Culture of Corruption

In her shocking new book, Malkin digs deep into the records of President Obama's staff, revealing corrupt dealings, questionable pasts, and abuses of power throughout his administration.

Michelle Malkin released her new book on 7/27/09 and already made it to the #1 sales rank on amazon...



From the Inside Flap:

The era of hope and change is dead....and it only took six months in office to kill it.

Never has an administration taken office with more inflated expectations of turning Washington around. Never have a media-anointed American Idol and his entourage fallen so fast and hard. In her latest investigative tour de force, New York Times bestselling author Michelle Malkin delivers a powerful, damning, and comprehensive indictment of the culture of corruption that surrounds Team Obama's brazen tax evaders, Wall Street cronies, petty crooks, slum lords, and business-as-usual influence peddlers. In Culture of Corruption, Malkin reveals:

* Why nepotism beneficiaries First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are Team Obama's biggest liberal hypocrites--bashing the corporate world and influence-peddling industries from which they and their relatives have benefited mightily

* What secrets the ethics-deficient members of Obama's cabinet--including Hillary Clinton--are trying to hide

* Why the Obama White House has more power-hungry, unaccountable "czars" than any other administration

* How Team Obama's first one hundred days of appointments became a litany of embarrassments as would-be appointee after would-be appointee was exposed as a tax cheat or had to withdraw for other reasons

* How Obama's old ACORN and union cronies have squandered millions of taxpayer dollars and dues money to enrich themselves and expand their power

* How Obama's Wall Street money men and corporate lobbyists are ruining the economy and helping their friendsIn Culture of Corruption, Michelle Malkin lays bare the Obama administration's seamy underside that the liberal media would rather keep hidden.

‘I supported him. I voted for him. I will not again’…

More:

Cambridge Police Release 911 Call & Police Radio Transmissions



Audio of the 911 call to Cambridge police that prompted the arrest of Harvard professor and race pimp Henry Louis Gates Jr has been released.

As you can decipher from the audiotape the woman who called Cambridge Police never referred to intruders as black.

So much for that "teachable moment."

Here is the police radio transmissions.

More... 5 reasons why Gates-Gate matters.

Previously:

** Obama's "Racist" Cop Won't Apologize For Arresting Black Harvard Elitist ...Update: Cop Tells Obama to "Butt Out"

** Bill Cosby "Shocked" At Dear Leader's Attack on Boston Police Officer

** Obama Doubles Down: Defends Comments That Boston Police Acted "Stupidly" (Video)

** President of International Brotherhood of Police Officers Slams Obama! ...Update: Cop Considers Lawsuit Against Gates

** Breaking: Cambridge Police Unit Demands Apology From Obama (Video)...Update: Doctors Want An Apology Too!

** Breaking Update: Obama Calls Cambridge Cop-- REFUSES to Apologize (Video)

** Black Police Sgt. Leon Lashley Backs Sgt. Crowley 100% In Arresting Unruly Professor Gates (Video)

** Congressman Will Introduce Resolution Demanding Obama Apologize to Cambridge Police Officer

** Dr. Gates On Whitey: "Malcolm X Was Talking About the White Man Was the Devil... It Was Great"

** Obama Pal Henry Gates Caught on Tape Trashing Clarence Thomas & Slandering Newt Gingrich (Video)

** Obama Pal Henry Gates: "As Always, Whitey Now Sits in Judgment of Me"

'You're Going to Destroy My Presidency'

Just two days ago, The Anointed One tried to convince us that the health care debate isn’t about him (riiight). The 3 Obamabots who still believe that are going to have their faith shaken by this story:

National Journal:

A telling episode recounted by Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley reveals the Obama administration might be more worried than they are letting on that a Republican senator’s comparison of the healthcare overhaul to Waterloo might be dangerously close to the truth.

Grassley said he spoke with a Democratic House member last week who shared Obama’s bleak reaction during a private meeting to reports that some factions of House Democrats were lining up to stall or even take down the overhaul unless leaders made major changes.

“Let’s just lay everything on the table,” Grassley said. “A Democrat congressman last week told me after a conversation with the president that the president had trouble in the House of Representatives, and it wasn’t going to pass if there weren’t some changes made … and the president says, ‘You’re going to destroy my presidency.’ “

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

nobamablog.wordpress.com

Obama Admits He’s “Not Familiar” With House Bill

With the public’s trust in his handling of health care tanking (50%-44% of Americans disapprove), the White House has launched a new phase of its strategy designed to pass Obamacare: all Obama, all the time. As part of that effort, Obama hosted a conference call with leftist bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible.

During the call, a blogger from Maine said he kept running into an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance. He asked: “Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?” President Obama replied: “You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about.” (quote begins at 17:10)

This is a truly disturbing admission by the President, especially considering that later in the call, Obama promises yet again: “If you have health insurance, and you like it, and you have a doctor that you like, then you can keep it. Period.” How can Obama keep making this promise if he is not familiar with the health legislation that is being written in Congress? Details matter.

We are familiar with the passage IBD sites, and as we wrote last week, the House bill does not outright outlaw private individual health insurance, but it does effectively regulate it out of existence. The House bill does allow private insurance to be sold, but only “Exchange-participating health benefits plans.” In order to qualify as an ?Exchange-participating health benefits plan,? all health insurance plans must conform to a slew of new regulations, including community rating and guaranteed issue. These will all send the cost of private individual health insurance skyrocketing. Furthermore, all these new regulations would not apply just to individual insurance plans, but to all insurance plans. So the House bill will also drive up the cost of your existing employer coverage as well. Until, of course, it becomes so expensive that your company makes the perfectly economical decision to dump you into the government plan.

President Obama may not care to study how many people will lose their current health insurance if his plan becomes law, but like most Americans, we do. That is why we partnered with the Lewin Group to study how many Americans would be forced into the government “option” under the House health plan. Here is what we found:

• Approximately 103 million people would be covered under the new public plan and, as a consequence, about 83.4 million people would lose their private insurance. This would represent a 48.4 percent reduction in the number of people with private coverage.
• About 88.1 million workers would see their current private, employer-sponsored health plan go away and would be shifted to the public plan.
• Yearly premiums for the typical American with private coverage could go up by as much as $460 per privately-insured person, as a result of increased cost-shifting stemming from a public plan modeled on Medicare.

