Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Louisiana Rep. Scalise Screams at Obama: “We’re Tired of the Excuses”

“We need a quarterback on the field like the law says he’s supposed to be. He’s not supposed to be the commentator in the booth.”

As crude oil continued to ooze through the marshes in Louisiana, Barack Obama flew to California to hold 3 fundraisers with liberal Senator Barbara “Ma’am” Boxer yesterday. Tomorrow he goes on his second vacation since the oil rig blew up in May.

Via FOX Nation:



Congressman Steve Scalise (R-LA) today called on the President and the Army Corps of Engineers to approve Louisiana’s sand berm oil protection plan before time runs out.

Related… A majority of Americans believe the feds have failed on their oil spill response.

Previously:
** Thick Blobs of Tar Begin Washing Up on Alabama Shore – Obama Goes Golfing
** Oil Spill Reaches Louisiana Coast… Obama Goes Golfing
** Obama to Take Second Vacation This Month Since Gulf Oil Rig Explosion
** Cartoonists Now Mocking Obama’s Lack of Response to Oil Spill Disaster

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Obama Sends Unarmed Troops to Stop Gun Smuggling

Just when you think this guy have maybe the smallest bit of a spine (or a clue) the truth comes out! Twelve hundred national guardsmen getting sent down to the border. Almost sounded like Obama’s Dirty Harry moment for a minute there, didn’t it?

WASHINGTON — US National Guard troops being sent to the Mexican border will be used to stem the flow of guns and drugs across the frontier and not to enforce US immigration laws, the State Department said Wednesday.

The clarification came after the Mexican government urged Washington not to use the additional troops to go after illegal immigrants.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday authorized the deployment of up to 1,200 additional troops to border areas but State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters, “It’s not about immigration.”

He said the move was “fully consistent with our efforts to do our part to stem, you know, violence, to interdict the flow of dangerous people and dangerous goods — drugs, guns, people.”

He said the extra troops would be used to free up civilians engaged in support functions…

In other words, paper pushers. They are a relief column for civilian paper pushers. Oh, I am so relieved that Obama is CinC!

H/T Gateway Pundit

sayanythingblog.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Hope & Change Ripples Across the Pacific: Republican Wins ‘Obama’s Hometown’ for First Time in 20 Years


“GOP wins House seat in Obama’s Hometown” is the headline this morning, and it’s almost embarrassing enough to get even the president himself to deny he was born in Hawaii.

It’s been 20 years since a Republican won a congressional election in Hawaii’s District 1, but it’s taking only about a year and a half for Hope & Change to ripple across the Pacific:

Republicans scored a midterm election victory Saturday when Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou won a Democratic-held House seat in Hawaii in the district where President Obama grew up — the latest triumph for the GOP as it looks to take back control of Congress.

Djou’s victory was a blow to Obama and other Democrats who could not rally around a candidate and find away to win a congressional race that should have been a cakewalk. The seat had been held by a Democrat for nearly 20 years and is located in the district where Obama was born and spent most of his childhood.
[...]
Republicans see the victory as a powerful statement about their momentum heading into November. They already sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate to replace the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts — a place that was once thought to be the most hostile of territories for the GOP. Now Republicans can say they won a congressional seat in the former backyard of the president and in a state that gave Obama 72 percent of the vote two years ago.

Since almost every one of the Democrats Obama previously endorsed — Corzine, Deeds, Coakley, etc. (though based on Scott Brown’s performance so far I don’t consider Coakley’s loss to be a Republican win) — went down in flames, this time Obama didn’t endorse either of the two main Democrat contenders, so this loss can’t be directly pinned on the “Obama Curse.”

Here are the returns as of early this morning:


The top two Dems got 58% of the vote, so obviously the GOP still has their work cut out for them if they’re going to retain the seat in November, but the trend is assuring if you’re a Republican. In 2008, Obama won 70% of Hawaii’s 1st district, and McCain 20%. In that district’s House election in 2008, the Republican only received 17.4% of the vote. A Republican (and a conservative at that) now getting almost 40% of the vote in that district less than two years after “Hope & Change” swept in on promises of gumdrops, unicorns and rainbows for everyone can’t be very comforting to the DNC.

Even though the Democrats are going to cling to hanging on to Murtha’s seat and the fact that their voters were split between two candidates in Hawaii yesterday as evidence that voters aren’t turning on them, privately some of them are reaching for the Kaopectate.

