Your opinion on the job that President Obama is doing so far (1 Viewer)

[Statorama]

Obama wonders what all the fuss over snow and ice is all about

 

[Statorama]

From the "are you freaking kidding me" files

Obama's BIGGEST REGRET: he hasn't vacationed enough

On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling the country to connect with the American people. According to Jarrett, Obama recently told aides, "I really want to figure out a way where I can spend more time outside of Washington listening and learning and engaging the American people." Jarrett says that in 2011 the president's schedule will "reflect that priority" -- that is, include more time outside the nation's capital.

 

[Fennis]

7.1 earthquake in Southern Chile. Thanks a lot Obama

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/03/...in7207570.shtml

 

[JuniorNB]

From the "are you freaking kidding me" files

Obama's BIGGEST REGRET: he hasn't vacationed enough

On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling the country to connect with the American people. According to Jarrett, Obama recently told aides, "I really want to figure out a way where I can spend more time outside of Washington listening and learning and engaging the American people." Jarrett says that in 2011 the president's schedule will "reflect that priority" -- that is, include more time outside the nation's capital.

Hmmmm, you interpreted that as him wanting more vacation? Doesn't surprise me. What did Fox News say? I bet they saw it your way, as well. ROFL

 

[Fennis]

Alarm Glitch Could Have iPhone Users Scrambling

Obama does nothing about it

 

[JuniorNB]

Alarm Glitch Could Have iPhone Users Scrambling

Obama does nothing about it

Nor has he stopped the birds in Arkansas from falling form the sky.

 

[rolyaTy]

From the "are you freaking kidding me" files

Obama's BIGGEST REGRET: he hasn't vacationed enough

On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling the country to connect with the American people. According to Jarrett, Obama recently told aides, "I really want to figure out a way where I can spend more time outside of Washington listening and learning and engaging the American people." Jarrett says that in 2011 the president's schedule will "reflect that priority" -- that is, include more time outside the nation's capital.

That's shameful! Wanting to spend time with the American people rather than Washington insiders. Who does this guy think he is?

 

[Phurfur]

From the "are you freaking kidding me" files

Obama's BIGGEST REGRET: he hasn't vacationed enough

On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling the country to connect with the American people. According to Jarrett, Obama recently told aides, "I really want to figure out a way where I can spend more time outside of Washington listening and learning and engaging the American people." Jarrett says that in 2011 the president's schedule will "reflect that priority" -- that is, include more time outside the nation's capital.

That's shameful! Wanting to spend time with the American people rather than Washington insiders. Who does this guy think he is?

This makes sense because the only thing he can do is campaign. By spending time with the people he means setting up a Town Hall Meeting with invited attendees and predetermined questions. He also likes to appear on the comedy channel and daytime TV. Yup, that will create a ton of jobs. Everyone in the country knows what has to be addressed. Why is Obama so lost? Has there ever been a bigger Bozo in DC?

 

[Sarnoff]

Dave Barry's 2010 Year in Review

Let's face it -- 2010 was a disaster. A month-by-month reminder of just how awful it was.

By Dave Barry

Let’s put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst year ever. There have been MUCH worse years. For example, toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Earth was struck by an asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of all the species on the planet. Can we honestly say that we had a worse year than those species did? Yes we can, because they were not exposed to Jersey Shore.

So on second thought we see that this was, in fact, the worst year ever. The perfect symbol for the awfulness of 2010 was the BP oil spill, which oozed up from the depths and spread, totally out of control, like some kind of hideous uncontrollable metaphor. (Or, Jersey Shore.) The scariest thing about the spill was, nobody in charge seemed to know what to do about it. Time and again, top political leaders personally flew down to the Gulf of Mexico to look at the situation first-hand and hold press availabilities. And yet somehow, despite these efforts, the oil continued to leak. This forced us to face the disturbing truth that even top policy thinkers with postgraduate degrees from Harvard University — Harvard University! — could not stop it.

The leak was eventually plugged by non-policy people using machinery of some kind. But by then our faith in our leaders had been shaken, especially since they also seemed to have no idea what to do about this pesky recession. Congress tried every remedy it knows, ranging all the way from borrowing money from China and spending it on government programs, to borrowing MORE money from China and spending it on government programs. But in the end, all of this stimulus created few actual jobs, and most of those were in the field of tar-ball collecting.

Things were even worse abroad. North Korea continued to show why it is known as “the international equivalent of Charlie Sheen.” The entire nation of Greece went into foreclosure and had to move out; it is now living with relatives in Bulgaria. Iran continued to develop nuclear weapons, all the while insisting that they would be used only for peaceful scientific research, such as — to quote President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — “seeing what happens when you drop one on Israel.” Closer to home, the already strained relationship between the United States and Mexico reached a new low following the theft, by a Juarez-based drug cartel, of the Grand Canyon.

This is not to say that 2010 was all bad. There were bright spots. Three, to be exact:

1. The Yankees did not even get into the World Series.

2. There were several days during which Lindsay Lohan was neither going into, nor getting out of, rehab.

3. Apple released the hugely anticipated iPad, giving iPhone people, at long last, something to fondle with their other hand.

Other than that, 2010 was a disaster. To make absolutely sure that we do not repeat it, let’s remind ourselves just how bad it was. Let’s put this year into a full-body scanner and check out its junk, starting with...

JANUARY

...which begins grimly, with the pesky unemployment rate remaining high. Every poll shows that the major concerns of the American people are federal spending, the exploding deficit, and — above all — jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs: This is what the public is worried about. In a word, the big issue is: jobs. So the Obama administration, displaying the keen awareness that has become its trademark, decides to focus like a laser on: health-care reform. The centerpiece of this effort is a historic bill that will either (a) guarantee everybody excellent free health care, or (b) permit federal bureaucrats to club old people to death. Nobody knows which, because nobody has read the bill, which in printed form has the same mass as a UPS truck.

The first indication that the health-care bill is not wildly popular comes when Republican Scott Brown, who opposes the bill, is elected to the U.S. Senate by Massachusetts voters, who in normal times would elect a crustacean before they would vote Republican. The vote shocks the Obama administration, which — recognizing that it is perceived as having its priorities wrong — decides that the president will make a series of high-profile speeches on the urgent need for: health-care reform.

In other economic news, Toyota announces a huge recall following reports that its popular Camry model is behaving unpredictably — accelerating, decelerating, downloading Internet porn and traveling backward in time to unstable historical periods. This is expected to benefit Toyota’s competitors, especially troubled GM, which is hoping to score big with the new “Volt,” a revolutionary vehicle capable of traveling nearly six miles before its 19,500 triple-A batteries must be replaced.

But January’s biggest story, watched with growing alarm by observers around the world and threatening to force the United Nations to intervene, is the tense confrontation between Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno over who gets to be on NBC at 11:35 p.m. and tell jokes until the viewing audience falls asleep at 11:43. After a brutal struggle, Leno triumphs; O’Brien, vowing revenge, flees into the hills above Los Angeles with a small but loyal band of agents.

In other entertainment news, the runaway movie hit is Avatar, a futuristic epic about humans who travel to an alien planet to mine a precious mineral that they believe will give them the power to emit believable dialogue. This being a James Cameron movie, they fail.

Speaking of alien planets, in...

FEBRUARY

...Iran triumphantly announces (we are not making this item up) that it has launched into sub-orbital space a rocket carrying a rodent, two turtles and several worms. Iranian state television reports that the nation’s space program is “peaceful,” and that the rodent (we are still not making this up) is named “Helmz 1.”

In U.S. politics, President Obama, responding to the mounting public concern about jobs, invites Democratic and Republican congressional leaders to the White House for a historic daylong summit on: health-care reform. Despite their deep philosophical differences, the two sides are able, after hours of sometimes-heated debate, to hammer out an agreement on when to break for lunch. They fail to make any progress on health care, although in his closing remarks President Obama notes that the historic summit produced “only minor furniture damage.”

In business news, Toyota suffers yet another blow when a U.S. Department of Transportation study links the Camry to both diabetes and the JFK assassination. The CEO of Toyota appears before a congressional committee and offers a sincere and heartfelt apology for his company’s problems. At least that’s what his translator claims; it is later determined that what the CEO actually told the committee was, quote, “you have an eggplant in your bottom.”

