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Day One

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"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately." --Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1776

What have we learned in 2065 years?
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
Cicero - 55 BC

"Fathom the hypocrisy of a Congress that requires every citizen to prove they are insured.....but not everyone must prove they are citizens".
- Unknown

"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." --Patrick Henry

"To anger a conservative, lie to him. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth." —Theodore Roosevelt"

"We the People are the rightful master of both congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution" - Abraham Lincoln

While BHO brags about "his" victory, the truth is the death of Muammar Qaddafi will not create one single job in the USA. - 2IfByC

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We update this site every M-W-F

Unemployment - 8.1% - April

29.7 MILLION SEEK WORK - Breitbart

Morning Bell: Weak Economy Disappoints Again - The Heritage Foundation

Job Growth Just 115,000 in April, Rate Drops to 8.1% - CNBC

Obama shrugs off disappointing jobs number - Yahoo News

People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 - Zerohedge

Morning Bell: Obama Economy Leaves Little Changed - The Heritage Foundation

Employers cut back on hiring; fewer people searching for jobs - The Washington Examiner

U.S. Labor Market Slows Its Stride - Wall Street Journal

48% Know Someone Who Has Given Up Looking for Work - Rasmussen Link

Report: Millions of jobless file for disability when unemployment benefits run out - Fox News

See more links about jobs on the Economy Page

BATTLE FOR WHITE HOUSE - The Electorial Map

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Hands Off My Healthcare Rally

How much do you know about the Second Amendment? A quiz. - Christian Science Monitor

AMERICAN TAXPAYER'S LOSS ON GM STOCK INVESTMENT

Running on Empty

"If I wanted America to fail"

Do Something - Get involved - Help make America shine again

How To Persuade A Swing Voter – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

From Mitt Romney's speech: " A Better America Begins Tonight" - April 24, 2012

Four years ago Barack Obama dazzled us in front of Greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. But after we came down to earth, after the celebration and parades, what do we have to show for three and a half years of President Obama?

Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?

If the answer were "yes" to those questions, then President Obama would be running for re-election based on his achievements…and rightly so. But because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions. That kind of campaign may have worked at another place and in a different time. But not here and not now. It's still about the economy …and we're not stupid.

See the entire speech here

AFP Wasteful Spending Ad

5/18 - Today's updates…

Cavuto: Bad stuff on Romney matters to the mainstream media - 2IfByC Audio Page

THE VETTING - EXCLUSIVE - OBAMA'S LITERARY AGENT IN 1991 BOOKLET: 'BORN IN KENYA AND RAISED IN INDONESIA AND HAWAII' - Breitbart

MEDIA WORKS TO SUPPRESS OBAMA 'BORN IN KENYA' BIO - Breitbart

Barack Obama: A Composite Kenyan - RedState

Obama's literary agent says he was 'born in Kenya'. How did the mainstream media miss this? - The Telegraph

House OKs $642B defense bill that Obama threatened to veto - Fox News

Romney's Favorables Rising Despite Attacks - Fox News

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 46%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link
Nebraska: Romney 53%, Obama 39% - Rasmussen Link
Nebraska Senate: Fischer (R) 56%, Kerrey (D) 38% - Rasmussen Link

Romney Fundraising Nearly Matches Obama's - White House Dossier

Obamacare cronyism: The First Lady's patient-dumping, privacy-meddling scheme - Michelle Malkin Site

Obama HHS: Private Insurers Must Now Credit ObamaCare When Mailing Customer Rebates - Center for Individual Freedom

Senator questions $18B for job training, as study suggests rampant waste, abuse - Fox News

Rasmussen: Dems least likely to know spending has risen over last ten years - Hot Air

Feds paid $430 million in bonuses - your money - do you think thye deserve a bonus? - APP.com

BREAKING: Democrat-Held Senate Rejects Obama's Horrific Budget, 99-0 - Townhall.com

Senators to Unveil the 'Ex-Patriot Act' to Respond to Facebook's Saverin's Tax 'Scheme' - ABC News

Morning Bell: A Glimmer of Hope for the American Dream - The Heritage Foundation

88% Say They're Paying More for Groceries Than A Year Ago - Rasmussen Link - ...and you'd still vote for BHO?

Right Direction or Wrong Track
28% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction - Rasmussen Link -....and you'd still vote for BHO?

Obama's bin Laden leaks angered military - The Washington Examiner

Hill GOP wants answers on Hezbollah leader tied to soldiers killings, set for release - Fox News

Wife of fallen Army captain 'shocked' husband's killer to be freed by Iraq - Fox News

'CHURCH WAS NOT THEIR THING': NEW AUDIO FROM REV. WRIGHT'S SHOCKING INTERVIEW WITH OBAMA BOOK AUTHOR ED KLEIN - TheBlaze

Sacrificial scams by Ann Coulter

Thomas Fisher - Newsletter #71

Elizabeth Warren Bingo - Bruce the Bicyclist from New England

Minorities now surpass whites in US births, census shows - Fox News

Blacks lose majority in the District - The Washington Examiner

America's Antique Air Force - The Heritage Foundation

Increase Taxes? Boehner: 'We All Know What the Menu of Possibilities Are' - CNSNEWS

Van Jones rips Holder over Operation Fast and Furious: 'We just don't value all life the same' -The Daily Caller

OBAMA'S GRADE: D PLUS
COLUMN: PRESIDENT HAUNTED BY RECORD OF BROKEN PROMISES AND INFLATED EXPECTATIONS - The Washington Free Beacon

Sununu & Bradley: Obama economy 'irresponsible' and 'unpatriotic' - NH Journal

Obama Team Courts Trouble - Center for Individual Freedom

How To Persuade A Swing Voter – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Pelosi: No to Provision Protecting Chaplains From Being Ordered to Act Against Faith: 'It's A Fraud' - CNSNEWS

IBD/TIPP Poll: Obama Failing As 'Great Distracter' - Investors Business Daily

IBD/TIPP Poll: "The Great Distracter" has failed to distract from his failures as his support among women and independents falls. And it will only get harder to make voters forget the weak economy.

