Kathy Carpenter for Kenosha Alderman District 5

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Congratulations Taxpaying Americans, you now own another major bank

Heck of a job, Timmy and Barry.

That is right, we just bailed out yet another bank. The nation now owns GMAC.

Now I know you must be thinking, haven't we already bailed out GMAC once?

Why, yes we have already bailed them out before.

In fact, this is the third time American taxpayers have bailed out GMAC. Last year, Bush's bailout gave GMAC $5 billion. President Obama then bailed them out again in May with $7.5 billion. Today, President Obama is bailing them out again with $3.8 billion.

The additional aid for GMAC underscores both its struggles and its importance to the administration's efforts to revive the auto industry. GMAC, which already has taken $12.5 billion in direct federal aid along with other forms of government support, is the largest lender to General Motors and Chrysler dealerships and to their customers.

Treasury said that it will increase its stake in GMAC to 56 percent from 35 percent. The government also will hold about $14 billion in what amounts to loans that GMAC may eventually repay. The government plans to appoint four of the company's nine directors.

Okay, so the lists of major assets that the American people now own:

Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae
GMAC
AIG
CitiGroup
General Motors
Chrysler

You must also be thinking that this is just another loan, we will eventually get paid back by GMAC, right?

Well, not exactly...

The government is investing $3.8 billion in GMAC, increasing to $16.3 billion the total direct aid that the company has taken from taxpayers. In exchange, Treasury received securities, including preferred shares, that require the company to make regular interest payments. Both GMAC and Treasury said they expect the aid will eventually be repaid.

The government also announced Wednesday that it will exchange $3 billion of these preferred shares for common shares of GMAC stock which do not pay interest and will not be repaid, though they can be sold for a profit if the company's share price increases.

What? We demand preferred shares of stock, so the bill will be repaid and then immediately turn around and exchange $3 billion to common stock ensuring that we will not be repaid.

So we just handed $3 billion taxpayers dollars to GMAC with no intent of recovering that money for the American people?

Heck of a job, Timmy and Barry!

Then Obama's Treasury Department has the nerve to say this:

"These actions fulfill Treasury's commitments made in May to GMAC in a manner which protects taxpayers to the greatest extent possible," Treasury said in a statement.

How in the world do these nitwits have the nerve to make this type of statement?

You just gave away $3 billion in tax dollars to GMAC and told them they do not have to repay it! How does that little move protect taxpayer?

By the way, you have got to love Obama's transparent government that once again dumps this on the people during a holiday when they are not paying attention!

Oh my goodness, my head is hurting again!

"Heck of a job, Barry"

You would think that the mockery of our President and his unenthusiastic reaction to a terrorist on US soil, came from a Republican.

You would think that the person making statements like the following is far right wing radical:

Instead of modernity, we have airports where security is so retro that taking away pillows and blankies and bathroom breaks counts as a great leap forward.

If we can’t catch a Nigerian with a powerful explosive powder in his oddly feminine-looking underpants and a syringe full of acid, a man whose own father had alerted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a traveler whose ticket was paid for in cash and who didn’t check bags, whose visa renewal had been denied by the British, who had studied Arabic in Al Qaeda sanctuary Yemen, whose name was on a counterterrorism watch list, who can we catch?

You may be as shocked as I was when reading this op-ed. A liberal's liberal wrote this. Maureen Dowd.

Top 10 most corrupt politicians in America

Judicial Watch has been known to go after both Republicans and Democrats over the years.

This year, it is no different.

What is amazing is the very same characters screeching in the 2006 election "culture of corruption" are now equally as corrupt or in some cases even worse.

Who can ever forget Nancy Pelosi's screeching for months on end about the "culture of corruption" in 2006?

About Tom DeLay, Pelosi stated "The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people."

Tada!

Now looky here...Guess who's names are at the top of the list of most corrupt politicians in America?

That is right... President Barack "most transparent government evah" Obama, Speaker Nancy "screeching" Pelosi, Timothy "tax cheat" Geithner and US Top Cop AG Eric Holder.

See for yourself.

1. Senator Chris Dodd (D)
2. Senator John Ensign (R)
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D)
4. Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner (appointed by Democrat President Obama)
5. Attorney General Eric Holder (appointed by Democrat President Obama)
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) and Senator Roland Burris (D)
7. President Barack Obama (D)
8. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D)
9. Rep. John Murtha (D), Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D), Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D), Norm Dicks (D), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), C.W. Bill Young (R), Todd Tiahrt (R)
10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D0

Where are the media elitists?

Heads would have rolled.

If this were a Republican Senator, the media elitist would have howled in complete hysterics demanding the resignation of the Republican Senator.

This would have been front page news across this nation, if it were a Republican.

Instead, many of the media are making excuses, claiming the Senator was not slurring his words.

The Senator at the head of the awful Senate Heath Care bill was drunk and making a speech on the Senate floor. See for yourself:



I cannot believe the lengths the media is going in order to protect the healthcare bill, all Democrats and this President.

It is just staggering.

Pitifully stupid comment from head of DHS on terrorist

I know that throughout this nation's history, many a politician has made a pitifully stupid statement.