In other news… did you notice something strange about President Obama’s speech at West Point yesterday? Obama pronounced “Corps” correctly without saying “corpse.” Yeah, it surprised me too. Hey, credit where credit is due. Well done, teleprompter programmer guy!

Or it could have something to do with the fact that the prompters look to be a lot closer than usual.

Doug Powers - michellemalkin.com



Friday, May 21, 2010

Top Obama Official: Feds Won’t Process Illegals Referred By Arizona

The Obama Administration announced today that they have no intention of enforcing the laws in this country…


John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Top Obama official told reporters from the Chicago Tribune today that the administration has no intention of processing illegal aliens referred by Arizona!
FOX News reported:

A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made the comment during a meeting on Wednesday with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper reports.

“I don’t think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution,” Morton told the newspaper.

The best way to reduce illegal immigration is through a comprehensive federal approach, he said, and not a patchwork of state laws.

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Obama Staffers Upset At Not Finding Enough Oil-Covered Dead Birds For Photo-Op

I’m surprised they didn’t buy a couple of quarts of Mobil and make a photo-op. I certainly wouldn’t put it past them.

Barack Obama’s media advisers were quite distressed when the President travelled down to the Louisiana coastline last week to make his first on-the-spot statement about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Their distress was caused by what they didn’t discover, rather than what they did. Despite their frantic requests, no photogenic dying oil-covered birds could be found to form a backdrop for the Presidential tirade as he weighed into BP.

The same fact – the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon rig has not (yet) hit the coastline itself – presumably explains why the incident has not been big on the television news, for all the alarm and even hysteria that has been expressed. On a visual medium there is little enduring interest to be had in footage of oil floating on water – even if it is a lot of oil on a lot of water.

There’s nothing good about the oil spill, but it’s fast becoming a political football to be used by the politicians as yet another “crisis” to be used as leverage to justify expansion of government.

That’s certainly what Obama has been hoping, thus his consternation at not being able to execute an effective, emotional photo-op on the gulf shore.

sayanythingblog.com

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer To Obama: Do Your Job

A message made all the more pertinent by the announcement, yesterday, from the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement saying that his agency might not process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona.



sayanythingblog.com

Sunday, May 16, 2010

“Perky” Michelle Obama a Big Downer at GW Graduation

Ugh. What a depressing woman.
Michelle Obama brought down the house literally at George Washington University’s graduation. The First Lady gave one of the most depressing speeches on record.
What a downer.
Good luck finding a job, kids!



Exit Question for Recent Grads: How’s that hopey-changey stuff treating you?
Have fun paying off that Obama debt.

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Obama Derides Finger Pointing, Except When He Does It

I got a chuckle out of this article about Obama scolding oil industry executives for “finger pointing.”

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday angrily decried the “ridiculous spectacle” of oil industry officials pointing fingers of blame for the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico and said the accident could bring devastation to the region and its economy.

The president also pledged to end a “cozy relationship” between the oil industry and federal regulators that he said had existed for years and into his own administration.

Apparently neither Obama nor his handlers saw the irony of accusing oil industry executives of “finger pointing” the day after Obama accused Republicans of “sitting on the sidelines” during the recession and, once again, blamed Bush for his own deficit spending.



Whatever you may think of oil executives and their culpability in the gulf oil spill (and I’d note that despite the “cozy relationship” with federal regulators Obama suggests, oil spills have been going down in number and amount for 40 years), there’s no denying that our President is a flaming hypocrite.

sayanythingblog.com

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Obama Slashes $42 Million From NYC Anti-Terror Funding… But Will Bail Out Greece

Another day… Another move to make America less secure.
Last week it was reported that the Obama White House removed confessed terrorist Faisal Shahzad from the Department of Homeland Security travel lookout list sometime after Barack Obama came into office.

Terrorist Faisal Shahzad had substantial connections to the Taliban, reached out to the Taliban, was influenced by Yemeni terror leader Anwar al Awlaki, made at least a dozen return trips to Pakistan since arriving in the United States in 1999, and he bought a one way ticket with cash to Pakistan.

He was “blogging” and asking for jihad as far back as 2006 but the Obama Administration took him off the terror watch list anyway.