The latest IBD/TIPP survey, which polled 778 registered voters over the eight days ended Wednesday, found that while same-sex marriage is viewed positively by many independents, President Obama's support among that key voting bloc has fallen since his switcheroo on such unions.

On top of that, his support among women has suffered — at a time when Democrats are conducting a coordinated effort accusing likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney of waging a "war on women."

The president's attempts to distract voters from the nation's economic woes are apparently failing. The dismal reality of 8%-plus unemployment — four years after the 2008 financial crisis — remains at the front of their minds.

Obama still leads overall in the IBD/TIPP results, 43% to 40%, but that's a drop from the at-least 46% support in our previous polls this year.

Among independents, Romney now leads Obama 39% to 35%, with 17% unsure.

The previous survey, conducted April 27 to May 4, found Romney much further ahead among independents, with 46%. But Obama's support was higher too — 37%. And far fewer independent voters, 8%, were undecided then.

Obama's support among independents was 40% in early April, 42% in mid-March and 41% in early February. His decline is undeniable.

Independents split down the middle — 44% to 44% — on whether same-sex marriage should be valid. But 54% of independents who support same-sex marriage said they'll vote for Obama, while only 22% support Romney.

Since this survey was conducted after Obama's May 9 announcement that "same-sex couples should be able to get married," it may be Obama's change of position that boosted his independent support — yet his overall decline among independents suggests he's lost even more support in that voting bloc in the most recent polls.

The president still leads among women, 45% to 37%, but that's a drop from 49% in late April/early May; earlier this year Obama's support ranged from 50% to 48%.

This decline is backed up by a CBS News/New York Times poll this week showing Obama's popularity among women falling from 49% in April to 44% in May.

The Obama campaign's cheap shots against Ann Romney for choosing children over career may help explain this. But at the end of the day, a simple dynamic is obvious in both these Obama retreats: Divisive social issues can't make Americans forget his economic failure.

5/16 - Today's updates…

Shock Poll: Romney now leads among women –The Washington Examiner

Obama's Poll Numbers Get Worse And Worse – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Trust on Issues: Obama v. Romney
51% Trust Romney's Economic Judgment More Than Obama's - Rasmussen Link

Romney pins 'prairie fire of debt' on Obama - MyWAY

Alarm Grows Among Dems About Obama's Chances – Fox News

Behind in Polls, Obama Predicts Close Race to Donors - CNSNEWS

White House under fire for adding Obama policy plugs to past presidents' bios - Fox News

LA MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA FUNNELS TAXPAYER CASH TO OBAMA FUNDRAISER - Breitbart - Think you'll see this from the MSM

Romney team to paint Obama as lousy businessman - The Washington Examiner - Should not be difficult

Obama Mandate Forces First Catholic College to Drop Insurance - Lifenews

THE SOROS SUMMIT
FREE BEACON EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE SECRET MIAMI MEETING OF GEORGE SOROS'S LIBERAL CONSPIRACY - The Washington Free Beacon

Longtime security supervisor arrested at NJ airport for using dead man's ID – Fox News - Can you say "illegal"?

The hits keep coming: Project Veritas exposes non-citizens, dead people registered to vote in NC — and so much more - Malkin Site

China Has Hacked Our National Security – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Poll: Walker 52, Barrett 43 – Townhall.com – I hope the unions continue to spend money on this

Obama Leads by Only 7 in Arkansas's Democratic Primary – The Weekly Standard

Divisions "R" Us! - Monica Crowley on the 2IfByC Opinion Page

Federal Workers' 2011 Salary Data Exposed Online – WUSA9

Obama, touting gay marriage stance, calls for repeal of Defense of Marriage Act - Fox News

Poll: Romney has slight edge over Obama - CBS News

Longtime Obama pal Eric Whitaker keeps popping onto political scene - The Daily Caller

Morning Bell: Don't Fear the Free Market - The Heritage Foundation

Boston Globe buries correction of Elizabeth Warren 1/32 Cherokee claim - Network Blogs

OBAMA 'STEREOTYPED, SIMPLIFIED AND USED' US - Beitbart

OBAMA'S BAD BUSINESSMEN
THE PRESIDENT'S MOST FAMOUS BUSINESS SUPPORTERS FACE FINANCIAL LOSSES, SCANDALS - The Washington Free Beacon

You Paid for It! Stimulus Dollars Fund Studies into Sexual History and Erectile Dysfunction - NBC Bay Area

Chris Matthews Bombs on 'Jeopardy!' After Repeatedly Mocking Palin for How She'd Do - Newsbusters

Bush: 'Arab Spring' Is 'Broadest Challenge to Authoritarian Rule Since Collapse of Soviet Communism' - CNSNEWS

Timing of gay marriage announcement paying dividends for Obama – Washington Times

Boehner Demands Spending Cuts for Any Debt Limit Increase (Update 1) – Bloomberg

Commencementgate: Liberals outnumber conservatives 7-1 – The Washington Examiner

Obama Carolina Convention Plans Going Awry for Democrats – Bloomberg

President Me –The Heritage Foundation

Influential panel calls for steep reduction of US nuclear weapons - Fox News

Obama worth as much as $10 million – USA Today – Part of the 1%?

