans: Obama has refused to meet with Republican leaders on health care since April.

· Republicans haven't suggested a plan for health care: Republicans have actually submitted 35 different plans, each of which has been voted down by party line votes. Republican sponsors held up copies of their bills in derision when Obama made this claim.

· You can keep your existing insurance. Obama wordsmithed his promise to acknowledge the fact that individual plans would be swept into the government "exchange." But notice that, while claiming he won't change your existing coverage, Obama goes on to detail a whole set of changes to that coverage that will be mandated by government, and each will increase costs for private health-insurance companies. Obama explains that his bill will be paid for by increased taxes on drug companies and insurance companies. There is no way to increase all of these costs for the insurers without causing a corresponding increase in health-insurance premiums. So you can keep your health-insurance-except that its cost will be driven up by all of the regulations imposed by Obama's bill. That's why most of us grasp that the "public option" is not really an option, in the long run. Obama's bill is designed to drive up the costs of private insurance, making it even more unaffordable-and thereby herding all of us into a government-managed insurance plan as the only remaining alternative.

· The public option won't put the insurance industry out of business and lead to a government takeover of health care: Of course, it will. That's the whole purpose of putting it in the bill. So how is it that he was recorded only six years ago describing himself as an advocate of a Canadian style "single payer" system-the very opposite of "choice and competition"?

· Preventative care will be required in these bills and it'll save money: Studies show that preventative care increases, not decreases costs, since it leads to large numbers of people being treated for potential problems that would never end up coming to fruition.

· Abortion won't be covered under the bill: Unless the bill specifically says abortion isn't covered, it's covered by default. Abortion is not mentioned in the House bill and thus, is covered.

· This bill won't lead to rationing of health care and people being denied life saving operations. Of course, it will. In nations like Canada and Britain, long waits for surgeries and people being denied proven life saving operations for financial reasons is commonplace. How can anyone believe that we're going to copy their system and not have the same result?

· There are no death panels. What is Obama's most plausible recommendation for cutting Medicare spending? "[A]n independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead." How will they identify waste? By deciding which procedures are "cost effective" and should be covered by Medicare-and which procedures are "wasteful" and should not be covered. Britain's National Health Service already has such a commission, established on precisely the same rationale. They call it the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, known by the Orwellian acronym NICE. It is becoming notorious for rules that deny care to older patients because they don't have enough "quality adjusted life years" left to justify the cost of their treatment. Sure sounds like a "death panel" to me. This is precisely the system Obama advocates to cut costs under his plan.

· Medicare won't be cut to fund this health care bill: What Obama is talking about here is $177 billion in cuts for Medicare Advantage, the private insurance options that almost one-fourth of seniors have chosen for their coverage under Medicare. At a minimum, Obama's cuts will force these plans to cut back on their benefits for seniors or the Medicare Advantage plans may just go out of business altogether, dumping all the seniors who have made that choice because they are getting a better deal. Obama's health overhaul plan also includes cuts of "hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud" in Medicare. What Obama is talking about here is over $300 billion in additional Medicare cuts, for a total of $500 billion, for payments to doctors and hospitals. In response, doctors and hospitals will cut back on the services and care they provide to seniors. This is the beginning of the health care rationing in the Obama plan. Calling this just cuts in "waste and fraud" is again a calculated deception.

· The health care plan won't add "one dime to our deficits either now or in the future." According to the Congressional Budget Office, the House bill adds $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years, and even those numbers rely on very unlikely streams of revenue coming into the program. Moreover, the CBO only estimates numbers 10 years out. Over the long haul, all evidence points to costs skyrocketing into the stratosphere just as Social Security and Medicare have over time.

· The health-care bill will pay for itself with cost savings. It is clear that requiring health-insurance companies to pay for "routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies" will increase spending-but Obama claims that this will "save money" because we'll be "catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse." This is a demonstrated falsehood. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf makes this bluntly clear: "Researchers who have examined the effects of preventive care generally find that the added costs of widespread use of preventive services tend to exceed the savings from averted illness." A related lie: "we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system-a system that is currently full of waste and abuse," another claim that's been debunked by the CBO. The far more plausible way to cut Medicare spending is to begin rationing or denying care.

· Health care reform will help create more jobs: According to the Natural Federation of Independent Businesses, this health care bill would wipe out 1.6 million jobs.

