Views on the News

September 26, 2009

Views on the News*

When Obama heard he was over-exposed last week, he decided to try the “full Ginsberg” appearing this week on any media outlet that would support his message, with Fox News the obvious exception. President Obama blanketed the airwaves Sunday in a bid to sell his health care plan to the American people and put pressure on Congress to pass comprehensive reform legislation in the coming weeks. The Mainstream Media was so excited to interview President Obama that they overlooked that any “exclusivity” was canceled out by every other major media outlet that also interviewed him. He made a classic mistake of politicians on a downward-bending arc by jumping in front of the cameras without having something fresh to offer. As a result, he was on the defensive and failed to win over the slice of America that opposes his plans. He obviously believes if you tell the same lie or half truth over and over again that it is not just an echo but rather will replace the truth eventually, despite ample facts to the contrary. Obama has resorted to demonization of those who voice dissent. It began with the characterization of the tea party and town hall goers as un-American, Nazis, brown shirts, “teabaggers,” mobsters, and most recently domestic terrorists. But the ugliest technique of all is the race card. Being branded a "racist" is a direct assault on character that makes the average person want to run for cover. Congressman Joe Wilson was the initial target. His two word outburst on the floor of the House was a breach of decorum, but quickly his very legitimate policy concern was branded "racist" by the likes of New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. Next came the race baiting irresponsible former President Jimmie Carter charging that "There is an inherent feeling among many people in this country that an African-American ought not to be president, and ought not to be given the same respect as if he were white." Charges of racism effectively squelch dissent when people are afraid to express policy differences for fear of being branded a racist. In desperation Obama is trying to distract from his weak message by accusing any criticism as being racism despite the only reference to race coming from Democrat sycophants. He also tried to shift blame on the mainstream media for allowing negative messages to distract from his Cloward-Piven agenda overload of leftist legislation. If you want to know why Americans are so fearful of a government takeover of the health-care system, a new Gallup poll on government waste found that when asked "Of every tax dollar that goes to Washington, D.C., how many cents of each dollar would you say is wasted?" the mean response was 50 cents. With Uncle Sam spending just shy of $4 trillion this year, that means the public believes that $2 trillion is wasted. In a separate poll released on Monday, Gallup found that nearly twice as many Americans believe that there is "too much government regulation of business and industry." Perhaps most significantly, in both of these polls Gallup found that skepticism about government's effectiveness is the highest it's been in decades. During the first nine months of his Presidency, Obama has accomplished the seemingly impossible: he has proven that a politician can be even less trustworthy than Bill Clinton. Deviations from truth-telling identified by various critics go to the heart of his plan, compromise his credibility, and identify health-cost inflation with ruinous consequences for the economy. Americans have taken the measure of Mr. Obama's health-care plan and, as his falling poll numbers attest, increasingly don't like it. Most amazing of all, the president's constant chattering runs the risk of making him boring and stale. His magic dissipates as he becomes less interesting. Obama has been groomed for and anticipated this moment for decades and will not abandon his ambitions, no matter how much resistance he encounters from the American people, because he believes, like all radicals, that he knows better than the people what is in their best interests.

(“It’s the Liberty, Stupid” by Robert Tracinski dated September 20, 2009 published by Real Clear Politics at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/09/20/its_the_liberty_stupid_98387.html

“The real reason for the rage: Americans aren’t racist – they’re just furious at Obama and Washington” by Frank Luntz dated September 20, 2009 published by New York Daily News at http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/09/20/2009-09-20_the_real_reason_for_the_rage.html

“Suppressing Dissent is Un-American” by Ellen Sauerbrey dated September 21, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/suppressing_dissent_is_unameri.html

“Obama At Odds With Majority but Undeterred” by David Limbaugh dated September 22, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/DavidLimbaugh/2009/09/22/obama_at_odds_with_majority_but_undeterred

“Our $2 Trillion Bridge to Nowhere” by Stephen Moore dated September 23, 2009 published by The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574424750482799212.html

“The President Risks Getting Stale” by Karl Rove dated September 24, 2009 published by The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574430883099005144.html

“Health Reform and Truth-Telling” by Stuart Taylor Jr. dated September 26, 2009 published by National Journal Magazine at http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/openingargument.php

“Barack Obama’s Uninspiring Legacy” by Miguel A. Guanipa dated September 26, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/barack_obamas_uninspiring_lega.html)