Election 2012: North Carolina President
North Carolina: Romney 51%, Obama 43% - Rasmussen Link

Homeowner Relief Funds Skimmed Off by Governors –The Tea Party Economist

The War Next Door by Newt Gingrich

Former State official: Obama softline policy toward Iran, North Korea creates a more dangerous world –The Washington Free Beacon

U.S. has 55 daily encounters with "suspected terrorists" – Yahoo News – But there is no terror war

(Grand)mother of all lies stumps the Globe - Boston Herald

Elizabeth Warren Is Getting Destroyed More For Calling Herself A Native American - Business Insider

Society: 'We have no proof' of Liz Warren's claim - Boston Herald

SENATE DEMOCRATS SET TO REJECT RYAN, OBAMA BUDGETS - The Washington Free Beacon

GAO To Obama: More Oil Than Rest Of The World - Investors Business Daily

Energy: The Government Accountability Office tells Congress the Green River Formation out West contains an "amount about equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves." So why are we keeping it locked up on federal lands?

Exploding the Big Lie pushed by President Obama that we can't drill our way out of high gas prices because we have but 2% of the world's proven oil reserves, Anu Mittal, GAO director of natural resources and environment, testified before Congress last week that just one small part of the U.S. is capable of outproducing the rest of the planet.

That small part is known as the Green River Formation, the world's largest oil shale deposit, and is located in a largely vacant region of mostly federal land on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains that includes portions of Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

As we have written in our "Oil And Gas/Fact And Fiction" series, the Green River Formation has been dubbed our Persia on the Plains, an area with technically recoverable oil in an amount estimated at four times the proven resources of Saudi Arabia.

Given that current U.S. daily oil consumption is running at 19.5 million barrels, the staggering amount of Green River reserves would by itself supply domestic oil consumption for more than 200 years. That sure blows the heck out of the "peak oil" theory that the world is running out of oil.

According to Mittal's testimony before the House science subcommittee on energy and the environment, the U.S. Geological Survey "estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions."

According to the president's bizarre formulation, this oil does not count as a "proven" reserve because little drilling has been done. There is a reason for that. As Mittal testified: "The federal government is in a unique position to influence the development of oil shale because 72% of the oil shale within the Green River Formation lies beneath federal lands managed by BLM (Bureau of Land Management)."

The Obama administration also is in a unique position to block shale oil development. And while it says we can't drill our way to energy independence, it blocks drilling wherever it can. When it can't, as in the Bakken Formation centered on North Dakota, the economy booms and joblessness falls as oil is extracted from shale on private and state lands.

As we've noted, 94% of federal onshore lands and 97% of federal offshore lands are off-limits to oil and gas drilling. Include in that total the vast reserves of the Green River Formation and other federal lands on and offshore banned from drilling as part of a manufactured oil and gas crisis. The Obama administration recently rescinded 77 oil and gas leases in Utah.

As we've also noted, the Environmental Protection Agency, in response to environmental groups, tried to manufacture a crisis in which hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was said to have contaminated test wells in Pavillion, Wyo. Those claims and others made in the six-decade history of the technology have proved groundless.

How much oil are we really talking about? "The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30% to 60% of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered," Mittal testified. "At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves."

There are obstacles to be sure, but they are matters of will more than technology.

The nation that put men on the moon because it wanted to could be energy-independent in the lifetime of most of its citizens. The choice in November will be between that future and one that consists of harvesting algae and driving electric cars that explode.

5/14 - Today's updates…

Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows Mitt Romney earning 48% of the vote and President Obama attracting 44% support. - Rasmussen Link

Obama's Terrible Week – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Romney Speaks of Values, Gay Marriage at Christian College - Wall Street Journal

Obama, Carter, and the Missing Words on Iran - National Review Online

Here We Go: Obama Camp Launches Major Bain Capital Attack - Townhall.com

Boom: Romney Punches Back on Bain - Townhall.com

Mitt Romney uses Jimmy Carter as campaign weapon - Politico

Romney, RNC Kick Off Debt & Deficit Week –Conservative Byte.com

BOOK: OBAMA TEAM TRIED TO PAY REV. WRIGHT $150K TO KEEP QUIET UNTIL AFTER 2008 ELECTION - TheBlaze

FLORIDA INVESTIGATING THOUSANDS OF POTENTIALLY NON-CITIZEN VOTERS - TheBlaze

Here's The Clearest Proof Yet That Young People Are Getting Screwed In This Economy – Business Insider

GOP: Gay marriage an issue but not like economy - The Washington Times

African-American Church Leaders Condemn Obama For Gay Marriage Support – CBS Baltimore

After Obama's Decision on Marriage, a Call to Pastors – NY Times

Gay marriage gives Romney chance to fire up base
Obama stand seen risking states he carried in '08 - The Washington Times

Russian Threats of Preemptive Attack Vindicate Romney, Reagan on Foreign Policy and Missile Defense - Center for Individual Freedom

KENYAN CLERICS REPORTEDLY BLASTING OBAMA ON GAY MARRIAGE STANCE: LEGALIZING WHAT 'GOD HIMSELF OBJECTS' - TheBlaze

Boehner: House will act before election to extend all tax rates - The Hill

Democrats' Fund Taps Corporate Donors for Convention - Wall Street Journal

California - You voted for Jerry Brown and elections have consequences:
Unemployment Benefits Ending for Thousands of Californians - NBC 4
CA GOV: BUDGET DEFICIT ALMOST $7 BILLION HIGHER THAN PREDICTED - Breitbart
California deficit has soared to $16 billion, Gov. Jerry Brown says - LA Times
California Deficit Swells to $16 Billion, Governor Says (Update 1) - Bloomberg
Calif. governor: Raise taxes or cripple schools - CBS News
Brown Warns Californians: Taxes or Cuts - Wall Street Journal

What the Mainstream Media Isn't Reporting About Solyndra – RedState

The Most Ludicrous Graph of the Month – Red State

Kiss of death: Specter endorses Beltway barnacle Orrin Hatch, trashes Tea Party "cannibals" – Malkin