It is truly frightening that the President of the United States is pressuring Congress in an all-out media blitz to pass legislation that he flatly admits he has not read and is not familiar with. President Obama owes it to the American people to stop making promises about what his health plan will or will not do until he has read it, and can properly defend it in public, to his own supporters.

www.heritage.org

Not So Sure - Health Care Reform

Perils of Obamacare: The Three Big Lies

In making his case for a government takeover of the US health-care system, President Obama is going far beyond the usual Washington truth-stretching. Take a look at just a few of the most common claims:

"If you like your current health-care plan, you can keep it." Even White House spokesmen have said that Obama's oft-repeated pledge that you can keep your current insurance isn't meant to be taken literally. The reality is that millions of Americans - perhaps most Americans - will be forced to change insurance plans.

First, the president supports an individual mandate - a requirement that every American buy health insurance. And not just any insurance but insurance that includes all the benefits government thinks you should have. That insurance could be more expensive or include benefits that people don't want or are morally opposed to, such as abortion services.

And that doesn't just affect those without insurance today. The bills now before Congress say that while you won't be immediately forced to switch from your current insurance to a government-specified plan, you'll have to switch to satisfy the government's requirements if you lose your current insurance or want to change plans.

Plus, the president supports the creation of a government insurance program that would compete with private insurance. But because this ultimately would be subsidized by American taxpayers, the government plan could keep its premiums artificially low or offer extra benefit.

In the end, millions of Americans would be forced out of the insurance they have today and into the government plan. Businesses, in particular, would have every incentive to dump their workers into the public plan. The actuarial firm the Lewin Group estimates that as many as 118.5 million people, roughly two-thirds of those with insurance today, would be shifted from private to public coverage.

"You will pay less." The Congressional Budget Office has made it clear that the reform plans now being debated will increase overall health-care costs, yet President Obama on Friday repeatedly said that his reform would reduce costs and save Americans money.

But no matter how many times he says it, the truth is you will pay more - much more - both in higher taxes and in higher premiums.

The final health-care bill is expected to cost more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. That means much higher taxes, and not just for the wealthy.

If one totals up all the new taxes in the House Democratic health-reform bill - the income surtax, the penalties on businesses and individuals that fail to buy into the government health plan, as well as other fees and taxes - the cost to US taxpayers will top $800 billion. New York City will face marginal tax rates as high as 57 percent.

At a time of rising unemployment and economic stagnation, that is like throwing an anchor to a drowning man.

In addition, the new insurance regulations expected to be part of the final bill are likely to drive up insurance premiums. And, if the new government-run plan under-reimburses doctors and hospitals - as Medicare and Medicaid do - providers would be forced to recoup that lost income by shifting their costs to private insurance, driving up premiums. A study by the Council for Affordable Health Insurance estimates that the president's proposals could increase premiums by 75 to 95 percent.

"Quality will improve." Anyone who thinks a government takeover of the health-care system will improve quality of care has only to look at the health-care programs the government already runs: The Veterans Administration is overwhelmed with problems, Medicaid is notorious for providing poor quality at a high cost - and Medicare has huge gaps in coverage.

Worse, however, on Friday, Obama endorsed the creation of a government board with the power to dictate how your doctor practices medicine and all but endorsed the rationing prevalent in nationalized health-care systems around the world.

In short, when it comes to claims about the wondrous new world of government-run health care, a bit of skepticism might be in order.

Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and coauthor of Healthy Competition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.

By Michael Tanner - realclearpolitics.com

Peasants Revolt!... Obama's Secretary Sebelius & Dem Sen Cardin Confronted By Unruly Mobs at Obamacare Forums

An unruly peasant told Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius and other Obama cabinet officials: "It will be a cold day in hell before he socializes my country" at an Obamacare townhall meeting in Louisiana:



Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) did not fair much better...
A rebellious peasant challenged Cardin to explain why it was OK for the government to force an individual to have health insurance if they chose not to do so.

Freedom's Lighthouse has video.

Here is video of Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin being challenged on Obama's Government Health Care Plan at a town hall meeting he held on the subject. A man in the audience challenged Cardin to explain why it was OK for the government to force an individual to have health insurance if they chose not to do so. In his case, he said he needed to use that money elsewhere. The man asked why he should be made to pay a $2500 a year fine for not having it.

Cardin made the ridiculous argument that if he did not have health care insurance and was injured, all the other taxpayers would wind up paying for him. It was a crazy argument because by adopting Obama's plan, Government would be assuming massive liability to provide health care coverage to far more people!

freedomslighthouse.com (Click To Watch Video)

The rogues and knaves also confronted Rep. Carnahan at his Obamacare forum yesterday.
The nerve!:

Liberal Representative Russ Carnahan (D-MO) held a health care town hall meeting in St. Louis yesterday. Several members of the Tea Party Coalition attended the event.
Carnahan tried to persuade the crowd that Obamacare was a big money saver... It's too bad for Carnahan that the audience actually knew about last week's CBO report.
They weren't buying it.
The audience snickered, jeered, laughed at and erupted several times during the forum.



This obviously wasn't the typical audience Russ Carnahan was used to speaking to.
They weren't buying into his obvious mistruths about Obama's plan to socialize the nation's health care system.
Great job, St. Louis!

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Let’s Face It: Obama Is No Post-Partisan

Only last summer we were told that Barack Obama’s political appeal rested on his vision for a “post-partisan future.” The post-partisan future was one of the press corps’ favorite phrases. It served as shorthand for the candidate’s repeated references to “unity of purpose,” looking beyond a red or blue America, and so on.

Six months into the president’s term, you don’t read much about this post-partisan future anymore. It may be because on almost every big-ticket legislative item (the stimulus, climate change, and now health care), Mr. Obama has been pushing a highly ideological agenda with little (and in some cases zero) support from across the aisle. Yet far from stating the obvious—that sitting in the Oval Office is a very partisan president—the press corps is allowing Mr. Obama to evade the issue by coming up with novel redefinitions.

The redefinition started during the stimulus debate, but it really picked up steam late last month with David Axelrod’s appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” There the president’s chief strategist explained that a bill didn’t need Republican votes to be “bipartisan”; it was enough if Republican “ideas” were included. A few days earlier, Rahm Emanuel had offered reporters another redefinition, suggesting that a bill was bipartisan if people merely “saw the president trying” to get Republicans on board.

The president himself endorsed this redefinition during Rose Garden remarks delivered after a Senate committee passed a health-care bill on a strictly party-line vote. Perhaps only someone who truly embraces “the audacity of hope” could see healthy bipartisanship at work in the complete lack of GOP votes. Here’s how he put it: “It’s a plan that was debated for more than 50 hours and that, by the way, includes 160 Republican amendments—a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product.”

