The world loves Obama

Apparently most of the rest of the world has caught on
to this guy's bloviating, now if most Americans will!!

Obama wanted change: Read people's bumpers messages

Bumper stickers for people who work and pay taxes
In California you measure highway distance not by miles...but by travel time.
Sometimes it can take forever to go a couple of miles--which gives you a lot of time to read people's bumpers.
Obama wanted change and he is getting it because the bumper messages...they are a changing.......

Robert A. Hall a Great American

I'm Tired by Robert A. Hall

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. He blogs at www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com

I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.


I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.


I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them-with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and woman's rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?


I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor;" of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers;" of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery;" of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.


I believe "a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin." I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.


I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fund-raising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.


Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.


I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.


I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.


I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.


I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.


I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years-and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found
in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.


I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers-bums are bi-partisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet are bi-partisan as well.


I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.


Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.


I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.


Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to get to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

He was first elected in 1972, the year he graduated from U-Mass, by a margin of nine votes out of over 60,000 cast. He was the first Republican elected in what was then the Third Worcester District since 1938. The district comprised the cities of Fitchburg, Leominster and Gardner, and ten area towns. Hall lived in Lunenburg, MA when elected, later moving to Fitchburg.

Hall was re-elected in 1974 by a margin of 10,000 votes, carrying every city and town in the heavily Democratic district. In 1976, he was nominated by both parties, winning the Democratic primary on write-in votes against a Leominster City Councilor. He was unopposed in 1978, and easily won reelection in 1980, winning 78% of the vote against a Democrat from Gardner. Hall was appointed Assistant Minority Whip in 1978 and Minority Whip in 1980. Hall worked with members of both parties, and over 60 pieces of legislation he sponsored became law. He retired undefeated in 1982. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Hall

Obama's Empire can not live by our U.S. Constitution

So True, So True!! The vote could be as early as next week.

If health care reform is so great, why is Obama, Congress, Rich people, State governments, The VA, and other 100% exempt from the program?

Amendment 28
Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .

Funny thing. I was actually thinking that we needed to get a national petition circulating that would make a law that states the same thing as the 28th Amendment to the constitution. Funny how those founding fathers thought of everything. Only problem is that the rest of us have forgotten what is in the most sacred document on the face of the earth. We should all get a copy of our constitution and learn it and live by it.

DURING THE "NETWORK SPECIAL ON HEALTH CARE".... OBAMA WAS ASKED:ON "ABC-TV"


"MR PRESIDENT WILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GIVE UP YOUR CURRENT HEALTH CARE PROGRAM
AND JOIN THE NEW 'UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM' THAT THE REST OF US WILL BE ON ????"

THERE WAS A STONEY SILENCE AS OBAMA IGNORED THE QUESTION AND CHOSE NOT TO ANSWER IT !!! IN ADDITION, A NUMBER OF SENATORS WERE ASKED THE SAME QUESTION AND THEIR ESPONSE WAS."WE WILL THINK ABOUT IT." AND THEY DID. IT WAS ANNOUNCED ON THE NEWS THAT THE "KENNEDY HEALTH CARE BILL" WAS WRITTEN INTO THE NEW HEALTH CARE REFORM INITIATIVE ENSURING THAT THAT CONGRESS WILL BE 100% EXEMPT !

SO, THIS GREAT NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN THAT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND I... IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR OBAMA, HIS FAMILY OR CONGRESS...Who is 100% EXEMPT?? The Hawaiian, The Amish, Who is?????

WE (THE AMERICAN PUBLIC) NEED TO STOP THIS PROPOSED DEBACLE ASAP !!!! THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG !!!!!

PERSONALLY, I CAN ONLY ACCEPT A UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL THAT EXTENDS TO EVERYONE... NOT JUST US LOWLY CITIZENS.... WHILE THE WASHINGTON "ELITE" KEEP RIGHT ON WITH THEIR GOLD-PLATED HEALTH CARE COVERAGES.

Here are 15 things to know about the draft Kennedy-Dodd health bill.

1. The Kennedy-Dodd bill would create an individual mandate requiring you to buy a “qualified” health insurance plan, as defined by the government. If you don’t have “qualified” health insurance for a given month, you will pay a new Federal tax. Incredibly, the amount and structure of this new tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and Health and Human Services (HHS), whose only guidance is “to establish the minimum practicable amount that can accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage (as so defined).” The new Medical Advisory Council (see #3D) could exempt classes of people from this new tax. To avoid this tax, you would have to report your health insurance information for each month of the prior year to the Secretary of HHS, along with “any such other information as the Secretary may prescribe.”




2. The bill would also create an employer mandate. Employers would have to offer insurance to their employees. Employers would have to pay at least a certain percentage (TBD) of the premium, and at least a certain dollar amount (TBD). Any employer that did not would pay a new tax. Again, the amount and structure of the tax is left to the discretion of the Secretaries of Treasury and HHS. Small employers (TBD) would be exempt.




3. In the Kennedy-Dodd bill, the government would define a qualified plan:
   
   1. All health insurance would be required to have guaranteed issue and renewal, modified community rating, no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, no lifetime or annual limits on benefits, and family policies would have to cover “children” up to age 26.