DEMS ATTACK ROMNEY OVER LAYOFFS MADE BY OBAMA BUNDLER - Breitbart

Solyndra for sale: High-tech production plant on the auction block - Fox News

Obama Calls Trash Collecting a 'Green Job' - Conservative Byte.com - This is how ridiculous and desperate these people are

Obama seeks to undercut Romney's record on jobs – Townhall.com

The Lee Plan Offers a Clear Choice for Americans –The Heritage Foundation

REID, PELOSI: AMERICA'S LEAST FAVORITE POLITICIANS - The Washington Free Beacon

Can't draw a crowd, Mr President? Obama makes speech in couple's GARAGE…. and even they say they might not vote for him –Conservative Byte.com

Health Care Law - 56% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law – Rasmussen Link

Obama Attacks Private Equity, Raises Funds from Private Equity Leaders – The Weekly Standard

Obama Will Make Welfare And Foreign Aid Mandatory – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

NEW BLACK PANTHER LEADER SHABBAZ: WHITES WILL BE 'VERY, VERY, VERY ANGRY' IN NOVEMBER…WILL CLING TO 'THEIR GOD AND THEIR GUNS' — 'WE MIGHT HAVE TO, TOO' - TheBlaze

One-World Globalism Run Amuck – Dick Morris TV: History Video!

23% View Harry Reid Favorably, 57% Don't - Rasmussen Link

NYPD officer told to get Muslim leaders' blessing to honor cop killed in mosque - Fox News

Obama's Budget Would Double the Interest Rate on Student Loans--After the Election - CNSNEWS

Barack Obama: Our First Gay-Female-Hispanic-Asian-Jewish President - Atlantic Wire

NEW OBAMA BOOK SHOCKER: KENNEDYS AND OBAMAS AT WAR — CAROLINE CONSIDERS OBAMA A 'LIAR' - TheBlaze

Student loan distraction - New Hampshire Union Leader - 5/13/2012

College kids as political pawns

The debate over federal college loan interest rates is, as President Obama is fond of saying, a "distraction."

That is, it is a willful effort to score cheap political points by manufacturing a controversy that distracts from a bigger underlying problem. And the President is the one doing it.

As the story went last week, those mean Senate Republicans defeated an attempt by the kind-hearted Democrats to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling. Lost in the buzz was that Republicans objected solely because Democrats proposed paying for their bill by raising Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-income private stockholders. So much for the idea that Social Security and Medicare money must never be touched.

In a less partisan Washington, the rates already would be locked in at their current level (3.4 percent) because everyone agrees they should stay there. But this fight is not about securing those rates; it is about energizing college students to vote for Democrats. So they deliberately proposed paying for the cap with a tax increase they knew Republicans would oppose, and — voila! — instant wedge issue!

If the President and his party were really interested in reducing the financial burden on college students, they would not be playing chicken with this student loan bill. Nor would they be focusing on loan rates. That is not where the real burden is.

The real burden is in the overall cost of a college education, which is astronomically and absurdly high. The inflation rate for college costs has been higher than the overall inflation rate for decades. Why? There are many factors, but the bottom line is that we finance college in a very stupid way.

Instead of students taking out loans to fund specific courses of study, and paying rates that would vary with the risk they and their majors carried, we subsidize the institutions regardless of what they teach and the students regardless of what they study. Students pay a fraction of the real cost of their education, so they are less savvy shoppers than they should be. Because of that, colleges and universities charge ridiculous rates for needlessly long courses of study.

To really make college affordable will take substantial reform of the way we finance higher education. But nobody's talking about that. Instead, we're debating a few percentage points on a $30,000 student debt bill that could be half that if we were focused on providing a real solution.

Desperate for the Benjamins - Monica Crowley
Remember when it was said that President Obama's re-election effort would be the first "billion dollar" campaign? Because he raised an astounding $750 million in 2008 (from sources big and small and highly suspect), a lot of observers figured he'd be able to not only match that number this time but surpass it. The "billion dollar" man would be, they said, unbeatable.

It hasn't quite worked out that way. Don't get me wrong: Obama is raising a heck of a lot of money, and he spends much of his time now doing exactly that. He has now held more fundraisers than his five predecessors...combined. He'll hold two more tonight in New York City.

Obama sees his poll numbers, showing him in a weak position for an incumbent president. In most polls, he's either tied with or trailing Mitt Romney. So he's running around like the proverbial chicken without a head raising money so he can bombard the airwaves with lies about Romney and his own record to try to turn this thing around.

This is why he suddenly announced his support for legal gay marriage last week. His "decision" came just two days after top gay donors threatened to withhold support and dough from his campaign. So, despite most critical swing-states having already passed bans on same-sex marriage, Obama comes out for it. It was all about the money.

Team Obama also just released an ad attacking Mitt Romney and his leadership at Bain Capital, and by extension, attacking private equity. Then they turned around this morning and pleaded with private equity to please understand that they weren't attacking the industry as a whole.

They are so desperate for cash that they will say and do anything and beg and borrow and pander and whine in order to score some Benjamins. While it's true that every presidential candidate must raise a ton of money to compete nationally, Obama's fundraising is frantic and panicked, particularly for an incumbent. His chief strategist, David Axelrod, has indicated deep worry about their weak grassroots and mid-level fundraising. Hence the frantic activity and the panic.

Most politicians despise having to raise money. Obama seems to relish it, because every moment he's holding a fundraiser is one less moment he's facing the wrath of voters having to live in the Obama Economy.

5/11 - Today's updates…

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 50%, Obama 43% - Rasmussen Link

OBAMA'S SORDID HIGH SCHOOL PAST - Breitbart
While the Washington Post has been diligently digging into relatively innocent high school pranks by Mitt Romney, they've spent the last few years diligently ignoring President Obama's far more controversial high school days.

