Obama rejects 'Biden option' on Afghanistan

Even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes.

President Obama has made it clear to key congressional power-brokers that his administration's rethink of US military strategy in Afghanistan will not see a significant reduction of troop numbers and a narrower counter-terrorist focus on al-Qaeda. Mr Obama met key Republican and Democrat leaders in the White House State Dining Room last night to discuss a request from his top commander on the ground for up to 40,000 extra troops to help defeat the Taleban insurgency. The meeting, on the eve of the eighth anniversary of the first US air strikes against al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan, were an attempt to make clear that the decision Mr Obama faces is one that transcends normal party politics. But the meeting produced a sharp exchange of views between Mr Obama and his former rival for the presidency, the Republican senator John McCain, who effectively accused the President of dithering while US troops remain under fire. According to people at the meeting, Senator McCain told Mr Obama that he should not move at a "leisurely pace" while US commanders wait for a decision on troop levels. The comment drew a sharp response from the President, who replied that nobody felt more urgency than he did about the war and there would be nothing leisurely about his decision.

Rejoice! CBO predicts health care bill will cost $829 billion

What people seem to be forgetting is this Baucus bill is like a car with no brakes, AC, engine or floor mats. Its a base bill that will have to mesh with the liberal Dems plan in the house, more amendments in the both House/Senate that will drive up the costs way more than being predicted.

A compromise health care proposal widely seen as having the best chance to win Democratic and Republican support would cost $829 billion over the next 10 years, nonpartisan budget analysts concluded Wednesday. It also would reduce the federal deficit by more than $80 billion, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The review of the Senate Finance Committee's amended bill sets the stage for the next step in the politically charged debate over health care reform. Committee members have been waiting for the Budget Office's cost analysis before voting on their version of the bill. The Finance Committee is the last of five congressional panels to consider health care legislation before debate begins in the full House and Senate. The Budget Office's analysis differs slightly from Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' estimate. Baucus, a Montana Democrat, had said the revised bill would cost roughly $900 billion. ....Looking ahead to a potentially accelerated legislative process, top Senate Republicans on Wednesday introduced a resolution requiring all bills to be made public and subjected to a Budget Office cost analysis at least 72 hours before being brought to a vote. The GOP leaders expressed concern that Democrats might eventually try to ram redrafted legislation through Congress with little or no debate. Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, said he was "afraid that part of the strategy from the Obama administration and their allies on the health care bill is to change the target so quickly and to compress the debate time as we go down the path that there is not going to be full opportunity to digest the final version of what we're voting on." For their part, Democratic congressional leaders are still wrestling with several divisive topics. Among other things, they have to decide how hard they want to push for a government-run public health insurance option.

Thats right people, this without the public option, its a blatant snow job to get this passed as THE BILL except that would be wrong.

Napolitano strips Arpaio of immigration authority

Napolitano finally gets to do what she couldn't do as governor. All in the name of protecting illegals.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stripped Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of his authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants based solely on their immigration status. But Arpaio said Tuesday he plans to continue his controversial “crime suppression operations,” despite DHS’s decision to not renew an agreement that would allow the sheriff to continue immigration enforcement on the streets. “It’s all politics,” said Arpaio, who spent much of an afternoon news conference Tuesday wagging his finger, waving his arms and snarling at reporters. .....DHS, headed by former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, announced July 10 the agency was standardizing the agreements and giving police that were operating under previous agreements the option to either sign new ones or lose their authority. The new agreements specify the priorities of DHS, one of which is to go after “criminal aliens” — illegal immigrants who have committed a state crime. The local agencies would also have to “pursue all criminal charges that originally caused the offender to be taken into custody.” DHS said that provision was included because there were concerns that police were using minor infractions to get illegal immigrants deported.

Dems going for public option with opt out poison pill

Its a simple repeat of the fight of stimulus dollars earlier in the spring where if states wanted federal dollars for unemployment they had to expand/lengthen their rolls. The idea here is make a public option with states being able to vote in or out which is a sham as the public would demand to opt in in their respective states.

Senate Democrats have begun discussions on a compromise approach to health care reform that would establish a robust, national public option for insurance coverage but give individual states the right to opt out of the program. The proposal is envisioned as a means of getting the necessary support from progressive members of the Democratic Caucus -- who have insisted that a government-run insurance option remain in the bill -- and conservative Democrats who are worried about what a public plan would mean for insurers in their states. ....Another Democrat working on reform legislation added, "If everyone gets a plan, and states have to affirmatively vote, preferably by referendum, to opt out. I really don't see a lot of states opting out, for one. And, for two, you get your national [public plan] available everywhere. If a few holes start appearing, it's not nearly as fatal as if you went with the Carper plan, which after a few years might mean 10 or 20 [state-based] public options. If you go the other way, you'll probably have like 47 states. It's a big difference."