Faisal Shahzad was blogging on terror websites since 2006 but the Obama Administration took him off the terror watch list and gave him citizenship.

Now this…
Barack Obama will cut $42 million in funding to New York City just days after the attempted bombing in Times Square.
CBS2 reported:

President Obama was expected in Manhattan Thursday to thank the cops who handled the recent Times Square terror. His visit comes the very day the government was set to announce that millions of federal dollars were being slashed from the City’s counter-terrorism budget, just a dozen days after the attempted car bombing, despite the Big Apple being considered many to be the number one target of Islamic terrorists.

“It’s an absolute direct slap in the face of the people of New York,” said Rep. Peter King.

The city takes a $42 million hit for mass transit security, down 27-percent from last year. Measures like extra patrols on trains and chemical and biological weapons detection systems may have to wait, according to officials, and port security get a big cut as well. On the chopping block are $11.2 million dollars, down 25-percent from last year.

But, President Obama will bail out Greece.


gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Despite Harsh Words From Obama & Chavez… Americans Broadly Support Arizona Immigration Law

A whopping 73% of Americans approve of the Arizona law that requires people to produce documents verifying their legal status.


Despite the harsh words from Barack Obama and Marxist Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, a broad majoirty of Americans approve of the Arizona immigration law.

The Pew Research Center reported:

The public broadly supports a new Arizona law aimed at dealing with illegal immigration and the law’s provisions giving police increased powers to stop and detain people who are suspected of being in the country illegally.

Fully 73% say they approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them. Two-thirds (67%) approve of allowing police to detain anyone who cannot verify their legal status, while 62% approve of allowing police to question people they think may be in the country illegally.

After being asked about the law’s provisions, 59% say that considering everything, they approve of Arizona’s new illegal immigration law while 32% disapprove.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted May 6-9 among 994 adults, finds that Democrats are evenly split over Arizona’s new immigration law: 45% approve of the law and 46% disapprove. However, majorities of Democrats approve of two of the law’s principal provisions: requiring people to produce documents verifying legal status (65%) and allowing police to detain anyone unable to verify their legal status (55%).

It looks like Arizona gets the last laugh.

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

After Demonizing Them, Obama To Attend Fundraiser With “Fat Cat” Wall Street Bankers

Obama loves class warfare rhetoric. He loves railing against “fat cat” bankers, etc. I’ve always thought that was funny coming someone who took more money Goldman Sachs than any other politician in the country in the last election cycle, and now Obama is showing himself to be even more of a hypocrite by showing up at a fundraiser being put on by the very “fat cat” Wall Street bankers he so often derides.

President Obama has been happy to beat up on Wall Street “fat cats,” but tonight he’ll be even happier to take their money.

The President is slated to headline a superswank, $50,000-per-couple fund-raiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee at Manhattan’s gilded St. Regis hotel on Fifth Ave.

The high-dollar affair will feature fine French food, a bevy of Wall Street titans and 23 Congress members – including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Not everyone is thrilled that Obama and Pelosi are looking to use New York as a campaign ATM at the same time that they are trying to rein in Wall Street, the city’s biggest job and tax generator by far.

At least one ex-congressional campaign committee giver said he’s decided to boycott the event and will send his money to the GOP instead.

“I’m a New Yorker first,” said the once loyal Dem, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of inciting the White House. “We are depending on our congresspeople to defend New York, not to just go along with Nancy Pelosi for the ride.”

Really, this is just part of their power play. They push for expansive government control over this industry, then they go to the industry titans and schmooze money out of them in exchange for special favors and exemptions from the new taxes/regulation.

In the crime world it’s called a “shakedown.” In the political word, it’s called “fundraising.”

sayanythingblog.com

Why Elena Kagan will be Obama's Longest Legacy

Barack Obama will forever be known as the first black president. He’ll be remembered as the first president to speak to the Muslim world from a Muslim country. Many will reflect on his dependence on the teleprompter, and that he was the first President to have a blackberry, and third sitting President to win the Nobel Peace Prize. President Obama will have a lot of defining moments. And though he might be on his way out in two -- or even 6 -- years, long after he’s left the Oval Office, Elena Kagan, if confirmed, just might be Obama’s biggest, and most potent legacy, making her vetting all the more critical.

