Obama Bypasses Senate Confirmation With Recess Appointment
Jul 7, 2010 Political
Barack Obama is a hypocrite, of this we have no doubt because he has shown time and again that he will do the very same things he criticized others for. He has done some of the very things that Bush did and for which Obama criticized Bush but the Obama sock puppets remain silent. Why, this man is trying to run our country and fix things so he should have some room to operate. How can we get in the way of this gifted speaker?
Obama used the week long recess, yes I wrote WEEK LONG, to appoint a controversial figure to be the head of Medicare and Medicaid. Obama did not do this over the August recess or the Christmas (winter for you pagan progressives) recess, no he did it over a week long recess and he did it in order to avoid the confirmation process.
Dr. Donald Berwick will be a recess appointment because he is controversial and he is opposed by most Republicans. He has made statements in the past about the need to ration care (whether we will do it with our eyes open or closed as we do now) and he would have received some very tough questioning had he gone before the Senate.
The White House is trying to lay this hypocritical move on Republicans by claiming that Republicans wanted to stall the process for political reasons. This is not true and is an attempt to either rationalize the move or rewrite history. In either case, it is not true. Berwick was nominated in April and the Democrats have not set a schedule for his confirmation hearings. They could have done that but they do not want the whole health care issue, one opposed by the majority of voters, brought up again before the midterm elections. This is the real reason that Obama is making the recess appointment.
Unfortunately, this means that Berwick will be damaged goods. This is not my opinion but the opinion of (mmm mmm mmm) Barack Hussein Obama himself. When George Bush made the 2005 recess appointment of James Bolton to be UN Ambassador, Obama had this to say:
To some degree, he’s damaged goods,” said Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “I think that means we’ll have less credibility and, ironically, be less equipped to reform the United Nations in the way that it needs to be reformed.
So according to Obama, Berwick will have less credibility and be less equipped to reform Medicaid and Medicare in the ways they need to be reformed.
HIS OWN WORDS ABOUT A RECESS APPOINTEE.
But wait, there’s more! When Bush made the 2007 recess appointment of Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium it was again, guess who, (mmm mmm mmm) Barack Hussein Obama who made the following statement:
It’s disappointing that President Bush would defy the will of Congress by appointing Sam Fox Ambassador to Belgium. I opposed Mr. Fox’s nomination because I had serious concerns about his candor, judgment, and qualifications for this important post. Appointing nominees that are opposed by a majority in Congress simply because they are political cronies is old style politics at its worst. Our nation’s ambassadors should possess strong credibility and character so that they may effectively represent U.S. interests overseas, and I don’t think President Bush applied that test with this recess appointment.
Well, well, well. Disappointing that a president would DEFY the will of Congress by making a recess appointment of someone opposed by members of Congress. Obama said a majority but we can’t know that because they never held the confirmation hearing. However, there were certainly people with concerns about the nomination because Obama indicates that he was one of them. So he was disappointed that the will of Congress was defied when he, Obama Almighty, was not able to question the person he opposed but he feels completely fine about appointing a person who is opposed by other members of Congress.
This is another example of Obama’s inability to lead. He talked a great game and feigned righteous indignation at the appropriate times but now that he is in the hot seat the very expectations he had of others do not apply to him.
This is the problem with people who have a messiah complex. They think they are above the rules, even the rules they once agreed with. It is equally true of those who hold Obama up as their messiah because they will completely ignore what he did or rationalize it.
Hear is some news for these people:
God gave us a Messiah, we need a president.
Source for Obama quotes:
Alpha Patriot
Big Dog Salute to Ron Smith of WBAL.
Never surrender, Never submit.
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Tags: berwick, hypocrisy, lies, Obama, recess appointment
God Must Not Have Listened To Biden
Feb 25, 2010 Political
This past year has been a tough one for Democrats. They had majorities in both chambers of Congress that were big enough not to need one Republican vote and they could not pass signature items. They have become frustrated with the lack of progress on their Socialization plan so they want to do a few things to give them the upper hand. They want to eliminate the filibuster and they want to invoke reconciliation, a budgetary procedure, in order to pass their the health care takeover bill.