Let’s leave aside specific complaints from Republicans, who note that the “Republican” amendments the president cited are mostly technical in nature. The larger point is that the White House’s new definitions of bipartisanship are just like the fake “jobs saved or created” numbers Mr. Obama used to justify the stimulus at a time when the economy was in fact shedding tens of thousands of jobs. And the press should call him on it.

Honest reporting would seem especially important at a time when the future of a large and vital segment of the American economy is at stake. In addition to higher costs, other Republican objections to the president’s health-care proposal include the establishment of a government-run insurance plan that will compete with private insurers—and the refusal to equalize the tax treatment between individually purchased and employer-provided health insurance. In all these areas, the president has shown no interest in compromise.

The president’s inflexibility is having an interesting effect—on Democrats. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D., Mont.), believes he would attract Republican votes if the bill helped pay for the expanded health care by subjecting employer-provided health benefits to the same taxes imposed on individual plans. He has also complained that the president is “making it difficult” to get a bill through. Surely it says something about Mr. Obama’s partisanship that this complaint issues from the one Democratic leader committed to producing a bipartisan health-care bill.

Mr. Baucus is not the only one. Other Democratic pols, especially those from the more conservative states, do not relish the prospect of being on the hook for a health-care package that even the Congressional Budget Office says will raise health costs rather than lower them. Nor do they appreciate the ads the president is now running in their states via the Democratic National Committee. These ads target moderate Democrats in an effort to pressure them into passing the president’s health-care proposal quickly.

Back when George W. Bush was in the Oval Office, the press routinely characterized almost everything he and the GOP Congress did as partisan. While it’s true that some parts of his agenda were passed on a purely partisan basis—most notably, the 2003 tax cuts pushed through the Senate with the deciding vote cast by Vice President Dick Cheney—this was the exception rather than the rule. In fact, many of the most far-reaching bills pushed by President Bush—the Patriot Act, the war-funding bills, No Child Left Behind, the Medicare drug benefit, etc.—were in the end passed with a healthy number of Democratic votes.

In itself, of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with opting to forgo bipartisanship support for the sake of getting your ideas through. That, however, is not what Candidate Obama promised. And just think how the debate would change if the press were to begin describing Mr. Obama in a way that seems reserved for Republicans: a highly partisan president pursuing a narrow partisan agenda.

wsj.com

2 Pounds of Frozen Ham in Stimulus Bill Cost $1,191,200

Your Obama Government at work--
The government was charged $1,191,200 for a Stimulus project started on April 28, 2009 and completed on June 30, 2009.

The description of work or service performed:

2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED

From the Recovery.org website:

Click to Enlarge

That must have been some delicious meat!

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Iowa Farmer Sells Hopey-Changey Lemonade to Pay Off Grandson's Share of Federal Deficit

John Scherle squeezed a little politics into the lemonade he sold on his farm near Henderson. According to the signs he posted for “Hope-y, Change-y Obama Lemonade,” with special “class warfare prices” that depend on each customer’s income. Those who make less than $25,000 per year pay 25 cents, while those in the upper income brackets pay a full five bucks.

The profits will help Scherle’s grandson pay off the federal deficit in 2030, according to one sign.“We don’t care if we sell much,” Scherle said. “We’re just getting the message across.”

ragbrai.com

Obamacare Will Punish Small Business, Increase Debt & Add to Record Deficit

Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) discusses Republican ideas for reforming health care and explains why the Democrats' plans are unwise.

Sen. Kyl notes that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that the Democrats' helath plans would "add additional onto an already unsustainable system." Further, Sen. Kyl says, the Democrat plans would "empower Washington, not doctors and patients, to make health care decisions. And [it] would impose a new tax on working families during a recession."

Joe Biden: "We've Got To Spend Money To Keep From Going Bankrupt"

VP Joe Biden told an audience today at an AARP town hall meeting in Virginia:

"We have to spend money to keep from going bankrupt."

And, Team Obama is doing its best to prove him right.



Here's Joe Biden on spending your way to prosperity:

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

And Joe Biden wasn't kidding.
President Disaster will quadruple the US budget deficit his first year in office.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

It's Not Iran - It's Obama's Administration Here in America

New Ad Compares Obama Administration to Killer Iranian Regime.



Here is video of a new ad put out by OurCountryPAC.org which compares the Obama Administration to the tactics used by the regime in power in Iran. It cites articles about voter fraud, government takeovers, etc., with a picture of Iranian President Ahamdinejad next to the reports. Then, the ad points out the articles are not about Iran but about the Obama Administration.

Orders revoked for soldier challenging prez

A U.S. Army Reserve major from Florida scheduled to report for deployment to Afghanistan within days has had his military orders revoked after arguing he should not be required to serve under a president who has not proven his eligibility for office.

His attorney, Orly Taitz, confirmed to WND the military has rescinded his impending deployment orders.

"We won! We won before we even arrived," she said with excitement. "It means that the military has nothing to show for Obama. It means that the military has directly responded by saying Obama is illegitimate – and they cannot fight it. Therefore, they are revoking the order!"

She continued, "They just said, 'Order revoked.' No explanation. No reasons – just revoked."

A hearing on the questions raised by Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook, an engineer who told WND he wants to serve his country in Afghanistan, was scheduled for July 16 at 9:30 a.m.

Join the petition campaign to make President Obama reveal his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate!

"As an officer in the armed forces of the United States, it is [my] duty to gain clarification on any order we may believe illegal. With that said, if President Obama is found not to be a 'natural-born citizen,' he is not eligible to be commander-in-chief," he told WND only hours after the case was filed.

"[Then] any order coming out of the presidency or his chain of command is illegal. Should I deploy, I would essentially be following an illegal [order]. If I happened to be captured by the enemy in a foreign land, I would not be privy to the Geneva Convention protections," he said.

The order for the hearing in the federal court for the Middle District of Georgia from U.S. District Judge Clay D. Land said the hearing on the request for a temporary restraining order would be held Thursday.

Cook said without a legitimate president as commander-in-chief, members of the U.S. military in overseas actions could be determined to be "war criminals and subject to prosecution."

He said the vast array of information about Obama that is not available to the public confirms to him "something is amiss."

"That and the fact the individual who is occupying the White House has not been entirely truthful with anybody," he said. "Every time anyone has made an inquiry, it has been either cast aside, it has been maligned, it has been laughed at or just dismissed summarily without further investigation.

