WEDNESDAY,  SEPTEMBER 16,  2009

THEY FINALLY PUT BATTERIES IN THE CALCULATOR - AT 10:57 P.M. ET:  Certain statistical truths are coming out about Obama economic programs.  Not good, not good.  From CBS:

The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.

A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration's estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year.

A second memorandum, which was prepared for Obama's transition team after the November election, says this about climate change policies: "Economic costs will likely be on the order of 1 percent of GDP, making them equal in scale to all existing environmental regulation."

The documents (PDF) were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute and released on Tuesday.

COMMENT:  I suspect that this kills cap 'n trade in the Senate.  While some Democrats, who really don't care about the costs borne by the average household, will still vote for it out of party loyalty and ideological serenity, most senators will want to file this one under LOSER.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

SMART POLITICS - AT 10:10 P.M. ET:  The White House doesn't want to go near Jimmah Carter's charge that racism is fueling criticism of the president.  From The New York Times:

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, pretty much rejected today the views of former President Jimmy Carter, who publicly characterized as racist the remarks made by Representative Joe Wilson and the motives of some angry protesters against President Obama’s policies.

At the White House briefing, Mr. Gibbs repeatedly reverted to quoting from his television interview on Sunday, before Mr. Carter injected yet another level of highly charged views into a boiling flashpoint aimed at Mr. Obama. Mr. Gibbs echoed sentiments among administration officials in recent days, by seemingly and deliberately tiptoeing around the race question, preferring to paint the often vociferous opposition as rooted in upset over the economic downturn and fear.

COMMENT:  Smart politics by a White House that has faltered politically in recent weeks.  When you charge something as nefarious as racism, you'd better have the goods.  The White House understands that Carter, a creep in creep's clothing, doesn't have anything but his own illusions and resentments.  Obama is smart enough not to want to be linked with Carter, whose book on the Arab-Israeli conflict was recommended this week by Osama bin Laden. 

The faster the "r" word goes away, the better it is for Obama.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

WE'RE BACK - AT 10:04 P.M. ET:  Just got back from a book party for Norman Podhoretz.  It was a pleasure to be in a room filled with right-thinking people.  Former Attorney General Michael Mukaysey was there.  He stood fast against terrorism, in contrast to...well you know who.

Fouad Ajami, the great scholar from Johns Hopkins, was also there.  A Muslim, who has never hesitated to speak openly of the tragedy of the Muslim world.

Some of the great journalistic heroes of our side attended - Frank Luntz, the group survey expert; Claudia Rosett and Anne Bayefsky, who rip open the dry rot at the UN; and Jim Taranto of the Wall Street Journal, who does Best of the Web Today. 

If the rest of publishing was only a third as rational as that room tonight, we'd all be in better shape.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

WHEN YOU'VE LOST JON - AT 3:42 P.M. ET:  The immensely popular Jon Stewart hosts Comedy Channel's Daily Show.  He's known to be liberal, and he has an impact on the opinion of young people.  Even he is disgusted by the mainstream media's ignoring of the ACORN story.  From the Washington Examiner:

Last night, Jon Stewart featured video clips of ACORN employees advising undercover journalists posing as a pimp and a prostitute how to hide the nature of their business in their tax forms.

The video clips debuted on biggovernment.com and were featured by FOX News commentator Glenn Beck. Since then the clips have circulated widely on conservative blogs and news sites and sparked a vote in the Senate to de-fund the organization.

"The bad news is that ACORN appears to be a criminal organization that aids and abets criminals and get millions of dollars in taxpayer money!" Stewart said, after highlighting the clips on his show.

Stewart joined conservatives in their criticism of the media, wondering why major media outlets failed to investigate ACORN or report on the investigative videos.

“Where were the real reporters on this story…Where the hell were you?" Stewart screamed into the camera,

"You’re telling me that two kids from the cast of High School Musical 3 can break this story with a video camera and their grandmother’s chinchilla coat, and you’ve got nothin’?" he asked.

"I’m a fake journalist, and I’m embarrassed these guys scooped me," he added, "Let's get to work people!"

COMMENT:  But they won't get to work.  The ACORN story doesn't fit the party line of mainstream liberal journalism, and the line is almost always maintained.  Thumbs up to Jon.

So much for the people's right to know.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

MORE ON HOMELAND TERROR - AT 3:16 P.M. ET:  Following on our 9:09 A.M. post, we apparently may have some further action here in New York.  From the New York Daily News:

Fearful of a Madrid-style subway train bombing, authorities are poised to make more raids to seize bomb-making materials at locations in Queens, sources said Wednesday.

