Bahamabama, or No Jobama

Weekend Reads: 05/23/2009

An Assortment of Quick Political Updates

President Obama

• When Spanglish goes wrong. The President wishes you a "Happy Fifth of the Fourth."
• President Obama and Vice President Biden Ray's Hell. Or, Where "normal" people go to lunch. Or, how to skip the WH Mess, go from NW DC to Arlington in 5 minutes flat, and get a burger while you're at it.
• A quick demonstration of the budget cuts proposed by the President.
  
• Three out-of-state Obama campaign workers plead guilty to voter fraud in Ohio.
• The President wants to release not release torture photos.
  (When will the media make more of a deal of his "flip flops" on torture, Gitmo, etc.? Granted, I'm all for not releasing the photos [but I think he should have taken a stronger stand on their non-release] so good job for changing stands. But what about when other politicians make changes based upon additional information they gain? Although, the headlines did use some fun words like--delay, opposes, switches, u-turn, moves to stop, shifts, reverses position, reverses--when talking about the switch.)
• From The Heritage Foundation: "Although President Obama has vowed that citizens will be able to track “every dime” of the $787 billion stimulus bill, the government website dedicated to the spending won't have details on contracts and grants until October and may not be complete until next spring - halfway through the program."

The Obama Administration

• White House won't release NYC Air Force One photos. They stage a photo shoot, and then don't release the photos. Instead, we're stuck with the "creatively edited" photos that several blogs featured in their discussion of this administration road bump. The funny(?) thing, I thought, was that--at the time--the Administration was calling for the release of the "torture" photos, but wanted to withhold the AF1 photos. Now, they're withholding both...
• According to the Wall Street Journal, the Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (WSJ, 5/14/2009)
• More free money? From The Heritage Foundation: An administration official confirmed that the Obama administration’s $4 billion “loan” and $3.2 billion in “bankruptcy financing” to Chrysler won't be paid back to taxpayers.

The GOP

• While POTUS was Ray's'ing Hell, Governor Romney, Governor Bush, and others got some pizza at Pie-tanza and held a "listening tour" meeting.

Other Stuff

• Washington can't meet the Cheerios standard. Michelle Malkin compares the FDA standard in advertising (and its recent reversal on some claims featured [for years!] on boxes of Cheerios) with the (non)standard for advertising the so-called stimulus.
• Larry Echohawk to head Bureau of Indian Affairs. The BYU professor and BYU-Idaho forum presenter (I ate lunch with him, President Clark, and some others before the speeech) has been confirmed by the US Senate.

Not a Bow*

* Any by "not a bow," we mean, "indeed, a bow."

In honor of alternate-reality footnotes:

According to an unnamed White House aide, President Obama did not bow to the Saudi leader. I'm not sure who the Obama Administration thinks they can fool; but maybe I need to get my glasses checked.

Watch the video, and tell me what you think:

Give the Queen a Present

In light of the Obama's presenting the Queen with an iPod "loaded with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as songs and accessories," states the New York Times. But they neglected to mention the best parts:

• Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
• Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
• Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address

The Heritage Foundation held called "Give the Queen of England a New Present." Asking their readers questions like these ("Putting aside the fact that this gift very well could’ve been bought at the Duty Free shop at Heathrow Airport, it raises so many other questions. Does the Queen already own an iPod, given they have been widely and cheaply available for nearly a decade? [...] What do these symbolic gifts from the Obamas tell us about how they view the world and diplomacy?), Heritage offered a prize (not an iPod!) for the best gift suggestion.

The winners (they chose two, one each for a funny and thoughful gift) suggested the following:

“The Smithsonian has the original plaster molds of Abraham Lincoln’s hands from the day after his inauguration – customary at the time. The right hand is swollen from all his handshakes and is demonstrated in the casting. I suggest a mounted bronze copy of the pair of hands as the gift. It would be a reminder of the courage of leadership which the Queen and England has demonstrated as well as a reminder of the freedoms fought and died for.”