"You know what. It would be so simple to solve. Just produce the long-form document, certificate of live birth," he said.

Cook said he was scheduled to report for duty tomorrow, on July 15, to deploy to Afghanistan as part of President Obama's plan to increase pressure of insurgent forces there.

He told WND he would be prepared for a backlash against him as a military officer, since members of the military swear to uphold and follow their orders. However, he noted that following an illegal order would be just as bad as failing to follow a legal order.

Before news of the orders being revoked were reported, MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann tonight called Cook a "jackass" and Taitz a "conwoman," as he labeled both of them the "worst persons in the world." He flayed the soldier as "an embarrassment to all those who have served without cowardice."

Named as defendants in the case are Col. Wanda Good, Col. Thomas Macdonald, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Obama, described as "de facto president of the United States."

According to the court filing, Cook affirmed when he joined the military, he took the following oath: "I, Stefan Frederick Cook, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the president of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

According to the claim, "Plaintiff submits that it is implicit though not expressly stated that an officer is and should be subject to court-martial, because he will be derelict in the performance of his duties, if he does not inquire as to the lawfulness, the legality, the legitimacy of the orders which he has received, whether those orders are specific or general."

The military courts offer no option for raising the question, so he turned to civilian courts to consider "a question of paramount constitutional and legal importance: the validity of the chain of command under a president whose election, eligibility, and constitutional status appear open to serious question."

"Barack Hussein Obama, in order to prove his constitutional eligibility to serve as president, basically needs only produce a single unique historical document for the Plaintiff’s inspection and authentication: namely, the 'long-form' birth certificate which will confirm whether Barack Hussein Obama was in fact born to parents who were both citizens of the United States in Honolulu, Hawaii, in or about 1961," explains the complaint.

Taitz said she will attend the hearing to amend the temporary restraining order to an injunction because more members of the military have joined the cause.

"We are going to be asking for release of Obama's records because now this completely undermines the military. It revoked this order, but it can come up with another order tomorrow. It can come up with orders for other people," she said. "Am I going to be flying around the country 1,000 times and paying the fees every time they issue an order?"

Taitz said the issue "must be resolved immediately," and she will continue working to ensure Obama proves he is eligible for office.

"We're going to be asking the judge to issue an order for Obama to provide his vital records to show he is legitimately president," she said. "We're going to say, we have orders every day, and we'll have revocations every day. This issue has to be decided."

She said there cannot be any harm to the president if he is legitimately holding office.

"If he is legitimate, then his vital records will prove it," Taitz said. "If he is illegitimate, then he should not have been there in the first place."

Asked what this decision means for every other serviceman who objects to deployment under a president who has not proven he is eligible for office, Taitz responded:

"Now, we can have each and every member of the military – each and every enlistee and officer – file something similar saying 'I will not take orders until Obama is legitimately vetted.'"

Multiple questions have been raised about what that would mean to the 2008 election, to the orders and laws Obama has signed and other issues, including whether he then is a valid commander-in-chief of the military.

By Chelsea Schilling and Joe Kovacs
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Health Rations and You

Obamacare Will Outlaw Private Health Insurance Plans!

We were warned and warned and warned.
Verum Serum revealed earlier the real goal of the Obamacare is to rid the nation of private insurance options.



We just didn't think it would come so soon.

Obamacare will outlaw individual private coverage.
Investor's Business Daily reported:

Congress: It didn't take long to run into an "uh-oh" moment when reading the House's "health care for all Americans" bill. Right there on Page 16 is a provision making individual private medical insurance illegal.

When we first saw the paragraph Tuesday, just after the 1,018-page document was released, we thought we surely must be misreading it. So we sought help from the House Ways and Means Committee.

It turns out we were right: The provision would indeed outlaw individual private coverage. Under the Orwellian header of "Protecting The Choice To Keep Current Coverage," the "Limitation On New Enrollment" section of the bill clearly states:

"Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day" of the year the legislation becomes law.

So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised — with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won't be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers.

From the beginning, opponents of the public option plan have warned that if the government gets into the business of offering subsidized health insurance coverage, the private insurance market will wither. Drawn by a public option that will be 30% to 40% cheaper than their current premiums because taxpayers will be funding it, employers will gladly scrap their private plans and go with Washington's coverage.

In 2003 Obama said he was a proponent of single-payer universal health care system for America.
It looks like he will get it.

Hat Tip Tom W.

More... Three House committees are preparing to vote on the Health Care Bill already today.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Five Criticisms of George Bush That Could Be Better Applied to Barack Obama

Most liberals in this country are intellectually dishonest which is why they don't have the slightest qualms about grotesque double standards. That's why Al Gore can live in a mansion that consumes energy like a football stadium while he tells you to cut back. It's why Sarah Palin can be sliced apart for things said by Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live while Joe Biden is treated seriously despite being the biggest doofus ever to occupy the Vice-Presidency. It's also why Barack Obama gets a free pass for many of the same things that George Bush was criticized for doing. Here are just a few of the criticisms aimed at George Bush that could be better applied to Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is a chickenhawk: How often did we hear liberals sneer that George Bush was a chickenhawk? How could someone who had never served in combat lead America as Commander-in-Chief?

Well, excuse me for noticing, but George Bush did at least fly planes for the National Guard. On the other hand, despite the fact that Barack Obama never served at all, he's fighting the same two wars that Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is even ramping things up in Afghanistan while simultaneously forcing our troops to engage in combat under onerous new rules of engagement that will make it much tougher on our soldiers. Guess it's easy for a chickenhawk like Obama to handcuff our troops going into battle when he has never been into combat himself.

Barack Obama is a shameless liar: Bush lied! Bush lied! Bush lied! How many times did we hear that over the last eight years? It was repeated endlessly despite the fact that whatever else you want to say about George Bush, he could fairly be called one of the most honest politicians in America. That's why the "lies" he was supposed to be telling were always things like, "He thought there were WMDS in Iraq, but there weren't" or "Bush said he wants to bring democracy to Iraq, but he's lying!"

Meanwhile, Barack Obama has already broken more campaign promises in less than six months than Bush did in two terms. Obama promised no tax increases for people under $250,000 and he's working on multiple bills, including health care and cap and trade, that would raise taxes even on the poor. He promised transparency, to hold all bills for 5 days before they are signed so the public could comment. It hasn't happened once yet. Barack even promised to "negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPAN." How's that pie-in-the-sky promise working out?