The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team arrived in New York in anticipation of the offensive to thwart a Denver-based terror cell with ties to Al Qaeda, police sources told the Daily News.

Another source said an earlier raid uncovered nine backpacks and cell phones, raising memories of the March 2004 bombings in Madrid. A series of terrorist bombs detonated aboard commuter trains killed 191 people.

The source said authorities feared a potential attack on the city subway, with its 5.2 million daily riders.

FBI Director Robert Mueller, speaking at a Senate hearing Wednesday, said the plot posed "no imminent danger."

"New Yorkers are well benefited from the work of the NYPD and (Commissioner) Ray Kelly," said Mueller, offering no other details on the HRT deployment.

COMMENT:  I'm not sure it's wise to make these movements public, but the news is out there.  Clearly, this is regarded as a serious potential threat.  I guess the assumed conspirators didn't get President Obama's "outreach" message.  People should really watch CNN every now and then, or at least browse The New York Times. 

Not really.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

SARKOZY TELLS IT LIKE IT IS - AT 3:07 P.M. ET:  As the United States treats enemies like friends and friends like enemies, the French - yes, the French - provide a little truth-tellin':

After Paris warned that new sanctions against Teheran remained an option despite the likelihood of negotiations with Iran, French President Nicolas Sarkozy maintained that the Islamic republic was still working on a nuclear weapons program.

"We cannot let Iran acquire nuclear" weapons because it would also be a threat to Israel, he added.

The word "also" is critical here.  Sarkozy clearly believes that Europe is threatened by an Iranian nuclear program, tied to a missile program. 

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero had warned that Iran must make "concrete gestures" at the long-awaited discussions. He said the sanctions option remained on the table in case Teheran makes "an error of choice."

COMMENT:  Contrast please with the behavior of President Obama, who was reluctant to denounce the murderers in Tehran as they were gunning down their own citizens in the streets, because that might "offend" people we were trying to bring to the negotiating table.

Have you ever seen France tougher than America? 

More change to bring us embarrassment.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

THE BOUNCE HAS BOUNCED - AT 10:03 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen's daily tracker shows pretty clear signs that the bounce Mr. Obama received from his speech to Congress has begun to fade.  Overall, 51% of likely voters disapprove of the president's job performance, while 49% approve.

In Ras's presidential approval index, measuring the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove, the president stands at minus six, 32%-38%, a deterioration from minus three only three days ago.

And on the critical issue:

One week after President Obama’s speech to Congress, opposition to his health care reform plan has reached a new high of 55%. The latest Rasmussen Reports daily tracking poll shows that just 42% now support the plan, matching the low first reached in August.

COMMENT:  I personally believe that voters have started losing confidence in the president, and are not simply opposing him on health care.  This can reach critical mass if other things go wrong, like a major failure in foreign policy, where Mr. Obama is pursuing a high-risk appeasement policy, with no apparent results.

September 16, 2009   Permalink 

REGAINING FOCUS - AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  While the Democratic Party has been busy with the important work of launching the 1,237th denunciation of Rep. Joe Wilson for his outburst against President Obama, mature adults  are busy with the critical business of defending the country.  From CBS: 

NEW YORK (CBS) —  Counter-terrorism officials on Tuesday urged local police to be on the lookout for evidence of homemade bombs, a day after the FBI raided four apartments in Queens looking for bomb-making components.

Police departments are being urged to be on the lookout for specific indicators of terrorist activity.

"I believe it's prudent to put that information out. We welcome it," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.

The directive speaks of the possible use of hydrogen peroxide in bombs, and to look for people who may have burns on the face, hands and arms.

We have to wonder what has happened to prompt this alert.  But it's good to know we have people on guard...until the ACLU gets to them.

Officials Monday were apparently looking for an Afghan national from Colorado who may have links to al-Qaida. Sources said he stayed at the home of an acquaintance on a recent trip to New York.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press Tuesday that the FBI had put Najibullah Zazi under surveillance in connection with a suspected plot to make homemade bombs.

COMMENT:  This activity broke in New York on a day when President Obama visited the city to make a speech.  Yet, the worthies of the Democratic Party didn't express the slightest concern for the president's safety.  They're more worried about tea-party goers and town-meeting speakers, who, they apparently believe, constitute some grave threat to the nation and the president.