Slick move and with gutless opposition, it would be easy to fold states into a national plan.

Fed worries About Commercial Real Estate

This is the next segment of the real estate market that is going to collapse.

Banks in the U.S. "are slow" to take losses on their commercial real-estate loans being battered by slumping property values and rental payments, according to a Federal Reserve presentation to banking regulators last month. The remarks suggest that banking regulators are girding for a rerun of the housing-related losses now slamming thousands of banks that failed to set aside enough capital during the boom to cushion themselves when the bubble burst. "Banks will be slow to recognize the severity of the loss -- just as they were in residential," according to the Fed presentation, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. A Fed official confirmed the authenticity of the document, prepared by an Atlanta Fed real-estate expert who is part of the central bank's Rapid Response program to spread information about emerging problem areas to federal and state banking examiners throughout the U.S. While the Sept. 29 presentation by K.C. Conway doesn't represent the central bank's formal opinion, worries about the banking industry's commercial real-estate exposure have been building inside the Fed for months. "More pain likely lies ahead for this sector and for those banks with heavy commercial real estate exposures," New York Fed President Bill Dudley said in a speech Monday.

Australia's Kevin Rudd refuses to meet with Dalai Lama

I actually understand this stance better than Obama's because Rudd has his head stuck so far up China's ass he could clean tonsils with his tongue.

Kevin Rudd is refusing to meet the Dalai Lama when he visits Australia later this year because he's too weak to stand up to China, the Australian Greens say. The prime minister this week confirmed he won't meet the exiled Tibetan leader in December. "This will be the Dalai Lama's third visit to Australia in three years," the PM's office said on Friday. "Last year the Dalai Lama was met by senior representatives of the government and that will also happen on this visit. "The prime minister has met with the Dalai Lama in the past." Their last meeting was in 2007 - when Mr Rudd was opposition leader. Greens spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young says the government is kowtowing to Beijing. "We need to see our prime minister actually sitting down with one of the world's most honoured advocates for human rights and justice," she said. "Mr Rudd needs to be firm and strong enough to have a meeting with the Dalai Lama ... as two world leaders. "The only understanding of this decision is his reluctance to upset the Chinese government."

Tom Shales: "...not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old"

Thus Shales joins Whoopi Goldberg for one of the most boneheaded quotes since Polanski got arrested. Patterico tears down Shales for minimizing then denying he did it of Polanski's rape case.

Adrien Brody to star in Predator remake...The hell.

Did Brody gain about 30 pounds of muscle and attitude because he is a poor sub for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In a surprise, Adrien Brody has been set by 20th Century Fox to play the heroic mercenary who battles alien hunters in "Predators," the reinvention of the "Predator" franchise that is being creatively spearheaded by Robert Rodriguez. Brody will star with Alice Braga, Danny Trejo, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Louiz Ozawa. Nimrod Antal is directing the film, production of which is about to get under way on location in Hawaii and at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas. Fox has set "Predators" for release on July 9, 2010. Though best known for his Oscar-winning turn in the Roman Polanski-directed "The Pianist," Brody is playing a character close to the one that Arnold Schwarzenegger did in the 1987 original. He's a mercenary who tries to keep his team alive when its members are hunted by the aliens.

Greg Craig to fall on the sword for Obama over Gitmo.

Forgot where I read it but someone pointed out that Obama's closing in a year promise on Gitmo was the result of hanging around the far left crowd and believing that mostly everyone there was some innocent.

Greg Craig, the top in-house lawyer for President Barack Obama, is getting the blame for botching the strategy to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison by January — so much so that he’s expected to leave the White House in short order. But sources familiar with the process believe Craig is being set-up as the fall guy and say the blame for missing the deadline extends well beyond him. Instead, it was a widespread breakdown on the political, legislative, policy and planning fronts that contributed to what is shaping up as one of Obama’s most high-profile setbacks, these people say. The White House misread the congressional mood – as it found out abruptly in May, when the Senate voted 90-6 against funds for closing the base after Republicans stoked fears about bringing prisoners to the U.S. The House also went on record last week opposing bringing Gitmo detainees here. The White House misread the public mood – as roughly half of Americans surveyed say they disagree with Obama’s approach. A strong element of NIMBY-ism permeates those results, as Americans say they don’t want the prisoners in their backyards. But most of all Obama’s aides mistook that political consensus from the campaign trail for a deep commitment in Washington to do whatever it takes to close the prison. “The administration came in reading there to be wide support for closing Guantanamo at home and abroad, and I think it misread that attitude,” said Matthew Waxman, a Columbia law professor who held Defense and State Department positions on detainee policy. “In general, they were right….but there was very little willingness to accept the costs and risks of getting it done.” The White House declined to make Craig available for an interview, or discuss the Gitmo deliberations in detail, but several allies and even some critics scoffed at suggestions that Craig bears the main responsibility for the missteps. “This clearly was a decision that had the full support of the entire national security team,” said Ken Gude, who tracks Guantanamo issues for the liberal Center for American Progress think tank. “It’s typical Washington that someone has their head on the chopping block, but it’s ridiculous that it’s Craig.” “The implication that this was the brainchild of the White House counsel is not really credible,” said Elisa Massimino of Human Rights First.