Additionally, almost everyone reading this article could probably name off at least one or two more whoppers that President Jug Ears has reeled off. During the campaign, he was promising fluffy rainbows and multi-colored kittens to make every child in the world happy and now that Obama's President, it's "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?"

Barack Obama is spending us into bankruptcy: George Bush was savagely criticized by the Right for his spending. In fact, it was the single biggest criticism of him throughout his administration -- and rightfully so. The Left even got in on the act. The mainstream media hammered Bush for the deficit and so did the Democrats, despite the fact that they always seemed to be screeching that we weren't spending enough money.

Fast forward to Barack Obama, who is already the biggest spender we've ever had in the White House. The previous champ, FDR, at least had a depression and WWII to deal with. On the other hand, at a time when ordinary Americans have had to cut back, Obama supported Bush's 700 billion dollar plus TARP bill and funneled hundreds of billions of dollars to fat cats in the banking industry. He spent billions more of your money helping his union pals at Chrysler and GM. He slammed through a stimulus bill that will cost more than a trillion dollars despite the fact that it hasn't stimulated the economy -- and since economists were already projecting that the economy would recover in the 2nd half of 2009, if not now, then when? Meanwhile, Obama wants to take over the health care system, he wants to spend billions on Cap and Trade, and they've even been floating the idea of a 2nd Stimulus Bill. Bush may have been like an irresponsible person who was living month to month by paying bills with his credit card, but Obama's like someone taking out a third mortgage on his mother’s house so he can spend the next few months buying rounds of beer for his friends at his favorite bar.

Barack Obama is ruining America's reputation around the world: It's fair to say that George Bush was not well liked around the world and that America's reputation suffered under his presidency. However, that was not because George Bush was an obnoxious Texas yahoo who was upsetting the delicate sensibilities of the "world community;" it was because George Bush was fighting a global war on terror and had to ask our "allies" to actually do things to help us.

It's very easy to love America when it's all "gain" and "no pain." When Americans give you money, fight your wars for you, and do your dirty work while asking almost nothing in return because they errantly believe that "good will" can be stored up like money in a bank, it's easy to say a few nice words about America. But, when the Americans expect you to actually pay them back for all they've done by taking their side against terrorists or worse yet, actually fight with them the same way they've done for you in the past, that is a different matter entirely.

Nevertheless, Barack Obama promised us a new day when he got into the White House. Oh, we were going to see what real diplomacy looks like when Barack Obama stepped into the Oval Office! However, that hasn't worked out so well, has it? Obama has managed to insult our best allies in Britain multiple times, he sold our Eastern European allies out to the Russians, who incidentally, have run rings around him so far, and he stayed silent for far too long when he should have been speaking up for the people in Iran. Obama has also sided with a dictator-wannabe over freedom-loving people in Honduras, the Taliban have taken over half the country in Pakistan under his watch, and he is already proving to be the most anti-Israeli President we've had in the White House for decades. In other words, our friends now wonder if they can rely on us and our enemies have been emboldened. Even Jimmy Carter took a couple of years to screw things up this badly on the foreign policy front.

Barack Obama is dumb: Yes, I know that Barack Obama went to Columbia University and Harvard Law School. However, George W. Bush also went to Harvard and no one on the Left ever seemed to think that made it difficult to hang the "dumb" label around his neck. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.

Admittedly, George Bush was not the most eloquent President we've ever had, but of course, neither is Barack Obama once he gets off his teleprompter. The biggest difference between the two men is not their speaking ability; it's that the mainstream media decided from day one that George Bush was dumb just because he was a Republican from Texas. Then, they spent years highlighting every teeny, tiny piece of evidence that they could find to try to prove their theory. If Bush mangled a word, it was because he was stupid. If he made a mistake -- stupid. If they disagreed with his position? Stupid! On the other hand, the very same media has decided that Barack Obama is smart because he's a liberal; so no matter how many dumb things he says or does, it’s ignored because it doesn't fit the template that the media created based on his ideology.

Yet and still, was it George Bush who claimed that there were more than 57 states? Did Bush say he saw our "fallen heroes" in the audience during a speech? Was it George Bush who made a racist comment about "typical white people?" Did W. spend 20 years without complaint at a church where the pastor spouted off ignorant, anti-Semitic ideas and conspiracy theories? Was George Bush so much of an airhead that he actually ended up "thanking himself in a speech" because that's what his teleprompter said to do? Was it George W. Bush who tried to walk into the White House through a window? If Barack Obama were a Republican, the words "Too dumb to be President?" would have already appeared beside of his picture thousands of times by now.

by John Hawkins - townhall.com

The Priorities of Barack Obama

You may have heard: The Anointed One paid a little visit to St. Louis tonight to grace the Fox Broadcast booth with his presence during the 3rd inning. Chatting it up with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, he was asked if he was ready to make a prediction for the 2009 World Series. Obama said he needed a little more information before he is ready to make that pick.

I guess he only rushes when making decisions that compromise our nation and mortgage our children’s future.

nobamablog.wordpress.com

Jon Voight: Obama Regime Is Controlling the Press

Jon Voight speaks out on Hannity. Says Obama regime is controlling the press.

Media Ignores Obumbler's Stumble

A human moment, of course; if I had a dime for every time I tripped through a doorway, I’d be rich enough to pay a health-care surtax. However, Gerald Ford’s critics skewered him for tripping and defined him as a clumsy oaf, even though Ford may have been one of the most athletic presidents in modern history. The Left still makes pretzel jokes about George Bush. So here’s Barack Obama, not gliding through a doorway in L’Aquila, Italy (via William Amos):




by Ed Morrissey - hotair.com

Grim Milestone...Obama Oversees First Ever $1 Trillion Federal Budget Deficit

It's too bad he can't blame Bush for this.
Barack Obama became the first president ever to witness the US deficit top $1 trillion dollars under his watch today.

FOX News reported:

Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time.

The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation, and already pressuring the value of the dollar. There's also concern about trying to reverse the deficit -- by reducing government spending or raising taxes -- in the midst of a harsh recession.

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to nearly $1.1 trillion.

The deficit has been propelled by the huge sum the government has spent to combat the recession and financial crisis, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. Paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The country's soaring deficits are making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

"These are mind boggling numbers," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. "Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run."

How about that Stimulus Bill?

Obama will quadruple the US budget deficit his first year in office.

