» The Terms of the Deal

This weekend may see the fateful vote on ObamaCare, or it may be passed with twilight’s last deeming.

» Barack Obama has awakened a sleeping nation

Despite the fact that he has some of the lowest approval ratings among recent presidents, history will see Barack Obama as the source of America's resurrection.
...
Obama is the symbol of a creeping liberalism that has infected our society like a cancer for the last 100 years.
...
There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven't seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.

» SEIU organizing rally for illegal immigration on 3/21 in DC

As if they haven't wrought enough damage, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) -- whose agenda appears to be bankrupting the U.S. -- is organizing a rally in favor of illegal immigration.

The public sector unions have worked out really well for the feds and the states... which is why the Democrats, who appear hellbent on destroying our country, have empowered them to set policy.

The clock's ticking. Democrats only have a few months left in which they can destroy our society. That should explain their flailing, their buying votes, promising Ambassadorships, working retirement deals, and securing secret payoffs.

» Specter Opens Door on White House Felonies

At a minimum someone inside the Obama White House has screwed up and embarrassed the president.

Or, that somebody or more than one somebody -- a somebody or somebodies of note -- has or have in fact committed a federal crime in the President's name.

The 'Slaughter Solution' would violate the Constitution
» KUHNER: Impeach the president?

The Slaughter Solution is a dagger aimed at the heart of our system of checks and balances. It would enable the Democrats to establish an ominous precedent: The lawmaking process can be rigged to ensure the passage of any legislation without democratic accountability or even a congressional majority. It is the road to a soft tyranny. James Madison must be turning in his grave.

Precedent. Lawyer types love them some precedent.
Precedent is one of the building blocks of progressive tyranny.

Think. How many laws have been passed, how many court cases have been decided - based on precedent? Anytime a lawyer wants to do something a little fishy, they look for precedent.

Every law that is passed that cannot stand on it's own, but needs precedent to prop it up; becomes precedent for the next one.

If you think Hellth Scare will remain unique in having been passed without a vote, you are in for one heck of a rude awakening.

Next on the tyrants' agenda: Amnesty and citizenship for illegal aliens. Don't believe it? Allow the tyrants to set precedent in passing Hellth Scare and they will use that precedent to do the same with amnesty.

Then Cap & Trade will slide in on precedent.
Then Gun Control.
Then ....

Impeach? Oh, yes ... with EXTREME prejudice. 'One-Term Obama' is not safe enough, 'quarter-term' is past, 'half-term' might provide a window of opportunity to salvage the Republic.

This is not how a constitutional Republic ought be run
» Obama Holding California Farmers Hostage For ObamaCare Votes

The U.S. Department of Interior announced yesterday that it is increasing water allocations for the Central Valley of California, a region that depends on these water allocations to support local agriculture and jobs. The region has recently been starved for water and as a result unemployment has soared.

» Our lawbreaking Congress

Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution sets forth detailed requirements for the making or amending of a law, specifying that "Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary" shall be presented to and approved by the president (or enacted over his veto) - so as to prevent unprincipled legislators from bypassing the procedural necessities by the kind of semantical chicanery currently being contemplated by House leaders.

» The $3-Trillion Dollar Soviet Airbrush

The Soviets were famous for airbrushing inconvenient facts–and people–out of history. But this gang is air-brushing facts into history. According to Democrats, Obamacare started January 1st. But it’s nearly April and the bill still hasn’t passed, let alone kicked in 4 years from now.

These people can’t be trusted to tell you the time of day, not to mention the day of the week, the week of the year or the year of the decade. There is nothing they won’t lie about.

» Electromagnetic Pulse Devastation: The Reality

Until recently... an EMP attack on the U.S. or its allies seemed unlikely. The few nations with nuclear capabilities were more focused on conventional nuclear devices which themselves were the primary source of mass destruction.

All that has changed

» Scales finally falling from even the blindest of eyes

You wishful-thinkers just keep telling yourselves “they don’t have the votes.” The rest of you, back to sharpening pitchforks, boiling tar, and loading mags.

And if all the mags are loaded, you need more mags.

» Global Warming on Trial

Texas has filed two petitions in federal court.

» There Will Be Blood

... the true intent of this bill is not to improve the quality of care or to make the current level of care cheaper. It is in fact a purposeful effort by Democrats to do the exact opposite in order to ultimately gain control over the citizenry.