If the Obama economic “stimulus” isn't working, perhaps it's because it was largely written by a collection of leftist interest groups called the Apollo Alliance that counts among its directors a co-founder of the Weather Underground. The Labor Department reported Friday that 42 states lost more jobs than they gained in August, and that 14 plus Washington, D.C., reported unemployment rates of 10% or more. Clearly, the stimulus bill, that no congressman read, is not working. As it turns out, no congressman may have written it either. It was largely the creation of a coalition of leftist organizations called the Apollo Alliance, whose primary interests are saving the Earth, environmental justice and redistributing wealth. This group is far more concerned with advancing their own leftist agenda than stimulating the economy or advancing job-creating capitalism. Van Jones has "described the Apollo Alliance mission as sort of a grand unified field theory for progressive left causes" that would tie elements of organized labor with community organizers and environmental groups into an outfit that would restructure American society. Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN, was also on the Apollo board, as is Gerald Hudson, vice president of the Service Employees International Union, which provides the shock troops in the movement to pass government-run health care. Little did the voters know that the Congressmen and Senators they would elect would pass a bill written by activist outsiders. Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of all this is that an even more radical Jeff Jones (no relation) has a relationship with the Apollo Alliance. Jeff Jones was a domestic terrorist in the '60s and a fugitive from justice throughout the '70s who, with Bill Ayers, helped found the Weather Underground in 1969. Today, Jones finds himself director of the Apollo Alliance's New York affiliate and a consultant to the national group. Jones helps write the grant proposals for federal stimulus dollars, funds authorized in the bill that Apollo helped write, all to ensure that taxpayer dollars end up in the hands of groups that share Apollo's political agenda. Welcome to government of the activist, by the activist and for the activist. The stimulus programs that have come out of the federal government and Federal Reserve have underwritten the recovery are all temporary fixes manipulated by the administration, so we may be experiencing a jobless “Pinocchio Recovery.”

(“Radicals Wrote Failed Stimulus” dated September 21, 2009 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=338426559999450

“The Pinocchio Recovery” by Paul Vigna dated September 22, 2009 published by Market Talk at http://markettalk.newswires-americas.com/?p=4995 )

The ObamaCare health care “reform” is based on half truths and outright lies, and is just a subterfuge to conceal Democrat expansion of government control over 17% of the American economy. The Democrats' original rationale for their national health care takeover scheme was to cover all uninsured Americans, but now they concede that their mega-upheaval of a plan would still leave about 15 million without medical insurance. The original "47 million uninsured" number was a canard, a hoax, a fraud and a lie. It includes at least 10 million illegal aliens and an additional five million legal foreign residents, and these categories are not "uninsured Americans" because they are not Americans. The notorious 47 million also includes millions of wealthy people who do not purchase medical insurance, rendering themselves self-insured, not uninsured. The biggest deceptions of all may be counting a large cohort of the young and vigorous who make the rational cost/benefit decision not to buy medical insurance yet, and several million others who qualify for free insurance and just don't bother to sign up! Bottom line, subtract out the un-uninsured and other inapplicable categories and the true number of Americans without health insurance is somewhere around 7 million, maybe 10 million conservatively. Another way the Democrats inadvertently reveal their own national health insurance dishonesty is through infidelity to a second objective — cost control. The Congressional Budget Office has reported that the Obama-Democrat scheme would add $1 trillion to the national health tab over the next decade. The Democrats have embarked on a strategy to take control of things, particularly big things in the economy such as the major banks and the auto industry by achieving control through bank dependence on TARP money and through his own coercion and intimidation. The portrait coming into focus is one of either totalitarian socialism or an unholy socialist hybrid with fascism, and when you are dependent on the decision of a Democrat bureaucrat for crucial medical treatment, how much power does that give the Democrats over you? When the Democrats achieve literal death-grip power over the lives of all our people, that is when they also achieve their long-cherished dream of absolute power and a Democrat dictatorship. Dictatorship in a virtual one-party state is the correct forecast because our present rulers can never be voted out of national power after they grant amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens, who would promptly be registered as mostly Democrat voters by ACORN! The strategy of the Democrat party is about raw political power and the long-promised socialist takeover of the United States. We do not have a health care crisis in this country, because everyone already gets health care and 85% are happy with their current health insurance. 65% of small business owners oppose a government-run health care system, and more importantly 79% of small business owners reject the idea of raising taxes to fund this plan. It is just that some rely on the emergency room as their private medical services provider, so the system is inefficient and definitely too expensive overall. We need to permit and foster interstate insurance competition, medical savings accounts and tort reform to help reduce costs, and tax credits for health insurance purchase to expand coverage, from about 98% of the population, in reality, to closer to 100%.