The highest court in the land is responsible for some of the most dramatic policy outcomes in our country’s history. Now, more than ever before, we find key issues of importance front and center of the judicial branch and Elena Kagan could be the tipping point in their outcomes, like the fate of the sweeping, highly unpopular health care bill.

Eighteen states have already filed legal challenges through their attorney generals against Obama’s key initiative to date, the health care legislation, and five more states joined as recently as last week. The joint lawsuit led by Florida was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorney generals. It claims the sweeping reform of the $2.5 trillion U.S. health care system, jammed through by Democrats in the Congress after months of manipulation; nasty partisan fighting violates state-government rights in the U.S. Constitution and will force massive new spending on hard-pressed state governments.

In addition to the pending lawsuits, bills and resolutions have been introduced in at least 36 state legislatures seeking to limit or oppose various aspects of the reform plan through laws or state constitutional amendments making the fate of this giant legal challenge – the constitutionality of the health care bill – likely to end up at the door of the Supreme Court, thus on Kagan’s desk.

And what about immigration reform? With states like Arizona taking steps of their own to solve their undocumented alien crisis, and more states poised to follow suit, the question of whether or not Kagan will rule in favor of the Tenth Amendment is a confirmation hearing imperative. Already opposition groups have made clear they'll challenge the Arizona law, including Obama's Attorney General himself, Eric Holder. Under the Tenth Amendment, “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

It could be years before we see comprehensive reform on immigration, but depending on the final product, the issue is likely to make its way to the highest court in the nation. Kagan, again, could determine the fate of the ruling and set precedent.

Besides issues on health care, immigration, and states’ rights, expect Kagan to have influence over game changing eminent domain cases where the government has been involved in power grabs with people’s land. The court is also likely to face cases on regulation of the Internet, military issues like Don't Ask, Don't Tell, campaign finance, potential environmental decisions, the Fairness Doctrine, religious freedom and perhaps most importantly -- the federal government and the War on Terror. All of these are areas where President Obama or his administration will have weighed in, making them part of his legacy.

Thanks to a complacent, love struck media, our current president wasn't tested and vetted as he should have been. Like Obama, Kagan doesn't have a robust paper trail so we are unable to discern her judicial temperament and philosophy because she’s never been a judge. That's why it’s terribly important that she gets a good grilling, under very rigorous questioning in the Senate.

Elections have consequences, and Supreme court nominees embody these consequences. At only 50 years old, a Justice Kagan, is likely to stay on the highest court for the next 30-40 years and will rule on the most serious and sensitive decisions in our country's history – making her appointment pivotal -- and her future ultimately Obama’s potential past.

andreatantaros.com

Monday, May 10, 2010

California Art Teacher: "US FLAG- OFFENSIVE"... "OBAMA DRAWING- GREAT WORK"



More:



The battle over the American flag has reached a middle school art class in California’s Santa Rita School District where a student was told not to draw Old Glory because it was “offensive,” while another student was praised for drawing a picture of President Obama.

Tracy Hathaway, of Salinas, CA, told FOX News Radio her 13-year-old daughter was ordered to stop drawing the American flag and start another project at Gavilan View Middle School.

“She had drawn the flag and was sketching the letters, ‘God bless America,’ when the teacher confronted her,” Hathaway told FOX. “She said, ‘You can’t draw that – that’s offensive.’”

Even more striking, another student in the same art class drew a picture of President Obama and was praised by the teacher.

“The picture of Barack Obama was in red, white and blue hues,” Hathaway said. “ The teacher said it was great. But when it comes to the flag – all of a sudden it was offensive?”

Hathaway said she took her concerns to the principal – and he was “floored” and apologized for what happened. He arranged a meeting with the Hathaways and the teacher.

“My husband point-blank asked her what she found offensive about the picture – the American flag or the words, ‘God Bless America,’” she said. “The teacher didn’t say a word.”

Hathaway said she was especially concerned that a picture of President Obama was praised yet a picture of the American flag was deemed offensive.

“That showed where she stood in the political spectrum,” she said “But this was not a political class. This was not a religious class. This was an art class. “

“My daughter wasn’t trying to break any rules and she wasn’t trying to create a scene,” she said. “She was just expressing her view and saying this is America and I want God to bless it.”

Mike Brusa, the superintendent of schools, told FOX in a written statement that he had contacted the principal and that the issue “was taken care of to their (the parent’s) satisfaction.”