There is a lot of discussion about how "angry" progressives will be if this Trojan horse health reform bill is not passed. I do not think the left side of the aisle has any concept of the manifestations of true anger that will be incarnated if that bill is passed.

Americans resoundingly reject ObamaCare. What, then, accounts for the Democrats’ determination?
» Obama to America: Bend Over and Cough

Democrats don’t care how much ObamaCare costs.
Democrats consider election losses a small price to pay for health care “reform.” Predictions range from moderate fall election losses to a bloodbath resulting in a Republican takeover of the House and possibly even the Senate. To this Democrats say, “So what?” Once health care reform becomes law, that’s that

» Obama Downplays Constitutional Process for Legislation

The "process" the President is ignoring is outlined in no uncertain terms in the US Constitution, Article 1, Section 7. This procedure is what allows for the checks and balances that protect the rights of the minority. James Madison was adamant about including this in the US Constitution and for good reason. The House rule that allows for this never should have been created because it usurps the Constitution. It's no wonder 37 states are now on board with suing the federal government over the constitutionality should they arrogantly advance this unconstitutional legislation into law.

» Undercover Study Shows Students Prone to Socialism

The “me, me, me” generation only cares about unfairness when it directly effects them, as it would with GPA redistribution. They are easily persuaded by the Left with gooey words like “hope” and “change” because they aren't directly affected by these tax-raising policies—yet.

The Russians are coming - to drill in our own backyard
» Obama surrenders gulf oil to Moscow

The Obama administration is poised to ban offshore oil drilling on the outer continental shelf until 2012 or beyond. Meanwhile, Russia is making a bold strategic leap to begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

~~ thanks for the tip, John ~~

» Will Obama's Betrayal of Britain Cause a Second Falklands War?

While Obama could have easily put a stop to the escalating crisis by stating clearly that the United States was prepared to back England, just as England had backed the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq-- his declaration of neutrality emboldened left wing Latin American leaders like Hugo Chavez to jump into the fight on Argentina's side. In her meeting with left wing Argentinian President Christina Kirchner, Hillary Clinton could have quietly pressed her to back down. Instead Clinton endorsed a call for talks in order to resolve the status of the Falkland Islands. Which actually moved the United States away from supporting neutrality, and toward supporting the Argentinian position.

The entire matter may seem like a tempest in a teapot to many Americans, but it's actually quite important for a number of reasons.

... the British who did stand by the US after 9/11 in the War on Terror have now been left out in the cold by an Obama Administration that prefers to seek solidarity with America's enemies, rather than its allies. And now Britain, like Israel, is discovering just how far the radical in the White House will go to sell out to the free world to its enemies.

» Great Britain: Royal Navy Dispatches Nuclear Submarine To Bolster Falkland Defense

What is totally uncharacteristic is for the United States to behave in a way where it sides with such leftist populism against what was thought to be an unbreakable alliance. It is truly shameful that the American people are allowing this to pass without so much as a "hey wait a minute". Funny how friendships can be burned and tossed aside over the need to rebrand America as a born again Marxist champion of 'social justice". Even more insidious would be the virtual silence of the population while Komrade Hussein chooses Argentina over Britain, the Arabs over Israel, the Russians over the Eastern Europeans; when will the American people understand that healthcare is just the tip of the iceberg with this villain?

» The final days of a dying Republic

And this won’t be death by natural causes, either; it’s murder most foul, at the hands of a despicable class of poltroons, grifters, liars, thieves, and Leftists — sorry for the redundancy. Credit a lazy, uncaring, ignorant serf class who are by and large “just not into politics, man” with an assist.

And could we please dispense at long last with the Pollyanna-ish “they don’t have the votes” denialism? They don’t need the votes; they don’t CARE about the damn votes. Voting on this or any bill, for these collectivist revolutionaries, isn’t a sacred duty and trust; it’s a subterfuge, a dumb-show, an outmoded and unnecessary process to be manipulated on the irresistible march to the “correct” outcome, which henceforth will be a series of foregone conclusions in our Politburo.

The Democrat Socialists should be known forevermore as the American Tyranny Party; their attempt at taking over the health-care system has now degenerated from a crooked, cynically-manipulated legislative process to a sneaky, bloodless coup d’etat. They can’t grab the power they lust for so intractably by Constitutional means, so they’re perfectly willing to just cast the Constitution aside if that’s what it takes. And that’s exactly what they’re preparing to do. This is certainly the first time such an attempt has been made; if they’re allowed to get away with it, rest assured that it will NOT be the last.