Talk about misplaced priorities.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

THE ROAD TO HACKDOM - AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  The Obama White House, which refused to intervene in the cesspool of Illinois politics to prevent the appointment of a hack, Roland Burris, to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat, seems to have no hesitation about meddling in Massachusetts politics.  From Fox:

The Obama White House has left the sidelines and jumped in with both feet as Massachusetts lawmakers debate whether to change current law and appoint an interim U.S. Senator to replace the deceased Edward M. Kennedy.

FOX News has learned Senior White House adviser David Axelrod called the president of the Massachusetts Senate on Monday to lobby for the law change to fill Kennedy's Senate seat until the Jan. 19 special election is held.

Axelrod called Therese Murray to discuss the matter, Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton confirmed to FOX late Tuesday.

Burton said Axelrod was "checking in" with Murray, but Democratic sources say the call was designed to underscore White House interest in seeing Massachusetts law changed and an interim Senator appointed as crunch-time approaches in the health care debate.

And...

Two names continue to surface as Kennedy's replacement: former Kennedy aide and former DNC Chairman Paul Kirk, and former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis.

COMMENT:  Can you just hear the excited murmur among Democrats:  "Dukakis is back!"  Then everyone sleeps.

Whoever is appointed, if the law is changed, will apparently have to pledge not to run when the formal election is held.

We wish the White House had been as zealous in preventing the Illinois embarrassment, but even a president might feel intimidated about taking on Illinois pols.  Wouldn't want to be tainted.  (You can laugh now.)

September 16, 2009   Permalink

WRONG GUY - AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

Obama is due to meet with former Secretary of State Colin Powell at the White House tomorrow, his public schedule indicates. Obama's calendar has Powell meeting with Obama at the White House at 2 pm, followed two and a half hours later by a 4:30 pm meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. That's a pretty long meeting with the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whose Powell doctrine emphasized only going into conflicts when willing to commit overwhelming force. And the former Bush official who said in hindsight he had misgivings about the decision to invade Iraq and who of course endorsed Obama. Does one think tomorrow's meeting agenda involves Afghanistan strategy/ public relations?

COMMENT:  Will someone remind me of the last time Colin Powell contributed anything to anything?  Powell, an outstanding young officer, turned out to be a dull, unimaginative, Washington bureaucrat whose contributions to the war on terror after the 9-11 attacks can be counted on the head of a pin.  He never seemed all that interested, and his tenure as secretary of state was marked by a distinct stay-at-home style that hardly thrilled foreign nations. 

Powell's endorsement of Obama in 2008, against fellow veteran and Republican John McCain, was an act of distinct disloyalty to people who'd made his career and appointed him to high positions.  He could have remained silent. 

We know that this president has surrounded himself with an assortment of characters, some of whom clearly do not belong in a national administration.  (Does the name "Van Jones" ring a bell?)  He should consider Powell's advice very cautiously.  The president is in trouble in Afghanistan and elsewhere, partly because of an appeasement strategy that is backfiring.  It's unlikely that Powell, based on his non-record since leaving the military, will have any significant insights into improving the situation.

September 16, 2009   Permalink

OLD RELIABLE - AT 7:46 A.M. ET:  The cry of "racism" is the standard battle cry of the left.  When in doubt, charge racism.  It had to happen with Mr. Obama in the White House.  I'm surprised it happened this soon.

The reckless left wants us to believe that Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst toward President Obama - "You lie!" - was racially motivated.  Now Jimmah Carter has joined in the fun:

"I think it's based on racism," Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

I wonder how Jimmah knows what's in Joe Wilson's mind.  This is a man - Carter, I mean - who has overlooked the most profound bigotry in the Arab world against Christians and Jews, a man who said, while running for president in 1976, that he understood people who wanted to keep their neighborhoods ethnically pure.  But he denounces Wilson as if his own background was Ivory clean.

As I've said here before, there are of course racists.  Of course, some small-minded people will never accept Barack Obama.  But to smear people people with he "r" word so loosely is not only corrupt and mean-spirited, it is likely to create a backlash.  And it is not doing President Obama any good.

I'm afraid we'll have more of this, and it's likely to extend into foreign policy.  I have no doubt that some misguided souls will warn us that if we don't reelect Mr. Obama in 2012, it will "offend" nations of color around the world, and possibly cause trouble for us, maybe even violence.   

So far the White House has publicly disassociated itself from irresponsible cries of racism, but the president must do so himself, and publicly, pointing out that Americans know the difference between racism and legitimate criticism, and saying that he expects the latter. 