“The school administration and the parents did not view this as significant enough to bring it to the superintendent’s office,” he wrote.

However, Hathaway said her daughter has yet to receive an apology – and in fact – the teacher told the girl that she should not have gotten her parents involved in the matter.

“My daughter felt like her rights were being trampled on – she was doing what she thought was right.” she said. “It’s disturbing. It really is disturbing. When I was in junior high we didn’t have a lot of the problems they are having now. We were allowed to speak our mind. It’s absolutely devastating for me. Last time I looked, this is America. This is still a free country.”

Todd Starnes - Fox News

Obama Lashes Out at New Media & iPods… Even Though He Gave the Queen One Last Year

Spoken like a true tyrant…
Barack Obama lashed out at (conservative) talk radio, (conservative) blogs, cable news (FOX), and new gadgets today during his commencement speech to graduates at Virginia’s Hampton University. He lambasted iPods, iPads Xboxes and PlayStations even though he gave the Queen one last year loaded with his favorite show tunes.


Barack Obama gave the Queen of England an iPod last year. Suddenly, it’s a distraction.

What he was really was telling the graduates is that he can’t stand it when he cannot control the message.
The Hill reported:

President Barack Obama cited the influx of new technology as “putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy” in a commencement address to graduates at Virginia’s Hampton University on Sunday.

You’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t rank all that high on the truth meter,” Obama said. “With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations; information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment.”

“All of this is not only putting new pressures on you; it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.”

Obama said that education would “fortify” the graduates to meet the challenges posed by these changes.

The president said education not only leaves the students prepared to compete in a global economy, but “it can also prepare you as citizens.”

With so many voices clamoring for attention on blogs, on cable, on talk radio, it can be difficult, at times, to sift through it all; to know what to believe; to figure out who’s telling the truth and who’s not,” Obama said. “Let’s face it, even some of the craziest claims can quickly gain traction. I’ve had some experience with that myself. Fortunately, you’ll be well positioned to navigate this terrain.”

It’s amazing that despite the fact that the left controls television news, print news, Hollywood, and the nation’s schools, that Americans still strongly reject their big government policies.
Did it ever occur to them that maybe it’s not the messenger, maybe it’s the message?

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Friday, May 7, 2010

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to Barack Obama: “No One In Arizona Is Laughing”

Governor Jan Brewer from Arizona released this message to “comedian” Barack Obama today. Unlike Barack Obama, the people of Arizona don’t think illegal immigration is a laughing matter.

This is excellent:



From the video: Governor Jan Brewer sparked a national debate on border security and illegal immigration when she signed SB1070. While Brewer has been celebrated by many for taking action to enforce laws that Washington has long ignored, those who oppose the law have chosen pithy punch lines over aggressive action. Far away from the border at the White House Correspondents Dinner, President Obama decided that Arizonas unsecured borders and illegal immigration crisis are a laughing matter. Unfortunately, no one in Arizona is laughing.

Related, via Instapundit: A new poll finds 61 percent of voters nationally think Arizona was right to take action instead of waiting for the federal government to do something on immigration. That’s more than twice as many as the 27 percent who think securing the border is a federal responsibility and Arizona should have waited for Washington to act.

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Moving to Mexico

Dear President Obama:

I’m planning to move my family and extended family into Mexico for my health, and I would like to ask you to assist me.

We’re planning to simply walk across the border from the U.S. Into Mexico , and we’ll need your help to make a few arrangements.

We plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws.

I’m sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Calderon, that I’m on my way over?

Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. Please print all Mexican government forms in English.

4. I want my grandkids to be taught Spanish by English-speaking (bi-lingual) teachers.

5. Tell their schools they need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my grandkids to see the American flag on one of the flag poles at their school.

7. Please plan to feed my grand kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver’s license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do plan to get a car and drive in Mexico , but, I don’t plan to purchase car insurance, and I probably won’t make any special effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from their president to leave me alone, please be sure that every patrol car has at least one English-speaking officer.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. Flag from my house top, put U S. Flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, or have any labor or tax laws enforced on any business I may start.

13. Please have the president tell all the Mexican people to be extremely nice and never say critical things about me or my family, or about the strain we might place on their economy.