» Mark Levin: I will immediately sue the president if they use the Slaughter Rule

One of the main weapons of the left is to tie up legislation or referenda in court so that, at best, they won't see the light of day for years. Well, guess what, two can play at that game. See you in court, punks.

Schoolhouse Rock Slaughter Edition: How a Bill Becomes a Law

Boy: But that's not what we studied in Civics class! A bill's supposed to be passed, identically, through both chambers of Congress! That's in the Constitution!
Bill: Don't be a chucklehead. The Democrats destroyed the Constitution decades ago. Now get lost. You bother me. And don't come back until you've got some money to grease the wheels of the legislature. Dummy.

» Lefties Furious as Their Human Health Care Props Are Debunked

» Idaho first to sign law against "health care reform"

Republican Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter used a ceremony Wednesday afternoon to become the first governor to sign into law a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government over any such insurance mandates.

There's similar legislation pending in 37 other states, a point Otter stressed when asked if the bill he signed can succeed, given constitutional law experts are already saying federal laws would supersede those of states in a U.S. District Court fight.

"The ivory tower folks will tell you, 'No, they're not going anywhere,'" he told reporters. "But I'll tell you what, you get 36 states, that's a critical mass. That's a constitutional mass."

» president barack obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report With Bret Baier" from March 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

» Where's TOTUS when you need him?

Victor Davis Hanson
» Reflections on the Revolution in America

... the present attempt to remake America is the effort of the liberal well-to-do — highly educated at mostly private universities, nursed on three decades of postmodern education, either with inherited wealth or earning top salaries, lifestyles of privilege indistinguishable from those they decry as selfish, and immune from the dictates they impose on others.

Such are basically the profiles of the Obama cabinet and sub-cabinet, the pillars of liberalism in the Congress and state legislatures, the public intellectuals in the universities and foundations, the arts crowd, and the Hollywood elite. Let us be clear about that.

» Emails Reveal Nidal Malik Hasan's Pageant of Red Flags

An indication of how deeply moonbattery has eaten into our society is the degree of inadequacy even the military will put up with in the name of diversity

» Billboards of America

It's safe to say at this point that Hopey Change just didn't take. Unfortunately that doesn't mean it can't be imposed by force.

» Suicidal: UAW urges Congress to let EPA set new emissions rules

Here's a good way to commit suicide - have your puppet politicians that you bought with forced union dues give you control of a major auto company in bankruptcy, and then encourage said politicians to regulate emissions that will have no effect on global climate to fix a problem that doesn't exist, but regulations that will put said company at a huge competitive disadvantage to foreign car makers. There. Almost easier than putting a shotgun to one's head and pulling the trigger with your toe.

» CBO's latest: TARP to cost us $109 Billion

Barry then: "In the first round of repayments" from financial institutions that received TARP money, "the government has actually turned a profit." Barack Obama on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 in a statement at the White House.

Reality now: $109 Billion loss.

» USA: Another State Department Declaration...This Time Europe Is Unfair And Harsh On Its Muslims

And here I was under the impression that we were not doing enough to ward off the onslaught of this cult in western lands. Now don't misunderstand me; I am well aware of the fact that this is nothing short of the height of political pandering by this "State Department" and that it smacks of the worst and most obvious stenches of appeasement. I am also aware of the fact that this is the same "State Department" which declared British Falkland Islands to now be known as "The Malvinas; whatever the hell that means. So lets be perfectly clear here when we declare that this so-called report is nothing short of a political stunt in the wake of Obama failing to block a congressional ruling that the Armenian genocide is precisely that; a genocide. It also unsurprisingly follows in the wake of Biden pandering to the Palestinian animal by once again blaming Israel for all the world's woes. So the truth is that no one ought be surprised by such statements by such an administration. I myself am not; not in the least.

Gore Attaches Global Warming as Cause to Last Weekend's Storm in Northeast

If there’s a drought – it’s global warming. When there’s a hurricane – it’s global warming. If there are heavy snows or even blizzards – it’s somehow global warming. And amazingly, the latest round of rainy and windy weather in the Northeast, well that’s consistent with this phenomenon as well, so says former Vice President Al Gore.