Speaking of apologies: Tiger Woods delivers a nationally televised speech in which he says he is very, very sorry and has sworn off having sex with as many as eight different hot women per day. His golf game immediately goes into the toilet.

In other sports news, the Vancouver Winter Olympics begin on an uncertain note when it is discovered that Vancouver — apparently nobody realized this ahead of time — is a seaside city with a mild climate, so there is no snow. This hampers some of the competition, as for example when the Latvian cross-country ski team gets bogged down in mud and is eaten by alligators. Despite these setbacks, the games are deemed a big success, at least by the Canadians, because they won in hockey

In Super Bowl XMLLMMXVIIX, the underdog New Orleans Saints defeat the Indianapolis Colts, setting off a celebration so joyous that people on Bourbon Street are still throwing up.

Speaking of celebrations, in...

MARCH

...Democratic congressional leaders, responding to polls showing that the health-care bill is increasingly unpopular with the public, manage, with a frantic, last-minute effort, to pass the health-care bill, or at least a giant mass of paper that is assumed to be the health-care bill. This leads to a triumphant White House signing ceremony, the highlight of which is Vice President Joe “Joe” Biden dropping the f-bomb moments before being hustled off by aides to have an important meeting with somebody important.

Everyone at the ceremony agrees that the new law is historic and will become hugely popular with the American people once they have the opportunity to hear a few dozen more high-profile speeches about it from President Obama. But opposition is “brewing” in the form of the Tea Party movement, consisting of regular Americans who are fed up with costly big-government programs except for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They are determined to elect a new breed of representatives who are not career politicians, or even necessarily sane.

In international news:

• Greece asks the International Monetary Fund if it can borrow 17 billion euro for “cigarettes.”

• Somali pirates, becoming increasingly brazen, seize the Staten Island Ferry.

• Iranian hero space rodent Helmz 1 is captured attempting to scurry across the Lebanese border into Israel. Iran claims this is a peaceful mission, but the Israelis note that Helmz 1 is wearing a tiny backpack filled with enough explosives to — in the words of one military analyst — “put somebody’s eye out.”

On a more hopeful note, on March 27 people in more than 4,000 cities around the world turn off their lights in observance of Earth Hour, saving an estimated 45 million megawatts of electricity — enough to power one of Al Gore’s houses for nearly three days.

But the environment suffers a big setback in...

APRIL

...when the Deepwater Horizon rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico after being struck by a runaway Toyota Camry. BP initially downplays the magnitude of the problem, claiming that the resulting oil leak is smallish and might go away on its own or even prove to be, quote, “nutritious for oysters.” Soon, however, large patches of crude oil are drifting toward land, and it becomes clear that this is a major disaster — a challenge that we, as a nation, will have to meet, as we have met other challenges, with a combination of photo opportunities, lawsuits and tweeting.

Elsewhere on the disaster scene, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull (literally, “many syllables”) volcano erupts, sending huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and forcing airlines throughout northern Europe to ground all flights. Greece, although not directly affected, announces that it will take six months off, just in case; France, as an added precaution, surrenders.

In domestic news, Arizona passes a controversial new law designed to crack down on illegal immigrants; this draws a sharp rebuke from the Mexican government, currently headquartered in Tucson.

President Obama outlines his bold vision for the U.S. space program, calling for a manned mission to establish comprehensive health-care reform on Mars by 2030. The president also signs a historic arms-reduction treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev under which both countries will destroy one-third of their older nuclear missiles by upgrading them to Windows Vista. In a related development, Iran purchases $78 million worth of used nuclear-missile parts on Craigslist.

Speaking of growing menaces, in...

MAY

...the pesky Deepwater Horizon oil spill dominates the news as BP tries a series of increasingly desperate measures to plug the leak, including, at one point, a 167,000-pound wad of pre-chewed Juicy Fruit. President Obama, eager to show that he is on top of the situation, develops severe forehead cramps from standing on the shore and frowning with concern at the water. Meanwhile, Congress holds televised hearings that establish, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Congress is very upset about, and totally opposed to, large oil spills. Despite these heroic efforts, the leak continues to grow, and by the end of the month is threatening suburban Des Moines.

On the terror front, New York City police, alerted by Times Square street vendors, discover a smoking SUV packed with explosives — a violation of many city ordinances, including the ban on smoking. Fortunately, the car bomb is disarmed, and a suspect is later captured at Kennedy Airport by sharp-eyed TSA officers trained to spot suspicious behavior.

Ha ha! Just kidding, of course. The suspect is captured by U.S. Customs agents at the last minute after boarding a Dubai-bound plane filled with passengers who, like the suspect, had all been carefully screened by the TSA to make sure they were not carrying more than three ounces of shampoo.

In other air-travel news, the boards of directors of United and Continental approve a merger that will create one of the world’s largest airlines, with a combined total of 700 planes, 88,000 employees, and nearly two dozen packets of peanuts.

But the big financial news is the May 6 stock market “Flash Crash.” The Dow at one point is down nearly 1,000 points, including a drop of 600 points in five minutes, resulting in what financial analysts say is the largest mass purchase of emergency replacement underwear in Wall Street history. The SEC investigates the crash and later issues a 350-page report concluding: “You know that eTrade baby? In the commercials? With the grown man’s voice? That baby is REAL.”

Abroad, thousands of people riot in the streets of Athens to protest a report by the International Monetary Fund concluding that Greece should “think about maybe getting a part-time job.”

In sports, yet another major-league pitcher pitches yet another perfect game, and the baseball world wets its collective pants, because there is nothing more exciting to a true baseball fan than a game in which one of the teams can’t even manage to get on base.

The excitement mounts in...

JUNE

...as the Deepwater Horizon oil leak continues to gush, with each day bringing alarming new media reports claiming that it is an even worse environmental disaster than had been reported the previous day. The furor culminates in a New York Times story stating that eventually all the oil in the world will leak out through the hole in the Gulf floor and cover the entire planet with a layer of oil 27 feet deep, which, according to The Times, would be “potentially devastating for polar bears.” BP attempts to stop the leak using a high-tech robot submarine, only to see the effort fail when the sub is seized by Somali pirates. In Washington, the CEO of BP appears before an angry House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which votes unanimously, after 7 1/2 half hours of testimony, to give him a noogie. Still, somehow, the oil keeps leaking.

Rolling Stone magazine publishes a controversial article in which Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is quoted as saying that the Beatles’ version of Twist and Shout is better than the Isley Brothers.’ President Obama has no choice but to relieve the general of his command.

Abroad, U.S. intelligence intercepts a top-secret cable from Iran to North Korea, apparently written in code, stating: “Thanks for selling us the buclear beapons.” In response, the U.S. threatens to impose harsh new sanctions that, in the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “will make the previous harsh sanctions that we threatened to impose seem like only moderate threatened sanctions, and this time we are not kidding around.”

On the world economic front, thousands of rock-throwing rioters take to the streets of both Athens and Rome to protest punishing new austerity measures under which they would no longer be provided by the government with free rocks.

In consumer news, Apple finally releases the long-awaited iPhone 4, which incorporates many subtle improvements, the cumulative result of which is that it can neither make nor receive telephone calls. It is, of course, a huge hit.

In sports, the World Cup gets under way in South Africa; despite fears of violence, the massive event is totally peaceful, except for the estimated 13,000 people who leap to their deaths from the tops of stadiums to escape the sound of the vuvuzelas. The early tournament highlight (which we are not making up) is provided by the French team, which, after getting off to a bad start, goes on strike.

Speaking of bad, in...

JULY

...the Deepwater Horizon oil spill officially becomes, according to the news media, the worst thing that has ever happened, with environmental experts reporting that tar balls have been sighted on the surface of the moon. Just when all appears to be lost, BP announces that it has stopped the leak, using a 75-ton cap and what a company spokesperson describes as “a truly heroic manatee named Wendell.” Although oil is no longer leaking, much damage has been done, so this important story remains the focus of the nation’s attention for nearly 45 minutes, after which the nation’s attention shifts to Lindsay Lohan.

In other national news, Congress passes and President Obama signs into law a financial-reform act designed to curb Wall Street excesses by mandating the death penalty for anybody caught wearing a watch costing more than a house. Having guaranteed that the financial community will behave in a responsible manner, Washington returns to the important work of running up the deficit. On the foreign economic front, anger builds over plans by the governments of both Greece and France to raise the retirement age, which means workers would have to continue striking for several years longer before they could start collecting pensions. In protest, everybody in both nations goes on strike.