And reckless columnists like Maureen Dowd of The New York Times, who have been stirring the pot, might be advised by editors at her paper to take a sabbatical.  No chance of that.

September 16,  2009   Permalink 

TUESDAY,  SEPTEMBER 15,  2009

NETWORK SNOBS AT PLAY - AT 9:45 P.M. ET:  Another outrageous example of press bias has come to light.  The culprit, no shock here, is Charlie Gibson of ABC, whose glasses-down-over-his-nose interview with Sarah Palin during the presidential campaign was a classic of slanted journalism.  Now Mr. Gibson informs us that certain stories are, well, beneath him:

Is the ACORN scandal worthy of national broadcast news coverage? ABC News anchor Charlie Gibson suggested Tuesday that the answer is no.

The story has escalated in the past week as hidden-camera videos have been released showing workers at separate offices of ACORN — a nation community outreach group that receives millions in federal funding — appearing to advise a couple dressed as a pimp and prostitute how to skirt the law and set up a brothel.

But Gibson told a radio show Tuesday morning that he wasn't even familiar with the story — and it might be "just one you leave to the cables."

Now you see why the guy had the glasses down over his nose with Sarah.  He's a certified snob.

ABC reporter Jake Tapper has filed some reports on the scandal, and Gibson was asked on WLS Radio's "Don & Roma Show" what he thought of the story.

"I don't even know about it," Gibson said, laughing. "So you've got me at a loss. ... But my goodness, if it's got everything, including sleaziness in it, we should talk about it in the morning."

When one of the radio show's hosts described it as a "huge issue," Gibson said ABC had "done some stories about ACORN before, but this one I don't know about."

COMMENT:  The eyes and ears of the public.  The protector of the First Amendment. 

And these guys wonder why every survey shows they're losing the confidence of the public.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

WE'RE BACK - AT 9:24 P.M. ET:  Just returned from a fascinating briefing by Liam Fox, the shadow secretary of state for defence, in Great Britain.  He will become the equivalent of our secretary of defense when (!!) the conservatives win the British elections next spring.

Fox is a medical doctor by training, a great guy, and intensely pro-American.  But what he said about the way Britain runs its defenses was upsetting.  For example, get this:  Military personnel working for the Ministry of Defence don't wear uniforms because some of the civilian employees find it upsetting.  I'm not making this up.  When Fox takes over, military personnel will be in uniform.

Also, there are almost as many procurement people in the Ministry of Defence as there are fighting troops in the British armed forces.

Also, there are more civilian employees in the Ministry of Defence than the size of the Royal Navy and RAF put together.

Also, Britain can only afford six of its new class of destroyers because they made it so expensive that any other nation that can afford to buy copies, and thus produce revenue, have already bought other destroyers or produced their own.

Clearly the British defence establishment is due for an overhaul, and Fox intends to do just that once he gets in office.

He also told this story about some of the absurdity involving NATO troops in Afghanistan.  It turns out that Germany is the only country whose troops are permitted alcohol.  Also, Germany has announced publicly that its troops are not permitted to fight at night.  Think about those two facts for a moment.  As Fox remarked, "When you tell your enemy that if they attack, we'll be drinking..." 

Maybe some seriousness is required.

Also, I asked Fox whether the impression we have here that Obama doesn't put much stock in the special relationship between Britain and America is felt in Britain.  He replied that it is, that there's a feeling in Britain that the Obama administration has been aloof.  However, he also pointed out that we've been there before, that both Bill Clinton and Bush 43 tended to downplay the special relationship when they entered office, but came around to the traditional view as time went on.  They came to realize, Fox said, that Britain would always be there, standing with America.  Others, with whom we might temporarily flirt, would not be.

Fascinating guy.  He's on our side.  You'll be hearing much from him.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

FROM LITTLE ACORNS GROW - AT 3:21 P.M. ET:  The GOP is going after ACORN.  It's about time.  From Fox:

A growing number of Republican lawmakers are calling for congressional hearings and IRS audits of ACORN following the release of three videotapes that show the group's employees offering advice to a "pimp" and a "prostitute" on how to skirt the law.

Rep. Steve King, R-IA, said a video released Monday that shows filmmaker James O'Keefe, 25, and Hannah Giles, 20, getting advice from ACORN employees in Brooklyn, N.Y., on how to launder their earnings and avoid detection while running a prostitution business is "another reason to turn it up" on ACORN.