Big Labor gains ground in the FAA.

Thanks Obama as if you couldn't squeeze more money out of taxpayers by having the unions control federal agencies.

WASHINGTON -- Labor is gaining clout inside the Federal Aviation Administration -- and hoping to do so elsewhere. Late last month, the FAA signed a three-year deal with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association valued at $669 million. A new contract for Natca had been a top priority of the Obama administration after years of impasse in negotiations with the union that represents about 20,000 employees. The deal will elevate the union's influence on aviation policy and signals a growing role for public-employee unions at other federal agencies.

Obama kills off funds for Iran Rights Watchdog Group.

Obama is bringing in his beta male tendencies to an alpha male job.

Nothing says pushover than cutting off funding to groups out to keep the Iranian government honest. This suck job to countries and regimes hostile to America is going to cause a blow back politically.

WASHINGTON - For the past five years, researchers in a modest office overlooking the New Haven green have carefully documented cases of assassination and torture of democracy activists in Iran. With more than $3 million in grants from the US State Department, they have pored over thousands of documents and Persian-language press reports and interviewed scores of witnesses and survivors to build dossiers on those they say are Iran’s most infamous human-rights abusers. But just as the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center was ramping up to investigate abuses of protesters after this summer’s disputed presidential election, the group received word that - for the first time since it was formed - its federal funding request had been denied. “If there is one time that I expected to get funding, this was it,’’ said Rene Redman, the group’s executive director, who had asked for $2.7 million in funding for the next two years. “I was sur prised, because the world was watching human rights violations right there on television.’’ Many see the sudden, unexplained cutoff of funding as a shift by the Obama administration away from high-profile democracy promotion in Iran, which had become a signature issue for President Bush. But the timing has alarmed some on Capitol Hill. “The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center is at the forefront of pioneering and vitally important work,’’ said Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, in a statement yesterday. “It is disturbing that the State Department would cut off funding at precisely the moment when these brave investigations are needed most.’’ Michael Rubin, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington-based think tank, said, “It is a shock that they did not get funding.’’ A reason, he asserted, may be that “the Obama administration is so focused on engaging Iran that they don’t want this information to get in the way.’’ .....Obama officials have argued publicly for a less-confrontational approach than Bush, in the belief that the Bush administration’s vocal support for democracy activists made them targets in Iran and stirred up fears of regime change. The Obama administration has emphasized other forms of assistance, such as aid for software programs that help activists communicate on the Internet anonymously. It also has continued funding for exchange programs. In the coming months, for instance, the administration hopes to bring Iranian lawyers to major cities in the United States, including Boston, to talk with American lawyers about their concept of law. Formed by two exiled Iranians in 2004 with a $1 million grant from the State Department, the center made its home near Yale’s campus, where it attracted Yale law school professors to its board. The board also includes the dean of Harvard Law School, Martha Minow. The group has published 12 reports in English and Persian about the forced confessions of detained bloggers and journalists, the 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners, and the Iranian government’s campaign to assassinate dissidents abroad. Although the State Department has been the group’s main source of funds, the Canadian government granted it money to research human-rights abuses in the wake of the disputed election this year. Currently, the group is working to develop a list of all those who were arrested following the election and a list of those responsible for alleged abuses in prison. But without additional funding, the group will shut down in May when its funding runs out, Redman said.

I can see why Obama wants this group dead, facts get in the way of a photo op.

Senate Dems put higher taxes in health care bill.

No surprise.

Congressional tax experts say Senate health care legislation would impose $29 billion more in taxes on health care industries than originally thought. The Joint Committee on Taxation says drug companies, medical device manufacturers and insurers would pay $121 billion over 10 years as a result of taxes in the Senate Finance Committee bill. That's compared with $92 billion originally calculated. The tax experts said the reason for the change is that the companies won't be able to deduct the fees from their corporate income taxes. The new numbers come Tuesday as the Finance Committee is preparing to vote on the bill and could bolster GOP arguments that it contains too many new taxes.

Obama sells out free speech to Muslim countries at UN.

All the things he could approve at the UN, he signs off on selling out free speech and expression for the sake of kissing up to the deplorable human rights council.