In the World Cup final, Spain defeats Holland, only to have the trophy snatched away by the North Korean team, which, despite a U.S. threat of “really, really harsh sanctions,” turns it over to the Iranian team, which was not even in the tournament. Eerily, all of this was predicted by a psychic octopus named Paul, who is immediately hired by Goldman Sachs.

But the big sports story is the decision by LeBron James, announced in a one-hour television special watched by a worldwide audience estimated at 127 billion, to take his talents to South Beach and play for the Miami Heat, where he will join Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Michael Jordan, the late Wilt Chamberlain and Jesus to form a dream basketball team so supremely excellent that it cannot possibly lose, not even one single game, EVER, in theory. Miami erupts in a joyous weeks-long victory celebration. During the excitement Fidel Castro dies, an event that goes unreported in The Miami Herald, which has devoted all its staff resources to a nine-part series speculating on whom LeBron will select as his dentist.

The month ends on a troubling note as the United Nations Security Council votes unanimously to send a peacekeeping force to quell Mel Gibson.

Speaking of troubling, in...

AUGUST

...concern over the direction of the U.S. economy deepens when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in what some economists see as a sign of pessimism, applies for Canadian citizenship.

In other economic news, the first family, seeking to boost Gulf tourism, vacations in Panama City, where President Obama, demonstrating that the water is perfectly safe despite the oil spill, plunges in for a swim. Quick action by the Secret Service rescues him from the jaws of a mutant 500-pound shrimp sprouting what appear to be primitive wings. The first family hastily departs for Martha’s Vineyard to demonstrate that the water is also perfectly safe there.

Speaking of getaways: JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater becomes a national sensation when he curses out a passenger, deploys the evacuation chute, grabs two beers and slides out of the plane. He is immediately hired as director of customer relations by the TSA.

In the month’s most dramatic story, 33 copper miners in Chile are trapped 2,300 feet underground following a cave-in caused by a runaway Toyota Camry. The good news is that the men are still alive; the bad news is that the only drilling equipment capable of reaching them quickly belongs to BP. Informed of this, the men elect to stay down there for the time being.

In legal news, Elena Kagan is sworn in as the newest Supreme Court justice, having established, in three days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, that she went to either Harvard or Yale. Elsewhere, a federal jury deadlocks on 22 of 24 charges against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, convicting him only of, quote, “being some kind of enormous rodent.” Outside the courtroom, Blagojevich tearfully thanks his supporters, then robs a convenience store.

In New York City, the big issue is a proposal to build, two blocks from Ground Zero, a Muslim community center that proponents claim will promote dialogue. Even in the purely conceptual phase it promotes a huge amount of dialogue, to the point where National Guard troops may need to be called in.

Another heartwarming interfaith story erupts in...

SEPTEMBER

...when Terry Jones, pastor of a tiny church in Florida, declares that he will proceed with plans to burn a Koran on 9/11. The media, recognizing that this is not really news, ignore him, and the matter is quickly forgotten.

But seriously: Jones becomes a major international story, comparable in magnitude to all of the Kardashians combined. President Obama speaks out against Jones’ plan, as do members of Congress, the military and virtually every American religious leader; abroad, there are fatal riots. Finally, after a great deal of soul-searching TV exposure, Jones decides not to burn the Koran, explaining, “I finally figured out that I’m just an attention-seeking jerkwater idiot.” The news media vow never again to encourage this kind of mindless hysteria. Abroad, the rioters agree to stop taking everything so darned seriously.

Getting back to reality: The 2010 election season enters its final days with polls showing that Congress enjoys the same overall level of voter popularity as hemorrhoids. Incumbents swarm out of Washington and head for their home districts to campaign on the theme of how much they hate Washington, in the desperate hope that the voters will return them to Washington. President Obama, basking in the glow of the health-care reform act, offers to campaign for Democratic candidates, only to find that many of them have important dental appointments and are unable to join him on whatever day he is planning to visit. Adding zest to the Republican stew is the presence of many “Tea Party” candidates, including Delaware Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell, who at one point in her campaign releases a TV commercial that begins with her stating, in a calm and reassuring tone, that she is not a witch.

Meanwhile in Chile, an attempt to deliver food to the 33 trapped copper miners ends in a tragic accident involving what mining officials describe as “an incredibly courageous Domino’s driver.”

Speaking of tragic, in...

OCTOBER

...the U.S. economy suffers another blow as the Federal Bureau of Never Expecting Unemployment To Be As High As It Actually Is reports that, for the 37th consecutive month, unemployment is unexpectedly high. “Darned if we didn’t get fooled again!” exclaims a bureau spokesperson, adding, “We expect it to be lower next month.” Meanwhile Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, speaking from his new office in Toronto, announces a plan to drastically increase the U.S. money supply by “quantitative easing,” a controversial process involving what Bernanke describes as “a major job for Kinko’s.”

The economy remains the big theme as the congressional elections enter the home stretch, with incumbents from both parties declaring their eagerness to go back to Washington and knock some sense into whatever incompetent morons are in charge. Polls show that the voters are in a very cranky mood, which tends to favor outsiders such as the Tea Party candidates, although O’Donnell definitely hurts her chances in Delaware when, during a televised debate, she turns her opponent into a toad.

President Obama, continuing his quest to find candidates willing to accept his help, winds up campaigning in what White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs describes as “some very key student-council races.” Meanwhile Sarah Palin, raising her stature as a potential 2012 GOP presidential contender, weighs in on the issues with a number of important tweets.

On the legal front, the Supreme Court, as it does every October, begins a new term, which is hastily adjourned when the justices discover that their robes have bedbugs.

In the month’s most dramatic story, the 33 trapped Chilean miners are all brought safely to the surface, only to be sent right back down because they failed to bring up any copper — which, as the mining company points out, “was the whole point of sending them down there in the first place.” Meanwhile in France, millions of workers again take to the streets to demonstrate, in no uncertain terms, that they are French.

Elsewhere abroad, terrorists in Yemen attempt to send mail bombs to the United States, confirming the long-held suspicions of U.S. intelligence that there really is a country named “Yemen.” The plot, which involves explosives concealed inside printer cartridges, is foiled, but as a precaution the TSA decides to prohibit air travelers in the Unites States from carrying anything capable of printing, including pens, pencils, and children in grades 2 through 5.

In sports, the National Football League, seeking to reduce violence, imposes stiff fines for defensive beheading.

Speaking of gory, in...

NOVEMBER

...the elections turn out to be a bloodbath for the Democrats, who lose the House of Representatives, a bunch of Senate seats, some governorships, some state legislatures and all of the key student-council races. Also a number of long-term Democratic incumbents are urinated on by their own dogs. President Obama immediately departs for a nine-day trip to Asia to see if anybody over there wants to hear about the benefits of health-care reform.

Speaking of health: Some air travelers express concern about radiation from the TSA’s new high-resolution scanners, especially after screeners at O’Hare are seen using one to make popcorn. TSA chief John Pistole insists that the scanners are completely safe “as long as you move through quickly.” He also assures passengers that their body images “are not saved for any purpose whatsoever, such as entertainment at the TSA Christmas party.” Nevertheless some passengers refuse to be scanned; they are required to undergo a manual procedure that is known, within the agency, as “the full gerbil.”

World tension mounts as North Korea, in what is widely seen as a deliberate act of provocation, fires artillery shells at Denver. Meanwhile, in another indication of the worsening global debt crisis, the directors of the International Monetary Fund vote to have Ireland’s legs broken.

The U.S. economy also continues to struggle, as the unemployment rate, catching everybody by surprise, turns out to be higher than expected for yet another month. The lone bright spot is provided by the president’s deficit-reduction commission, which, after months of work, releases a draft of a tough plan that, if Congress can muster the backbone to enact it, would reduce the deficit by trillions of dollars and put the nation on the path back to fiscal sanity. This is a welcome bit of comic relief in the stressed-out capital; everybody enjoys a hearty bipartisan laugh, then gets back to maneuvering for the 2012 elections.

In other entertainment news, Bristol Palin’s bid to win Dancing With the Stars falls short when the judges throw out 147 million votes from Palm Beach County. She winds up finishing third, behind actress Jennifer Grey and Vice President Biden.