When the Republicans were in charge, they too became frustrated with the Democrats for using the same procedures that they [Republicans] now employ. The Republicans were going to use the nuclear or Constitutional option to allow a simple majority to pass judicial nominees.
The left went nuts over this and talked about how the filibuster was important and how the Founders knew what they were doing and how Republicans in the Senate did not do what Senators throughout history have done [say no to a power hungry president]. Joe Biden said it all when he stated:
I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don’t make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.
God must have decided not to weigh in on Biden’s prayer because the Democrats are involved in the very kind of “naked power grab” Biden lamented over.
Go view the video compilation of Democrats [Breitbart TV] who weighed in on the issue back when they were the minority party and see how their attitudes differ from what they want to do today.
The word hypocrite comes to mind but decide for yourself.
Take particular note of then Senator Barack Obama. In fact, Obama, Clinton, Biden, and Dodd all had something to say and each ran for the presidency…
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Tags: Democrats, filibuster, hypocrisy, nuclear option, Obama
Obama Supporters Deserve The Money
Feb 12, 2010 Political
Barack Obama and his Democrats took over where George Bush left off and bailed out banks and other financial institutions to the tune of billions of dollars. These entities were “too big to fail” and were spared the consequences of their bad decisions, decisions fueled by greed. Fueled by greed and knowledge that they would be bailed out if they made bad mistakes.
The financial giants reap huge rewards when they make investments and then get taxpayer money to save them when they gamble and lose. Ann Coulter has a great piece this week laying this all out. In it she describes what happened with regard to Goldman Sachs and other institutions that packaged bad loans and then insured them through AIG which could not cover the losses. Taxpayers bailed out AIG which was the same as bailing out Goldman.
During all of this, Obama went on the blame the bankers tour and discussed the greedy guys and how their salaries needed to be capped. There were tours by the homes of AIG executives, Congress worked on legislation taxing bonuses at 90% and the citizens of America were worked into a frenzy over the greedy bankers.
But these people helped put Obama in office. Obama received huge sums of money from the financial industry and they have been friends of the Democrats for a long time (as Coulter points out, Clinton bailed them out during his presidency). So it came as no surprise this week that Obama said he did not begrudge the bonuses of savvy bankers (particularly the ones who are his supporters):
Whatever Obama has in mind for punishing the financial industry, I promise you, he won’t punish his friends. After JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon took a $17 million bonus this week, and Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein got a $9 million bonus, Obama said he didn’t begrudge them their bonuses, saying, “I know both those guys.” Ann Coulter Human Events
What happened to people not getting huge bonuses? What happened to Barney Frank and his desire to cap salaries and bonuses of all of them even if they took no TARP money? What happened to the outrage generated by Obama and his minions over these greedy bankers?
I have no problem with bankers (or any private business people) making huge sums of money for doing a good job and I have no problem with huge bonuses. I did not have trouble with the AIG bonuses particularly because the Obama administration knew about them and people worked for a dollar a year in salary on the promise of the bonuses (which the administration then reneged on). I also have no problem with a business failing if it can’t make money and that includes financial giants and auto makers. If they can’t cut it then they can fail.
However, I am not the one who ran around whipping the country into a frenzy over greedy bankers. How dare Obama call these people greedy and rail against them last year and then step up to defend their huge bonuses this year? How can he do this and remain consistent?
He can’t, but he does not have to. If he says it is good his base will blindly follow. They will ignore Obama’s words and deeds of the past and focus on what the messiah says now. They will not draw the connection between Obama and the campaign dollars he gets from these people.
When Obama said he knows these people he meant the bankers but it could apply to his base.
Interestingly, David Reilly at Bloomberg has a piece that basically says Obama needs to man up and knock a few heads to show people who is in charge (note to Reilly, coequal means that he is not in charge of Congress). He writes about several issues which are better saved for another time but he does address financial regulation. Reilly spells out a number of tactics that Obama can use to threaten the banking industry into submission. The tactics look like something one would expect from Tony Soprano and not the leader of the US but Reilly is encouraging the kinds of tactics the left would scream fascist or Nazi over if a Republican did them.