The U.N. Human Rights Council approved a U.S.-backed resolution Friday deploring attacks on religions while insisting that freedom of expression remains a basic right. The inaugural resolution sponsored by the U.S. since it joined the council in June broke a long-running deadlock between Western and Islamic countries in the wake of the publication of cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. The resolution has no effect in law but provides Muslim countries with moral ammunition the next time they feel central tenets of Islam are being ridiculed by Western politicians or media through "negative racial and religious stereotyping." American diplomats say the measure — co-sponsored by Egypt — is part of the Obama administration's effort to reach out to Muslim countries. "The exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression is one of the essential foundations of a democratic society," the resolution states, urging countries to protect free speech by lifting legal restrictions, ensuring the safety of journalists, promoting literacy and preventing media concentration. ....Others warned that the resolution appears to protect religions rather than believers and encourages journalists to abide by ill-defined codes of conduct. "Unfortunately, the text talks about negative racial and religious stereotyping, something which most free expression and human rights organizations will oppose," said Agnes Callamard, executive director of London-based group Article 19. "The equality of all ideas and convictions before the law and the right to debate them freely is the keystone of democracy," she said.

How much did Obama and the state department give in to Islamic members?

The Obama administration decided that a revamped freedom of expression resolution, extracted from Canadian hands, would be an ideal emblem for its new engagement policy. So it cosponsored a resolution on the subject with none other than Egypt--a country characterized by an absence of freedom of expression. Privately, other Western governments were taken aback and watched the weeks of negotiations with dismay as it became clear that American negotiators wanted consensus at all costs. In introducing the resolution on Thursday, October 1--adopted by consensus the following day--the ranking U.S. diplomat, Chargé d'Affaires Douglas Griffiths, crowed: "The United States is very pleased to present this joint project with Egypt. This initiative is a manifestation of the Obama administration's commitment to multilateral engagement throughout the United Nations and of our genuine desire to seek and build cooperation based upon mutual interest and mutual respect in pursuit of our shared common principles of tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." His Egyptian counterpart, Ambassador Hisham Badr, was equally pleased--for all the wrong reasons. He praised the development by telling the Council that "freedom of expression . . . has been sometimes misused," insisting on limits consistent with the "true nature of this right" and demanding that the "the media must . . . conduct . . . itself in a professional and ethical manner."

Malawian uses wind to power hope, electrify village

How can you not respect this and where is the movie.

William Kamkwamba dreamed of powering his village with the only resource that was freely available to him. His native Malawi had gone through one of its worst droughts seven years ago, killing thousands. His family and others were surviving on one meal a day. The red soil in his Masitala hometown was parched, leaving his father, a farmer, without any income. But amid all the shortages, one thing was still abundant. Wind. "I wanted to do something to help and change things," he said. "Then I said to myself, 'If they can make electricity out of wind, I can try, too.'" Kamkwamba was kicked out of school when he couldn't pay $80 in school fees, and he spent his days at the library, where a book with photographs of windmills caught his eye. "I thought, this thing exists in this book, it means someone else managed to build this machine," he said. Armed with the book, the then-14-year-old taught himself to build windmills. He scoured through junkyards for items, including bicycle parts, plastic pipes, tractor fans and car batteries. For the tower, he collected wood from blue-gum trees. "Everyone laughed at me when I told them I was building a windmill. They thought I was crazy," he said. "Then I started telling them I was just playing with the parts. That sounded more normal." That was 2002. Now, he has five windmills, the tallest at 37 feet. He built one at an area school that he used to teach classes on windmill-building. The windmills generate electricity and pump water in his hometown, north of the capital, Lilongwe. Neighbors regularly trek across the dusty footpaths to his house to charge their cellphones. Others stop by to listen to Malawian reggae music blaring from a radio. ....Former Associated Press correspondent Bryan Mealer, who covered Africa, wrote a book, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," after hearing Kamkwamba's story. The book was released in the United States last week. Mealer, a native of San Antonio, Texas, said he lived with Kamkwamba in his village for months to write the book. The story was a refreshing change after years of covering bloody conflicts in the region, Mealer said. Kamkwamba is part of a generation of Africans who are not waiting for their governments or aid groups to come to their rescue, according to the author. "They are seizing opportunities and technology, and finding solutions to their own problems," Mealer said. "One of the keys of his success is ... he's never wanted to rest on his laurels."

Obama officially snubs the Dalai Lama for China.

This was reported back a couple of weeks ago that Obama would not meet with the Dalai Lama when he came to Washington and didn't make much waves till now.