In sports, President Obama’s upper lip is injured in a basketball game when he is hit in the mouth by an elbow believed to have been thrown by North Korea.

International tension continues to mount in...

DECEMBER

...with the continued release by Wikileaks of classified cables leaked from the State Department, which apparently has the same level of data security as an Etch-a-Sketch. The cables reveal a number of embarrassing diplomatic secrets, such as:

The last three rounds of Middle East peace talks have consisted entirely of delegates playing Twister.

• The Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan frequently, as a prank, exchange places in the United Nations, and nobody has ever noticed.

• High-ranking officials of Scotland, speaking in private, admit that they don’t understand what the hell they’re saying either.

• In 2007, Hungary paid $170 million to Russia for pictures of Sweden naked.

In domestic politics, a partisan debate rages over what to do about the expiring Bush tax cuts. The Democrats, suddenly alarmed about the deficit, want to raise taxes on people making $250,000 a year – or, as the Democrats routinely refer to them, “billionaires.” The Republicans want to extend tax cuts for everybody, but compensate by cutting federal spending at a later date using an amazing new spending-cutting device they have seen advertised on TV.

Finally, President Obama and the Republican leaders reach a compromise under which income-tax rates will stay the same for everybody, but the death tax will be expanded to include people who are merely hung over. Also, in a concession to the Iowa congressional delegation, the federal government will continue to fund a “green energy” program under which corn is converted into ethanol, which is then converted back into corn, which is then planted to grow more corn. This will cost $5 billion a year, but it is expected to create or save literally dozens of Iowa jobs.

President Obama, trying to sell the compromise, appears ambivalent, saying that “it is less than ideal,” but also pointing out that “it totally sucks,” adding, “I hate it.” Despite this smooth sales pitch, many Democrats are unhappy. There is even talk of a primary challenge to Obama in 2012, a notion dismissed as “nonsense” by Hillary Clinton, who speaks to reporters while traveling on what aides describe as routine State Department business in New Hampshire.

In another potential setback for the president, a federal judge in Virginia rules that the health-care reform act violates the constitution’s tonnage clause. On the environmental front, delegates from 193 countries at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, pass a resolution stating that they should not have had those last four rounds of margaritas.

Time Magazine, in a controversial decision, names, as its Person of the Year, Iranian space pioneer Helmz 1. In television news, Fidel Castro makes a surprise guest appearance on The Walking Dead.

Speaking of entertainment: As the year finally draws to a close, all eyes are on Seaside Heights, N. J., where MTV plans to ring in the new year by dropping a ball containing Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, one of the leading bimbos of Jersey Shore. Millions eagerly tune in, only to find that the ball has been attached to something that makes it drop slowly. A bitterly disappointing end to a bitterly disappointing year.

But at least it’s over, right? And we can take comfort in the fact that 2011 cannot possibly be worse. Unless, of course, this newly discovered asteroid — maybe you read about it — continues on a trajectory that...

Try not to think about it. Have another margarita. Happy New Year.

 

[Statorama]

Obama's "Print and Spend" policy pushes national debt over $14 TRILLION

The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52.

It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 trillion on Dec. 31. It also means the debt is fast approaching the statutory ceiling $14.294 trillion set by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last February

 

[Phurfur]

I am still waiting for this administration to figure out that we are not threatened by every tenth person in line at an airport.

 

[cr8f]

Obama "Justice": Look Forward, Not Backward (for Bush criminals). And bank/insurance criminals.

For whistleblowers: Look Backward and prosecute:

 

[Sarnoff]

If there was a photo of W unable to correctly button a jacket, the media would be running "the president is an idiot" stories for days.

ETA:

 

[rolyaTy]

If there was a photo of W unable to button a jacket, the media would be running "the president is an idiot" stories for days.

Looks buttoned to me.

 

[Fennis]

Andrew Luck to stay at Stanford. Thanks a lot Obama

 

[pettifogger]

Obama's "Print and Spend" policy pushes national debt over $14 TRILLION

The U.S. Treasury website today reported that as of last Friday, the last day of 2010, the National Debt stood at $14,025,215,218,708.52.

It took just 7 months for the National Debt to increase from $13 trillion on June 1, 2010 to $14 trillion on Dec. 31. It also means the debt is fast approaching the statutory ceiling $14.294 trillion set by Congress and signed into law by President Obama last February

This is from Obama's visit with the Republican caucus a year back: CONGRESSMAN RYAN: Say hi, everybody. (Laughter.) I serve as a ranking member of the budget committee, so I'm going to talk a little budget if you don't mind. The spending bills that you've signed into law, the domestic discretionary spending has been increased by 84 percent. You now want to freeze spending at this elevated beginning next year. This means that total spending in your budget would grow at 3/100ths of 1 percent less than otherwise. I would simply submit that we could do more and start now.

You've also said that you want to take a scalpel to the budget and go through it line by line. We want to give you that scalpel. I have a proposal with my home state senator, Russ Feingold, bipartisan proposal, to create a constitutional version of the line-item veto. (Applause.) Problem is, we can't even get a vote on the proposal.

So my question is, why not start freezing spending now, and would you support a line-item veto in helping us get a vote on it in the House?

THE PRESIDENT: Let me respond to the two specific questions, but I want to just push back a little bit on the underlying premise about us increasing spending by 84 percent.

Now, look, I talked to Peter Orszag right before I came here, because I suspected I'd be hearing this -- I'd be hearing this argument. The fact of the matter is, is that most of the increases in this year's budget, this past year's budget, were not as a consequence of policies that we initiated but instead were built in as a consequence of the automatic stabilizers that kick in because of this enormous recession.

So the increase in the budget for this past year was actually predicted before I was even sworn into office and had initiated any policies. Whoever was in there, Paul -- and I don't think you'll dispute that -- whoever was in there would have seen those same increases because of, on the one hand, huge drops in revenue, but at the same time people were hurting and needed help. And a lot of these things happened automatically.

Now, the reason that I'm not proposing the discretionary freeze take into effect this year -- we prepared a budget for 2010, it's now going forward -- is, again, I am just listening to the consensus among people who know the economy best. And what they will say is that if you either increase taxes or significantly lowered spending when the economy remains somewhat fragile, that that would have a destimulative effect and potentially you'd see a lot of folks losing business, more folks potentially losing jobs. That would be a mistake when the economy has not fully taken off. That's why I've proposed to do it for the next fiscal year. So that's point number two.

With respect to the line-item veto, I actually -- I think there's not a President out there that wouldn't love to have it. And I think that this is an area where we can have a serious conversation. I know it is a bipartisan proposal by you and Russ Feingold. I don't like being held up with big bills that have stuff in them that are wasteful but I've got to sign because it's a defense authorization bill and I've got to make sure that our troops are getting the funding that they need.

I will tell you, I would love for Congress itself to show discipline on both sides of the aisle. I think one thing that you have to acknowledge, Paul, because you study this stuff and take it pretty seriously, that the earmarks problem is not unique to one party and you end up getting a lot of pushback when you start going after specific projects of any one of you in your districts, because wasteful spending is usually spent somehow outside of your district. Have you noticed that? The spending in your district tends to seem pretty sensible.

So I would love to see more restraint within Congress. I'd like to work on the earmarks reforms that I mentioned in terms of putting earmarks online, because I think sunshine is the best disinfectant. But I am willing to have a serious conversation on the line-item veto issue.

CONGRESSMAN RYAN: I'd like to walk you through that, because we have a version we think is constitutional.

HE PRESIDENT: Let me take a look at it.

CONGRESSMAN RYAN: I would simply say that automatic stabilizer spending is mandatory spending. The discretionary spending, the bills that Congress signs that you sign into law, that has increased 84 percent.

THE PRESIDENT: We'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers, all right?

*******

CONGRESSMAN PENCE: Jeb Hensarling, Texas. And that will be it, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Jim [sic] is going to wrap things up?

CONGRESSMAN PENCE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: All right.

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: Jeb, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: How are you?

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: I'm doing well. Mr. President, a year ago I had an opportunity to speak to you about the national debt. And something that you and I have in common is we both have small children.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely.