14. I want to receive free food stamps.

15. Naturally, I’ll expect free rent subsidies.

16. I’ll need Income tax credits so although I don’t pay Mexican Taxes, I’ll receive money from the government.

17. Please arrange it so that the Mexican Gov’t pays $4,500 to help me buy a new car.

18. Oh yes, I almost forgot, please enroll me free into the Mexican Social Security program so that I’ll get a monthly income in retirement.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all his people who walk over to the U.S. From Mexico . I am sure that President Calderon won’t mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

Thank you so much for your kind help. You’re the man!!!

nobamablog.wordpress.com

Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Great Obama Oil Spill of 2010

How could anyone draw that conclusion? Are Obama’s fingerprints on the rig that blew?
Not directly, but consider this…British Petroleum, BP, contributed $77,000 to candidate Obama over the course of the last twenty years, more than any other political candidate.
Obama was inaugurated in January 2009. Hot Air quotes the Washington Post from an article that appears to have been scrubbed of the following:

The Interior Department exempted BP’s calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely.

The decision by the department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP’s lease at Deepwater Horizon a “categorical exclusion” from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009 — and BP’s lobbying efforts just 11 days before the explosion to expand those exemptions — show that neither federal regulators nor the company anticipated an accident of the scale of the one unfolding in the gulf.

A categorical exclusion from the administration of BP’s favorite politician. No quid pro quo there, is there? And there’s certainly no cover up from the MSM, is there?

sayanythingblog.com

GOP Reps Call for Investigation into Obama Administration’s Slow and Weak Response to BP Gulf Oil Spill

Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) released this statement earlier today criticizing the Administration’s pathetic response to the BP Gulf oil spill.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement regarding the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The environment and the livelihood of millions in the Gulf region depend on getting this oil spill cleaned up as quickly as possible. That is priority number one,” said Chairman Price. “Meanwhile, there must be a full investigation to learn exactly what went wrong and who should be held accountable. It would be utterly irresponsible to leave any questions unanswered about this disaster and Washington’s response. So far, the remarkably slow response by the Obama administration and their defensive posture raises questions about their handling of this matter. Such a response and attitude do not inspire confidence that similar disasters will be addressed more effectively in the future.

“This tragedy once again highlights the need for an energy policy that uses the full potential of American innovation, conservation, and production. This is a time to clean up the spill and get an accurate accounting of the situation, not for making short-sighted and reactionary decisions to limit access to our country’s energy resources. Taxpayers should not foot the bill for this disaster, and American families should not be hit with runaway energy bills because it was used to stymie future responsible and needed expansion of domestic energy.”

Top Obama Administration officials did not even know that the Defense Department had oil slick equipment.

Barack Obama is the biggest recipient of BP cash in the last 20 years.


gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

How Obama Himself Made More Than 'Enough Money'

In defending his administration's efforts at putative financial reform, President Obama suggested a ceiling, perhaps government-imposed, for Wall Street executives. Although he did not begrudge them income that is "fairly earned," he added ominously, "I do think that at a certain point, you've made enough money."

The president may be projecting guilt from his own excellent adventures in greed. A surprising 2006 article for the American Century Foundation by liberal publisher Peter Osnos sheds useful light on this subject. As Osnos relates, a 1990 New York Times profile on The Harvard Law Review's first black president caught the eye of a hustling young literary agent named Jane Dystel.

Dystel persuaded Obama to put a book proposal together, and she submitted it. Poseidon, a small imprint of Simon & Schuster, signed on and authorized a roughly $125,000 advance in November 1990 for Obama's proposed memoir.

With advance in hand, Obama repaired to Chicago, where the University of Chicago offered him an office and stipend to help him write. Obama dithered. At one point, in order to finish without interruption, he decamped to Bali for a month. Obama was supposed to have finished the book within a year. Bali or not, advance or no, he could not. He was surely in way over his head.

"Obama had missed deadlines and handed in bloated, yet incomplete drafts," David Remnick tells us in The Bridge. Simon & Schuster lost patience. In the summer of 1993, Simon & Schuster canceled the contract. According to Osnos, the publisher asked that Obama return at least some of the advance

Not surprisingly, the Obama-friendly Remnick skips some of the details that Christopher Andersen includes in his book, Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage, such as how Obama had spent $75,000 of the advance and could not pay it back. According to Andersen, the publisher let Obama keep the money only after he pled poverty due to "massive student loan debt" -- this despite a combined salary for the still childless Obamas well into six figures, not to mention the trip to Bali and a trip to Kenya for the couple as well.