A Romney Landslide - Dick Morris on the 2012 Election page at 2IfByC.com

Morning Bell: Stopping the Largest Tax Hike in History - The Heritage Foundation

Laura Ingraham Rips NBC's Lauer and Media for Wanting to 'Avoid' Obama's Record - Media Research Center

Romney stands by his opposition to gay marriage - AP

Romney to Reporter: So, Is There Anything of Significance You'd Care to Talk About? - Townhall.com

324,000 Women Dropped Out of Labor Force in Last Two Months--As Number of Women Not in Labor Force Hits Historic High - CNSNEWS

Rebuttal To Obama's Big Oil Smear On Romney - DickMorris Video

Fed clears China's first US bank takeover - Yahoo News

EXPLOSIVE NEW BOOK: BILL CLINTON THOUGHT OBAMA AN 'AMATEUR,' URGED HILLARY TO QUIT AND RUN IN 2012 - TheBlaze

Obamacare Hubs Coming to the Nation's Schools - CNSNEWS - Your Money

U.S. Government Spent $93 Million to Weatherize 12 Homes - The Tea Party Economist - Your money

Fat Crisis: U.S. Spends $830 Mil To Study Obesity In 2011 - Judicial Watch - Your Money

Report: Suspect billings at 2,600 drugstores - The Washington Times - Your Money

Feds file civil rights suit against Arizona sheriff - The Washington Examiner

'On My Behalf' - The Weekly Standard

CAIR Confronts Allen West (with subtitles) - Youtube Video - A MUST see!

Will Black Voters Punish Obama For His Support of Gay Rights? - Time

Obama in 2004: 'I Don't Think Marriage Is a Civil Right' - The Weekly Standard

OBAMA REVERSAL ON SAME SEX MARRIAGE COMES JUST DAYS AFTER DONORS THREATENED TO WITHHOLD FUNDS - The Washington Free Beacon

Fast and Furious agency to get funding increase - The Washington Examiner

My America - Thomas Fisher Newsletter #70

Energy in America: Diesel-fueled cars making a comeback? - Fox News

Morning Bell: Would You Take an SUV into Combat? - The Heritage Foundation

Elizabeth Warren Dances With Lies - Ann Coulter - Opinion Page

Wisconsin Recall Election: Walker 50%, Barrett 45% - Rasmussen Link

Chaffetz to Congress: Where Are Your Guts on Fast and Furious?- Townhall.com

Pelosi: Her Catholic Faith 'Compels' Her to Support Same-Sex Marriage - CNSNEWS

Washington Post Story On Romney Begins To Unravel - REDState

Wisconsin Senate: Thompson (R) 50%, Baldwin (D) 38% - Rasmussen Link

VW Passat 78.5 MPG (Imperial gallon) 65.2 MPG US gallon in the Uk - YouTube Video - How the government is screwing us

Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO - Bloomberg

Obama 'Evolves,' Marriage Dissolves - Investors Business Daily

Values: The president's coming out in favor of gay marriage shows he's to the left of most black Americans — and willing to throw his most loyal backers under the gay pride float.

Under pressure to assuage the gay lobby and young voters ahead of November, Obama on Wednesday told ABC News "it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

By finally taking the controversial stance, which won't go over well in the black community, he's clearly counting on African-American voters remaining loyal to him this election out of racial pride and a habit of voting Democrat.

But he may have miscalculated.

Gay marriage is highly unpopular among black voters — and he'll need every one of them to beat presumptive GOP foe Mitt Romney.

A new Gallup poll shows that 55% of blacks oppose sanctioning gay unions vs. 48% of Americans overall.

And they are at odds with the president in a key Southern battleground state he's gone all out to keep in his win column. Propelled by black voters and evangelicals, North Carolinians on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a ban on gay marriages.

Majority black counties in North Carolina that had strongly backed Obama in 2008 just as strongly supported the state amendment to ban gay marriage.

The issue is expected to resurface this September when Democrats converge on Charlotte, N.C., to hammer out an official party platform at their national convention. Obama campaign co-chair Caroline Kennedy on Monday said she wants to include support for gay marriage in the platform.

If the Democrat confab ends up looking like a gay pride parade, even more black voters could be put off,

And not just in North Carolina. Recall that a whopping 70% of African-American voters in California rejected gay marriage when it came to a vote in 2008.

The timing of Obama's decision is no coincidence.

It came just a day before he's due to jet off to a huge Hollywood fundraiser hosted by George Clooney. His campaign, stung by slowing cash flows, reportedly hopes to haul in $12 million from the star-studded dinner.

Obama may think losing big gay donations — one in six Obama campaign bundlers is gay — would be worse than losing black voters. We're not so sure. Polls show the race neck-and-neck. And with the recovery flagging again, Obama will need every vote he got in 2008 to win.

That means firing up and turning out the base like he did back then. He won 96% of the African-American vote in 2008. But enthusiasm has waned, with his support among blacks now down to 88%.

Coming out in support of gay marriage may also look craven and political to independents, who already seem to be tilting in favor of Romney. Obama has flip-flopped on the issue at least five times during different election campaigns throughout his public career.

In the final analysis, however, few Americans probably believe the president has truly "evolved." He has simply taken his chances as he sees them.

The real Obama is a hard-core leftist waiting for his big opportunity to take the mask off. If reelected, he will run wild on every area of policy, homosexuality being no exception.