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: And I left that conversation really feeling your sincere commitment to ensuring that our children, our nation's children, do not inherit an unconscionable debt. We know that under current law, that government -- the cost of government is due to grow from 20 percent of our economy to 40 percent of our economy, right about the time our children are leaving college and getting that first job.

Mr. President, shortly after that conversation a year ago, the Republicans proposed a budget that ensured that government did not grow beyond the historical standard of 20 percent of GDP. It was a budget that actually froze immediately non-defense discretionary spending. It spent $5 trillion less than ultimately what was enacted into law, and unfortunately, I believe that budget was ignored. And since that budget was ignored, what were the old annual deficits under Republicans have now become the monthly deficits under Democrats. The national debt has increased 30 percent.

Now, Mr. President, I know you believe -- and I understand the argument, and I respect the view that the spending is necessary due to the recession; many of us believe, frankly, it's part of the problem, not part of the solution. But I understand and I respect your view. But this is what I don't understand, Mr. President. After that discussion, your administration proposed a budget that would triple the national debt over the next 10 years -- surely you don't believe 10 years from now we will still be mired in this recession -- and propose new entitlement spending and move the cost of government to almost 24.5 percent of the economy.

Now, very soon, Mr. President, you're due to submit a new budget. And my question is --

THE PRESIDENT: Jeb, I know there's a question in there somewhere, because you're making a whole bunch of assertions, half of which I disagree with, and I'm having to sit here listening to them. At some point I know you're going to let me answer. All right.

CONGRESSMAN HENSARLING: That's the question. You are soon to submit a new budget, Mr. President. Will that new budget, like your old budget, triple the national debt and continue to take us down the path of increasing the cost of government to almost 25 percent of our economy? That's the question, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Jeb, with all due respect, I've just got to take this last question as an example of how it's very hard to have the kind of bipartisan work that we're going to do, because the whole question was structured as a talking point for running a campaign.

Now, look, let's talk about the budget once again, because I'll go through it with you line by line. The fact of the matter is, is that when we came into office, the deficit was $1.3 trillion. -- $1.3 [trillion.] So when you say that suddenly I've got a monthly budget that is higher than the -- a monthly deficit that's higher than the annual deficit left by the Republicans, that's factually just not true, and you know it's not true.

And what is true is that we came in already with a $1.3 trillion deficit before I had passed any law. What is true is we came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade -- had nothing to do with anything that we had done. It had to do with the fact that in 2000 when there was a budget surplus of $200 billion, you had a Republican administration and a Republican Congress, and we had two tax cuts that weren't paid for.

You had a prescription drug plan -- the biggest entitlement plan, by the way, in several decades -- that was passed without it being paid for. You had two wars that were done through supplementals. And then you had $3 trillion projected because of the lost revenue of this recession. That's $8 trillion.

Now, we increased it by a trillion dollars because of the spending that we had to make on the stimulus. I am happy to have any independent fact-checker out there take a look at your presentation versus mine in terms of the accuracy of what I just said.

Now, going forward, here's the deal. I think, Paul, for example, head of the budget committee, has looked at the budget and has made a serious proposal. I've read it. I can tell you what's in it. And there are some ideas in there that I would agree with, but there are some ideas that we should have a healthy debate about because I don't agree with them.

The major driver of our long-term liabilities, everybody here knows, is Medicare and Medicaid and our health care spending. Nothing comes close. Social Security we could probably fix the same way Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan sat down together and they could figure something out. That is manageable. Medicare and Medicaid -- massive problem down the road. That's where -- that's going to be what our children have to worry about.

Now, Paul's approach -- and I want to be careful not simplifying this, because I know you've got a lot of detail in your plan -- but if I understand it correctly, would say we're going to provide vouchers of some sort for current Medicare recipients at the current level --

CONGRESSMAN RYAN: No.

THE PRESIDENT: No?

CONGRESSMAN RYAN: People 55 and above --

THE PRESIDENT: Fifty-five and -- well, no, I understand. I mean, there's a grandfathering in, but just for future beneficiaries, right? That's why I said I didn't want to -- I want to make sure that I'm not being unfair to your proposal, but I just want to point out that I've read it. And the basic idea would be that at some point we hold Medicare cost per recipient constant as a way of making sure that that doesn't go way out of whack, and I'm sure there are some details that --

CONGRESSMAN RYAN: We drew it as a blend of inflation and health inflation, the point of our plan is -- because Medicare, as you know, is a $38 trillion unfunded liability -- it has to be reform for younger generations because it won't exist because it's going bankrupt. And the premise of our idea is, look, why not give people the same kind of health care plan we here have in Congress? That's the kind of reform we're proposing for Medicare. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: No, I understand. Right, right. Well, look, as I said before, this is an entirely legitimate proposal. The problem is twofold: One is that depending on how it's structured, if recipients are suddenly getting a plan that has their reimbursement rates going like this, but health care costs are still going up like that, then over time the way we're saving money is essentially by capping what they're getting relative to their costs.

Now, I just want to point out -- and this brings me to the second problem -- when we made a very modest proposal as part of our package, our health care reform package, to eliminate the subsidies going to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage, we were attacked across the board, by many on your aisle, for slashing Medicare. You remember? We're going to start cutting benefits for seniors. That was the story that was perpetrated out there -- scared the dickens out of a lot of seniors.

No, no, but here's my point. If the main question is going to be what do we do about Medicare costs, any proposal that Paul makes will be painted, factually, from the perspective of those who disagree with it, as cutting benefits over the long term. Paul, I don't think you disagree with that, that there is a political vulnerability to doing anything that tinkers with Medicare. And that's probably the biggest savings that are obtained through Paul's plan.

And I raise that not because we shouldn't have a series discussion about it. I raise that because we're not going to be able to do anything about any of these entitlements if what we do is characterized, whatever proposals are put out there, as, well, you know, that's -- the other party is being irresponsible; the other party is trying to hurt our senior citizens; that the other party is doing X, Y, Z.

That's why I say if we're going to frame these debates in ways that allow us to solve them, then we can't start off by figuring out, A, who's to blame; B, how can we make the American people afraid of the other side. And unfortunately, that's how our politics works right now. And that's how a lot of our discussion works. That's how we start off -- every time somebody speaks in Congress, the first thing they do, they stand up and all the talking points -- I see Frank Luntz up here sitting in the front. He's already polled it, and he said, you know, the way you're really going to -- I've done a focus group and the way we're going to really box in Obama on this one or make Pelosi look bad on that one -- I know, I like Frank, we've had conversations between Frank and I. But that's how we operate. It's all tactics, and it's not solving problems.

And so the question is, at what point can we have a serious conversation about Medicare and its long-term liability, or a serious question about -- a serious conversation about Social Security, or a serious conversation about budget and debt in which we're not simply trying to position ourselves politically. That's what I'm committed to doing. We won't agree all the time in getting it done, but I'm committed to doing it.

 

[Statorama]

Obama's Tucson Degredation

This is a new McCarthyism: intolerance and hatred masquerading as civic virtue. Demonization trumps debate. The Tucson shooting reveals the totalitarian nature of the modern left: the willingness to seize upon the flimsiest pretexts to attack rivals as accomplices in mass murder - even when there is not a shred of evidence to support this view.

 

[sjacksonfan]

Obama's Tucson Degredation

This is a new McCarthyism: intolerance and hatred masquerading as civic virtue. Demonization trumps debate. The Tucson shooting reveals the totalitarian nature of the modern left: the willingness to seize upon the flimsiest pretexts to attack rivals as accomplices in mass murder - even when there is not a shred of evidence to support this view.

Lame.

 

[Statorama]

to add Saint Ron's speech from the Shuttle tragedy for comparison.

 

[Todd Andrews]

Obama's Tucson Degredation

This is a new McCarthyism: intolerance and hatred masquerading as civic virtue. Demonization trumps debate. The Tucson shooting reveals the totalitarian nature of the modern left: the willingness to seize upon the flimsiest pretexts to attack rivals as accomplices in mass murder - even when there is not a shred of evidence to support this view.

Have you no decency?

 

[Orange Crush]

Obama's Tucson Degredation

This is a new McCarthyism: intolerance and hatred masquerading as civic virtue. Demonization trumps debate. The Tucson shooting reveals the totalitarian nature of the modern left: the willingness to seize upon the flimsiest pretexts to attack rivals as accomplices in mass murder - even when there is not a shred of evidence to support this view.

Have you no decency?