A (Precautionary-)Principled Legislator

Congressman Edward Markey, co-author of the Waxman-Markey climate-change (read “energy tax”) bill, has come up with a novel reason for being opposed to nuclear power.

In addition to discrete events such as a storm or earthquake, climate change has the potential to affect more routine reactor operations

Apparently nobody has told Markey that those IPCC predictions are now, shall we say, slightly suspect. But there’s no sense in not being prepared. Come to think of it, has anybody checked whether solar panels work underwater?

John Hood is standing up.
» I Will Not Comply

I’ve been arguing the case against ObamaCare for more than a year ... There is no conceivable way that the president or the leaders of Congress can legally enact their legislative monstrosity.

Instead, they are going to cheat. They are going to employ some kind of legislative trickery to pretend to pass a bill that, they now realize, will never become law through constitutional means.

I will not comply. If the government tries to make me comply, I’ll sue. And I’ll win

~~ thanks for the tip, Hans ~~

How Democrats may 'deem' ObamaCare into law, without voting
or How Dhimmicrats Intend to Blatanly Violate the Constitution and Dare You to Do Anything About It.
» Slaughter House Rules

Under the "reconciliation" process that began yesterday afternoon, the House is supposed to approve the Senate's Christmas Eve bill and then use "sidecar" amendments to fix the things it doesn't like. Those amendments would then go to the Senate under rules that would let Democrats pass them while avoiding the ordinary 60-vote threshold for passing major legislation. This alone is an abuse of traditional Senate process.

But Mrs. Pelosi & Co. fear they lack the votes in the House to pass an identical Senate bill, even with the promise of these reconciliation fixes. House Members hate the thought of going on record voting for the Cornhusker kickback and other special-interest bribes that were added to get this mess through the Senate, as well as the new tax on high-cost insurance plans that Big Labor hates.

So at the Speaker's command, New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who chairs the House Rules Committee, may insert what's known as a "self-executing rule," also known as a "hereby rule." Under this amazing procedural ruse, the House would then vote only once on the reconciliation corrections, but not on the underlying Senate bill. If those reconciliation corrections pass, the self-executing rule would say that the Senate bill is presumptively approved by the House—even without a formal up-or-down vote on the actual words of the Senate bill.

Democrats would thus send the Senate bill to President Obama for his signature even as they claimed to oppose the same Senate bill. They would be declaring themselves to be for and against the Senate bill in the same vote. Even John Kerry never went that far with his Iraq war machinations. As we went to press, the precise mechanics that Democrats will use remained unclear, though yesterday Mrs. Pelosi endorsed this "deem and pass" strategy in a meeting with left-wing bloggers.

This two-votes-in-one gambit is a brazen affront to the plain language of the Constitution, which is intended to require democratic accountability. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution says that in order for a "Bill" to "become a Law," it "shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate." This is why the House and Senate typically have a conference committee to work out differences in what each body passes. While sometimes one house cedes entirely to another, the expectation is that its Members must re-vote on the exact language of the other body's bill.

» Pelosi: 'Once we kick through this door,' more reform will follow

In a particularly Alice-in-Wonderland moment, Pelosi argued that the debate over health care reform can begin after the bill is passed. "Pelosi said passing the bill would allow Dems to undertake a 'debate' with Republicans over 'what is the balanced role that government should have,'

Once you let a dhimmicrat step on your Constitution, they just want to do it again. and again.
Their satisfaction will be complete only when it's ground into dust.

» White House Ducks "Slaughter Solution" Controversy

» Foreclosure worries cramping your style? President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) lets taxpayers foot the bill!

In short, the unions and the bankers were paid off -- courtesy of you, the taxpayer -- but the salve is only a temporary remedy. The bill will come due someday soon. And because this administration can't deal with economic realities, the fall will be far swifter and far more painful than it ever needed to be.

» So America – How Easy Are You To Dupe?

Somehow I don’t get the feeling a real democracy should be run by pretending to vote on one set of laws and then having a small group commit a coupe d’etat and slip in their own preferred version. That is not the ‘law of the land’ I grew up to admire in this country.