“President Obama could give the Queen GM since he has already given the Italians Chrysler.”

Some honorable mentions also made the results, HERE.

Other suggestions can be found HERE.

What would you have given the Queen?

Low and Behold: Still More Double-Talk

The Heritage Morning Bell from today takes us into a new area of President Obama's double-talk. Today's topic is Education.

Speaking about education, the President said: "I want every child in this country to have the same chance that my mother gave me, that my teachers gave me, that my college professors gave me, that America gave me.”

Then, he turns around and gets rid of 1,700 scholarships in the omnibus bill that would have allowed students from low-income families to attend private schools--like his children do.

What is it really, Mr. President - the same opportunities for every child, or just the select [read: privileged or luck] few?

“They won’t work in my White House!”

Back in 2007, then-candidate Obama pledged:

I'm in this race to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over. They have not funded my campaign; they will not work in my White House.

Watch him say it here:


The call for improved "ethics" in Washington was part of his campaign stump and his website. But stories continue to crop up how he "tweaked" his promise

[ASIDE: interesting verbage, considering his past, admitted drug use.]

and allows lobbyists to join the ranks of the Obama Administration.

The count is now up to about two dozen, according to an article on The Hill.

Apparently tax problems and the revolving door aren't such big issues after all - especially when you have billions and billions and billions of tax dollars to be spending.

Crossposted at RedState.

Cleaning Up Obama

President Obama vowed to clean up American politics; he said "enough to the politics of the past."

But this story from World Net Daily points out that this "cleaning up" is being taken too far by some people out there on the Web.

Apparently, Wikipedia editors have been cleaning up President Obama's Wikipedia page. In fact, the page is currently protected from editing "until disputes have been resolved." Several issues--which all received substantial media attention during the primary and general election races--are not covered in the Wikipedia page. In fact, posting comments relating to these stories have resulted in users being banned and the content being scrubbed. Here are two sections from the World Net Daily article:

The entire Wikipedia entry on Obama seems to be heavily promotional toward the U.S. president. It contains nearly no criticism or controversy, including appropriate mention of important issues where relevant.

For example, the current paragraph on Obama's religion contains no mention of Wright,, even though Obama's association with the controversial pastor was one of the most talked about issues during the presidential campaign.

Ayers is also not mentioned, even where relevant.

WND monitored as a Wikipedia user attempted to add Ayers' name to an appropriate paragraph. One of those additions, backed up with news articles, read as follows:

"He served alongside former Weathermen leader William Ayers from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project, and also from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Joyce Foundation. Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1991. Ayers was the founder and director of the Challenge."

Within two minutes that Wikipedia entry was deleted and the user banned from posting on the website for three days, purportedly for adding "Point of View junk edits," even though the addition was well-established fact.

What? POV junk edits? Good golly. It's a matter of public record that Ayers and Obama served on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago. In fact, the Obama wiki page links to the Woods Fund of Chicago, and both Obama and Ayers are listed (although about a dozen lines apart, although their times of service overlapped).

Compare this "clean" Obama wiki with the article for President George W. Bush, which lists his record of alcohol abuse and includes a note about the current recession immediately following challenges in his administration.

I'm not sure this is the kind of cleaning up of Washington that President Obama had in mind. Wikipedia users who add relevant and news-covered information to his article should not be banned, nor have their content immediately removed by the Obama "Clean Police" on the site. Hopefully this Wikipedia review recognizes the right to include relevant information and keeps the "critical" information on his entry. He may have been hailed as a messiah, but Wikipedia doesn't need up his entry in an attempt to substantiate that.



Crossposted at RedState.

More Administration Double-Speak

Earlier, I wrote about some "Presidential Double-speak" that discussed the disconnect between President Obama's Proclamation to make March 2009 "American Red Cross Month" with its call to "support this organization's noble humanitarian mission" and Obama Administration Budget Proposal that included a plan to "to impose new limits on charitable tax deductions for wealthy people."