Four ACORN employees -- two in Baltimore and two in Washington -- were fired late last week after videos showed the "pimp" and "prostitute" getting similar advice in those cities. In those videos, O'Keefe and Giles told the ACORN workers that they intended to bring underage girls into the country to work as prostitutes.

COMMENT:  The idea is not to limit this to ACORN, but to link that group to the Obama White House and the Democratic Party.  ACORN has received millions of federal dollars because of Democratic efforts.  Show the American people the extent of the corruption, the collusion.  And name names.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

SHAMEFUL, SHAMEFUL, SHAMEFUL - AT 3:03 P.M. ET:  Is there something seriously wrong with this president?  Does he have any idea what office he holds?  It's bad enough that he's engaged in a perpetual political campaign, but appearing on entertainment talk shows is beneath the dignity of the office.  Obama has done Leno, and it was a low moment.  It appears he hasn't learned:

While Jay Leno had a fake presidential interview on his first show Monday night, David Letterman will have the real thing September 21.

President Barack Obama will make the first appearance ever by a sitting U.S. President on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman on next Monday’s show.

He will be the sole guest on the broadcast.

COMMENT:  This man is in trouble.  He apparently likes running for president, but doesn't like being president.  An hour on Letterman?  Doesn't the president have something better to do with his time, like dealing with the Iranian nuclear program? 

I am embarrassed, as an American, at this vulgar display.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

BOUNCE FADING? - AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  Too early to tell, but this morning's Rasmussen survey shows the president losing ground, and important ground in his overall approval rating.  This follows the bounce he received following his speech to Congress last week. 

We stress that a poll is a snapshot in time, and trends must be examined over a number of days.  However, Rasmussen has been pretty accurate this year in predicting what other polls would eventually show.

This morning Ras reports the president's approval and disapproval ratings as even, at 50%-50%.  Yesterday the president led, 52% to 48%.

The presidential approval index, measuring the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove, stands at minus four, 34% to 38%.  It was minus three yesterday.

We'll follow this to see where the trend goes in the next week. 

September 15, 2009   Permalink

AH YES, I REMEMBER IT WELL - AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  Superlative historian Victor Davis Hanson reminds us of a bit of history, as Democrats express anguish, pain and horror at the thought of anyone criticizing The One:

Maureen Dowd wrote another unfortunate, poorly argued, and thinly researched column yesterday. She alleges that racism is behind the growing suspicion of the Obama administration and its initiatives. But almost everything we've seen so far has a parallel with liberal attacks on George W. Bush. By 2005, Democrats were booing him openly during his State of the Union address. Rep. Pete Stark called him a liar on the House floor. In fact, the response so far to Obama is mild in comparison to what Bush endured. That does not excuse the boorishness of Joe Wilson, but his tirade is symbolic of our loss of decorum since 2002/2003.

As we all remember, novels were published outlining dreams of killing Bush; a film on that theme won an award. Al Gore, John Glenn (of all people!), and Robert Byrd compared Bush to a brownshirt or Nazi, and they were echoed in the popular culture by the likes of Linda Rondstadt and Garrison Keiler ("brownshirts in pinstripes"). There was no liberal outcry in response.

No, and there never will be.  Today's liberal (not really) mindset is illiberal and bigoted.  It begins with the premise that liberals are 1) superior, and 2) aggrieved, and therefore must be given some leeway in expressing themselves.  Opponents, in the liberal view, are bigoted, narrow, and dangerous, and therefore must be kept on a leash.

...so far, we have seen in the opposition to Obama none of the hatred and sickness that characterized a wide swath of opinion on the left during the Bush years — hatred and sickness that were mainstreamed by the likes of Alfred Knopf, the Guardian, and the Democratic party.

And please remember that the mainstream media usually will not report the most extreme vulgarity in leftist rallies, including the obscenity, while playing up the fringes at conservative gatherings. 

The present poisoned atmosphere began in the 1980s and 1990s with virulent partisan attacks on Reagan and Clinton. But it was between 2004 and 2008 that the Left introduced a particularly sick sort of hatred to the political give-and-take, reminiscent of the lunatic right during the mid-1950s.

I personally believe that the decline in our popular culture - songs, movies, TV - contributed enormously to that poison.  When young people get the feeling that anyone goes, anything starts to go.

One of the most surreal developments of the last nine months has been to see Times columnists who were particularly unfair and vicious in their 24/7 attacks on the prior administration now call for more civil discourse and impugn the motives of Obama critics, apparently in bewilderment that anyone would question the president's competence or sincerity. This is all quite amazing, really.