(“Health Reform Is Just Subterfuge; Dream Is Democratic Dictatorship” by John Gaski dated September 22, 2009 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=338508363226357

“Small Business Owners Sound Off on Health Care Reform” by Brad O’Leary dated September 24, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/small_business_owners_sound_of.html )

Requiring everyone to buy health insurance will impose a massive tax on all who now are uninsured. Rasmussen's poll found that only 35% feel that the Democrat health care “reform” will improve the quality of their health care, and 41% feel the cost of their care will go up, not down, under the plan. The Congressional Budget Office projects that it would force the middle-income uninsured to pay on average more than 15% of their income. The elderly were the first group to turn against President Obama's health-care proposals, alienated by the plans to cut $500 billion cut from Medicare. The young and the uninsured may be the next to jump ship -- out of worry over about the huge premiums they'd have to pay. President Obama absolutely refuses to acknowledge there is a huge middle-class tax in the Senate health care bill, when his plan mandates that the uninsured middle-income people either pay for insurance or face a stiff penalty tax – either way money out of pocket by the very folks he promised would never see their taxes rise under his presidency. The young and uninsured will catch on that this bill is designed to force healthy people who don't have health insurance, and may neither need nor want it, to buy it anyway, in order to raise the money to subsidize those who do need it. Obama has pledged only to increase taxes on the rich, but his program essentially taxes the core of the middle class (those making $30,000 to $80,000). It will make them overpay in order to pick up the slack for others who need the extra coverage. It is ironic that Obama denounced John McCain during the election for wanting to tax health care benefits, but now Obama has embraced “taxing employer-sponsored health benefits.” In other words, health-care "reform" is a naked health-care tax disguised as a program to cover the uninsured.

(“ObamaCare: Losing everyone” by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann” dated September 21, 2009 published by New York Post at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obamacare_losing_everyone_GMoSJylS0ZJLsQAtWEVKyN

“Yes, health-insurance mandate is a tax” by Donald Lambro dated September 23, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/DonaldLambro/2009/09/23/yes,_health-insurance_mandate_is_a_tax

“Obama’s Health Care Bait and Switch” by David Catron dated September 24, 2009 published by American Spectator at http://spectator.org/archives/2009/09/24/obamas-health-care-bait-and-sw )

The House Democrats' huge health care bill (HillaryCare II) bestows immense powers on one Washington bureaucrat who it authorizes to regulate every step of insurance buying and to collect any data on the American people the new Czar deems necessary to do the job - the Health Choices Commissioner. The post will be filled by the President and confirmed by the Senate to oversee a brand new government agency whose health industry powers seem boundless under the bill. This person, and this person alone, will decide whether a health coverage plan is acceptable to Washington or not. This bill is a massive transfer of regulatory authority from the states to the federal government over nationalized health insurance. This basically will undermine state independence, innovation in the provision of health insurance, the writing of health insurance and regulation. States vary from state to state on the kind of rules governing health insurance, but this bill federalizes the entire process. The Health Choices Commissioner will create a single, national insurance exchange, a place to shop for private insurance or the federal government option favored by liberals, and decide which companies can participate. Because of the way the bill is written, almost certainly all private insurers will want to join the exchange and compete with the feds. Regardless of whether a company joins, the commissioner will rule on the acceptability of all plan, and by 2013, all individuals seeking insurance must apply through the exchange. The commissioner will create the standards for all plans, meaning an insurer must meet his dictates on benefits or get out of the business. Perhaps the most disturbing power is a blank check to collect data -- a power that in the past has rankled liberals and the mainstream press, but in this case, with a Democrat bill, the prospect of unchecked "data mining" has stirred no leftist protest. The Commissioner's bureaucrats can obtain people's tax records, credit reports, employment history, or whatever he decides he needs. The ultimate purpose of the national health exchange is to put private insurers out of business. After all, when one government bureaucrat, the commissioner, is writing the rules for everyone, who is he going to favor: private industry or the government?