And, he wants to spend trillions more for his Obamacare program.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

What The Media Didn’t Report: Russians Refused To Shake Obama’s Hand

In the last news cycle there were a lot of stories written about Obama’s visit to Russia. But one story that didn’t appear anywhere in the American media (that I saw) was about the Russian leaders refusing to shake Obama’s hand.

Here’s video:

You’d think a clear and intentional snub like that might have been, you know, important information the American public deserves to be aware of. Because it was clearly intentional, and Obama was obviously surprised and upset by the move.

And yet, not one story in the American media.

If this had been Bush you can bet it would have been news.

By Rob - sayanythingblog.com

Hypocrisy alert: MSNBC’s Shuster gets shorts in a wad over Freepers criticism of Obama’s Daughter

via NewsBusters.org:

MSNBC’s David Shuster on Saturday told his fans at Twitter that he intends to report on some ugly comments made about President Obama’s daughter Malia at the conservative website Free Republic last week.

For those unaware, a British Daily Mail article about a peace sign t-shirt Malia was wearing in Rome before the start of the G-8 summit was posted at Free Republic Wednesday evening.

According to the Vancouver Sun, this generated some tasteless remarks…(continued)

Boo-f’ing hoo. What hypocritical moral outrage from the same network where Keith Olbermann attacked Sarah Palin after David Letterman joked about her daughter being raped at a baseball game. Until the Left is ready to play by the same rules they demand of everyone else, the gloves should stay off. If Willow Palin is fair game for attending a sporting event with her mother, it’s only fair that Malia Obama is subjected to the same rules when accompanying her father on a trip (and wearing a political statement on her T-shirt!)

nobamablog.wordpress.com

CNN's Don Lemon Gets His "Unprecedented Obama Welcome" Shot Down

The CNN anchor in question, Don Lemon, wanted to gush about an unprecedented response to Obama’s visit to Africa, but he doesn’t get a lot of help from a reporter who is actually from Africa.

DON LEMON, ANCHOR CNN NEWSROOM: And Nkepile, I was watching you yesterday on the “Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer when President Obama was arriving, and they were doing the dancing, and all of the people who were running up to him. For a western leader, I know when presidents come over there, they are usually warmly received. But for a western leader, have you ever seen anything like this? Is this unprecedented?

NKEPILE MABUSE, CORRESPONDENT: It’s not unprecedented. When President Bush was here, you will remember, in February, there were people who were drumming, there were dances, and President Bush joined some of them. So, it’s not unprecedented. This is a truly African welcome that is given to anybody whether they are from Africa or anywhere else in the world, Don.

LEMON: So, they welcome everyone. It doesn’t matter. That’s just part of how the people do it, right?

MABUSE: Indeed, Don.

I like how he goes from talking about the “unprecedented” response to Obama to saying that “it doesn’t matter” when it’s pointed out that they reacted the same way to Bush.

By Rob - sayanythingblog

Ghana: Bolgatanga Not Enthused About Obama's Visit

DESPITE THE much-talked about historic visit of US President Barack Hussein Obama to Ghana today, Friday, July, 10, most people in Bolgatanga are not enthused about this visit.

Their main reason is that Obama will come and go, and Ghanaians will still remain where they are with economic hardships.

Views sampled by the Upper East File in the Bolgatanga Municipality showed people had different opinions about the first African-American US President. For somebody like A. Emmanuel, it is only the politicians that the visit would benefit.

Though he believes the spotlight is on Ghana, as the whole, the world is talking about the visit, and he thinks Ghanaians should not put their hopes on the visit with the intention that the visit would end their woes.

Others are not happy that people are spending a lot of money decorating and renaming their buildings, restaurants and hotels, when they know that Mr. Obama would only be in the country for less than 24 hours.

When we contacted the regional manager of the Ghana Tourist Board, Madam Mary Aganmikry, she believed otherwise.

She believed the visit would promote Ghana's culture and boost tourism, as the same foreigners would be coming to grace the occasion.

She also said US President's visit had led to massive clean-ups in Accra, and Cape Coast, thus, improving sanitation situations of these cities.

William N-Lanjerborr Jalulah - allafrica.com

Obama's Books Banned From US Prisons-- TOO RADICAL

But, he's a moderate.
Thank You State-Run Media For Vetting This Radical Before the Election.

Barack Obama's books were recently banned from the US government's most secure prison.
The radical language in the books make them "potentially detrimental to national security."
The AP reported:

The federal government's most secure prison has determined that two books written by President Barack Obama contain material "potentially detrimental to national security" and rejected an inmate's request to read them.

Ahmed Omar Abu Ali is serving a 30-year sentence at the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, for joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate then-President George W. Bush. Last year, Abu Ali requested two books written by Obama: "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope."

But prison officials, citing guidance from the FBI, determined that passages in both books contain information that could damage national security.

A prison spokeswoman referred questions to the FBI, where a spokeswoman was looking into the matter Thursday evening.

The documents detailing the prison's rejection of Obama's books are included in court papers for a resentencing hearing scheduled later this month for Abu Ali, a U.S. citizen.

The rejection is just one indication of the harsh conditions imposed on inmates at the supermax prison, according to Abu Ali's lawyer, Joshua Dratel...

Prison officials cite specific pages - but not specific passages - in the books that they deem objectionable. They include one page in Obama's 1995 book, "Dreams from My Father," and 22 separate pages in his policy-oriented 2006 book, "The Audacity of Hope." It was not immediately obvious what passages might have been deemed problematic, though nearly half of the pages cited are in a chapter devoted to foreign affairs.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Comics

Who Died, Michelle O?

So who died, Morticia?

Is this some twisted tradition from Trinity UC Church?
Or, maybe they had a sale on burkas?

Michelle Obama draped in black for the Pope. Weird.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Malia Obama – Budding Fashionista?

Is Malia Obama following in the fashionista footsteps of her mother, First Lady Michelle Obama, and flashing designer duds?

For the flight with her family from Washington DC to Moscow, the 11-year old First Tween sported a skirt that bears a striking resemblance to one by designer See by Chloe.

The skirt is available for purchase online at Intermix, retails for $345 but is now on sale for $219.

The White House does not comment on the clothing choices of the First Daughters’ and would not confirm that the skirt was indeed by the designer.

If so, Malia, who just turned eleven this past weekend, may have inherited her mother's taste in sometimes expensive clothes. Most recently Mrs. Obama, who at times is also known to wear affordable J Crew, was seen sporting a pair of $540 kicks at a community service event at a DC food bank.