5/9 - Today's updates…

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 49%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link

Three-Way Race: Romney 44%, Obama 39%, Ron Paul 13% - Rasmussen Link

Scytl: Voter Fraud Facts and Fiction – Malkin

Federal inmate makes strong showing against Obama in West Virginia primary – Fox News

Santorum endorses former rival Romney as GOP presidential candidate - Fox News

Why the death of Europe is America's opportunity – Fox News

Election waves overseas could cause ripples in US presidential race – Fox News

Major donors prepare to inject $100M into independent groups supporting Democrats - Fox News

Unemployment Numbers Scam - Patriot Post

Obama Now Raffling Off "Shout-Outs" For Campaign Donations… - Weaselzippers.com

Obama's Plan for Bin Laden Raid: If It Fails, Blame the Military, Not Me - Townhall.com

State GOP big rips Liz claim, urges Harvard investigation - Boston Herald

Six-term Senate veteran Lugar defeated in Indiana primary - NBC

It's All Your Money: Taxpayers may be on hook for US Postal Service losses - Fox News

Soros - Liberals Steer Outside Money to Grass-Roots Organizing - New York Times

NBC: Romney Must 'Backtrack' from the Right, But Obama Will Suffer 'Damage' If He Steps Back from the Left - Media Research Center
Talking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry pushed for Mitt Romney to move away from conservatives: "...does he have to work really hard now to backtrack off of some of his positions in the past, as he was trying to win the primary...?" In a stunning double standard, in her very next question, Curry fretted about President Obama distancing himself from Vice President Biden's support of gay marriage: "There's been some backtracking, it seems, by the White House. Is it possible that the White House could cause itself some damage in backtracking too much off of this?"

Nanny State Gone Wild: Massachusetts Bans Bake Sales - Townhall.com

L.A. Readies Plastic Bag Ban - The Weekly Standard

North Carolina approves amendment banning gay marriage - Fox News

It Pays to Be Dead: Federal Checks to Dead Employees – The Tea Party Economist

Socialism Rises Again – The Heritage Foundation

61% Believe Europe Needs to Cut Government Spending to Save Economy –Rasmussen Link

Border Patrol targets repeat crossers - MyWay

Illegal Immigrants Get Huge Tax Refunds for "the Kids Back Home" – The Tea Party Economist

Rep. Wasserman Schultz says she 'earned Cadillac' healthcare coverage - Examiner.com

Michelle Obama's Food Desert Plan Yields Few New Stores: Retail - Bloomberg

Republican to revive lightbulb war - The Hill- Thank God

Diabetic teen upset with TSA screeners at Salt Lake City Airport - ABC Salt Lake

CRITICS OF ANN ROMNEY'S WARDROBE IGNORE MICHELLE OBAMA'S PRICEY DESIGNER ENSEMBLES - The Washington Free Beacon

If You Want America to Fail, Change Nothing?
Free Market America's Ryan Houck discusses the impact of overregulation. - Stossel video

May 3rd Swing State Vote - FLORIDA: Romney 44 - Obama 43 OHIO: Obama 44 - Romney 42 PENNSYLVANIA: Obama 47 - Romney 39 - Qunnipiac

Antonioni crosses party lines to back Scott Brown - Telegram.com

Massachusetts Senate: Brown (R) 45%, Warren (D) 45% - Rasmussen Link – Surprising

Elizabeth Warren brushes off 'Trail of Tears' report - Boston Herald

Massachusetts: Obama 56%, Romney 35% - Rasmussen Link – No surprise here

After Ordering Catholics to 'Cooperate' in Evil, Sebelius Will Speak at a Georgetown Graduation Ceremony - CNSNEWS

Environmental groups collecting millions from federal agencies they sue, studies show - Fox News

Sarkozy, Obama, Romney, Ron Paul and the recent European elections by Newt Gingrich - Human Events

SEIU Paying Occupy DC's Rent....Really - Townhall.com

Will Congress Defend Our Military? –The Heritage Foundation

U.S. Millionaires Told Go Away as Tax Evasion Rule Looms – Bloomberg

Moderate Dems Bail on Obama in Primary Votes - Fox News

GOP shift: Will add House seats - The Washington Examiner

REPUBLICANS SURGE TO THE POLLS IN WISCONSIN - Breibart

Obama's Secret Gun Control Plan – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Gowdy to DOJ: Won't give us 'Fast and Furious' docs? We're docking your pay! - The Daily Caller

Black Conservatives Should be Listened To - Canada Free Press

Economy: Blue States Worse Than Red Under Obama - Investors Business Daily

President Obama entered the national spotlight with a rousing 2004 Democratic convention speech that talked about how it was wrong "to slice-and-dice our country into red states and blue states." Last week he reiterated the point in a tweet to his followers, saying that "there are no red states or blue states, just the United States."

But when it comes to the economic recovery, there has been a clear difference. It turns out, in fact, that blue states have done worse economically than have red states under Obama, according to an IBD analysis of various government economic data.

IBD compared average job growth, unemployment, changes in housing prices, per capita income and GDP growth and gas prices for the 22 states that voted for John McCain in 2008 and the 28 states that voted for Obama .

On every indicator but one, blue states have done worse, on average, than red states.

In addition, IBD looked at the economic performance of 11 states that are listed as "tossups" for the 2012 presidential election by Real Clear Politics, and found that many of these "purple" battleground states have fared far worse than the country as a whole during the past three years.

Among the findings:

Job growth: The average job growth rate for blue states was just 1.2% from June 2009 — the official start of the economic recovery — to March 2012. For red states, it was 1.9%. The national average was 1.8%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment: The jobless rate in March was 8.5% in blue states, but just 7.4% in red states, BLS data show.

Income: Blue states also did a bit worse when it came to per capita personal income, gaining 4.27% in 2011, compared with 4.35% in red states, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

GDP: The one indicator where blue states outperformed red ones was on GDP growth, clocking an average 2.5% growth between 2009 and 2010 vs. the red states' 2.2%. The state GDP numbers for 2011 won't come out until June.

Home prices: People living in blue states suffered the most when it came to housing prices. Over the past year, the housing price index fell 3.5% in blue states. The index actually edged up by 0.03% in red states. Nationwide, the index was down 2.4%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's House Price Index . Over the past five years, housing prices in red states fell 7.5%, but by 18.5% in blue states.