The government owes the private sector about 7 trillion dollars. Suppose the banks called those markers all at once? Suppose the banks stopped lending for a week. I imagine if they tried hard they could send the economy in the Great Depression range so perhaps the mafia style tactics would be a poor idea.
Then again, Reilly is like typical supporters who decry strong-arm politics when Republicans use them but espouse them in order to push the Democrat agenda. This is typical of the left and we see it in Congress whenever they are in charge. We can’t knock heads of terrorists or it is torture but we can do what we want to those who oppose us…
I think the hypocrisy of Obma has been exposed in the past and it is very clear in his latest support of the huge bonuses. I also think we have a number of leftists in the media calling for him to get tough because they are worried about a Palin presidency.
Whether she will run or not or could even win is not the point.
Just the idea of that drives liberals and the progressives nuts.
And that is a joy to see.
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Tags: aig, ann coulter, bailout, bonuses, goldman, hypocrisy, Obama, savvy
Do Democrats Know About The Internet?
Dec 23, 2009 Political
One would think that since Al Gore invented the Internet, Democrats would know it exists and would know that people can look things up quickly. It is now possible to retrieve information in a matter of seconds when it use to take hours or days and sometimes even longer.
It seems Democrats do not know this because they keep saying or doing things that are totally different from what they said and did in the past. Take Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the moron who said that those who oppose the health care bill were right wing extremists and members of the Aryan groups. This guy had some other nice things to say.
This happened when the defense appropriations bill was being debated. The Republicans were dragging it out as long as the legislative process allowed in order to delay the health care debate. Here is what Whitehouse had to say about this:
“The lowest of the low was the Republican vote against funding and supporting our troops in the field in a time of war. As a device to stall health care, they tried to stop the appropriation of funds for our soldiers. There is no excuse for that. From that there is no return. ” Legal Insurrection
The Republicans did not vote against funding the troops. They voted against cloture and then objected to an immediate vote once cloture was achieved. These were procedural items to drag it out. The troops got funded as was the intention all along.
However, let us look at this statement. Whitehouse says there is no excuse for trying to stop the appropriations (once again, they just tried to delay it, not stop it) and that from this there is no return.
In 2007, as reported in the linked article, Whitehouse was one of 14 Senators who voted against the Iraq war funding supplemental to support the troop surge. That is right ladies and gentlemen, Whitehouse voted not to fund our troops. He voted against funds for our soldiers. He was also a cosponsor to a bill that would cut off all funding unless troop withdrawals began in 120 days. Did he object to Obama’s additional troop request and did he try to impose a withdrawal deadline? Probably not because Obama is the messiah.
Mr. Whitehouse, there is no excuse and there is no return. Those are your words. This guy is a total hypocrite (as are most of the liberals who voiced their objection on this issue) and he is a disgrace to his office. What was that thing about glass houses and stones?
Sheldon Whitehouse is a moron. No, Whitehouse gives morons a bad name.
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Tags: hypocrisy, lies, moron, sheldon whitehouse
Republicans Play Politics With Defense Spending Bill
Dec 19, 2009 Political
Oh the left is up in arms! The Defense Appropriations Bill is before the Senate and it is usually a bill that passes quickly but Republicans are using legal procedural tactics to delay the vote on the bill. The reason for this is obvious, they want to take up time with this bill to delay getting to the health care bill. This is perfectly acceptable and in no way harms the troops.
The bill had a cloture vote at 0100 this morning and Democrats got enough votes for cloture. They then immediately asked for the bill to be voted on but at least one Republican objected. This means there will be 30 hours of debate on the bill and it will be voted on Saturday morning at 0730. The defense funding ends at midnight but the delay to Saturday morning will not affect anything in defense.
The Republicans are smart to require all procedures to be followed and to use up time. If they can keep prolonging the health care debate by using parliamentary procedures and as long as it does not hurt the troops, which it does NOT, then it is OK.