Political Punch

Nobama Blog Says: Gotta love the sacrifices the Obama family is making.

Media Was Silent When Obama Left His Elected Office Early

The state-run media was absolutely horrified that Governor Sarah Palin would leave her elected office early. They said it was bizarre and the end of her career. The liberal blogs called her a sissy and made retard jokes about her son Trig.

It's funny then how they ignored it when Obama left office early.
Via GovTrack.us:

Barack Obama missed 314 of 1300 roll call votes (24%) since Jan 6, 2005. The graph below shows the percent of roll call votes Barack Obama was absent for during the member’s time in Congress.

The absentee rate is in red. The two black dotted lines provide a context for understanding the significance of the absentee rate. The lower dotted line shows the median value for all Members of Congress in that time period. The upper dotted line shows the 90th percentile. A Member who approaches the upper dotted line is in the worst 10 percent of Congress. Barack Obama played hookie for 2 years.

But unlike Sarah Palin, he kept his job while he campaigned just like his wife Michelle who was paid $63,000 in 2008 for a job she didn't go to.

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

37,000 at Dallas Tea Party — and next steps

I returned from the Dallas Tea Party this weekend inspired and motivated by the massive turnout of citizen activists. The official county estimate of the day-long event’s crowd: 37,000!

The Tea Party organizers aren’t surprised by the MSM games of lowballing numbers. And they are not letting it distract them from their agenda. Behind the scenes, they are mobilizing and organizing their troops; connecting political newcomers and old hands; and working hard down at the local level to restore conservative values and principles in their city councils and state legislatures. These efforts won’t make front-page headlines or the cable news. But they will yield dividends for all of us in the form of candidates, initiatives, and reforms driven by the grass-roots instead of the Beltway establishment.

***

Glenn Reynolds has terrific photos and round-up links to other Tea Party events here, here, and here.

Next step for Tea Party Patriots: A nationwide July 17 protest against the government health care takeover plans. Mark your calendars.

michellemalkin.com

King Barack?

Oh, how quickly times have changed. Just a few short years ago, Democrats were up in arms over King George III's (President George W. Bush's) "unconstitutional" executive power grabs. Where are these people now?

I'll tell you where they are: right in the thick of it, enabling President Barack Obama to consolidate and exercise unprecedented power.

Remember when Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy complained that the constitutional "checks and balances that have served to constrain abuses of power for more than two centuries in this country" were at risk because Republicans controlled the executive and legislative branches? How about Sen. Russ Feingold, who was looking at impeachment as a remedy to keep the president in check and prevent him from acquiring power "like King George III"?

Today these same senators are not just passively mute about Obama's power grabs; they are co-conspirators.

You might think the repeated conservative complaint about Obama's egregious lack of transparency is, by now, a tired talking point. But we're not just referring to minor procedural matters that are substantively inconsequential.

He hasn't just breached his promise to make his legislation available for public preview. He and his congressional cohorts are burying very important matters in legislation.

The Waxman-Markey cap and tax debacle that just slipped through the House was bad enough, with its mandated broad-based assaults on America's taxpayers, energy and economy in exchange for no appreciable expected environmental benefits. But look at its stealth provision, reported by the Washington Examiner, creating a three-year package of unemployment benefits, a $1,500 job relocation allowance and a health insurance premium subsidy for workers unemployed as a result of this "jobs creation" bill. Unbelievable! How can any congressman who voted for this monstrosity possibly get re-elected?

This was nothing new, though, as you'll recall that Obama's non-stimulative stimulus bill increased unemployment benefits for those not magically benefited by that job creations bill.

Indeed, there are so many Obama abuses I can only chronicle a fraction of them in a short column. But just consider a few others, and ask yourself how long even rank-and-file Democrats can justify supporting such tyrannical madness by this arrogant chief executive, who truly is -- as distinguished from Bush -- engaged in a daily quest to "dictate" fundamental, structural changes to this nation:

--ABC News reported that a senior White House official said the urgency of extending the expiring U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty "might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate's constitutional role in ratifying treaties." Did you hear that, Sens. Leahy and Feingold?

--President Obama is appointing so many "czars" to help him run the government without the usual accountability of Cabinet-level positions that even Sen. Robert Byrd said this practice "can threaten the constitutional system of checks and balances." Byrd's worried, but what do Leahy and Feingold think of Obama's pay czar, who'll have broad discretion over executive pay?

--Obama has so insulated himself from ordinary press scrutiny that even liberal journalists Chip Reid and Helen Thomas grilled White House press secretary Robert Gibbs for Obama's "tightly controlled" town hall meeting on health care. During that forum, Obama "coincidentally" called on three people (out of 200) who work with groups trying to pass his health care proposal.

--Obama is so intent on bullying our ally Israel that he is breaching a previous Bush administration-negotiated agreement between Israel and the United States to allow some Israeli construction in West Bank settlements to allow for natural growth.

--The Obama-Holder Justice Department dismissed a strong case against New Black Panther Party members for billy club-style voter intimidation because the members were intimidating for Obama's election.

--Obama and Holder are going to vacate an order of prior Attorney General Michael Mukasey's stating that immigrants facing deportation do not have an automatic right to an effective lawyer.

--Obama and Holder are now mirandizing terrorists on the battlefield.

--Some have questioned whether Obama-Holder ordered the FBI to "back off" anti-terror investigations of radicalized Muslim converts, such as the one who police say shot two military recruiters in Little Rock, Ark.

--Obama's auto task force used "intimidation tactics" against Chrysler's senior bondholders and called their Democratic lawyer, Tom Lauria, a "terrorist" for refusing to accept its offer outright. Where, by the way, were Leahy and Feingold -- and all the liberal media -- when Obama's deal involved an executive-forced transfer of ownership from shareholders and creditors to Obama's favored unions? Were they also unbothered by claims of Chrysler dealers that they were threatened and lied to?

--Obama's thugs fired AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin and slandered him as virtually demented because he blew the whistle on the corrupt practices of Obama's buddies.

To say this is scratching the surface is a monumental exaggeration.

by David Limbaugh - townhall.com

With the Obama Unemloyment at 9.5%--Where Are the Jobs?

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today released a new web video targeting Washington Democrats’ trillion-dollar “stimulus” bill and asking “where are the jobs?” The tongue-in-cheek web video, inspired by a classic 1984 TV commercial by now-Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), features a job-sniffing GOP bloodhound named Ellie Mae and a down-home voiceover by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA).