Today's pitifully stupid comment grand award goes to DHS head Janet Napolitano:

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the thwarting of the attempt to blow up the Amsterdam-Detroit flight this week demonstrated that "the system worked."

This woman is the head of Department of Homeland Security. So how safe do you feel now?

Perhaps Secretary Napolitano did not notice that nothing was thwarted. A terrorist managed to get on a plane headed to the US. He managed to smuggle explosives on board. While over US soil, the terrorists attempted to blow up the plane. The explosive was faulty.

Nothing was thwarted.

Oh my goodness, my head hurts.

Where is President Obama?

A attack, even if it failed, by a terrorist on US soil is a serious event. This is something we can all agree on.

Where is our President?

I know he is on vacation. We have all heard about the his workout at a military base and golf outing. We hear that President Obama is on conference calls and is monitoring the situation.

Imagine for a moment if this were President Bush's reaction. All hell would have broken loose. The media would have launched themselves into complete hysterics over the President's lack of attention to the terrorist attack.

There has been no official statement from President Obama or the Department of Homeland Security.

Nothing. Nada. Zippo.

As typical of the lame stream media, they are making excuses for the President. One idiot even goes so far as to say this is Obama's strategy. What a pant load that excuse is.

This was an attack on the US, not Israel, Iraqis, or Afghans. This attack was on the United States. This is the second one in our country on Obama's watch.

Geez, when will this President and his administration get a clue? No apology tours will fix this. Calling terrorists attacks, "man-caused disasters", will not fix this. The man caused disasters are getting out of hand, don't you think?

A simple statement reassuring Americans from the President of the United States, when there is a terrorists attack on US soil is all that is needed here. It has been 48 hours and the President is too busy golfing.

PS. Edited to add...The media is not really helping President Obama's case with statements like this:

But once at the Marine base, Obama had one thing on his mind. According to a pool report, the president exited his SUV and headed without pause for the course.

Hmm... Golf is a priority and the only thing on his mind. Terrorist attack on US soil, not so much.

An act of terrorism over Detroit

Er...I am sorry. My title should read "A man-caused disaster over Detroit".

CNN

A Nigerian man is "talking a lot" to the FBI, said a senior U.S. official, after what the United States believes was an attempted terrorist attack on an inbound international flight.

The initial impression is that the suspect was acting alone and did not have any formal connections to organized terrorist groups, said the senior official who is familiar with the investigation.

The suspect, identified by a U.S. government official as 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, ignited a small explosive device Friday, shortly before a Northwest flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, made its landing in Detroit, Michigan.

Other reports state that this guy did have ties to the terrorist organization al-Queda.

Here are the facts that we do know.

1. Security failed and this guy managed to get on a plane to the United States

2. The terrorist was successful in igniting a device strapped to his body. The terrorist act succeeded, but the device failed

Merry Christmas

Luke 2
Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem
1Now in those days a decree went out from (A)Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of (B)all [a]the inhabited earth.

2This was the first census taken while [b]Quirinius was governor of (C)Syria.

3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because (D)he was of the house and family of David,

5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

7And she (E)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

9And (F)an angel of the Lord suddenly (G)stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

10But the angel said to them, "(H)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a (I)Savior, who is [c](J)Christ (K)the Lord.

12"(L)This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14"(M)Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men [d](N)with whom He is pleased."

In complete defiance of the American people...

You would think that we live in a democracy, but the Democrats have proven today that this is no longer a democracy and we do not have a representative government. We now have an imperialistic government, determined to do as they please, and tax the commoners to do their bidding.

Before we get in trouble with our new King Obama and his court jesters, we better say this first:

Long live King Obama! All hail his court jesters!


If we truly had representative government, the healthcare bill would not have passed in the House or the Senate.

If was truly a good bill for the American people, the people would have recognized this and supported it.

If this was truly a good bill there would have been no need for backroom deals.

If this were truly a good bill, there would have been no need to buy votes with taxpayer funded goodies.

If this were truly a good bill, there would have been no need to cast votes under the cover of darkness, while America sleeps.

If this were truly a good bill, there would have been plenty of bi-partisan support.

The Democrats and a desperate President have defied the will of the people and rammed this down their throats.

A few minutes after the vote was taken, I scanned the poll numbers as proof of the Democrats defiance of the will of the American people. Now this is not a single poll, but an average of all the latest poll numbers.

The Democrats will try to explain away, make excuses, etc... for their defiance, but the proof is right here:

Double click to enlarge



As we all gather with family and friends to celebrate the birth of the real King of Kings, remember this moment and say a prayer for the country you know and love. She is in trouble and we have very little time to right the ship and regain our freedom from our government.

Perhaps it wasn't a surrender

Yeah, I heard all the normal blather from folks yesterday about Mitch McConnell caving in and allowing the healthcare vote to take place at 8:00am on Christmas Eve instead of voting at 7:00pm. I know conservatives were upset by the change in the voting time.

I had hoped that Mitch McConnell would at least get something for allowing the vote to be moved up by several hours.

Kudos, Mitch McConnell.