(“Buying Health Insurance? Only If He Likes It” by Rowan Scarborough dated September 21, 2009 published by Human Events at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33623 )

Among these not-so-subtle deceptions is President Obama's attempt to hide from the public that a major part of his health care plan revolves around care rationing which has already been adopted. Obama mocked those who claim "that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens." The problem with Obama's claim is that the panel was already created in the 2009 Stimulus bill. The Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research is the invention of former HHS nominee Tom Daschle. The purpose of the $1.1 billion bureaucracy, as explained by Daschle's own book, is to empower a panel "immune from political machinations" to "make tough coverage decisions." Slipping the panel provision into an early unrelated bill without any major discussion, the first major legislation passed under Obama, is also a strategy advocated by Daschle. To believe Obama, we must first believe that a health panel made for the purpose of rationing and passed at the only time when a rationing panel would not have been stopped, will now somehow not lead to rationing. While Obama and the Democrats go merrily on denying the realities of the health care bill, my question to them is the same as I posed to my little one: Do you really think that we don't know what you're doing?

(“Plain as Day” by Joseph Ashby dated September 22, 2009 published by American Thinker at http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/plain_as_day.html )

President Obama's “cap-and-trade” plan could deliver several blows to the U.S. economy, according to a Treasury Department memo that one observer described as "damning." The country could lose 1% of its gross domestic product, face accelerated outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, and experience energy rationing if “cap and trade” became law, according to the memo, which the Competitive Enterprise Institute obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. The memo, prepared after Obama’s February 24th speech to a joint session of Congress, details Treasury's analysis of the economic impact of “cap and trade”, which ties climate change to business practices. The report concludes that “cap and trade” could result in the loss of the U.S. market share in the global economy. The administration expects “cap and trade” to double the economic costs of all environmental regulations to the economy, and the 1% reduction in GDP would “institutionalize recession.” “Cap and trade” could generate between $100 billion and $200 billion in federal revenue each year and would increase the cost of existing energy tax provisions, according to the memo. The Treasury official who wrote the memo suggests using either a carbon tax or a “cap and trade” system that would price carbon at either a fixed tax rate or at a variable market price of emission allowances. The price would be set at a level where firms and consumers would experience “enough financial pain to compel them to reduce their emissions.” “Cap and trade” has one purpose, and that’s axiomatic, and that is to increase the cost of energy. These internal revenue estimates stand in stark contrast to the Obama administration’s public statements concerning “cap and trade”. Even Obama budget director Peter Orszag repeatedly wrote reports and testified that “cap and trade” is a tax when he ran the Congressional Budget Office. Undermining the whole premise of global warming, one of the world's foremost climate modelers and a lead author for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change acknowledged that the Earth has been cooling and is likely to continue that trend for the next couple of decades. If “cap and trade” quacks like a tax, looks like a tax, and does everything else like a tax, then it should be called “cap and tax,” but the problem is it is too high of a tax with no demonstrable benefit.

(“Treasury Memo: Cap and Trade Would Devastate U.S. Industrial Base, Trigger Rationing” by John Rossomando dated September 22, 2009 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/obama_cap_and_trade/2009/09/22/263372.html

“Decades of Global Cooling Ahead?” dated September 23, 2009 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/09/23/decades_of_global_cooling_ahead__97424.html )

Our international institutions are irredeemably corrupted, from the United Nations to the International Criminal Court and their affiliate and subordinate bodies, these institutions are rotten at their core. It isn't that they don't function; they function just fine. The problem is that through their regular functioning, they advance goals antithetical to those they were established to achieve. Instead of promoting global security, human rights, freedom and international peace, they facilitate war and aggression, human suffering and tyranny. In its treatment of Israel and in its treatment of the Iranian regime, the UN demonstrates that its practices are an inversion of its stated mission. Despite its leaders' and supporters' repeated claims to the contrary, the UN stands shoulder to shoulder with tyrants and aggressors against democrats and democracies seeking to advance the causes of freedom, human rights and international security. Obama has enthusiastically embraced the notion that the UN should by rights have a leading role in international affairs. He has also accepted the UN's basic notion that in the interest of world peace, the US and its democratic allies should bow to the desires of despots and dictators. The same UN, that appoints a new commission to criminalize Israel seemingly on a weekly basis, has been a major facilitator of Iran's nuclear weapons program. A consensus has formed in Israel that there is nothing to be gained from cooperating with this openly and dangerously hostile body. Never mind that the UN has repeatedly failed to prevent human rights abuses. Never mind that it has empowered regimes that kill, torture, and oppress their populations with impunity. Despite this history, Obama still seems to believe that the UN remains a force for good in the world. The President in his address to the UN placed unilateral nuclear disarmament, the environmentalist agenda, and increased pressure on U.S. allies at the forefront of a globalist agenda, while relegating terrorism to a footnote – one that regards it as a “law enforcement” matter. With the Obama administration fully on board the UN agenda, Israel and other threatened democracies like Honduras, Poland, the Czech Republic, South Korea and Japan will have to go it alone to loudly proclaim the UN-based international system's inherent moral, political and legal corruption and seek ways to undermine and weaken its power.