President Barack Obama was facing criticism he succumbed to Chinese pressure as the Dalai Lama opened his first visit to Washington in nearly two decades without a presidential meeting. Tibet's exiled spiritual leader was set Tuesday to receive an award at the US Capitol complex a day after arriving for a week-long visit to the US capital that will also feature sold-out public talks on spirituality. But for the first time since 1991, when the globetrotting Buddhist monk held his first presidential meeting with George H.W. Bush, the White House declined talks with the Nobel Peace laureate. .....In an editorial Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal was aghast that Obama was willing to offend China by imposing tire tariffs but not meeting "a religious leader who has long been a friend to the US and an advocate of human rights." "Perhaps the administration is hoping for a return favor from Beijing for snubbing the man Chinese leaders label a 'splittist' and a 'wolf in sheep's clothing,'" the conservative newspaper said. "But rewarding China's bullying only encourages such tactics," it said.

This is just another notch in Obama spits on his allies while sucking up to enemies or frenemies.

Apple quits Chamber of Commerce over Obama's greenhouse gases policy.

If you think about it this is hysterical funny.

On Monday, Apple resigned from the Chamber "effective immediately" over the organization's opposition to the Obama administration's environmental policies. "We strongly object to the Chamber’s recent comments opposing the EPA’s effort to limit greenhouse gases," wrote Apple government affairs vice-president Catherine Novelli to Tom Donohue, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. "Apple supports regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and it is frustrating to find the Chamber at odds with us in this effort." (link) The move follows similar — if not quite so harshly framed — moves by Nike (NKE), Pacific Gas & Electric, PNM Resources (PNM) and Exelon (EXC). In recent weeks, Apple has made a concerted effort to reposition itself as environmental leader. Steve Jobs even gave BusinessWeek a rare interview to push his green agenda.

Given that Apple makes it products over in China with the worst enviro policy and no gas limits and Foxconn who makes the iPod was shown in 2006 to run the sweatshop of all sweatshops and groups accuse them in 2009 of the same charges. I think Steve Jobs is talking big and doing nothing.

(Video) David Letterman says sorry to wife and staff.

David Letterman says sorry to his staff and wife. @ Yahoo! Video

Can we stop making Letterman anything but a victim of his own stupidity? The blackmailer should be put away but the reports of people feeling so sorry for Letterman shows a lack of values and common sense among some of his fans.

Letterman's position as the boss put any relationship with female staffers especially interns in an area where it becomes a question did he use his position for sexual favors.

But when it comes to workplace behavior, the law cuts celebrity bosses no slack. "This is terrible, no matter who it is," says Deb Keary of the Society for Human Resource Management in Alexandria, Va. "The supervisor is putting the subordinate in a bad position. They're putting everybody in their department in a bad position because of possible favoritism." And "if the relationship goes south, the company can be sued for sexual harassment."

Independent: The demise of the Dollar.

Somehow I don't see Obama in a big rush to defend the dollar or try to fix the problem because it goes against his multicultural/national world view.

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars. The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

WSJ - Iran's Big Victory in Geneva

Via John Bolton, yet another blunder by Obama and smart move by Iran who delays again taking away the threat of sanctions.

The most widely touted outcome of last week's Geneva talks with Iran was the "agreement in principle" to send approximately one nuclear-weapon's worth of Iran's low enriched uranium (LEU) to Russia for enrichment to 19.75% and fabrication into fuel rods for Tehran's research reactor. President Barack Obama says the deal represents progress, a significant confidence-building measure. In fact, the agreement constitutes another in the long string of Iranian negotiating victories over the West. Any momentum toward stricter sanctions has been dissipated, and Iran's fraudulent, repressive regime again hobnobs with the U.N. Security Council's permanent members.

Obama furious at General McChrystal for calling him out.

10 Troops died over the weekend in Afghanistan and the death toll and fighting is getting higher and hotter. I would be pissed if there wasn't military officers looking out for their troops getting angry at the deliberate slow pace of the White House and especially Obama in talking about what strategy should be used now.

According to sources close to the administration, Gen McChrystal shocked and angered presidential advisers with the bluntness of a speech given in London last week. The next day he was summoned to an awkward 25-minute face-to-face meeting on board Air Force One on the tarmac in Copenhagen, where the president had arrived to tout Chicago's unsuccessful Olympic bid. Gen James Jones, the national security adviser, yesterday did little to allay the impression the meeting had been awkward. Asked if the president had told the general to tone down his remarks, he told CBS: "I wasn't there so I can't answer that question. But it was an opportunity for them to get to know each other a little bit better. I am sure they exchanged direct views." An adviser to the administration said: "People aren't sure whether McChrystal is being naïve or an upstart. To my mind he doesn't seem ready for this Washington hard-ball and is just speaking his mind too plainly." Critics also pointed out that before their Copenhagen encounter Mr Obama had only met Gen McChrystal once since his appointment in June.

I am convinced that Obama and the Dems are playing a political game with American troops in Afghanistan to sap away any and all support from winning against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. If Obama actually gave a damn about the war and the troops you would think he would meet with the General a lot longer than 25 mins which is way shorter than the time he took to talk up an Olympic Bid.