Byron York has the scoop. Apparently McConnell did have a plan to force difficult votes for the liberals in an election year.

There's no doubt that McConnell, with just 40 Republican votes, holds the weak hand in negotiating with Reid. But according to the source, in exchange for agreeing to hold the vote on Christmas Eve morning instead of evening, McConnell got Reid to agree to hold a high-profile debt-limit vote next month -- just before the president's State of the Union address -- instead of burying the issue later, as Democrats had wanted. In addition, McConnell got Reid to agree to showcase a number of deficit-related Republican amendments, forcing Democrats to vote on issues they had hoped to avoid.

The Senate has still not voted on a bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling. It has to do so by tomorrow, before lawmakers leave for the year. Democrats have taken hits for wanting to raise the limit by about $1.8 trillion; raising it by that amount would allow them to avoid another vote on raising the debt ceiling before next year's elections. They also hoped to hide the measure inside a conference report so that lawmakers would vote on a larger package of measures and would not have to cast a vote specifically in favor of such a huge increase. When they couldn't reach agreement on that, they came up with a plan for a two-month debt-ceiling agreement, which would at least mean they would not have to come up with a longer-term agreement until February.

That is important because Democrats want to hold the debt-ceiling vote after the president's State of the Union address, in which Obama is expected to emphasize fiscal responsibility and deficit control. Given Democratic spending in the last year, Obama will have a difficult time making the argument with a straight face, and Senate Democrats had hoped that pushing the debt ceiling vote until well beyond the speech would make the president's task a little easier. Thus the plan to pass a two-month debt ceiling bill before leaving for Christmas.

Let's make a deal

When even the mainstream media is showcasing the legislation used to buy the vote or support of certain special interest groups, you know this is a real problem.

The AP:

SEN. BEN NELSON, D-NEB., who provided the critical 60th vote that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid needed, received numerous benefits for Nebraska, along with tighter curbs on abortion. Among the Nebraska-specific provisions:

_The federal government will pick up the full cost of a proposed expansion of Medicaid, at an estimated cost of $100 million over 10 years.

_Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska will be exempted from an annual fee on insurers; the exemption could also apply to nonprofit insurers in other states, possibly including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

_Supplemental "Medigap" policies such as those sold by Mutual of Omaha are exempted from the annual fee on insurers, something that would help other companies selling such policies.

_A physician-owned hospital being built in Bellevue, Neb., could get referrals from doctors who own it, avoiding a new ban in the Senate bill that will apply to hospitals built in the future. Without mentioning Nebraska or other states by name, the Senate bill pushes back some legal deadlines by several months, in effect making a few hospitals near completion eligible to continue receiving referrals from the doctors who own them.

Financial Times

Mr Nelson wanted tougher restrictions on abortion funding in the bill, but after days of wrangling, agreed to support the bill in return for the federal government permanently funding Nebraska’s bill for Medicaid, the insurance plan for the poor, worth about $45m in its first 10 years.

Mary Landrieu of Louisiana also won about $300m in support for Medicaid for her state, and Vermont and Massachusetts will also receive additional funding.

Bernie Sanders, the independent from Vermont and the most liberal of senators, obtained $10bn for community health centres after failing to get a government-backed public health insurance scheme in the bill.

Dana Milbanks at the Washington Post

First there was the "Louisiana Purchase," $100 million in extra Medicaid money for the Bayou State, requested by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Then came the "Cornhusker Kickback," another $100 million in extra Medicaid money, this time for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

This was followed by word that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) had written into the legislation $100 million meant for a medical center in his state. This one was quickly dubbed the "U Con."

Earlier, when GOP staff member mistakenly thought the medical center was destined for Indiana rather than Connecticut, they named it the "Bayh Off" for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).

For Democratic leaders, this created an appearance problem. Fortunately, they had removed from the bill the tax on cosmetic procedures (the "Botax") and replaced it with a tax on tanning (which would primarily impact House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio).

...

Gator Aid: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) inserted a grandfather clause that would allow Floridians to preserve their pricey Medicare Advantage program.

Handout Montana: Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) secured Medicare coverage for anybody exposed to asbestos -- as long as they worked in a mine in Libby, Mont.

and on and on...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wall Street Journal

For Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and President Obama to not recognize that Americans are watching and Americans are furious, is political suicide.

I do not understand why one of these three do not have the common sense to stand up and say "stop, let's do this right", is just staggering.

Even New Yorkers saying "no" to Obamacare?

Very interesting, less than 24 hours after President Obama and the liberal pinheads were celebrating their "victory" in healthcare "reform", New Yorkers are calling to have this bill killed.

From the Buffalo News.

Now you would think after reading the following statements, that this was a conservative editorial board writing these things:

...Americans are likely to get a bill that drives unsustainable costs even higher, does not completely solve the problem of the uninsured and does little to improve the quality of medicine. And it won't kick in until as late as 2014. But taxes, mainly on the wealthy, would go up pronto.

and this:

While the Congressional Budget Office has projected that new revenues and cuts in spending would reduce future federal budget deficits by $132 billion between 2010 and 2019, no conscious person believes Congress will follow through with spending cuts.