Democrats are indignant about all of this and want to know how Republicans can do this to the troops. These guys have short memories and seem to forget all the times they opposed troop funding and delayed defense bills. The White House site is scolding the Republicans and using quotes from Republicans that were used in the past to oppose delaying funding the troops:
“Playing politics with the critical funding that our troops need now is political theater of the worst kind.” – Sen. John Cornyn, [Press Release, 4/26/07]
“We have plenty of time and plenty of opportunity to have political debates… but it’s just unconscionable to me to tie the hands of the very troops that we all say we support.” – Sen. John Cornyn, [Transcript, Senate Republican News Briefing, 4/10/07]
“Every day we don’t fund our troops is a day their ability to fight this war is weakened.” – Sen. Mitch McConnell, [Press Release, 3/31/07]
“No way to treat the troops, and it is entirely inconsistent with [Senators’] expressions of support for the troops.” – Sen. Mitch McConnell, [Congressional Record, 10/4/07]
“I don’t understand this attitude of, ‘We can play with; we can risk the lives of these troops by waiting until the last possible minute to get the funding to them.” – Sen. Jon Kyl, [FOX News Transcript, 4/10/07]
“Our obligation to those troops must transcend politics.” – Sen. Jon Kyl, [Press Release, 11/8/07]
All of these quotes were in response to Democrat opposition or delay with regard to troop funding bills. This list of quotes proves that Democrats were guilty of the very thing they are now acting high and mighty about. If Democrats were not guilty of the same thing in the past then these quotes would not exist.
The truth is that when the time for debate is over the bill will pass and all the Republicans will vote for it. They are just using all the time allotted for the debate.
Democrats act as if this delay will be the end of the world. When Obama took 90 days to decide on the troop request for Afghanistan the Democrats said he was deliberative and could not rush into a decision. Republicans use the 30 hours allotted for debate and they are the ones delaying the troops and causing harm.
Another point of contention in this bill is that Democrats added a “doc fix” to it. This is a non defense item that will raise the reimbursement to doctors under Medicare. This does not belong in the Defense bill but it was put in so it would be assured of passage. Putting it here rather than in the appropriations for Medicare allows Congress to hide the true cost of Medicare. This will go against defense when it really pays for Medicare. This is one of the accounting tricks I discussed in the past. The cost of Medicare is much higher than reported because of things like this, which happen every year.
This is the bill that Democrats wanted to add a 1.9 trillion dollar provision to raise the debt ceiling. They could have put it in the appropriate appropriations bill but were afraid they would not get cloture so they were going to put it in the defense bill where they knew they would. It was not added because of other concerns including demands for a balanced budget. If it had been added then I would have expected all Republicans to vote against it.
They would still get a defense bill and fast but it would be without the debt ceiling provision.
In any event, it is the Democrats who are playing politics with the defense bill. They wanted to use it to slip the debt ceiling provision in and they have included the “doc fix” both of which are political issues. Let’s get it clear, the only reason this is in the defense bill is because it will pass that way and so they can hide the true cost of Medicare. The impact on our debt does not change but they can hide the true cost of the Medicare program.
This is what they will do every year if health care overhaul is passed. They will put anything that adds to the cost in other bills to hide the cost and the deficit will continue to increase while they lie about why.
The bottom line is, regardless of all the grandstanding being done by Democrats, the bill will pass and the Republicans will vote for it. It will not hurt the troops or defense.
The Republicans are within their right to use the procedures and they did so. If the Democrats wanted this voted on before the deadline then they should have introduced it earlier. The delay is all their fault and it is a failure of leadership.
At least Republicans are doing things legally. The Democrats stopped the reading of an amendment this week and did so in complete violation of Senate rules. They just decided they were going to stop it and allow the sponsor to withdraw the amendment. This is a violation of Senate rules but that did not bother the Democrats.
Yet when Republicans use the rules the Democrats get upset.
The hypocrisy makes me sick.
I do love it though. This forces them to commute to the Senate chamber in the huge snowstorm that is heading toward DC.
How appropriate considering the snow job the Democrats are involved in.
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Tags: defense, Democrats, health care, hypocrisy, Republicans, senate rules, troops