   
   

   2. A qualified plan would have to meet one of three levels of standardized cost-sharing defined by the government, “gold, silver, and bronze.” Details TBD.

   
   

   3. Plans would be required to cover a list of preventive services approved by the Federal government.

   
   

   4. A qualified plan would have to cover “essential health benefits,” as defined by a new Medical Advisory Council (MAC), appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The MAC would determine what items and services are “essential benefits.” The MAC would have to include items and services in at least the following categories: ambulatory patient services, emergency services, hospitalization, maternity and new born care, medical and surgical, mental health, prescription drugs, rehab and lab services, preventive/wellness services, pediatric services, and anything else the MAC thought appropriate.

   
   

   5. The MAC would also define what “affordable and available coverage” is for different income levels, affecting who has to pay the tax if they don’t buy health insurance. The MAC’s rules would go into effect unless Congress passed a joint resolution (under a fast-track process) to turn them off.

   
   

4. Health insurance plans could not charge higher premiums for risky behaviors: “Such rate shall not vary by health status-related factors, … or any other factor not described in paragraph (1).” Smokers, drinkers, drug users, and those in terrible physical shape would all have their premiums subsidized by the healthy.




5. Guaranteed issue and renewal combined with modified community rating would dramatically increase premiums for the overwhelming majority of those Americans who now have private health insurance. New Jersey is the best example of health insurance mandates gone wild. In the name of protecting their citizens, premiums are extremely high to cover the cross-subsidization of those who are uninsurable.




6. The bill would expand Medicaid to cover everyone up to 150% of poverty, with the Federal government paying all incremental costs (no State share). This means adding childless adults with income below 150% of the poverty line.




7. People from 150% of poverty up to 500% (!!) would get their health insurance subsidized (on a sliding scale). If this were in effect in 2009, a family of four with income of $110,000 would get a small subsidy. The bill does not indicate the source of funds to finance these subsidies.




8. People in high cost areas (e.g., New York City, Boston, South Florida, Chicago, Los Angeles) would get much bigger subsidies than those in low cost areas (e.g., much of the rest of the country, especially in rural areas). The subsidies are calculated as a percentage of the “reference premium,” which is determined based on the cost of plans sold in that particular geographic area




9. There would be a “public plan option” of health insurance offered by the federal government. In this new government health plan, the federal government would pay health care providers Medicare rates + 10%. The +10% is clearly intended to attract short-term legislative support from medical providers. I hope they are not so naive that they think that differential would last.




10. Group health plans with 250 or fewer members would be prohibited from self-insuring. ERISA would only be for big businesses.




11. States would have to set up “gateways” (health insurance exchanges) to market only qualified health insurance plans. If they don’t, the Feds will set up a gateway for them.




12. Health insurance plans in existence before the law would not have to meet the new insurance standards. This creates a weird bifurcated system and means you would (probably) be subject to a different set of rules when you change jobs.




13. The bill does not specify what spending will be cut or what taxes will be raised to pay for the increased spending. That is presumably for the Finance Committee to determine, since it’s their jurisdiction.




14. The bill defines an “eligible individual” as “a citizen or national of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence or an alien lawfully present in the United States.”




15. The bill would create a new pot of money for state gateways to pay “navigators” to educate people about the new bill, distribute information about health plans, and help people enroll. Navigators receiving federal funds “may include … unions, …”

This would have severe effects on the more than 100 million Americans who have private health insurance today:

• The government would mandate not only that you must buy health insurance, but what health insurance counts as “qualifying.”




• Health insurance premiums would rise as a result of the law, meaning lower wages.




• A government-appointed board would determine what items and services are “essential benefits” that your qualifying plan must cover.




• You would find a tremendous new disincentive to switch jobs, because your new health insurance may be subject to the new rules and would therefore be significantly more expensive.




• Those who keep themselves healthy would be subsidizing premiums for those with risky or unhealthy behaviors.




• Far more than half of all Americans would be eligible for subsidies, but we have not yet been told who would pay the bill.




• The Secretaries of Treasury and HHS would have unlimited discretion to impose new taxes on individuals and employers who do not comply with the new mandates.




• The Secretary of HHS could mandate that you provide him or her with “any such other information as [he/she] may prescribe.”

Obama’s 10 Biggest Foreign Policy Blunders

When Barack Obama took office in January of 2009, it was amidst an atmosphere of generalized transcendence. New eras would dawn, we were told. Oceans would fall. Planets would heal. In general, it sounded a lot like the Bible, except this time we were supposed to worship the guy peddling hope on what looked like a Che Guevara poster.

Obama made it sound so easy. In his Inaugural Address, he disguised the insipid as the profound with cotton candy rhetoric like “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” and “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Finding reality unmolested by his eloquence, Obama has to be disappointed. It turns out that not only are our safety and ideals at times in tension, but that it’s the President of the United States who gets paid to cut the Gordian Knot. Also, reflexively clenched fists tend not to belong to those in search of a handshake.