This must be a conservative, right?

how about this:

In the weakest economy in decades, with unemployment around 10 percent, Washington can't make matters worse for American businesses, who pay the lion's share of health coverage.

Now tell me only a conservative writer would actually call the following real reform, right?

Where is the effort to combat the $210 billion annual cost of defensive medicine? Malpractice suits drive up the costs of doctors' insurance, but far worse on the economy and the soaring cost of care are the unnecessary tests doctors order to protect themselves. The bill does nothing to combat this insidious problem.

These must be conservative New Yorkers, right?

Not true.

The editorial board had this to say about conservatives:

No one likes this bill. Not Republicans — who, it must be said, would vote against Christmas if they thought supporting it would benefit Obama — and some Democrats.

These are no right wingers writing this op-ed.

The Democrats and this President are so desperate to throw anything down and call it healthcare reform, they have lost any sense of common decency.

Now they tell us

Seems the NY Times might be growing a tiny conscience.

The intended beneficiaries are identified in a cryptic, mysterious way: individuals exposed to environmental health hazards recognized as a public health emergency in a declaration issued by the federal government on June 17.

And who might those individuals be? It turns out they are people exposed to asbestos from a vermiculite mine in Libby, Mont.

For a decade, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, has been trying to get the government to help them. He is in a position to deliver now because he is chairman of the Finance Committee and a principal author of the health care bill.

Working for a 21st consecutive day, the Senate on Sunday pushed toward a final vote on Christmas Eve on the bill, which would provide health insurance for more than 30 million Americans. Democrats said on Saturday that they had secured the 60th vote needed to pass the bill, and a 60-to-40 procedural vote early Monday morning was the first in a series testing their ability to maintain party unity on the issue.

So, Senator Baucus has added a few little goodies for his state also.

This bill is clearly not about the American people, it is about party unity and passing a bill that makes President Obama look good.

Party unity? How about the American people?

What are the chances that the American people will unite and throw these bums out?

Another $100 million down the drain

Wasn't the snow storm in Washington DC on Saturday?

It is now Monday and the entire federal government in Washington DC is closed because of the snow, costing the people of this nation $100 million.

How much does a US Senator cost?

There is some good news in this. Americans know exactly what it takes to buy a US Senator into betraying them.
By the way, the idiot reporters who keep claiming that Senator Ben Nelson won some concessions for his vote, need to start telling the truth. Senator Nelson sold his soul and won not a single concession. Nelson's vote changed because he was bought, not by getting anything tossed out of the bill, but because his state will get more Medicaid funding than every other state. Senator Nelson conceded, nothing was removed from the bill.


The deep dark side of America's wheeling and dealing from its politicians has been utterly exposed.

Our government can be bought into betraying the will of the American people.

Is this the nation that our forefather's built?

America has been betrayed by the Democrats

In complete defiance of the American people, the Democrats vote for cloture on the health care bill. It is all but a formality that massive tax increasing/government controlling boondogle healthcare plan will pass the Senate.

NOT ONE SINGLE POLL SHOWS THAT AMERICA SUPPORTS THIS BILL IN ITS CURRENT FORM.

Not a single poll.

How does any single Democrat vote for this with a clear conscience and actually state that they did this for the American people?

Uh-oh Things did not go well for President Obama in Copenhagen

I was following Twitter a while ago and the American media is just gushing at President Obama's wisdom and leadership on ClimateGATE...er I mean Climate Change.

The worldwide media is not being so kind to President Obama. I guess the HopeyChangey fever is wearing off on the world stage.

But his speech offered no indication America was ready to embrace bold measures, after world leaders had been working desperately against the clock to try to paper over an agreement to prevent two years of wasted effort — and a 10-day meeting — from ending in total collapse.

Obama, who had been skittish about coming to Copenhagen at all unless it could be cast as a foreign policy success, looked visibly frustrated as he appeared before world leaders.

He offered no further commitments on reducing emissions or on finance to poor countries beyond Hillary Clinton's announcement yesterday that America would support a $100bn global fund to help developing nations adapt to climate change.

He did not even press the Senate to move ahead on climate change legislation, which environmental organisations have been urging for months.

The president did say America would follow through on his administration's clean energy agenda, and that it would live up to its pledges to the international community.

"We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say," Obama said.

But in the absence of any evidence of that commitment the words rang hollow and there was a palpable sense of disappointment in the audience.

Another unelected board raises taxes on Wisconsinites

As if this economy is not bad enough, a Milwaukee County District Board, not elected or unaccountable to the people, raised taxes in Milwaukee County.

Beginning July 1, consumers will pay a little more for food and beverages purchased in Milwaukee County.

As expected, the Wisconsin Center District board voted Wednesday to raise the tax from 0.25% to 0.50% in order to meet its own debt-service obligations. But the board also said it was interested in retiring the tax increase as soon as possible.

The district's taxes - it collects four in all - have not been raised since the district was formed in 1994, according to Franklyn Gimbel, the board's chairman.