As Instapundit points out, remember when it was good to listen to the Generals?

Reports - Obama's arrogance turned off the IOC

Via Gateway Pundit, a couple of stories that fall in line with what I and others are saying about Obama just flying in like black jesus thinking the IOC would be dazzled by him and Michell Obama.

George Will says the same.

Obama pushing for public option behind the scenes.

Not surprising he would say he is open to everything and the public option was not a cornerstone of Obamacare in public but in private twisting arms.

But now, senior administration officials are holding private meetings almost daily at the Capitol with senior Democratic staff to discuss ways to include a version of the public plan in the health care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to bring to the Senate floor later this month, according to senior Democratic congressional aides… At the same time, Obama has been reaching out personally to rank-and-file Senate Democrats, telephoning more than a dozen lawmakers in the last week to press the case for action… “The challenge is to go to the (Senate) floor, hold the deal,” said Steve Elmendorf, a lobbyist who was chief of staff to former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt. But “they are more involved than people think. They have a plan and a strategy, and they know what they want to get and they work with people to get it.”… He has met repeatedly in private with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who has floated a proposal to allow states to set up government plans as a fallback if commercial insurers do not control premiums.

That is a sucker's plan because once you require people to pay for health insurance or you may go to jail, insurance companies forced to take everyone and Obama puts in requirements making it impossible to price low rates, the public option will come into plan. Not to mention who will decide if the premiums are too high? The government.

Obama is a lover of the single payer and government controlled health care. This is his slow calculated way of destroying the private sector to make it happen.

Some Muslim students object to Danish Cartoonist Yale Invite.

Some of these students not exactly doing the be open to everything college mantra.

Heavy security greeted two separate discussions at Yale University Thursday about cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, sparking local discussions about academic freedom, religious sensitivity and political manipulation. Jytte Klausen, author of “The Cartoons that Shook the World” published by Yale University Press, spoke in the evening, while the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose image of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban set off violent reactions three years ago, was a guest of a Yale residential college master earlier in the day. The events were planned separately. None of those interviewed took issue with Westergaard’s First Amendent right to create his cartoons, and some even thought the Yale Press should have published the cartoons in Klausen’s book. They were upset, however, with Branford College Master Stephen Smith’s invitation to Westergaard to speak at a master’s tea, generally low-key affairs often open to the public and held in the master’s residential college home. Because of the controversy surrounding the cartoons, the talk was moved to the larger site with very tight police security, limited mainly to Branford College residents, although 15 seats were held for Muslim students from throughout campus. Salah Ahmed, 20, a junior, said free speech for Westergaard was a given, but not the invitation. “Professor Smith is supposed to protect the students. Basically, by inviting a proven bigot, a proven hate monger, I don’t know what the professor was trying to do. I think the only point of inviting him here was to offend people. ... Why are we encouraging hate speech? It doesn’t make sense,” Ahmed said. ....Aminah Zabhab, 19, another sophomore. said there was no reason to bring Westergaard to the campus. “That kind of turns Yale into an environment that is hostile to many Muslim students,” she said. ....Representatives of the Yale chaplain’s office however, were upset with the decision. they said.

Standard boilerplate response that reads as ridiculous as you think. Colleges are supposed to challenge your preception and at least grow you up a little. If Westergaard can change Yale to a hostile environment, then something is wrong with Yale not him. Catering to specfic religions or group needs to stop these sort of ridiculous statements.

Why Lula won for Brazil while Obama didn't help America

Lula went the PM Tony Blair route of doing massive groundwork and talking to everyone over a period of time. Obama just strolled in like the rock star he thinks he is and failed. This is from Mike Lee who is the senior advisor to Rio 2016 and was director of communications for the London 2012 bid

There was a view in Olympic circles that South America had never had the Games because it wasn't capable of hosting them. If we had built the campaign only around going to South America for the first time, we would have lost. As the London team did, Rio had to combine the rational and the emotional, building a story that understood the context of the Olympic movement. We didn't want to overplay, too early on, the fact it was a historic moment. Unless we could say Rio was ready then the other side of the campaign, which was all about passion, celebration and emotion, couldn't work. We brought both sides together in our Copenhagen presentation with Brazilian president Lula, the governor of the Central Bank, Henrique Meirelles, and then the emotion of bid leader Carlos Nuzman (a former Olympian and head of Brazil's Olympic Committee). Lula was absolutely crucial because, just like Tony Blair in the London campaign, he worked at this for two years. The reason we were never fazed about Obama coming was because we knew if he was coming, he was only flying in for the day. The message for heads of state that want to involve themselves in Olympic bids is that you have to commit yourself. Lula was amazing. He committed from every angle. He delivered financial guarantees, established cross-party support, worked with the governor and the mayor, raised the issue with other heads of state, wrote personally to every IOC member, went to Beijing, visited the London Olympic Park. This is what you have to do. Not just pitch up on the day.