» Hiding Holder’s True Intentions

One Obama cabinet member I think is in serious trouble, though he seems to be flying under the radar of the Health Care debate at the moment, is Attorney General Eric Holder. The fact he held back key amicus briefs from his Senate review is very disturbing, and just another sign the Obama administration is anything but ‘transparent’
...
Clearly this is subterfuge, an effort to hide Holder’s risky and dangerous views from public scrutiny. This was a brief which exposes Holder’s (and Obama’s and John Brennan’s) views that they could dial back our reaction to terrorist threats used under the Bush admininstration. It explains completely why the terrorist investigations into Major Hasan were suspiciously and abruptly shut down before the true nature of the man was discovered. After all, he was an American citizen talking about Jihad and killing soldiers with another American citizen now in Yemen and tied to al Qaeda and 9-11.

In the twisted and limited views of liberals that is called free speech.

» Paul Ryan: ‘We are not governing here today, we are greasing the skids’

So said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) during today’s Budget Committee farce wherein the “shell” bill was passed. It now heads over to be marked up and can include whatever they want, including public option, and can be loaded with earmarks to secure wavering or undecided votes. Like I said last night, everything is now on the table. Everything.

Ryan then went on to say the following during Budget Committee today: “This abuse of the process, this abuse of the constitution…are not worthy of your support.” Among other things.

» The unconscious racism of a San Francisco liberal newspaper reporter

I’m try to come up with a suitably scathing statement about a reporter who is so miserably informed about the world around him, and so biased, but I can’t. I’m just beyond words. Maybe that ignorance itself shouldn’t surprise me so much, though. It turns out that vast numbers of reporters are miserably uninformed about American iconography. And yet we trust these people to filter our complex world and given honest, comprehensible information about what they know.

» "I Won"

In the end everything we ever needed to know about Obama could have been gleaned from his two word reply to a Republican Senator who objected to Obama's disastrous economic stimulus plan. "I Won." And of course Obama won the battle and lost the war. The economic stimulus plan passed but was widely considered unpopular and a failure. It played a big part in the public perception of a wasteful government tossing around money with no real results. But Obama is still wedded to the "win".

» Obama to Israel: 'Drop Dead'

Murdered Jews or Jewish apartments: Obama evidently finds the latter more repellent. Then again, Obama was silent on the mass murder of hundreds of Christians in Nigeria by Muslim marauders. Never will an unkind word be said about Muslim murderers or Palestinian killers that might detract from Obama's charm offensive to the Muslim world -- the one that so far has accomplished only a projection of weakness, cowardice, and a loss of any ability to weigh competing claims fairly.

The Rewards of Liberal Education
» Unrecognized Iwo Jima photo shows how World War II memories fading

I took a quick survey in the newsroom the other day, something between a Rorschach test and a pop quiz, asking younger colleagues to identify an iconic photograph of World War II.

While some instantly recognized the image, others couldn't quite place it.

"I know I ought to know it," one co-worker said. "It was in the movie, ‘Flags of Our Fathers.' " Some, seeing uniforms, realized it must be a war photo. Maybe Vietnam? One got the era right but the battlefield wrong. She guessed it was D-Day, not, as it was, the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima.

Nearly a quarter of 17-year-olds recently surveyed by Common Core, an educational advocacy group and think tank, couldn't identify Adolf Hitler.

For many of us who remember World War II, it was the biggest event of our lifetime, not just in magnitude but rectitude. It was a morality play, lacking shades of gray or traces of ambiguity. Americans took lives, but they did so in order to stop the slaughter of millions.

Pass the image around at the next leftist-sponsored anti-war protest (or a Ron Paul rally), I got a $100 bill that says you'll find at least one prick that guesses it's a photo of American troops stabbing an Iraqi child with a flagpole.

» Gitmo's Indefensible Lawyers
"Legal counsel to some of the detainees went far beyond vigorous representation of their clients. " ... Far enough to qualify as treason.

On the evening of Jan. 26, 2006, military guards at Guantanamo Bay made an alarming discovery during a routine cell check. Lying on the bed of a Saudi detainee was an 18-page color brochure. The cover consisted of the now famous photograph of newly-arrived detainees dressed in orange jumpsuits—masked, bound and kneeling on the ground at Camp X-Ray—just four months after 9/11. Written entirely in Arabic, it also included pictures of what appeared to be detainee operations in Iraq. Major General Jay W. Hood, then the commander of Joint Task Force-Guantanamo, concurred with the guards that this represented a serious breach of security.