New here? This is a disciple of Palin we're talking about here.

 

[Maelstrom]

Obama's Tucson Degredation

This is a new McCarthyism: intolerance and hatred masquerading as civic virtue. Demonization trumps debate. The Tucson shooting reveals the totalitarian nature of the modern left: the willingness to seize upon the flimsiest pretexts to attack rivals as accomplices in mass murder - even when there is not a shred of evidence to support this view.

Have you no decency?

New here? This is a disciple of Palin we're talking about here.

What a slanted piece of "journalism." My wife actually commented during the Tucson speech that she was surprised that the politics were left out and it was focused on the shootings, victims and generally a positive message.

 

[Statorama]

Obama to close White House office and begin campaigning for 2012 re-election

Because that's what's really important, right?

President Obama will close the office of political affairs at the White House, aides said, restructuring his organization to prepare for his re-election campaign, which is to start building a fund-raising and grass-roots operation based in Chicago by late March.

 

[rolyaTy]

Obama to close White House office and begin campaigning for 2012 re-election

Because that's what's really important, right?

President Obama will close the office of political affairs at the White House, aides said, restructuring his organization to prepare for his re-election campaign, which is to start building a fund-raising and grass-roots operation based in Chicago by late March.

Maybe he figures that now that his approval ratings are up over 50% for the first time in a while, it's time to strike while the irons hot.

 

[Statorama]

Latest spin: Obama only voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006 because he knew it would pass

Four year ago, however, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., voted the exact way President Obama is now cautioning senators not to do.

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said on March 16, 2006. “Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership . Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.”

The debt limit was raised by a vote of 52-48.

Asked about that quote – and vote -- today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that it was important that “based on the outcome of that vote…the full faith and credit was not in doubt.”

Then-Sen. Obama used the vote “to make a point about needing to get serious about fiscal discipline….His vote was not necessarily needed on that.”

 

[Statorama]

Obamanomics has officially failed

"It's Official: On Unemployment and Jobs, Democrats' 2009 Stimulus Was a Huge Failure."

The Ways and Means report provides a number of striking reminders about the predictions the White House made in January 2009 while urging the passage of their $814 billion Keynesian spending bill. By January 2011, the stimulus bill was supposed to have lowered the unemployment rate to 7 percent. It now stands at 9.4 percent, and the report notes that "the unemployment rate would be 11.3 percent if it included all the 'invisible unemployed' -- American workers who have simply given up looking for work." The report also claimed that the stimulus would create 3.7 million jobs by now, for a total of 137.6 million jobs in the American economy. Currently, there are 130.7 million jobs. Since passage of the stimulus, 47 of the 50 states have lost jobs; overall, the private sector has seen 1.8 million jobs disappear.

Note as well that unemployment is slightly above what the White House predicted it would be if the Obama stimulus program was not passed as emergency legislation. Any honest assessment of the stimulus has to consider the possibility that flawed economics, kickbacks to unions and other Democratic special interests, corruption and an inefficient bureaucracy simply swallowed all the jobs for which those billions were supposed to pay. In fact, job creation exceeded the White House's expectations in only one area: The District of Columbia created almost twice as many jobs as the White House anticipated. In other words, thanks to the stimulus, the only sector creating new jobs is the federal government.

In response to the failure of Obamanomics, the Ways and Means Committee report offers four solutions to get the economy going again: Streamline the tax code, pass pending free-trade agreements so American companies can easily sell goods overseas, repeal and replace Obamacare with reforms that actually lower insurance costs, and get spending under control so the national debt doesn't threaten the economy. Democrats may call this voodoo economics, but to most Americans it probably sounds like a popular and common-sense plan to get the economy going again. After two years of Obamanomics, almost anything would be a welcome change.

 

[Statorama]

Americans with unfavorable view of Obamacare jumps 9 points

Fifty percent of Americans have unfavorable views of the law, according to a joint survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Opposition to the law jumped 9 percentage points from last month and is the highest since April, when Kaiser began asking the question every month.

 

[Sarnoff]

FORGET HIGH-SPEED RAIL: We need a monorail! “But Main Street’s still all cracked and broken!” “Sorry, ma’am, the mob has spoken!” “What about us lazy slobs?” “You’ll all be given cushy jobs!”

 

[Statorama]

Obamacare waivers EXPLODE to 729 PLUS 4 states

Government picking winners and losers. To understand how idiotic this is, compare it to when they outlawed slavery. Think about them saying "well....but these four states can still have slaves. As well as these 729 groups of people. But everyone else, NO SLAVES."

If you were a big contributor to Obama, THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU. What the bloody hell is going on here?

While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.

When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.

Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).

Among the many new union refugees are 4 new SEIU locals :

-SEIU Health and Welfare fund, 2000 with 161 enrollees

-Service Employees 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund* representing 7,020 enrollees

-SEIU Local 300, Civil Service Forum Employees Welfare Fund representing 2,000 enrollees

-SEIU Health & Welfare Fund representing 1,620

This is in addition to the three other previous SEIU waiver winners: Local 25 SEIU in Chicago with 31,000 enrollees; Local 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund with 4,544 enrollees; and SEIU Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund with 520 enrollees.

Which brings the total number of Obamacare-promoting SEIU Obamacare escapees to an estimated 45,000 workers represented by seven SEIU locals.

 

[tommyGunZ]

Obamacare waivers EXPLODE to 729 PLUS 4 states

Government picking winners and losers. To understand how idiotic this is, compare it to when they outlawed slavery. Think about them saying "well....but these four states can still have slaves. As well as these 729 groups of people. But everyone else, NO SLAVES."

If you were a big contributor to Obama, THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU. What the bloody hell is going on here?

While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.

When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.

Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).

Among the many new union refugees are 4 new SEIU locals :

-SEIU Health and Welfare fund, 2000 with 161 enrollees

-Service Employees 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund* representing 7,020 enrollees

-SEIU Local 300, Civil Service Forum Employees Welfare Fund representing 2,000 enrollees

-SEIU Health & Welfare Fund representing 1,620

This is in addition to the three other previous SEIU waiver winners: Local 25 SEIU in Chicago with 31,000 enrollees; Local 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund with 4,544 enrollees; and SEIU Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund with 520 enrollees.

Which brings the total number of Obamacare-promoting SEIU Obamacare escapees to an estimated 45,000 workers represented by seven SEIU locals.

7 SEIU waivers amongst 729 total waivers? So less than 1%? I'm OUTRAGED!

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Obamacare waivers EXPLODE to 729 PLUS 4 states

Government picking winners and losers. To understand how idiotic this is, compare it to when they outlawed slavery. Think about them saying "well....but these four states can still have slaves. As well as these 729 groups of people. But everyone else, NO SLAVES."

If you were a big contributor to Obama, THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU. What the bloody hell is going on here?

While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.

When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.

Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).

Among the many new union refugees are 4 new SEIU locals :

-SEIU Health and Welfare fund, 2000 with 161 enrollees

-Service Employees 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund* representing 7,020 enrollees

-SEIU Local 300, Civil Service Forum Employees Welfare Fund representing 2,000 enrollees

-SEIU Health & Welfare Fund representing 1,620

This is in addition to the three other previous SEIU waiver winners: Local 25 SEIU in Chicago with 31,000 enrollees; Local 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund with 4,544 enrollees; and SEIU Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund with 520 enrollees.

Which brings the total number of Obamacare-promoting SEIU Obamacare escapees to an estimated 45,000 workers represented by seven SEIU locals.

7 SEIU waivers amongst 729 total waivers? So less than 1%? I'm OUTRAGED!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you completely missed the point.