Gas prices: Blue states also suffer when it comes to gas prices. In fact, all but one of the 10 most expensive gasoline states voted for Obama in 2008. In contrast, all but one of the 10 cheapest gas states voted for McCain, according to gasoline price data from theAAA's fuel gauge report . On average, blue state prices were 5% higher than those in red states.

What explains these different economic outcomes? One possibility is that red states tend to be more business friendly. George Mason University's Mercatus Center recently issued a 50-state freedom index, which includes a ranking of states based on economic freedom. According to that report, all but six of the 22 McCain states ranked in the top half of the economic freedom index. In contrast, 19 out of the 28 Obama states ranked in the bottom half of the index.

IBD also looked at how this year's battleground states stacked up. The 11 states on Real Clear Politics list of tossups are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. (All but two of these states voted for Obama in 2008.)

According to the analysis, several battleground states have performed worse than the country as a whole. Missouri and Nevada, for example, have lost jobs during the recovery. Unemployment is higher in Arizona, Florida, Nevada and North Carolina than the national average. Housing woes hit Nevada, Florida and Arizona particularly hard. And GDP growth was slower than the national average in all but three of those states.

How the states' individual economic performance might affect the election outcome isn't clear.

"Party leanings in the states override economic statistics, good and bad, in most instances," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "But in swing states, it's a different story. Republicans may be able to make some hay out of economic distress in swing states that Obama carried in 2008, such as Florida and Nevada."

On the other hand, he notes, Virginia is doing very well, "and the Obama White House and campaign should be able to use the good news to their benefit in November."

There's also the question of how the more rapid growth in red states, if it continues this year, could affect the election.

One possibility is that their stronger growth could improve the nation's mood generally and wind up helping Obama's re-election chances.

5/7 - Today's updates…

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 47%, Obama 45% - Rasmussen Link

Election 2012 Trial Heat: Obama vs. Romney - Gallup

Obama goes hard after GOP in official start of re-election campaign - Fox News

Anger, sighs as 9/11 families watch terror hearing - Fox News

9/11 DEFENSE ATTORNEY IN HIJAB ASKS COURT TO ORDER OTHER WOMEN TO WEAR 'APPROPRIATE' CLOTHING - TheBlaze

The Gitmo circus - Michelle Malkin

OBAMA LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN IN EMPTY ARENA -Breibart

How Mitt Romney's Campaign Put A Damper On Obama's Big Day - BuzzFeed

Al Qaeda releases video of American hostage – Fox News – Good thing the war on terror is over

CIA thwarts Al Qaeda underwear bomb plot near anniversary of bin Laden's death - Fox News - Good thing the war on terror is over

US secretly releasing Taliban fighters, report says – Fox News

Obama negotiating with terrorists 'inevitable'? - Conservative Byte.com

A Better Life for Julia –The Heritage Foundation

A better life for Julia Slideshow– The Heritage Foundation blog

Paul Ryan: Obama's 'Julia' website 'creepy' and 'demeaning' - The Hill

Thomas Fisher-MyAmerica - Newsletter #69

Obama's 'Life of Julia:' misleading on Social Security - Post Fact Checker

OBAMANATION: MORE YOUNG ADULTS MOVING BACK IN WITH PARENTS - Breitbart

ON THE BRINK
ANOTHER DOE-BACKED SOLAR FIRM CLOSE TO COLLAPSE - The Washington Free Beacon

Socialist Hollande triumphs in French presidential poll - France 24

DID THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD REALLY EXIST? THIS IS ROBERT SPENCER'S SHOCKING ANSWER - TheBlaze

Allen West Hits Obama, Highlights Black Unemployment - Townhall.com

Navy SEALs and bin Laden Intel: Other Things Obama "Inherited" - Center for Individual Freedom

ObamaCare Left Out of New Obama Ad About First Term Accomplishments - Townhall.com

Rebuttal To Obama's GM Ad - DickMorris

Freddie Mac Asks For $19M More in Aid - Conservative Byte.com

Liz Cheney eyes the political stage - Politico

Obama's Dirty Obamacare Trick – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Obama to get do-over on Keystone pipeline - The Washington Times

US should return stolen land to Indian tribes, says United Nations - The Guardian

Democrats could gain if Indiana's Lugar loses U.S. Senate seat - Townhall.com

Berkshire profits double as insurance losses fall - Reuters

53% Think Judges More Hostile to Religion Than Founding Fathers Planned - Rasmussen Link

Joe Biden's Mouth Creates Gay Marriage Fiasco for Obama - Townhall.com

SNL cuts sketch critical of Obama, replaces it with Fox News parody - The Daily Caller - Just in case you didn't know which side SNL was on.

39% Think Most Muslims See U.S. As An Enemy, 35% Disagree - Rasmussen Link

Obama Gives Away Our Rights In Space And At Sea – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT SENSITIVE SITES - The Washington Free Beacon

AMERICAN TAXPAYER'S LOSS ON GM STOCK INVESTMENT - Bailoutcost.com

Obama Cabinet member Arne Duncan backs gay marriage, one day after Biden comments - Fox News

The Unemployment Rate Is Meaningless - Investors Business Daily

Jobs: Normally, a drop in the unemployment rate would be a welcome sign of an economy on the mend. But in the upside-down world of Obamanomics, the jobless figure is increasingly useless, hiding more than it reveals.

In April, the unemployment rate officially declined to 8.1% from the previous month's 8.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But you don't have to look very hard to see that the jobs picture actually deteriorated last month.

In fact, the only reason the jobless rate didn't climb in April is because so many people have simply quit looking for jobs and didn't get counted as unemployed.

Last month, 342,000 people disappeared from the labor force. Had that not happened, the unemployment rate would have been 8.3%, not 8.1%.