The vote to approve the tax was 10-2. Voting against the increase was Wauwatosa Mayor Jill Didier and Jim Villa, the head of the Commercial Association of Realtors. The following board members voted in favor of the tax: Gimbel; restaurant owner Jack Weissgerber; Milwaukee Aldermen Willie Hines, Ashanti Hamilton and Terry Witkowski; W. Martin Morics, Milwaukee city comptroller; Joel Brennan of Discovery World; John J. Burke Jr., of Burke Properties; James Kaminski of Kaminski Consultants; and Stephen H. Marcus of the Marcus Corp.

Curious questions...Where does this money go? What is the debt obligation? What have these folks borrowed the money for? Who put these people in a seat of power allowing them to increase taxes?

God really does have a sense of humor

Blizzard in Copenhagen

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.

“Temperatures will stay low at least the next three days,” Henning Gisseloe, an official at Denmark’s Meteorological Institute, said today by telephone, forecasting more snow in coming days. “There’s a good chance of a white Christmas.”

Delegates from 193 countries have been in Copenhagen since Dec. 7 to discuss how to fund global greenhouse gas emission cuts. U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive before the summit is scheduled to end tomorrow.

Denmark has a maritime climate and milder winters than its Scandinavian neighbors. It hasn’t had a white Christmas for 14 years, under the DMI’s definition, and only had seven last century. Temperatures today fell as low as minus 4 Celsius (25 Fahrenheit).

Merry Christmas, Denmark!

Proving yet again, God is in Control. No one else, not even The One!

President Obama: America will go bankrupt without his healthcare plan

Now who is scaring people, Mr. President?

President Obama told ABC News’ Charles Gibson in an interview that if Congress does not pass health care legislation that will bring down costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.”

The president laid out a dire scenario of what will happen if his health care reform effort fails.

Is this the same type of promise that if we do not pass a massive stimulus plan then unemployment will go over 8%?

As the President was promising these dire consequences, Congress increased the debt limit by $290 billion dollars.

The real question is, aren't we already bankrupt?

The stimulus is working, but...

The stimulus is working, but they need a lot more money.

As the House was preparing to pass a $150 billion bill for additional job creation, reporters on Wednesday evening pressed White House officials on why the country needs another fiscal boost even as the Obama administration argues that the first stimulus, with $787 billion, is doing the trick.

White House economist Jared Bernstein, stimulus overseer Ed DeSeve and press secretary Robert Gibbs assembled reporters to tout the impact of the $787 billion stimulus, saying it had helped turn the economy around even though much of its force will only start to be felt in the coming months.

But if the stimulus was working as planned, reporters asked, why were congressional Democrats and the White House talking about a new "jobs" package? After his recent "jobs summit," Obama announced that he would push for tens of billions more to jolt the economy.

The question still remains unanswered. Why is a second stimulus needed if the first one is working?

The whole point of taking this nation $787 billion in debt was to create jobs.

What was the original stimulus for, if not to create jobs?

Health Care bill is collapsing

This is interesting to watch. Support for healthcare legislation is collapsing right before our eyes.

In the Senate, the bill started with co-ops, those have been removed. The co-op was really just another form of government run health care. The bill then added a public option. It too collapsed and fell out of the bill. They then used Medicare expansion and a trigger option as their government run options. They too have now been removed.

With that removal, super libs at Daily Kos have encouraged the Senate to throw the bill out and start over again.

Yesterday, Howard Dean, Mr. Health Care reform crisis, has began calling on the Senate to kill the bill and go to reconciliation.

Just to put a little more pressure on this explosive situation, the unions have called an emergency meeting to discuss whether they intend to continue to back the bill.

Just to make matters worse, a whole new round of poll numbers are out and not one single poll shows support for ObamaCare.

Ben Bernanke- Person of the year?

Boy, the liberals desperately want the economy to recover before the 2010 elections. Liberal magazine, Time, has named Ben Bernanke as their person of the year. For heaven's sake, neither side of the aisle likes Ben Bernanke.

Has he saved this economy?

Er...not really.

AMERICANS OPPOSE OBAMACARE

I have listened and read cheesy excuses all over the internet for more than 3 months from liberals about healthcare reform. When a poll comes out showing Americans against ObamaCare, the liberals make the excuse that it is a right wing poll. Even if that poll shows that more Democrats were polled than Republicans and Independents.

The time for excuses is over. It is no longer just Rasmussen or Fox News showing a clear majority of Americans hate these new health care "reform" proposals. A clear and decisive overall majority oppose the steps currently being taken by our President and his Congress.

For a moment, ignore the labels of left wing and right wing poll. Let's look at the average of all of the polls.

Poll Date Favor Oppose Spread
RCP Average 11/19 - 12/9 -- 37.8 52.7 Against/Oppose +14.9

That is just the average of all of the recent polls.

Please, someone on the Democrats side of aisle, explain why it is you are defying the American people and proceeding with this garbage anyway?

New Senate ObamaCare will not save a penny

I read about this late on Friday and have been waiting to see the internet explode on this news. But as typical with Friday night releases, the media was too busy worrying about something else, like Tiger Woods.