In fact, after more than a year of trying to make the international stage look like a Santa Monica coffeehouse (lots of accents, lots of emoting, little actual violence), all Obama has to show for it is a catalog of errors. His top 10:

1. Joining Hugo Chavez’s Book of the Month Club – Last April, the still-fledgling President was attending the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago when Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez interrupted a meeting to present him with a book on U.S. imperialism in Latin America. Rather than ignoring Chavez’s overture, Obama shook the tyrant’s hand and posed for photos where the two looked like long-lost friends. That image must have been comforting to Venezuela’s political prisoners, who can be sentenced to up to 24 years just for publicly opposing the Chavez regime.



2. Turning a Deaf Ear to Iranian Protestors – When Iran erupted in popular revolt after widespread suspicion that last summer’s presidential elections were rigged to ensure a second-term for resident lunatic Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Obama struggled to discover a pulse. Though it was one of the first broad-based movements against the Islamic Republic’s fundamentalist government, the President’s public reaction consisted of little more than saying that he did not want to be seen as “meddling”; in the meantime, Iranians were murdered in the streets by their government. A year later, with Iran even closer to the nuclear threshold, it’s clear that Obama’s silence was a bigger win for Tehran than Washington.

3. Getting Shipwrecked in the Middle East Peace Process – Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations are where American presidencies go to die. After he failed to pressure Israel into suspending their settlement activities, Obama told Time Magazine "This is just really hard … This is as intractable a problem as you get. If we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high." Oh … so he thought the Middle East Peace Process was going to be easier? What exactly does it mean to have an “intellectual” in the White House?



4. Denigrating American Exceptionalism and Western Civilization Simultaneously – Asked at the G-20 Conference whether he believed in American exceptionalism, Obama replied “"I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Some might call that elusive. Others – with more clarity – might call it being a wise-ass undergraduate. The primary message was that the very notion of exceptionalism is a nationalist narcotic – something we tell ourselves for the purpose of self-validation. But there are more subtle undertones as well. Notice Obama’s other targets were Great Britain and Greece – two of the most important cultures in the development of modern western civilization. What nation, we might ask, rightfully deserves the title of “exceptional” in the President’s postmodern point of view?

5. Selling Central Europe Down the River – In September, Obama reneged on America’s promise to located missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic – two nations that, given their history, have an understandable sensitivity to being left out in the cold by allies. The gambit was calculated to help “reset” U.S. relations with Russia, which had been staunchly opposed to the missile defense project since its inception. But what, one might ask, is “provocative” about a system that can only be used for defense?



6. Buttressing a Burgeoning Dictatorship in Honduras – While Central America doesn’t often get front-page coverage in the American press, Obama’s decision to support Honduran President Manuel Zelaya after he was removed from office for trying to stage an unconstitutional coup was an exercise in Orwellian linguistics. Obama accused Zelaya’s opponents of being the insurrectionists (this despite the fact that it was Obama’s man in Tegucigalpa who was resisting the Honduran Supreme Court and the nearly unanimous Honduran Legislature) and called for the would-be dictator’s immediate return. It was a slap in the face towards a region of the world where respect for the rule of law has historically been fragile.

7. Splitting the Difference in Afghanistan – Obama’s initial posture towards the original front in the War on Terror was admirably decisive relative to the rest of his foreign policy – the selection of General Stanley McChrystal to be the U.S. military commander, the influx of new troops, and the emphasis on counterinsurgency strategy all showed real promise and strategic insight. But when Obama announced in December that the plan would be an 18-month surge followed by a drawdown of forces, he gave every Taliban fighter in the region the signal to lay low for a year and a half, wait coalition forces out, and resume havoc upon our departure.



8. Weakening America’s Position in the Global Economy – While Obama can’t seem to get his position on free trade straight (during the campaign he was against it, though his aides told foreign governments that it was all bluster; as President, he’s been more rhetorically in favor of free markets while approving several protectionist policies), his damage to America’s credibility as a stable borrower has been unambiguous. With the national debt skyrocketing, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told an audience at Peking University in China last summer that their assets in America would be safe. The audience’s reaction? Uproarious laughter.



9. Going Wobbly on Terrorism – Whether its civilian trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, attempting to close down Guantanamo, trying to minimize the significance of the Christmas Bomber or the Fort Hood shooting, or being seemingly unaware that there’s such at thing as terrorism in Yemen, Obama has been asleep at the switch on the most immediately pressing national security issue of his presidency. It turns out that it’s easier to choose hope over fear when you don’t bother with the facts.

10. Making a Global Apology Tour – Obama has spent the better part of his 14 months in office traveling the globe in a hair-shirt, flogging himself in the streets on behalf of his country. Obama has apologized for a history of American arrogance (to the Europeans, no less!), for Guantanamo’s use as a recruitment tool, for American insensitivity to the Muslim World, for conducting the War on Terror in an abrasive fashion, and even for being too aggressive at the CIA. The President seems to have confused effective foreign policy with step nine in an AA program.

http://cfif.org/v/index.php/commentary/45-foreign-policy/543-obamas-10-biggest-foreign-policy-blunders