Now the spell is broken, his audiences are beginning to ask the tough questions and Obama's credibility will continue to dissolve as his lies are exposed. A Gallup Poll released in July found that only 20% of Americans believe that the U.S. healthcare system is in crisis, and even fewer -- 16% -- think solving that crisis should be the government’s top priority. Do you really trust Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and the army of bureaucrats in DC enough to allow them to make life altering medical decisions for you and your children?

(“Obama’s Dissolving Credibility” by Robert Tracinski dated September 14, 2009 published Real Clear Politics at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/14/obamas_dissolving_credibility_98294.html

“10 More ‘You Lie’ Moments on Health Care” by John Hawkins dated September 15, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=c951a3a3-c50c-4ab2-9a9e-38762737d1b3&t=c

“Unhinged from Reality” by Peter Ferrara dated September 16, 2009 published by The American Spectator at http://spectator.org/archives/2009/09/16/unhinged-from-reality

“ObamaCare Special Report” by Connie Hair dated September 18, 2009 published by Human Events at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33604

“There’s No Free Health Care” by Fred Barnes dated September 28, 2009 published by The Weekly Standard at http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/973rqxkx.asp )

The latest Pew Research Survey indicates that Americans’ views of media bias and independence now match previous lows. The sad truth is that this credibility erosion is a self inflicted wound and not big surprise. Only 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate.” Once upon a time the major media sins were largely sins of omission. Now the standards have been so bastardized and hyperbolized that blatant partisan spin is no longer just for the venue of the editorial pages. The fourth estate is no longer functioning as an equalizer but has turned into partisan co-co-conspirators. The mainstream media has been derelict in their role of allowing you to even see the event to judge for yourself but their silence on gaffs has been deafening. The so-called Mainstream Media (MSM) are engaging in a colossal temper tantrum over their lost news monopoly - a monopoly they forfeited through their bias, arrogance, and self-imposed insulation. The Obama administration plethora of inconsistencies, deceptions and flat out bold faced lies deserve media attention. Issues such as Van Jones, ACORN, and the 912 Protest March initially dismissed or missed entirely by the national media have burst, if only fleetingly, onto the national agenda after relentless coverage on Fox News, talk radio, and in the blogosphere. It is the MSM’s refusal to ask potentially embarrassing questions of this administration that continues to erode their once upon a time dubious credibility. The MSM does not see the direct relationship between their credibility erosion and their market share erosion so they are clueless on who is responsible for their own demise. Glenn Beck’s focus on Van Jones and Breibart’s video’s of ACORN abuses may mark the tipping point of Alternative Media replacing the Mainstream Media as the best source of news. (“Media malaise Self Inflicted wounds” by Geoff Metcalf dated September 14, 2009 published by American Daily at http://americandaily.com/index.php/article/2125

“Divide between right, mainstream media” by Michael Calderone and Mike Allen dated September 15, 2009 published by Politico at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27186.html

“Mainstream Media Misses ACORN, Other Anti-Obama Scoops – Bias or Incompetence?” by David A. Patten dated September 16, 2009 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/acorn_media_beck_fox/2009/09/16/261056.html )

Obama campaigned on his ability to remake America’s image based on a fresh approach: a president committed to multilateralism, smart diplomacy, and American soft power. Throughout the Bush presidency, opinion polling from the Pew Research Center trumpeted America’s “abysmal” approval ratings across the globe. A newer Pew survey suggests that most Islamic countries distrust the United States under the leadership of President Obama about as much as they did under President George W. Bush. Majorities of the Muslim populations interviewed still believe that America plays a mostly destructive role in the world. Most view the United States as “an enemy” and “a military threat” to their own country. Most disapprove of the American-led effort to combat terrorism. Large numbers, in fact, voice strong support for terrorism and Osama bin Laden. Western Europeans, though expressing positive personal views of Obama, show little enthusiasm for key U.S. foreign policy objectives. In other words, anti-Americanism is alive and well in the age of Obama. The actual unmistakable finding, confirmed by the resiliency of anti-Americanism in the era of Obama, is that opinion polls do not really reflect public opinion in cultures rendered incoherent by despotism, denial, rage, and irrational religion. Instead, such surveys merely allow partisans to use foreign narrators to voice their private grievances. A more honest approach to polling could help us better understand America’s influence in the world. A different approach might uncover how the ideals of equality, freedom, government by consent, religious liberty, the core doctrines of the American creed, pose a threat to despots and religious demagogues. That would require researchers, however, to suspend their agendas and begin asking tough, open-ended questions to more diverse audiences. Obama depends on opinion polls to gauge progress and they currently show no progress, since public opinion of America has not changed and his “O’pology Tour” has accomplished little.