However, Monday always comes.

Not only with the new ObamaCare policies increase costs to the average middle class American, it still does not cover anyone. In fact, according to the New York Times, only an additional 900,000 will be covered.

Even as the budget office warned of diminished revenues should more employers provide tax-free health benefits, there are two possible upsides for the Democrats.

One is that as many as 900,000 more people might gain insurance –- contributing toward a main goal of the legislation, which is to expand coverage to as many of the uninsured as possible.

900,000 and cost will rise??

More analysis from the LA Times shows much of the same:

Analysts in the Obama administration's Health and Human Services Department reported Friday that the nation's $2.5-trillion annual healthcare tab will not shrink at all under the Democrats' legislative blueprint as being pushed by happy Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Instead, they said, the nation's medical costs will actually grow faster under the new bill than....

...they would if that chatty crowd of Washington spenders did absolutely nothing nada zippo about it. And even if they did pass the existing version for all that money, 24 million Americans would still remain uncovered.
"Although several provisions would help to reduce healthcare cost growth," the report said, "their impact would be more than offset through 2019 by the higher health expenditures resulting from the coverage expansions" to millions more Americans.

This new plan that expands Medicare to millions more Americans starting at the age of 55 actually is a the worst idea to come out of late. The Senate is moving backwards, not forwards.

Do you remember that the Senate has already agreed to cutting Medicare by $500 billion? The Senate is calling it savings, but they are really cuts in services.

Now they plan on covering millions more Americans starting at the age of 55, and they still expect the $500 in "savings"?

That does not make sense to any common sense thinking Americans.

This is the new bill that President Obama lauded as the best evah, just this past week.

Bradford's Reality Check

I had a great time volunteering for Bradford's Reality Check. Since Bradford High School is in my district, I received an email request from the Educator's Credit Union; the hosts of the program.

Here is a little ditty in the Kenosha News about Reality Check.

I, of course, worked at the Government Station. The taxes were taken out of the kids paychecks before they even made it to our table. I worked the government station with Jeff Coe, an alderman from Racine, who had done these Reality Checks before at the Racine High Schools. Before the event started, Jeff told me I would have a blast.

He was not kidding. I did have a great time. Basically our job was to just try and help get these kids through the process. One young lady approached out table with about $1000 in her "checkbook", and needed to pay $821 in child support. She went ahead and paid the child support and had $179 left. Since we were trying to help these kids, we continued to ask the basic question. Do you have a roof over your head? Have you paid you electricity? Do you have a way to work? etc. I found out the young woman with $179 left in her account still did
not have a place to live. Yikes! I sent her to the "SOS" table to try and find a part time job.

The kids were well behaved and a lot of fun. The teachers milling around really did a great job in just trying to steer the students to the right tables and helping them balance their checkbooks.

Those from the Educator's Credit Union were so helpful and so attentive to the kids. They were also very organized and kept things moving pretty quickly for the 300 students moving through the process.

All in all, there were a lot of great students, great teachers and the hosts of the event were a lot of fun.

I appreciated the opportunity to work with this program.

Merry Christmas from the Kenosha Police Department

Sarah Palin can be funny

One of the benefits of not being the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin gets to events like this and starts hitting back.

Great sense of humor from the Governor, Conan and Captain Kirk.

Do we care?

Honestly, I have to take a moment and just share something with you all.

I could care less who Tiger sleeps with or the color of their skin.

Can we move on?

Staggering Debt

Just two days after Obama pointed the finger at Republicans for the deficit(yes, Republicans did screw up), pretending like he had nothing to do with this debt, the Democrats are now proposing raising the debt ceiling for the second time this year.

I am not sure if there has ever been a US government that has spent money faster than this Administration and this Congress. Holy cow! The Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.8 TRILLION dollars.

I do not care if you are a Republican, Democrat or an Independent; that is a staggering amount of debt the Democrats plan on foisting on the American people.

In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year’s rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections.

“We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told POLITICO Wednesday. And the Maryland Democrat confirmed that the anticipated increase could be as high as $1.8 trillion — nearly twice what had been assumed in last spring’s budget resolution for the 2010 fiscal year.

The leadership is betting that it’s better for the party to take its lumps now rather than risk further votes over the coming year. But the enormity of the number could create its own dynamic, much as another debt ceiling fight in 1985 gave rise to the Gramm-Rudman deficit reduction act mandating across-the-board spending cuts nearly 25 years ago.

Already in the Senate, there is growing pressure in both parties for the creation of a novel bipartisan task force empowered to force expedited votes in the next Congress on deficit reduction steps now shunned by lawmakers.

As introduced Wednesday, the legislation sets no specific targets for deficit reduction, but its 18-member task force — 16 of whom would come from Congress — is promised immense leverage to force change if they can first come together behind a plan.

“This is a defining moment,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), one of the lead sponsors, and New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the panel’s ranking Republican, is already maneuvering to try to add the legislation as an amendment to any bill tapped to carry the debt increase.

As explained by Hoyer and other Democrats, that will almost certainly be a pending $636.4 billion Pentagon appropriations bill that includes $128.3 in contingency funds for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Politico

Obama gives ACORNs for Christmas?