As Osnos tells it, Dystel did not give up. She solicited Times Books, the division of Random House at which Osnos was publisher. He met with Obama, took his word that he could finish the book, and authorized a new advance of $40,000.

During this same period, Obama was working as a full-time associate at the law firm of Davis Miner, teaching classes at the University of Chicago Law School, and spinning through a social whirl that would have left Scarlett O'Hara dizzy. Writes Remnick, "He and Michelle accepted countless invitations to lunches, dinners, cocktail parties, barbecues, and receptions for right minded charities." Obama had also joined the East Bank Club, a combined gym and urban country club, and served on at least a few charitable boards.

In addition, Obama, as Remnick admits, was a slow writer. He would later explain his plodding, 19th-century technique to Daphne Durham of Amazon. "I would work off an outline -- certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell -- and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written."

As Andersen tells it, Obama found himself deeply in debt and "hopelessly blocked." At "Michelle's urging," Obama "sought advice from his friend and Hyde Park neighbor Bill Ayers." What attracted the Obamas were "Ayers's proven abilities as a writer." Noting that Obama had already taped interviews with many of his relatives, both African and American, Andersen elaborates, "These oral histories, along with his partial manuscript and a trunkload of notes were given to Ayers." The result was Dreams From My Father.

Although Dreams did not do particularly well in 1995, the sales shot through the roof after Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. As Osnos relates, Obama unceremoniously dumped his devoted longtime agent after Dreams took off and then signed a seven-figure deal with Crown, using only a by-the-hour attorney.

Obama pulled off the deal after his election but before being sworn in as Senator in order to avoid the disclosure and reporting requirements applicable to members of Congress. Although an Obama-supporter, Osnos publicly scolds Obama for his "ruthlessness" and "his questionable judgment about using public service as a personal payday."

As to the question of income "fairly earned," Obama makes Fabrice 'Fabulous Fab' Tourre look like a lumberjack.

"... not ... because we begrudge success that is fairly earned."

americanthinker.com

Obama drone joke: Was it offensive?

Everyone agrees that President Obama was funnier than Jay Leno at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night. But this joke is inspiring some backlash:

"Jonas Brothers are here, they're out there somewhere. Sasha and Malia are huge fans, but boys, don't get any ideas. Two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming. You think I'm joking?"

"You have to wonder why in the world the president's speech writers would think it was a good idea to throw a joke about predator drones into the president's speech during the White House Correspondent's Dinner, given that an estimated one-third of drone casualties, or between 289 and 378, have been civilians," wrote Adam Serwer at the American Prospect.

"Let's be honest, fellow progressives, we'd be all over Bush if he made the same 'predator drone' joke Obama told last night," Philadelphia Daily News' Will Bunch tweeted.

Salon's Alex Pareene says the joke wasn't appropriate because Obama told it:

The joke mighta worked, and certainly would've been less offensive, coming from anyone else. It seems like a no-brainer that the people directly responsible for tragedies should not deliver jokes about those tragedies. That's why Mel Brooks can tell Hitler jokes and Germans can't.

Drone attacks in Pakistan have killed hundreds of suspected insurgents since early 2009 -- but they have also killed civilians and stirred up animosity towards the U.S. in Pakistan.

President Bush was pilloried for making light of the lack of WMDs in Iraq at the 2004 White House Correspondents' Dinner. Does Obama deserve similar treatment?

washingtonpost.com

More:

Jonas Brothers to Obama: “Seriously, We’re Not Pedophiles”

Barack Obama joked about killing the Jonas Brothers with Predator drones on Saturday night:


Not everyone was as thrilled about President Obama’s partisan comedy routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night. The Jonas Brothers didn’t appreciate his humor.
Todd Starnes reported, via FOX Nation:

President Obama’s joke about the Jonas Brothers was no laughing matter to one of the nation’s most popular boy bands.

The Jonas boys were among the celebrity guests attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.

During his remarks, President Obama delivered zingers about Sarah Palin, John McCain, birthers, and even the Jonas Brothers.

“The Jonas Brothers are here,” the president said. “Sasha and Malia are huge fans. But, boys, don’t get any ideas. I have two words for you – predator drones.”