Boehner also adds:

“This is a lighthearted web video, but the underlying point is no laughing matter,” Boehner said. “At a time when Americans are looking to Washington for leadership, the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ isn’t working. Americans were promised the ‘stimulus’ would keep the unemployment rate from going above eight percent. It’s now at 9.5 percent, and rising. Where are the jobs?”

gatewaypundit.blogspot.com

Welcome to Obamacare Theater

The White House sure likes to put on a show. Fresh off its joint stage production with ABC News, the Obama administration broadcast another health care propaganda play this week under the guise of a citizen “town hall.” (Full video here.)

Chicago consigliere and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett managed the floor and human props for Obama. In a telling moment as the event kicked off, she protested a wee bit much: “I want to emphasize that the President has not seen the questions ahead of time.” The audience responded with polite laughter.

But the denials of pre-planning and stacked decks deserve nothing but derisive mockery. Obama’s town hall was filled with backroom players and a supporting cast of socialized medicine activists and ideologues. One of the three lucky audience members whom Obama chose for questioning was Jason Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum works for the Washington, D.C.-based Health Care for America Now (HCAN). That’s the same K Street Astroturf outfit I reported on last week – the one with a $40 million budget to lobby for government-run health care. The one inextricably linked to left-wing billionaire George Soros.

Let’s look at who else miraculously drew a golden ticket. Another one of the three, softball-tossing citizen questioners at the White House forum identified herself as a member of the Service Employees International Union. That’s the same SEIU whose president, Andy Stern, boasted of spending nearly $61 million in members’ dues to elect Barack Obama. It’s the same union that produced Patrick Gaspard, former SEIU health care lobbyist and now White House director of the office of political affairs.

But the Obama health care “town hall’s” climactic moment came when the consoler-in-chief plucked Debby Smith from the crowd to tell her personal health care horror story. She choked back tears as she talked of her battle with kidney cancer, her joblessness, and her lack of insurance. Obama hugged the trembling woman and dubbed her “Exhibit A” for his massive entitlement program.

Debby Smith, however, is no ordinary patient. While she may be “unemployed,” she has been rather busy working for the Obama campaign – as a volunteer for Organizing for America. It’s the old Obama for Change political machine now housed under the Democratic National Committee. Smith has also identified herself as a worker for the Virginia Organizing Project, which has been coordinating lobbying trips and health care forums with HCAN. Yes, that same HCAN.

In December, Smith moderated a “a community discussion on health care issues” in Appalachia, Virginia and told her local paper that the meeting “would be reported back to former Sen. Tom Daschle, who has been directed by President Elect Barack Obama to form a committee to report on health care issues.”

Daschle may be out of the spotlight since his Health and Human Services cabinet nomination fiasco. But he is in constant contact with Team Obama. As he told the Associated Press earlier this week in a media meeting on health care reform: “We interact with them daily.” No doubt.

Veteran liberal journalist Helen Thomas earned some accolades for challenging the tightly-controlled White House events. But where was she back in March, when Team Obama pulled the same stunt? At a health care event in the East Room, the questioners included an Obama donor, a Democratic National Committee member, a former Democratic candidate for the Virginia statehouse who had publicly endorsed Obama, and a member of the SEIU. Yes, that SEIU.

The growing irritation of the once-smitten Beltway media is better late than never, I suppose. But one wonders what took so long for the sedatives to wear off the watchdogs. Team Obama has screamed “Kabuki!” from Day One.

Welcome to Obamacare Theater
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

Comics

Biden fails to draw crowd in Erie

Wattsburg, Pa. — Vice President Joe Biden visited a small town on the outskirts of Erie today to talk to rural folks about federal stimulus money that can be used to expand broadband access to the Internet for rural areas that typically have poor connections.

Apparently stimulus money and broadband are not all that interesting to the local folk here: Only around 100 or so people have showed up so far to hear Biden talk at noon at Seneca High School off Route 8 in Wattsburg.

The room looked so sparse that about 30 or so chairs were removed by volunteers to give the illusion of a full house.

The effect didn't exactly work.

pittsburghlive.com

Michelle Obama enjoys Paris privilege barred to millions in France: Sunday shopping

PARIS - Michelle Obama and her girls enjoyed a special Sunday shopping trip in Paris this month thanks to friends in high places who bent France's Sunday store-closing rules.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that calls were made to open a swanky children's boutique, usually closed by law on Sundays, where the First Lady and her two daughters perused racks of $200 summer dresses and $100 sweaters.

"Is it normal that on a Sunday when Madame Obama wants to go to the Paris shops with her daughters, that I have to make phone calls to have them open?" said Sarkozy, who is pushing to change the law.

"Who is going to explain to them why France is the only country where shops are closed on Sundays?"

It was actually the U.S. Embassy that arranged for opening of the shop, Bonpoint, a store spokeswoman said.

But presumably the boutique won't have to worry about paying hefty fines for shops that buck a 1906 law banning most Sunday shopping.

There was no immediate comment from the First Lady's White House office or the State Department.

After a private lunch on June 7 with Sarkozy and his wife, Carla, the First Lady's entourage headed to the upscale St.-Germain-des-Près neighborhood so Obama and her daughters could enjoy a private trip to Bonpoint, a branch of the upscale French chain.

The Obamas arrived in a small group and stayed for about an hour, a store spokeswoman said.

She wouldn't confirm what the party bought, but a hot-pink linen dress, ideal for 8-year-old Sasha, goes for $212. A simple white cotton version, perfect for 10-year-old Malia, costs $255.

Add $102 for a coordinating navy cardigan. President Obama, in France for the June 6 D-Day anniversary, brought along his family - and a 30-car motorcade -- for a whirlwind weekend visit that shut down parts of Paris.

Even the French finance minister was forced off her bike while the First Family navigated the capital's famous boulevards.

The President left at midday Sunday, leaving his wife and daughters to enjoy another day in Paris before they moved on to London.

Unlike in the U.S. and Great Britain, most of France's 62 million people have do their shopping Monday to Saturday - and not during lunchtime when many stores close.

There are exceptions for shops selling food, or those deemed to have a "recreational" or "cultural" value, mostly in tourist areas.

Stores like Virgin mega store and Ikea that buck the law have been slapped with huge fines. Sarkozy is moving to expand the tourist zones as part of his push to get France to "work more, earn more."

Polls show two-thirds of French support changing the law.

But small retailers say they can't afford the provision that requires employees to be paid double-time on Sundays.

By Linda Hervieux - nydailynews.com