Now what's see what more the Administration has to say about its budget. A Washington Post article by Philip Rucker from today highlights another disconnect.

A lot has been said about Obama's budget proposal. Let's hear what the White House budget director, Peter Orszag, has to say about it:

"We have no desire to bloat bureaucracy -- indeed, just the opposite -- and the budget will not do that."
But, he added, "in several key areas -- from properly auditing contracts to providing quality medical care to veterans and reducing errors in Medicare and other programs -- investing in skilled professionals will not only pay off over time but also immediately deliver better service to taxpayers."

Wait - so the budget won't bloat the bureaucracy? Or it will?

How will "investing in skilled professionals" not add to the size of the federal government? Are you planning on laying off individuals from other departments to save head count for these new skilled professionals? Is this going to be another one of those I-know-but-I-can't-tell-you moments, like when he promised to have "a net spending cut.... What I want to emphasize ... is that I have been a strong proponent of pay-as-you-go. Every dollar that I've proposed, I've proposed an additional cut so that it matches."

(Quote from within the first minute or so)

The article reports that "one independent estimate was 100,000 [new federal workers], while the conservative Heritage Foundation said it is likely to be closer to a quarter-million."

If there wasn't enough disconnect between the Administration's "dollar-cut for dollar-increased-spending" and "not bloating the federal government" and "investing in [lots and lots of] skilled professionals," there is apparently a disconnect between the White House and the rest of the Administration.

The article continues, "Administration officials said they cannot determine overall hiring projections until the president's full budget is released this spring, but acknowledged that significant new hiring will occur."

And,

Several major agencies said they are already making plans to grow their workforces, some significantly. [...]
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs, for instance, said they expect to hire more than 17,000 new employees by the end of the year, many at hospitals and other facilities to fulfill Obama's pledge to expand veterans' access to health care. The agency -- whose budget will grow by 11 percent, to $56 billion, under Obama's plan -- will add about 7,900 nurses, 3,300 doctors, 3,800 clerks and 2,400 practical nurses, spokeswoman Josephine Schuda said.

So, even your own team is planning on your budget increasing jobs...

Apparently, the Obama Administration is trying to adapt itself to the Paradoxes of the Presidency, only they've added some new categories. To the paradoxes suggested by Cronin and Genovese that "that Americans want the president to be both a leader and a follower, partisan and bipartisan, and innovative and conservative," we now have the
* Stimulate the economy with $1 trillion in government spending AND cut the deficit in half in four years
* Support charities and non-profits AND we're going to remove tax incentives while doing it
* We won't bloat the size of the federal government BUT we'll "invest in new professionals"

What other paradoxes in the new administration have you seen so far?

Crossposted on RedState

Take 5

A fun jazz number performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.


Or, in cinematography, the filmed version of a particular shot or set up. You keep counting up until the shot/scene is completed.

It's in this light that Mimi Hall of USA Today talks about "Tax Troubles: Take Five." Although not as cool or smooth as the Brubeck version, this fifth take regarding an Obama Administration appointee relates to--you guessed it--tax problems. Hall writes, "another of President Obama's Cabinet-level nominees has problems with unpaid taxes," Ron Kirk, nominee for trade representative. He joins the ranks of the following individuals:

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who had failed to pay $34,000 in taxes, and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, whose husband had roughly $6,400 in tax liens against his business, both were confirmed. Former senator Tom Daschle and former Treasury official Nancy Killefer, nominated for Health and Human Services secretary and chief procurement officer respectively, withdrew their names amid revelations about unpaid taxes.

But don't worry- Kirk's nomination is "on track." "The White House on Monday characterized Kirk's tax troubles as 'minor' and expressed confidence that he will be confirmed by the Senate."

Must be nice.

Are taxes not part of the vetting process? Do they just not care?

One can only hope that the Rangel Rule gets adopted before the rest of us (gasp) common American citizens have to pay our taxes.

Crossposted on RedState