(“Anti-Americanism: Alive and Well in the Age of Obama” by Joseph Loconte dated September 16, 2009 published by The American Magazine at http://www.american.com/archive/2009/september/anti-americanism-alive-and-well-in-the-age-of-obama )

This country is in a battle between big government collectivism and freedom-loving Americans and hundreds of thousands (as many as a million) of dissatisfied Americans demonstrated in Washington, DC that we are unhappy with Congress and the President! America spoke September 12th in Washington, DC. Real America. Not black America, not white America, not Hispanic or Asian America, not even conservative or liberal America. Real America. There were mothers, sons, fathers, daughters, newborn children and kids on the way up; there were many, many elderly and a lot of disabled folks, young and old, in wheelchairs. Many of these people had never been to a protest before in their lives. People were pleasant, polite and considerate. Will we continue to hold tightly to the principles of freedom that made America the most exceptional, prosperous and compassionate nation in history? Or will we fall for the false hope and empty promises of more government solutions? “Will we continue to climb the mountain of personal responsibility, free markets, Judeo-Christian values, and constitutional limited government?” asked Jim DeMint. “Or will we sink into the pit of high taxes, suffocating debt and socialism?” In one of life's delicious ironies, the President, who campaigned as the Great Uniter, is worsening the split between the right and left and losing support in the process. Ordinary Americans, typically apolitical, are choosing sides -- and more are choosing the side of freedom every day. Politicians from both parties in Washington need to start listening to Americans and realize that they are well-informed as well as outraged. “It is time that the President and the Congress stop lecturing us and start listening to us,” said DeMint. “Too many Americans have fought and died for our freedom for us to give it away with apathy and silence. The majority of the politicians here in Washington seem to think that Americans are either asleep or stupid.” With the same party controlling the White House and Congress, many Americans worry Democrats can and will do whatever they want--no matter what anyone else thinks. Instead of operating as coequal branches of government, checking each other's power, the Congress and president operate as political allies, not constitutional adversaries. The Mainstream Media did not even bother to cover other rally’s around the country held by people unable to travel to Washington that numbered tens of thousands wherever they were held. If Woodstock in 1969 presaged the free-wheeling ’70s, then Saturday’s massive TEA party rally at the Capitol against Big Government may be the Constitutionalists’ equivalent and harbinger of hope for the next decade. The fundamental disagreement is whether the government works for the people and the people work for the government, and the crowd in Washington was very clear that We, the People rule!

(“DeMint Calls Out Obama and Congress: ‘Americans Are Awake,They’re Informed, and They’re Outraged’” by Terrence P. Jeffrey dated September 12, 2009 published by Cybercast News Service at http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53935

“Protests present GOP with tricky task” by Kenneth P. Vogel and Alex Isenstadt dated September 13, 2009 published by Politico at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27077.html

“America Spoke” by James Simpson dated September 13, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/america_spoke.html

“9/12 was a transformative event” by Clarice Feldman and Rosslyn Smith dated September 13, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/912_was_a_transformative_event.html

“Media Blackout” by Robert Rohlfing dated September 15, 2009 published by American Daily at http://americandaily.com/index.php/article/2128

“Manufactured March Madness” by Robert Knight dated September 15, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/RobertKnight/2009/09/15/manufactured_march_madness

“The Accountability Gap” by Gary Andres dated September 17, 2009 published by The Weekly Standard at http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/016/964nlyxl.asp

“Obama the Great Divider” by J. Robert Smith dated September 18, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/obama_the_great_divider.html )

* There is so much published each week that unless you go out of your way to find it, you will miss important breaking events. I package the best of this information into my “Views on the News” each Saturday morning for your reading pleasure and to fill in factual vacuums.

If you are sick and tired of government and politics as usual, read my web site with its individual issue analysis and recommendations sections at: http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com . Individual issue updates this week include:

· Budget at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/budget.html

· Welfare at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/welfare.html

David Coughlin

Hawthorne, NY