 

[rolyaTy]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

 

[Statorama]

For Tommy, here's some of the other Union Thugs that aren't required to follow the rule of law the rest of us are

Allied Building Inspectors IUOE Local 211 Welfare FundBridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Ironworkers Local Union No. 60*Employer-Teamsters Local Nos. 175 & 505 Health and Welfare FundIBEW Local 3 NYC Electrical Division Health & Welfare FundIndiana Area UFCW Union Locals and Retail Food Employers’ Health and Welfare PlanLaborers’ District Council of Virginia Health and Welfare Trust FundLaborers National Health and Welfare FundLocal 1245 Health FundLocal 295 Welfare FundLocal 381 Group Insurance FundLocal 805 Welfare FundPipe Fitters’ Welfare Fund, Local 597*District Council 1707 Local 389 Home Care Employees Health & Welfare FundHealth and Welfare Plan of the Laundry, Dry Cleaning Workers & Allied Industry Health Fund, Workers UnitedNorthern Illinois and Iowa Laborers Health and Welfare FundUnited Food and Commercial Workers Retail Employees and Employers Health and Welfare PlanBoard of Trustees for the Operating Engineers Local 101 Health and Welfare FundCarpenters Local No. 491 Health & Welfare PlanCentral Laborers’ Welfare FundElectrical Workers Health and Welfare FundHealth Care Employees Dental and Medical TrustHotel, Restaurant & Bar Employees Health and Welfare FundIBEW Local Union No. 126 Health and Welfare FundInternational Union of Operating Engineers, Supplemental Benefit Fund Local 409*Local 888 UFCWMidwest TeamstersNorthern Minnesota-Wisconsin Area Retail Food Health & Welfare FundRoofers Local #96 Health & Welfare FundSecurity Benefit Fund of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of New York CityRoofers Local 8 Insurance & Trust Fund***The HHS list has been completely re-numbered and re-ordered, so it’s difficult to delineate where the new enlistees end. Here’s just a sampling/reminder of other union beneficiaries of Waiver-mania:Teamsters Union Local # 35U.A. Local 13 & Employers Group Insurance Plan*UFCW & Participating Food Industry Employers Tri-State Health & Welfare FundUFCW Local 1500 Welfare FundUFCW Local One Health Care FundLocal 237 Teamsters Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. Health and Welfare Trust FundRoofers Local #96 Health & Welfare FundSuperior Officers Council Health and Welfare FundService Employees International Union Local 1 Cleveland Welfare FundService Employees Benefit Fund1199SEIU Greater New York Benefit FundTeamsters Local Union 966 Health FundIBEW Local Union No. 728 Family Healthcare PlanCommunications Workers of America, Local 1180 Security Benefits FundFlorida Laborers Health FundElectricians Health, Welfare & Pension Plans I.B.E.W. Local Union No. 995NECA-IBEW Local 480 Health and Welfare PlanSheet Metal Workers Local No. 177 Health and Welfare, Pension and Vacation FundsSouth Central Laborers’ Health & Welfare FundTheatrical Teamsters Local 817 IBT Welfare FundIBEW Local Union No. 728 Family Healthcare PlanSports Arena Employees’ Local 137 Welfare FundTruck Drivers and Helpers Local 355 Health and Welfare FundHealth and Welfare Fund of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, Inc. Police Department City of New YorkAmalgamated, Industrial and Toy & Novelty Workers of America, Local 223 Sick Benefit FundAtlanta Plumbers & Steamfitters Fringe Benefit FundsCentral Texas Health and Benefit Trust Fund Locals 520, 60 & 72Electricians Health, Welfare & Pension Plans I.B.E.W. Local Union No. 995Florida Laborers Health FundIBEW Local No. 640 and Arizona Chapter NECA Health & Welfare Trust FundNECA-IBEW Local 480 Health and Welfare PlanPlumbers and Pipefitters Welfare Fund of Local Union No. 719Southeastern Pipetrades Health & Welfare FundUFCW Local 1262 and Employers Health & Welfare FundPlumbers Local Union No. 690 of Philadelphia and Vicinity Health PlanUnited Food & Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Midwest Health Benefits FundConstruction Workers Local 147 Welfare FundBlasters, Drillers &Miners Union Local No. 29 Welfare FundInternational Union ofBricklayers & Allied CraftworkersConstruction Workers Local 147 Welfare FundLocal 298 HealthBenefit Fund PlanLocal 803 Health and Welfare FundLouisiana Laborers Health and Welfare FundPlumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 823 Health & Welfare FundPlumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 6 Health and Welfare FundSouthwestern Teamsters Security FundTeamsters Local 455 Welfare PlanTeamsters Local 210 Affiliated Health and Insurance FundTeamsters Welfare Fund of Northern New Jersey Local 1723United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1000 and Kroger Dallas Health and Welfare PlanUNITE HERE Local 74 Welfare and Dental TrustUnited Service Employees Union, Local 377, RWDSU, UFCWIBEW Local 613 and Contributing Employers Family Health Plan (UnionBricklayers Local 1 of MD, VA and DCI.B.E.W. Local 1249 Insurance Fund**International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers**International Brotherhood of Trade Unions Health and Welfare Fund – Local 713International Union of Operating Engineers Local 295-295C Welfare Trust Fund**International union of Operating Engineers, Local Union Number 137**Iron Workers Local Union #28 Health and Welfare Fund**Local 1102 Amalgamated Welfare FundLocal 1102 Health & Benefit FundLocal 1102 Welfare Fund– Lerner EmployeesLocal 272 Welfare Fund**Local 338 Affiliated Benefit FundsMichigan Conference of Teamsters Welfare Fund**Minnesota and North Dakota Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers**Operating Engineers Local 835 Health and Welfare FundPlumbers and Pipefitters Local 430 Health and Welfare Fund**Retail, Wholesale & Dept. Store Union Local 1034 Welfare FundSheet Metal Workers Funds of Local Union 38**Teamsters Local 522 Welfare Fund Roofers DivisionTeamsters Local Union 72 Welfare Fund**UFCW Local 371 Amalgamated Welfare Fund**United Crafts Benefits Fund**United Food & Commercial Workers Unions and Employers Local No. 348 Health & Welfare Fund**United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1445 New HampshireUnited Food and Commercial Workers Local 464a**United Food and Commercial Workers Local 911**United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1459 and Contributing Employers Health and Welfare Fund**Alaska Pipe Trade U.A. Local 367 Health and Security Trust**Plumbers and Pipefitters Local No. 630 Welfare FundUnited Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1000United Wire, Metal & Machine Health & Welfare Fund**Cleveland Bakers TeamstersLaundry and Dry Cleaning Workers Local No. 52Social Service Employees Union Local 371United Food and Commercial Workers Union (Mount Laurel, NJ)United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1459United Food and Commercial Workers and Participating Employers Interstate Health and Welfare FundLaborers’ International Union of North America Local Union No. 616 Health and Welfare PlanUFCW Allied Trade Health & Welfare TrustUnited Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1995IBEW No.915Asbestos Workers Local 53 Welfare FundPlumbers & Pipefitters Local 123 Welfare FundUFCW Local 227UFCW Maximus Local 455

 

[Statorama]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

That's why you continue to remain among the misinformed.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

I'm sure you'd say the same thing about the term "Reaganomics".

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

Would you say the same thing about people who refer to "the Bush tax cuts?" "Reaganomics?"Edit: I should have read ahead a little further -- I just saw that huge quote and hit reply. My bad.

 

[Statorama]

Obama votes "Present" on entitlement reform

Amid his Reaganite sunshine and new admiration for the wonders of private enterprise, President Obama's political message in Tuesday's State of the Union address boils down to this: Republicans, it's your budget problem now.

The deficit is awful and must be cut, entitlements are unsustainable and must be addressed, the tax code hurts growth and must be reformed, and government should be smaller and more efficient, but don't look to Mr. Obama for ideas on how to fix any of this. Go ahead and cut spending and Medicare if you want, Republicans. The President will get back to you with his reply as time and politics allow.

After you, Congressman Ryan.

As political strategy, perhaps this will turn out to be shrewd. Republicans will advance their budget and spending cuts, Democrats will attack them, the voters will sour, and Mr. Obama will ride to re-election. It happened in 1996.

As leadership, however, this is an abdication that contradicts Mr. Obama's rhetorical flourishes about a new bipartisanship and the need "to merge, consolidate and reorganize the federal government." Beyond his welcome if vague support for reducing corporate tax rates in return for closing loopholes, Mr. Obama offered not a single new idea or spending cut. The bulk of his address was devoted to his familiar priorities that he said Republicans should spend more on. Green energy subsidies. High-speed rail!

At least the address had good timing, because less than 12 hours later the Congressional Budget Office released its annual budget review and exposed how deep the fiscal mess really is. Even CBO dared to call it "daunting," which for these budget gnomes is a primal scream.