Yeah, I did smile when Chicago lost the Olympic Games.

For a lot of reasons ranging from it wasn't needed, waste of billions of dollars in taxpayer money, the inevitable corruption, grafting and sleazy deals that would end up happening in a corrupt city like Chi-Town. Did watching the Obamas and Oprah fall flat on their faces help, yes it did.

I am going to quote Limbaugh because he nailed for the most part in his glee.

“When you stop to think about it, folks, doesn’t it make sense?” Limbaugh asked. “Our president, Barack Hussein Obama, has been running around the world for nine months telling everybody how much our country sucks…. Why would anybody award the Olympics to such a crappy place?”…

Plus I found both speeches by the Obamas to be incredibly myopic in its nature which doesn't work pitching for the Olympics. The IOC need their ego stroked.

Brazil with Lula made the pitch as being about the IOC to make history and how it would inspire Brazilians.

In a confident presentation, Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman showed his fellow IOC members a map of the world marking cities that have hosted the games. Europe had 30 dots on the map, Asia five, Oceania two and North America 12 – including eight in the United States, home to expected main rival Chicago. Tokyo and Madrid are also bidding to host the games. Silva, speaking in Portuguese, addressed IOC members as "dear friends," and invited them to boost Brazil's self-esteem and inspire 400 million South American people. "Rio is ready," Silva said. "Give us this chance and you will not regret it, be sure."

Michelle Obama:

Maybe that explains why the president seemed to snag the silver medal while first lady Michelle Obama, who's been in Copenhagen a couple of days, clearly took the gold with an emotional speech focused on her family's roots in the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, and her late father's battle with multiple sclerosis. "Sports were a gift I shared with my dad, especially the Olympic Games," Obama said in her portion of the U.S. delegation's final presentation to the International Olympic Committee. "Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis and others for their brilliance and perfection. "But I never dreamed that the Olympic flame might one day light up lives in my neighborhood," she said. "But today, I can dream, and I am dreaming of an Olympic and Paralympic Games in Chicago that will light up lives in neighborhoods all across America and all across the world."

I shared, I never dreamed, I can dream, I am dreaming.

Obama was worse by putting down America and casting himself as the greatest thing to happen to it.

Combining hometown pride and political muscle, President Barack Obama lobbied Olympic leaders on Friday to give the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago, saying a nation shaped by the people of the world "wants a chance to inspire it once more." ....Both Obamas spoke on deeply personal terms about Chicago, the city at the center of the world's spotlight so many times, including in November when the former Illinois senator won the White House. The president described Chicago as a city of diversity and warmth, a place where he finally found a home. He referenced his own election as a moment when people from around the world gathered in Chicago to see the results last November and celebrate that "our diversity could be a source of strength." "There is nothing I would like more than to step just a few blocks from my family's home and with Michelle and our two girls welcome the world back to our neighborhood," Obama said. "At the beginning of this new century, the nation that has been shaped by people from around the world wants a chance to inspire it once more."

They sold themselves instead of wanting to sell America in no uncertain terms while Brazil sold itself in certain terms appealing to the chance to make history. That helped contribute to the loss.

U.S. House votes to block Guantanamo transfer

That January closing date is basically a pipe dream now.

In a blow to President Barack Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to prohibit his administration from transferring terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to face prosecution in the United States. The measure, if it becomes law, would further complicate the administration's plan to empty the internationally condemned military prison by January 2010. Guantanamo detainees currently can only come to the United States to face trial under restrictions already imposed by Congress. Lawmakers have also denied funds to shut down the facility. The Obama administration hopes to bring some of the 223 detainees remaining in the facility to the United States to face charges in American courtrooms. Republicans and many Democrats have worried that housing the suspects on U.S. soil could create security risks. Republican Representative Hal Rogers, the measure's sponsor, said the detainees do not deserve American legal protections and should stay to face trial at Guantanamo. "They are not criminal defendants. They are prisoners in a war," he said.

(Video) David Letterman talks about being blackmail and confesses to affairs.

Awkward moments abound since the audience is laughing but its the nervous laugh and legal issues loom for Letterman as people start to dig around to see how many staffers and if he used his position unfairly to gain sexual favors. But to play the whole thing for laughs does strike me as very icky.

USATODAY:

Late-night host David Letterman on Thursday disclosed a $2 million extortion attempt and acknowledged sexual relationships with an unspecified number of female staff members on his CBS Late Show. Letterman said he received a package three weeks ago from someone claiming to know about the relationships and threatening to reveal them if he didn't pay. The special prosecution bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney's office investigated, instructed Letterman to furnish a phony check and arrested the unidentified culprit Thursday. Letterman said he testified Thursday before a grand jury, "something I've never done in my life," and confirmed he'd been involved with the staffers. "My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would," he told viewers. "I feel like I need to protect these people. I need to certainly protect my family."