(“Our Irredeemable International System” by Caroline Glick dated September 21, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/CarolineGlick/2009/09/21/our_irredeemable_international_system

“UN-Inspired” by Jacob Laksin dated September 24, 2009 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=36413

“Obama’s Dangerous UN Agenda” by Ben Johnson dated September 25, 2009 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=36423 )

Barack Obama has sought to use his renown to repair America's image in the world, extending an "open hand" in major speeches on trips to more than a dozen countries. Eight months into his presidency, Obama has become a global celebrity, far more popular abroad than he is at home and sometimes eclipsing foreign leaders among their own people. e has restarted talks to limit nuclear weapons, begun engaging adversaries, helped orchestrate the world's response to economic collapse and reversed Bush-era policies that had angered allies and distanced the United States from the world community. The president’s decision to reverse Bush-era foreign policy in Eastern Europe by scrapping plans to build a missile defense shield and radar system in Poland and the Czech Republic resulted in cries of “betrayal” by critics in Poland and nations across the former Soviet bloc. Obama has re-branded an old failed policy with a new name, replacing appeasement with his policy “realism,” which is rapidly degenerating into old-time isolationism. The President is reconsidering his option on Afghanistan now that he finally understands it is his war to win or lose no matter how long it takes, despite harping from his leftist anti-American supporters. Reports say Gen. Stanley McChrystal may resign if not given tens of thousands more troops to conduct an Afghan version of the successful Iraq counterinsurgency strategy. But just as his domestic honeymoon has clearly ended, international events have demonstrated the limits of Obama's personal charm. Just as domestically Obama basks in a popular personal image, his popularity has not translated into progress on his agenda to implement his policies with concrete steps forward. Obama’s UN speech reiterated his rejection of American leadership and exceptionalism, and blaming President Bush for “unilateralism” and loss of global popularity. Meanwhile back at home Americans must judge Obama’s agenda whether it is for the betterment of America or for the betterment of the rest of the world at our expense?

(“Obama’s Worldwide Star Power Finds Limits” by Michael D. Shear and Howard Scheider dated September 20, 2009 published by The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/19/AR2009091902553_pf.html

“If Obama Weakens America, Will the World be More ‘Fair?’” by Austin Hill dated September 20, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/AustinHill/2009/09/20/if_obama_weakens_america,_will_the_world_be_more_fair

“Polish Paper on Obama: ‘Betrayal’” by Jordan Vivian dated September 21, 2009 published by Human Events at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=33622

“Seems Like Old Times” by Paul Greenburg dated September 21, 2009 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulGreenberg/2009/09/21/seems_like_old_times

“Obama’s Befuddling Afghan Policy” by Leslie H. Gelb dated September 22, 2009 published by The Wall Street Journal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204488304574426812788385256.html

“Good Losers” dated September 22, 2009 published by Investor’s Business Daily at http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=338509590234622 )

Someone Republican needs to step forward and lead America out of the political wilderness! Republicans know that ideas carry weight, and the right ideas (“Contract for America”) can carry candidates into political office. Someone needs to step forward to articulate how Republicans can not only lead this country but also ideas how to undo the damage done by this current administration. This plan would need to describe how the New Republican party is all inclusive and supports the wants and needs of all Americans, irrespective of race, creed or economic condition. A winning ticket must include a mix of ideas, experience, and a proven track record with pragmatic solutions that actually fix the nations root cause problems. The Republicans have an opportunity to make history by drafting Sarah Palin as their 2012 Presidential candidate and Condileezza Rice as their Vice Presidential candidate! These two have strengths in conservative values, economic responsibility and a strong defense. Their individual strengths complement each other to deliver an unbeatable team. Oh, by the way.... they are both females and one is an African-American. (I mention this last, since it is the least important aspect of their pairing). The Dream Team of Sarah Palin and Condileezza Rice would be unbeatable and prove that the New Republican Party is the party of new ideas and not the stale old GOP anymore!

(“GOP Return to Power Could Be Swift” by Matthew Towery dated September 24, 2009 published by News Max at http://www.newsmax.com/matt_towery/gop_clinton_republican/2009/09/24/264124.html)

* There is so much published each week that unless you go out of your way to find it, you will miss important breaking news. 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 gaps.

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:

· Elections at http://www.returntocommonsensesite.com/dp/elections.html

David Coughlin

Hawthorne, NY