The quip drew laughter from the audience, but the brothers Joe, Kevin and Nick were not among them, according to the Washington Examiner.

The guys apparently took offense to the suggestion they might hit on underage girls.

“Seriously, we’re not pedophiles,” Nick told the Washington Examiner.

Related… cxcvxcv added this:

How can liberals support Barack Obama?
Obama actually is targeting American citizens with Predator drones… Then Obama makes jokes about killing citizens in the Unites States with drones?

Here’s another comment by dfsfsdfs:

Obama is killing innocent civilians and targeting American citizens for assassination with his illegal war in Pakistan and he’s making jokes about it? Wonderful Change!



gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Obama Interior Chief Went White-Water Rafting While Oil Slick Spread

Yee-Hah!


More Hope & Change…
The Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Interior went rafting last week as the BP oil slick was spreading.
The Political Punch reported:

Though his agency was charged with coordinating the federal response to the major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Department of the Interior chief of staff Tom Strickland was in the Grand Canyon with his wife last week participating in activities that included white-water rafting, ABC News has learned.

Other leaders of the Interior Department were focused on the Gulf, joined by other agencies and literally thousands of other employees. But Strickland’s participation in a trip that administration officials insisted was “work-focused” raised eyebrows among other Obama administration officials and even within even his own department, sources told ABC News.

Hat Tip Dave

gatewaypundit.firstthings.com

Obama biggest recipient of BP cash


While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy.

During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

An Obama spokesman rejected the notion that the president took big oil money.

“President Obama didn’t accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists during his presidential campaign,” spokesman Ben LaBolt said. “He raised $750 million from nearly four million Americans. And since he became president, he rolled back tax breaks and giveaways for the oil and gas industry, spearheaded a G20 agreement to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, and made the largest investment in American history in clean energy incentives.”

In Congress, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who last week cautioned that the incident should “not be used inappropriately” to halt Obama’s push for expansion of offshore drilling, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of BP’s largesse. Her comments created some blowback, with critics complaining that she is too blasé about the impact of the disaster, even though she was among the first lawmakers to call for a federal investigation into the spill.

As the top congressional recipient in the last cycle and one of the top BP cash recipients of the past two decades, Landrieu banked almost $17,000 from the oil giant in 2008 alone and has lined her war chest with more than $28,000 in BP cash overall.

“Campaign contributions, from energy companies or from environmental groups, have absolutely no impact on Sen. Landrieu’s policy agenda or her response to this unprecedented disaster in the Gulf,” said Landrieu spokesman Aaron Saunders. “The senator is proud of the broad coalition she’s built since her first day in the Senate to address the energy and environmental challenges in Louisiana and in the nation. This disaster only makes the effort to promote and save Louisiana’s coast all that more important.”

Several BP executives have given directly to Landrieu’s campaign, including current and previous U.S. operation Presidents Lamar McKay and Robert Malone. Other donors include Margaret Hudson, BP’s America vice president, and Benjamin Cannon, federal affairs director for the U.S. branch. Donations ranged from $1,000 to $2,300 during the past campaign cycle.

Environmentalists complain that Landrieu has played down the impact of oil spills.

“I mean, just the gallons are so minuscule compared to the benefits of U.S. strength and security, the benefits of job creation and energy security,” Landrieu said at a hearing last month on offshore drilling. “So while there are risks associated with everything, I think you understand that they are quite, quite minimal.”

politico.com

Obama: Do as I say, not as I smear

Really. How many more selective civility police lectures can we take from this vulgarity-clogged White House?

Via ABC News:

Three days after he decried the lack of civility in American politics, President Obama is quoted in a new book about his presidency referring to the Tea Party movement using a derogatory term with sexual connotations.

In Jonathan Alter’s “The Promise: President Obama, Year One,” President Obama is quoted in an interview saying that the unanimous vote of House Republicans vote against the stimulus bills “set the tenor for the whole year … That helped to create the tea-baggers and empowered that whole wing of the Republican Party to where it now controls the agenda for the Republicans.”

Tea Party activists loath the term “tea baggers,” which has emerged in liberal media outlets and elsewhere as a method of mocking the activists and their concerns.

On Saturday, the president delivered a commencement address at the University of Michigan where he said one way “to keep our democracy healthy is to maintain a basic level of civility in our public debate … But we can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down.”



michellemalkin.com