How did the detainee get it? More importantly, who gave it to him?

An investigation by JTF-GTMO personnel revealed that Julia Tarver Mason, a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, had sent it to Al Joudi and eight of the firm's other detainee clients through "legal mail"—a designation for privileged lawyer-client communications that are exempt from screening by security personnel. Worse, the investigation showed that Ms. Mason's clients passed it to other detainees not represented by Paul, Weiss lawyers. In all, more than a dozen detainees received a copy.

» Americans Don’t Give Up On America

Americans have always faced great challenges, and we’ve always persevered. The difficulties we face today are no different; we can overcome today’s challenges. We can reverse our debt burdens. We can reverse our education failures. We can defeat terrorism and Al-Qaeda. We can improve our health care delivery system. We can solve our energy problems. We can prosper and keep our environment clean and enjoyable. We can compete with China and India. We can live within the constraints of the Constitution.

» Faith, Hope and Charity

America, this is the moment. The fundamental transformation of America is here.

I know you are busy. I know you have other things going on in your life. But I also know that this is still America. It was right before Christmas 1776, Washington had lost two thirds of his army. They were about to face a far superior army. They wanted to go home. Congress ran away. Washington's bold plan was to just go get them or be slaughtered. As everyone freaked out, Thomas Payne wrote in the follow-up to "Common Sense":

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: It is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

We're not tired. We're going to keep on fighting this thing. We know what this bill means and that it seeks to fundamentally transform America. We will fight it with everything in us — not with bullets, not with guns, but with faith, hope and charity.

» Absence of U.S. flag in Haiti sparks controversy

The many nations helping Haiti recover from the devastating earthquake that struck there have set up their own military compounds and fly their flags at the entrances.
France's tricolor, Britain's Union Jack and even Croatia's coat of arms flap in the breeze.

But the country whose contributions dwarf the rest of the world's — the United States — has no flag at its main installation near the Port-au-Prince airport.

Oversight? Mistake?
What could be the reason?
You know, don't you? Of course ....

The Obama administration says flying the flag could give Haiti the wrong idea.

» Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam's IOUs

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. – The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.

It's time to start cashing them in.

» Obama Kills Offshore Drilling

In case you thought there was any hope that the Community Organizer in Chief would set aside ideology long enough to alleviate unnecessary impediments to our economic recovery and slow the cascade of our money flowing into the pockets of our enemies, it is confirmed that he will not lighten up on senseless drilling restrictions.

"Despite public comments that favored a new leasing plan by a 2-to-1 margin, the Administration has decided to disregard the overwhelming opinion of the American people who support opening additional areas to drilling. By extending this drilling ban to 2012, the Administration is single-handedly preventing new job creation, billions in new government revenue and increased energy security."

If Chairman Zero wanted the economy to recover, would he prevent us from drilling our own oil? Prolonging the Depression worked out great for FDR; let's see how the strategy plays for Comrade Obama, who has a better informed public to contend with.

I know what you're thinking: Obama must lay awake at night, racking his pea brain for new ways to screw America.
And you are correct.

» Toy Gun Control

Airsoft guns, which fire little plastic balls, are used by a growing number of loyal enthusiasts (think paintball, only not as messy). In addition, thanks to their realistic look, weight, and feel, these guns are often used for training purposes by National Guard units and law enforcement.

It was this realism that led CBP agents to seize the shipment—which was destined for Airsoft Outlet Northwest in Cornelius, Oregon—and to call in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) for a closer look.

So far, a reasonable response ... well, reasonable if you factor in a certain amount of ignorance.
But ...

The BATFE was at least knowledgeable enough to discern that the guns in question were, in fact, not real guns. The case should have ended right then and there. After all, the agency has authority only with respect to the importation of real guns. Toy guns fall no more under BATFE jurisdiction than teddy bears.

Oh! You silly right-wing terrist, since when does ATF need jurisdiction? They invented jurisdiction!

However, a little technicality like lack of jurisdiction was not enough to keep BATFE off the case.

“In its present state, our firearms technology branch classified this as a machine gun,” said BATFE special agent Kelvin Crenshaw.

But wait a minute. Didn’t the BATFE previously admit that these are not real guns?

Yes, but “With minimal work it could be converted to a machine gun,” Crenshaw said.