Eighteen months after the recession formally ended, the federal deficit for fiscal 2011 (through September) is expected to increase once again, this time to $1.48 trillion, or 9.8% of GDP. That's a share of GDP topped since World War II only by the 10% reached in Mr. Obama's first year in office, when at least the recession was an excuse. The annual deficit in the 1980s never exceeded 6% of GDP.

As the nearby chart shows, the main culprit is spending. After falling slightly last year due in part to TARP repayments, federal outlays will climb again this year to 24.7% of GDP. Overall federal spending will have increased by $1 trillion in a mere four years. Without spending cuts, outlays will remain above 23% for the rest of the decade—starting to rise again once ObamaCare becomes fully phased in. (The outlay average from 1971 to 2010 was 20.8% of GDP.)

Compared to this spending boom, Mr. Obama's proposal to freeze domestic discretionary spending for five years is a mere gratuity. It would start from a baseline that pockets the spending increases of the last two years, which as the chart shows has taken outlays to a level not seen since World War II. And it would ignore entitlements, including his health reform. The President's proposal is a feint not a freeze.

The post-recession decline in revenues will also contribute to the deficit, thanks mainly to the slow recovery that the federal spending spree was supposed to boost. The GOP-Obama tax deal will also keep revenues as a share of GDP below 15% in 2011. But as the chart shows, revenues are expected to increase sharply in 2013 and beyond, well above the 40-year average of 18% of GDP. CBO is assuming, as it always does, that higher tax rates have little impact on economic growth.

The message in all of these numbers is that the deficit is mainly a problem of spending and slower economic growth. If the recovery continues and becomes a durable expansion, revenues will revive. But without spending cuts and entitlement reform the deficits will continue at unsustainable levels.

And as they do so will the national debt. We've never been federal debt worriers, but CBO estimates that on current trajectory the debt held by the public as a share of GDP will be 73.9% in 2012, up from only 39.7% in 2008. Those are heights where even we begin to tug at the collar.

So this is the ugly budget reality that House Republicans are inheriting. In his Tuesday night response to Mr. Obama, House Budget Chairman repeated a line he has often used that the U.S. may be at a budget "tipping point." Either Congress begins to control its political appetites, or the debt financing and inevitable tax increases that are coming will erode our economic well-being. The CBO numbers bear him out.

Judging by Tuesday night, Republicans will have to start this reformation without much help from the President. Perhaps if they lead, the public will put enough pressure on Mr. Obama that he has no choice but to follow.

 

[BeaverCleaver]

Obamacare waivers EXPLODE to 729 PLUS 4 states

Government picking winners and losers. To understand how idiotic this is, compare it to when they outlawed slavery. Think about them saying "well....but these four states can still have slaves. As well as these 729 groups of people. But everyone else, NO SLAVES."

If you were a big contributor to Obama, THE LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU. What the bloody hell is going on here?

While the Democrats continued to extol Obamacare and the president defended the behemoth law during the Date of the Union, HHS was quietly presiding over a massive Obamacare Waiver-mania explosion.

When last we examined the growing list, privileged escapees topped 222.

Now: The list now at 729 — plus 4 states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee).

Among the many new union refugees are 4 new SEIU locals :

-SEIU Health and Welfare fund, 2000 with 161 enrollees

-Service Employees 32BJ North Health Benefit Fund* representing 7,020 enrollees

-SEIU Local 300, Civil Service Forum Employees Welfare Fund representing 2,000 enrollees

-SEIU Health & Welfare Fund representing 1,620

This is in addition to the three other previous SEIU waiver winners: Local 25 SEIU in Chicago with 31,000 enrollees; Local 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund with 4,544 enrollees; and SEIU Local 1 Cleveland Welfare Fund with 520 enrollees.

Which brings the total number of Obamacare-promoting SEIU Obamacare escapees to an estimated 45,000 workers represented by seven SEIU locals.

7 SEIU waivers amongst 729 total waivers? So less than 1%? I'm OUTRAGED!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you completely missed the point.

 

[BoneYardDog]

If obamacare is so great why is ANYONE asking and getting exemptions...

Also why is Congress not part of obamacare...

Even his own experts are now saying it will not save money or let you keep your plan because your employee saves money by not covering you, millions will have no plan that have plans now...

Good job obama...

15000 more jobs destroyed in energy because of regulations, even Democratic senators are not happy with him...

The guy is a total disaster...

 

[rolyaTy]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

That's why you continue to remain among the misinformed.

So the only way to be informed is to listen to opinions from the blatantly biased?

 

[rolyaTy]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

I'm sure you'd say the same thing about the term "Reaganomics".

If it was used as a pejorative as often as "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics", which I don't find that it is, then yes, I would.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

I'm sure you'd say the same thing about the term "Reaganomics".

If it was used as a pejorative as often as "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics", which I don't find that it is, then yes, I would.

We all see what we want to see.

 

[sjacksonfan]

If obamacare is so great why is ANYONE asking and getting exemptions...

Also why is Congress not part of obamacare...

Even his own experts are now saying it will not save money or let you keep your plan because your employee saves money by not covering you, millions will have no plan that have plans now...

Good job obama...

15000 more jobs destroyed in energy because of regulations, even Democratic senators are not happy with him...

The guy is a total disaster...

Do you just drive around town all day, making stops here and there, blaming Obama for everything? "Sorry sir, we're out of root beer." DAMN YOU OBAMA! You remind me of Tourette's guy on Youtube. Set up a camera in your trailer on election night 2012. I wanna see you go ballistic when he's reelected.

 

[rolyaTy]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

I'm sure you'd say the same thing about the term "Reaganomics".

If it was used as a pejorative as often as "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics", which I don't find that it is, then yes, I would.

We all see what we want to see.

If only that were true, I'd be surrounded by hot naked ladies all day long who wait on me hand and foot.

 

[Statorama]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

That's why you continue to remain among the misinformed.

So the only way to be informed is to listen to opinions from the blatantly biased?

The only way to truly be informed is to hear from all sides and make an educated theory on what you consider to be the truth.My internet history has just as much Kos and HuffPo as it does HotAir. That's why I know the good things that Obamacare contains as well as the bad. As I weigh them intellectually, I'm swayed by the anti-Obamacare argument.

 

[rolyaTy]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

That's why you continue to remain among the misinformed.

So the only way to be informed is to listen to opinions from the blatantly biased?

The only way to truly be informed is to hear from all sides and make an educated theory on what you consider to be the truth.My internet history has just as much Kos and HuffPo as it does HotAir. That's why I know the good things that Obamacare contains as well as the bad. As I weigh them intellectually, I'm swayed by the anti-Obamacare argument.

I don't buy that having an informed opinion means that you take in a balanced load of crap from either side. I avoid the crap.

 

[jon_mx]

I think it's safe to say that one can dismiss any person who uses either "Obamacare" or "Obamanomics" in a criticism of either health care reform or Obama's policies.

That's why you continue to remain among the misinformed.

So the only way to be informed is to listen to opinions from the blatantly biased?

The only way to truly be informed is to hear from all sides and make an educated theory on what you consider to be the truth.My internet history has just as much Kos and HuffPo as it does HotAir. That's why I know the good things that Obamacare contains as well as the bad. As I weigh them intellectually, I'm swayed by the anti-Obamacare argument.

I don't buy that having an informed opinion means that you take in a balanced load of crap from either side. I avoid the crap.

So much hypocrisy, so little time....so you only listen to your blatantly biased sources.

 

[rolyaTy]

So much hypocrisy, so little time....so you only listen to your blatantly biased sources.

I think my point was not to listen to ANY blatantly biased sources with the hopes of having your opinion informed.

 

[Statorama]

So much hypocrisy, so little time....so you only listen to your blatantly biased sources.

I think my point was not to listen to ANY blatantly biased sources with the hopes of having your opinion informed.

Good luck with that, as I doubt such a thing exists.edit: Roy, on a serious note, when you start only listening to "non-biased" sources, you'll only end up drifting to sources that fit in with your philosophy. "Wow, this site makes a lot of sense, it's what I'll choose to believe"

 

[rolyaTy]

So much hypocrisy, so little time....so you only listen to your blatantly biased sources.

I think my point was not to listen to ANY blatantly biased sources with the hopes of having your opinion informed.

Good luck with that, as I doubt such a thing exists.

Unbiased news is probably impossible to find, but avoiding blatantly biased sources is relatively easy, and imo, helpful in forming informed opinions.