I should say that is quite symbolic and audacious for the President to do. He served ACORN shaped cookies at the White House Christmas Party.

I mean, really...Who serves ACORN shaped cookies at a Christmas Party? Is it a tradition? Perhaps it is?




Fox News

Any fan of Cookie Monster on Sesame Street knows that "C" is for cookie.

But at the Obama White House, "A" may be for acorn -- as in acorn cookies served at Monday's annual Christmas party.

The chocolate cookies shaped like an acorn were quite a hit with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

"I didn't expect to see such stark symbolism," King said in an e-mail.

President Obama worked with the community organizing group ACORN in the mid-90s. But now ACORN faces a host of allegations related to voter fraud in the 2008 election and has been weakened by an undercover expose that shows employees offering tax advice to a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute.

Another day, another new low poll number for President Obama

Attention Liberals, stop pretending like everything is fine. Even the polling average is under 50%.

At 46%, President Obama's latest job approval rating is the lowest ever in Quinnipiac polls, and he has an upside down rating for his handling of health care.

The new survey (Dec. 1-6, 2313 RV, MoE +/- 2%), released this morning, finds 44% disapproving of the job Obama's doing. More than half (51%) of independents now disapprove of Obama's job performance, while 37% approve.

In the RCP Average, Obama's job approval rating has fallen to a new low of 48.5%.

GOP is to blame

Have you seen a President ever whine more than this one?

Once again the President is blaming the GOP for all of the country's woes even though his party controlled the entire Congress for the last three years.

When does this President stop whining?

President Barack Obama packed an economic speech with a political punch on Tuesday, blaming Republicans for creating high deficits, mismanaging bank bailouts and obstructing efforts to reform healthcare.

MJS- You did good

I am normally the first one to blast the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when they ignore a serious problem as they try to protect their own politicians.

It is only fair to point out when they have done a good job. The MJS brought to light the rampant fraud taking place in the state's taxpayer subsidized child care program.

The number of children in the state's subsidized child-care program hit a 14-month low in October and November - dropping by roughly 6% from the same time last year and by nearly 8% since September.

The cost per child has also dropped, a fact state regulators attributed Tuesday to the recent crackdown on fraudulent parents and providers.

In recent weeks, regulators cut public funding to more than 130 child-care providers suspected of scamming the state's troubled Wisconsin Shares program. The program was designed to help low-income parents get jobs by covering the cost of child care.

In an ongoing investigation extending more than a year, The Journal Sentinel has uncovered rampant fraud within the $350 million-a-year program as well as shoddy oversight.

In August, the newspaper published a story detailing how one provider amassed nearly $3 million in taxpayer dollars, and built a mansion in Menomonee Falls with an indoor swimming pool and indoor basketball court - all while regulators ignored numerous warning signs that she was conning the system.

The story, coupled with another one revealing how government has frequently overlooked fraud in the program, triggered a flurry of responses from lawmakers and regulators. New laws have been enacted, stiffer rules implemented and several child-care providers have since been criminally charged.

"What that means is that providers are more accurately reporting children coming to their child-care centers," said Reggie Bicha, secretary of the Department of Children and Families, of the drop in numbers. "The deterrent effect is beginning to pay off."

The state issued $23.9 million in child-care subsidies last month to cover the cost of care for 56,550 children. That compares with $28.2 million in November 2008 for care for 60,417 children, according to data released by the state.

continued...

It's snowing in Wisconsin

Yes, it is snowing.

Apparently this comes as a real shock to the media in Wisconsin. It is December and snowing. Who would have thought snow would happen here!!!

December 7, 1941

Unless you were there, it is hard to imagine the hell these men and women went through.

Chicago Tribune:

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Ralph Laedtke was working on a medical support vessel in Pearl Harbor when the sound of nearby torpedoing rumbled through his ship.

"I scrambled up the ladder and I saw bombs and ships exploding and smoke belching into the sky," said the former pharmacist's mate third class on the USS Solace.

Laedtke, 89, of Grayslake, and eight other Chicago-area Pearl Harbor survivors met Monday at Navy Pier to mark the 68th anniversary of the attack by Japanese forces that prompted the United States to join World War II.

The commemoration, which drew more than 300 people, included a bell-ringing ceremony to honor seven Chicagoans who died on the USS Arizona, one of several ships moored at the Hawaiian port that were sunk or severely damaged in the attack. Attendees included members of the Illinois Pearl Harbor Survivors Association and their families.

"You cannot forget the sacrifice that men and women have made, not just for Pearl Harbor Day, but for this country continually," said Mayor Richard Daley, alluding to the current U.S. conflicts in the Middle East.

continued...

Sarah Palin; Godly woman first

I know it sends liberal heads a twirling, but the fact remains, not only is Sarah Palin a Christian woman, but that is her highest priority.

Last week, as many already know, Governor Sarah Palin visited with Billy Graham, Franklin Graham (his son) and the entire Graham family.