...
Brad and Ben Martin were robbed just as surely as if they had been mugged walking down the street. Only in this instance, the thugs operated under the color of law by an agency whose very existence is questionable.

Neener, Neener, Neener
» Matt Damon’s Bush-Bashing, Anti-American Iraq War Movie Bombs at Box Office

When will Hollywood learn that just because they hate America does not mean that we hate America?

» Courting Disaster

With Obamacare, the president knows that he will never run out of other people to blame for the failure of his policies. He can drive up the cost of health care through a vast new entitlement program, complete with new mandates, a whole new premium subsidy program and compulsory coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, and then turn around and blame the "greedy" insurance companies and the mindless pursuit of profit for the inevitable rise in premiums. Everything that goes wrong will become the rationale for more government intervention and control.
Last week Obama went out onto the highways and byways to sell the impending government takeover of health care as an act of personal benevolence and great political courage. But this was not like Daniel going into the lion's den. To the contrary ... it was more like a visit to Romper Room with assurances from the teacher that all the bad kids had been sent home

» The Dishonest Tyrant

Where the honest tyrant openly loots the people for his own enrichment, the dishonest tyrant claims to loot the people for their own benefit. The honest tyrant's answer to rebellion is naked force. The dishonest tyrant's answer is, "But just try to imagine what you would do without me." That is because the dishonest tyrant thrives by fostering the people's dependency on him, through a campaign of propaganda that convinces them that without him society would break down and nothing could function any more.
...
The American Revolution was fought in order to create a government of the people and by the people. A state in which the people were the masters and government their servant. But through the trojan horse of progressive politics, the dishonest tyrants who claimed to be the protectors of the people wormed their way in and turned the government into the master, and the people into its servants.
...
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, and We're From the Government and We're Here to Help, essentially mean the same thing. The Constitution was written with the understanding of the inevitable tug of war between the people and their leaders. To prevent tyranny, the people may not relax their grip, or accept gifts from the government, or the balance of power will be changed. As it has been changed. And as it is being changed right now, every day.

The dishonest tyrant does not need an army to rule the people. All he needs is their own complicity in their own oppression. Their willingness to be robbed and beaten down in the name of their own welfare. And it is only by bringing the people to such a state, that he can hope to rule over them.

James Lovelock Then and Now

UK ads banned for overstating climate change

TWO government advertisements that use nursery rhymes to warn people of the dangers of climate change have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for exaggerating the potential harm.

The adverts, commissioned by Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, used the rhymes to suggest that Britain faces an inevitable increase in storms, floods and heat waves unless greenhouse gas emissions are brought under control.

The ASA has ruled that the claims made in the newspaper adverts were not supported by solid science and has told the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) that they should not be published again.

It may be clever, but it is not constitutional
» Michael McConnell of Stanford Law: 'Slaughter solution cannot be squared with Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution'

Democratic congressional leaders have floated a plan to enact health-care reform by a procedure dubbed “the Slaughter solution.” ...Democrats would pass a rule that deems the Senate’s health-care bill to have passed the House, without the House actually voting on the bill. This would enable Congress to vote on legislation that fixes flaws in the Senate health-care bill without facing a Senate filibuster, and without requiring House members to vote in favor of a Senate bill that is now politically toxic.

Clever seems to be a Dhimmicrat specialty. Reading the Constitution - not so much.

» Obamacare: Shortcut to socialism

The official title is the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," (bill text here) popularly known as "Obamacare," passed by the Senate in the wee-hours of Christmas Eve. This 2400-page monstrosity does what no enemy of America has ever been able to do: transform the land of the free into the home of the enslaved.

For the first time in the history of the nation, the federal government will force its citizens to purchase a product.

If Americans – through their elected officials – accept this principle, there is nothing to prevent the federal government from forcing its citizens to purchase any other product that the government decides its citizens should have. Nowhere does the Constitution authorize the federal government to require its citizens to purchase anything. The writers of this bill, however, conclude that even though insurance sales may be limited by each state, health insurance is still sold across state lines, and therefore is subject to federal regulations under the commerce clause, and that regulatory authority includes the authority to force citizens to purchase health insurance, whether they want it or not.

Individuals who fail to purchase the required insurance will be fined 1/12 of the annual cost of the required insurance with penalties "not to exceed 300 percent."(Chapter 48, Section 5000A, Page 321 ff)

As bad as this legislation is, it is just the first step toward a much worse condition: government control of health care.