And Times readership continues to sink.  It isn't all because of the internet.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

A DAY LIKE ALL OBAMA DAYS - AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  Andrew Malcolm, at the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket, courteously presents us with the president's schedule today.  It reads like the president's schedule most days, which is part of Mr. Obama's problem:

Now that he's called Kanye West a "jackass" -- unofficially, of course -- President Obama forsakes the sedentary business of governing again today to head back out on the campaign trail, which is more fun anyway in his profession...

...Today he's on the road again. He'll make three stops -- one in Ohio and two in Pennsylvania, including his newly-adopted favorite city of Pittsburgh. In Ohio, the president will talk economy with auto workers and, as he did Monday in New York, likely profess that he sees more signs the hard times are truly ending.

Not an easy argument for anyone to make, even if they are eloquent, with unemployment still above 9%. And the anxiety and fears almost palpable among many.

Malcolm quotes a new Washington Post- ABC News poll that cannot be bringing joy to the lonesome traveler on Air Force One:

The results show only 51% approve of the....

...freshman president's handling of the economy while an even worse 39% approve of his job addressing -- or not addressing -- the gargantuan federal deficits projected way out past Obama's two terms and into Sarah Palin's first.

Ah, just the sound of that. 

Nearly 60% of Americans, according to the poll, are worried over job losses and pay cuts in coming months. This is not usually fertile ground for acceptance of the kind of major, ill-defined, costly changes that Obama seeks to impose in so many areas.

Someone tell the White House.  Their e-mail must be down because they're not getting the message.

But the president will see some nice scenery today, like every day.   I wonder if he's put pictures on the Oval Office desk yet.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

SO FAR, AN F - FOR FAILURE - AT 7:53 A.M. ET:   Jeremy Lott, writing in The Politico, believes the Obama presidency is heading for failure:

So far, he’s failing miserably. Consider the following:

• Cap-and-trade legislation had to limp over the finish line in the House of Representatives with the help of a few moderate Republicans, who then caught holy unshirted hell from their constituents.

And it has almost no chance in the Senate.

• The Employee Free Choice Act may be stripped of its “card check” provision in the Senate, which would effectively do away with secret ballots for unionization elections. Even in its watered-down form — which still includes highly objectionable, mandatory, binding so-called gunpoint arbitration and makes no concessions to employers who don’t want to have to prop up teetering union pensions — it might not pass the Senate. And the leadership of the House has refused to touch it until the other chamber has made up its mind.

We should be grateful to the Founders for providing us with a United States Senate, the more deliberative body, where nutty ideas often go to die.

• On health care...right now, even after Obama’s address to the joint session of Congress last week, it’s possible Democrats don’t even have the votes in the House — where they currently enjoy a 77-seat majority.

And...

The question that most political handicappers are considering right now is not “Will Republicans make gains at the midterm elections?” but “How large will those gains be?”

What all this means is, barring some unforeseeable world event, Obama’s will probably not be a historic presidency. He will have some successes and a lot of failures. His opposition won’t roll over, and his party will refuse to go along with his more costly, and thus risky, schemes. He won’t coast to reelection.

COMMENT:  But don't get overconfident.  President Dewey also thought he could defeat the incumbent, Harry Truman.  The press will most likely still be in the tank for Obama in 2012, if the president runs again.  And the economy could revive.

It will be a constant struggle, no matter what the polls show at the moment.

September 15, 2009   Permalink

THE SEVEN - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  Reader Bret Hoover alerts us to Michelle Malkin's report, naming the seven U.S. senators who actually voted against an amendment yesterday barring funds for ACORN, the scandal-ridden promoter of leftist causes.  They are:

Burris (D-IL)
Casey (D-PA)
Durbin (D-IL)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Leahy (D-VT)
Sanders (I-VT)
Whitehouse (D-RI)

COMMENT:  Note that both Illinois senators are on the list.   Look, it's Illinois.  What's a little scandal, right? 

Also note that both Vermont senators are on the list.  It's in the water up there.  Vermont used to be a reliably Republican state, but the neighborhood got ruined.  Karl Marx could get elected governor.  I hear there's a write-in campaign.

I see that my own senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, made the cut.  Of course, she was appointed to the Senate when Hillary resigned, and her appointment came from super-corrupt Governor David Paterson.  So I guess she thought she was just voting for family.

As for Casey and Whitehouse, they have no excuse. 

September 15,  2009   Permalink