Here are the video links on an interview conducted at Billy Graham's house

Link to Video #1 Beginning of Sarah's relationship with Christ

Link to Video #2 Personal challenges

Video #3 On meeting Billy Graham

Video #4 On Godly Leadership

Our video team also spent time talking with Governor Palin about leadership. "I believe our country has been touched by God," said Palin, "because when we formed our union, leaders back then dedicated our country to God and said that we would seek His will for our great nation.

"I think if we could get back to that humbleness," she added, "with that kind of contrite spirit, I think that we would be able to be provided more of the answers to so many of the great challenges that we’re facing."

Gov. Palin noted that it takes Godly counsel, prayer and "a collective humble heart of a nation seeking God’s hand of protection and His blessings and prosperity. I think if we could get back to that, our country will be a safer, more prosperous and healthier nation."

Our nation was founded on religios freedoms. When watching this video, I remembered a quote by the "Godfather" of the Constitution, James Madison.

"The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded."

Video #5 Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse does a great deal of work all across America and throughout the world.

Take a moment this Christmas Season and remember Samaritan's Purse and donate.

Holdren spins as Congressman grills

One more question I would have asked. Why is Congress being asked to make multi-billion dollar decisions on cap and tax even as the science is under question and incomplete according to Dr. Holdren?

Hat Tip WisGOP

Good news?

Word is out that unemployment dropped from 10.2% to 10% this month. Job losses for last month(Oct) were revised down from 190,000 to 111,000, part of the reason for the drop, I am sure.

However, I cannot find anyone reporting on how many jobs were lost or gained in the month of November.

Is it a secret?

Oh, I see...we actually lost 11,000 jobs. Everyone including the Obama Administration does not expect the unemployment to continue to go down. It appears to be seasonable hiring. By January, we are on the ropes again.

Decades?

Oh goody. It will take "years to decades" under ObamaCare to fix the healthcare system.

Don't ask me to defend this statement. This was Obama's guy making this statement.

2012

Stolen from Tammie Bruce

I want a seat at the table

There will be a job summit tomorrow with President Obama. I got the time, perhaps I should go tomorrow.

So how much exactly is it for a seat at President Obama's table?

Then I read this:

Anna Burger of Change to Win, who is invited to attend Thursday's White House job summit, is secretary treasurer of Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education or SEIU COPE, a political action committee that gave $29,442,016 to Obama between February 2008 and September 2009

.

$29 million! I cannot afford that much. How does 20 bucks sound?

Read the rest of the article here:

A large number of union executives and academics who were heavy donors to President Obama's 2008 campaign will be at the table for his White House jobs summit Thursday.

But few big Obama donors are among the top corporate executives on the list -- and they are the ones who will bear the burden of creating the jobs that are needed to bring down the staggering unemployment rate.

And the Chamber of Commerce, with whom the Obama administration has battled over health care and climate change policies, and the National Federation of Independent Business confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that they were not invited to attend the forum on expanding job creation.

Attention Glenn Beck

Rush Limbaugh has a message for you:

I am confused with Obama's decisions

Let me get this straight...Senator Obama was against the surge in Iraq, but as President, he is for a surge in Afghanistan.

Then the President and his advisers began talking down the timeline for withdrawal.

Is it just me or does President Obama sound exactly like President Bush here:

Just as we have done in Iraq, we will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground. We will continue to advise and assist Afghanistan's Security Forces to ensure that they can succeed over the long haul. But it will be clear to the Afghan government - and, more importantly, to the Afghan people - that they will ultimately be responsible for their own country.

When President Bush talked about conditions on the ground dictating events, he was evil incarnate.

When President Obama talks about conditions on the ground dictating events, he is a genius.

When President Bush asked for a surge in troops so we can escalate this thing to an end, then Senator Obama, was leading the charge to cut and run. Now, President Obama sounds like President Bush.

All the lefties told us that if we really cared about our troops we would bring them home. I wonder if they will make the same demand out from President Obama.

I believe this is the smartest decision President Obama has made since becoming President. As far as a timeline, he seems to be walking a tight rope with his lefty buddies. The President does not sound real committed to a timeline. Worse yet, the President does not sound committed to victory, so we can leave Afghanistan.

I love the blame Bush disease that President Obama has, especially now when he sounds just like President Bush. Blame Bush and then follow in his footsteps. Slam Bush for his winning strategy and then President Obama takes credit for the miraculous turn around.

Perhaps President Obama will think that nobody will notice.

My biggest amazement with this, is how long it took the President to arrive at this moment. Of course, I was also amazed at how long it took President Bush to figure out that Rumsfeld need to go.

In the end, we still do not really have a path for victory in Afghanistan, nor does the President appear to really care if we succeed in Afghanistan.

Yep- I am confused. Things are about as clear as mud now, huh?

Edited to add: Seems I am not the only one confused.

No kidding

71% of Americans are angry at the federal government.

Anyone shocked by this number?

Seventy-one percent (71%) of voters nationwide say they’re at least somewhat angry about the current policies of the federal government. That figure includes 46% who are Very Angry.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 27% are not angry about the government's policies, including 10% who are Not at All Angry.