That's the plan.

» Profits over people ?

Now we have the very unpleasant cumulative effect of irresponsible financial indifference and of finding someone to take ownership of a bill too long ignored because someone else was paying. The President has erroneously blamed insurance companies, but ignored the disastrous contribution of government wage and price controls to spawning a crisis brought about by distance between the patient and the bill. Now, however, the President is planning a colossally worse plan by preparing to have his monstrous-spending government, with all the appearance of righteousness, presume to be the solution.

» Attorney General's duplicity overlooked by media cheerleaders

"My read of Holder and his boss Obama is that they are perfectly comfortable befriending and defending terrorists. Obama's close friend -- and ghostwriter -- William Ayers was a bomb-maker for the fanatical Weather Underground. And Holder possesses a history of beneficence to terror organizations such as when he brokered a deal for releasing FALN bombers in New York just as Hillary Clinton began her campaign for that state's US Senate seat,"

A regular guy who became a fat, pampered Hollywood star, who somehow lost the plot, got way too full of himself and now spews slanders about the very men he chronicles in his latest movie.
» Tom Hanks, What Happened?

I don’t know when Tom Hanks became a “Blame America First”-crank, but his history sucks. And his current events aren’t any better. The soldiers serving us today are not genocidal maniacs engaged in a Race War, but as fine as any this nation has ever produced. I should know–those are my family, too.

If the Tuskeegee Airmen could love and serve America like they did, it should be child’s play for us today. You need to look at your own history, Tom. Maybe you’ll want to return to the time before slanders against America–and Americans–rolled off your tongue like a Hollywood promise.

From House and Senate Cloakroom at Heritage Foundation:

It’s crunch time on health care. The Budget Committee will meet Monday to start marking up a shell of a Reconciliation Bill. The Rules Committee will then meet as early as Wednesday to hollow out whatever the Budget Committee passed and then insert a new bill from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) office. The Majority is still planning to use the “Slaughter Rule” that would allow the House to pass the Senate health care bill without voting on it.

RED ALERT: We Are Now Living Under Martial Law -- House Democrats Appear Set to Pass Senate Bill Without Voting On It

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) is preparing to pass the health care overhaul through the House of Representatives without a vote, as was originally reported by the National Journal's Congress Daily. Mark Tapscott observes that such a maneuver would be the penultimate refutation of the people's will.

In the Slaughter Solution, the rule would declare that the House "deems" the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed by the House. House members would still have to vote on whether to accept the rule, but they would then be able to say they only voted for a rule, not for the bill itself.

Thus, Slaughter is preparing a rule that would consider the Senate bill "passed" once the House approves a corrections bill that would make changes. Democrats would thereby avoid a direct vote on the health care bill while allowing it to become law!

From the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 7

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively...

Mark Levin:
... this clause goes to the heart of this Republic.

This clause goes to the heart of how our representative body, that is Congress, makes laws. And so I want you to [observe] how particular the Framers were... They have to pass a Bill to present it to the President...

This is one of the most exacting clauses in the Constitution.

And, to the best of my knowledge, which extends over three decades, no Congress has previously tried to institute policies without actual statutes.

Here we have the President of the United States and Congressional leaders actually talking about the possibility of a brazen and open violation of one of the most fundamental aspects of our Constitution and Republic! How we actually make laws!

Let me be as clear as I know how. If this is done, this will create the greatest Constitutional crisis since the Civil War. It would be 100 times worse than Watergate.

...
This is a crucial lesson for those of you who... aren't sure what your beliefs are, or if you have any beliefs. Or aren't sure if you even care. We have an effort underway by the one of the most powerful chairmen in Congress, the woman who heads the Rules Committee, ...openly discussing gutting Congress. Gutting Congress.

And if this is done, this is about as close to martial law as you'll ever get... So Louise Slaughter, a Representative from New York, is discussing, in essence, martial law. Now I can tell you, if they pursue this process, and try to impose this kind of a law, without actually passing a statute, that I will be in a race -- with scores of others -- to the courthouse to stop this.

I can't think of a more blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution than this. And the liberal media has essentially ignored it!

...It's not only absurd on its face -- that these power-hungry ideologues, party-first-country-second types, would make the claim that the House voted on something it never voted on... that's not only absurd on its face, it's blatantly unconstitutional!