David Letterman confesses to blackmail and affairs @ Yahoo! Video

Senate Democrats refuse ID requirement for illegal immigrant healthcare.

Obama lied.

Senate Finance Committee Democrats rejected a proposed a requirement that immigrants prove their identity with photo identification when signing up for federal healthcare programs. Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that current law and the healthcare bill under consideration are too lax and leave the door open to illegal immigrants defrauding the government using false or stolen identities to obtain benefits. Grassley's amendment was beaten back 10-13 on a party-line vote. The bill, authored by committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), would require applicants to verify their names, places of birth and Social Security numbers. In addition, legal immigrants would have to wait five years, as under current law, after obtaining citizenship or legal residency to access federal healthcare benefits such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program or receive tax credits or purchase insurance through the exchange created by the legislation. But the would not require them to show a photo ID, such as a drivers license. Without that requirement, the bill "remains dearly lacking when it comes to identification," Grassley said. "Frankly, I'm very perplexed as to why anyone would oppose this amendment," he said.

Dems are not going to allow any barrier for illegal immigrants to get taxpayer funded healthcare. Hell, they get it now by federal/state laws from hospitals since no one can be turned away. Any talk about Dems getting tough on illegals is a flat out lie.

Backlash against Roman Polanski defenders.

The idiots in Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment world rushed to protest Polanski's arrest and now the backlash begins from the normal people.

The world's cultural elite and some prominent European politicians had rushed to back the Franco-Polish film-maker after he was arrested Saturday on his arrival in Zurich to collect a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. But now others have warned that such a stance risks damaging efforts to fight rape and smacks of favouritism, with Polanski in 1978 having pleaded guilty in the United States to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl. On Wednesday, the French government dropped its public support for Polanski, saying he was not above the law, despite strong previous backing from its culture and foreign ministers. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also distanced himself from efforts to push for Polanski's release -- though his own foreign minister has supported freeing the 76-year-old director of "The Pianist". Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner had written to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton calling for Polanski to be freed. "This case of course involved a leading Polish director, and dates back many years, but it's also about rape, and sex with a child," Tusk told reporters. "We mustn't mix that with politics, or play the patriotic card." In Switzerland, under fire from Polanski backers for bowing to the US request to arrest him, politicians defended the action that could see the director extradited to the United States. "It is really shocking to me that the facts against Polanski are being minimised," said Maria Roth-Bernasconi, a Socialist parliamentarian. Her Christian-Democrat colleague, Dominique de Buman, said "everyone is equal" before the law. A member of the British parliament was blunt as he called on the 47-nation Council of Europe to support Polanski's extradition to the United States to send a strong message against rape. "Polanski took a 13 year-old girl, gave her drugs, and then had anal sex with her," said Denis MacShane, Britain's ex-minister for Europe who also represents his country at the Council of Europe's parliament. "Polanski committed an act of paedophile rape and should be held accountable for this violence in order to send a message that sodomising a little girl is not to be excused because of his genius as a film-maker."

CNNMoney: 47% will pay no federal income tax

If you don't have a stake in the system, you could care less about it which makes it harder for those still paying as the pool of payers gets smaller.

Most people think they pay too much to Uncle Sam, but for some people it simply is not true. In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable tax breaks. The ranks of those whose major federal tax burdens net out at zero -- or less -- is on the rise. The center's original 2009 estimate was 38%. That was before enactment in February of the $787 billion economic recovery package, which included a host of new or expanded tax breaks. The issue doesn't get a lot of attention even as lawmakers debate how to pay for policy initiatives like health reform, whether to extend the Bush tax cuts and how to reduce the deficit. The vast majority of households making up to $30,000 fall into the category, as do nearly half of all households making between $30,000 and $40,000. As you move up the income scale the percentages drop. Nearly 22% of those making between $50,000 and $75,000 end up with no federal income tax liability or negative liability as do 9% of households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000.

Michelle Obama: Its a "sacrifice" for me or Oprah or Obama to pitch for Olympics.

Really, Michelle....Really? I hear a lot of things about the President of the United States going to Copenhagen like a common salesman to get the Olympics but the term sacrifice which is certainly not what you or Oprah or Obama is doing does not come up.

Maybe in your circle of yes people they think its a sacrifice, I think it tells a lot about Obama that troops are waiting around in Afghanistan dying because your husband doesn't deem it as important as the Olympics.

In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the president to come for these few days," the first lady told a crowd of people involved in the Chicago project, "so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."

Personally, I am cheering for Brazil to get it. America doesn't need an Olympic boondongle in Chicago.