Worse, the labor force participation rate has been on a downward slide throughout Obama's presidency, as millions of workers have given up their fruitless job searches (see chart). That also masks the size of the unemployment problem.

Had the participation rate stayed where it was in June 2009 — the month the recession officially ended — the unemployment rate would be more like 11% today.

And when you add in all those who can't get full-time work because of the lousy job market, the jobless rate reaches Depression-era levels of 14.5% — unchanged, by the way, from the month before.

Nor does the unemployment number adequately capture the many other ways the job market has deteriorated on Obama's watch.

There are, for example, 5.1 million people who've been out of work for 27 weeks or more — nearly double the number when Obama took office.

The median length of unemployment is now 19.4 weeks — also nearly double from what it was in January 2009.

Even using the misleading unemployment number, there are half a million more people who can't find jobs today than there were when Obama got his keys to the White House.

And the economy isn't producing nearly enough new jobs to make a meaningful dent in any of this.

The 115,000 jobs created in April won't even cover population growth, much less bring back any of the 7.7 million who've dropped out of the labor force over the past three years.

Obama has, in other words, managed to give a whole new meaning to the term "jobless recovery," one that the traditional unemployment measure simply isn't able to capture.

And until someone comes up with a better measure, the public would do well to ignore whatever the unemployment rate appears to be telling them.

5/4 - Today's updates…

Morning Bell: Weak Economy Disappoints Again - The Heritage Foundation

29.7 MILLION SEEK WORK - Breitbart

Job Growth Just 115,000 in April, Rate Drops to 8.1% - CNBC

People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 - Zerohedge

Obama shrugs off disappointing jobs number - Yahoo News

OBAMA WON'T REST UNTIL EVERY AMERICAN HAS GIVEN UP LOOKING FOR WORK - The Washington Free Beacon

OBAMA WARNS SUPREMES: DON'T OVERTURN HEALTHCARE REFORM - Breitbart

Mitt Romney's team sees a path to winning the presidency - McClatchy

Romney Tied with Obama in Florida, Ohio - CNSNEWS

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 47%, Obama 45% - Rasmussen Link

Romney in Virginia touts military, energy plans - The Washington Examiner

SENIOR STATE DEPT MISSILE DEFENSE ENVOY DECLINES TO EXPLAIN OBAMA'S 'FLEXIBILITY' PROMISE TO MOSCOW - The Washington Free Beacon

Russia's military threatens pre-emptive strike if NATO goes ahead with missile plan - Fox News

Obama OK'D Aid To Palestinians – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert!

Obama under fire over collapse of Chen deal - FT.com

'FORWARD FOR COMMUNISM!': IS OBAMA'S NEW 'FORWARD' SLOGAN REALLY A COINCIDENCE? - TheBlaze

Rand Paul Launches Campaign to End the TSA - Infowars.com

Gov't seeks more than 1,700 secret warrants - WTOP

Morning Bell: Is the Postal Service Doomed? - The Heritage Foundation

Popeye Power: EPA Funds Spinach Research as an Oil Substitute - The Tea Party Economist

Since SEAL Team 6 Can't Rescue the Economy, Don't Get Distracted - RedState

A 31 year old video clip ABSOLUTELY worth your time - Phil Donahue & Milton Friedman

US-Afghanistan 10-year security compact has loopholes for both nations - Fox News

Veterans Group Slams Obama: Heroes Don't Take Credit - Townhall.com

Mitt Romney Makes Fun of Obama Campaign Slogan During High-Dollar Fundraiser - Yahoo News

Networks Huffed Over Bush's 'Presidential Shell Game'; No Complaints for Obama's Secret Trip - Media Research Center
The same networks that huffed and whined about George W. Bush's secret trip to Iraq over Thanksgiving in 2003, calling it an "embarrassing" "presidential shell game," had no such harsh language for Barack Obama's clandestine visit to Afghanistan on Tuesday. Jake Tapper on Wednesday deemed the visit simply a "surprise." On CBS This Morning, Scott Pelley proclaimed it "remarkable," insisting, "These things are always kept secret, in the Bush administration, in the Obama administration, until the President arrives safely." Yet, on the November 30, 2003 CBS Evening News, Mark Knoller bitterly complained, "It was professionally embarrassing to be clueless...And from now on when I report that the president is at his ranch, neither you nor I will be sure of it."

Warren: My Grandfather Had High Cheekbones 'Like All the Indians Do' - The Weekly Standard

Michelle Obama Predicts 'Election Could Come Down to Those Last Few Thousand Votes' - CNSNEWS

Obama Birth Certificate Subpoenaed! - Conservative Byte.com

BILL AYERS TO UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: AMERICA'S 'GAME IS OVER' AND 'ANOTHER WORLD' IS COMING - TheBlaze

Panetta: Climate change a national security threat - The Washington Examiner

L.A. program offers healthcare for illegal restaurant workers - LA Times

'PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT': GM SCORES 'SWEETHEART' TAX DEAL - TheBlaze

FIVE-TERMS IN THE SENATE HAVE MADE FAILED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, OBAMA SURROGATE, AND POTENTIAL SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY AN AMAZINGLY PRESCIENT INVESTOR - The Washington Free Beacon

GOP: Health law funds could go to neuter pets - The Hill

Election 2012: The Core Four States
Core Four States: Obama 46%, Romney 43% - Rasmussen Link

Right Direction or Wrong Track
31% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction - Rasmussen Link

Montana Senate: Rehberg (R) 53%, Tester (D) 43% - Rasmussen Link

HANNITY RIPS APART OCCUPY ORGANIZER IN TENSE SEGMENT: 'GET YOUR ASS OUT OF BED…AND GET TO WORK!" - TheBlaze - Wait until you see this interview

As Economy Sputters, Obama Tries Distraction - Investors Business Daily

Economy: It's no wonder President Obama wants to direct everyone's attention to far-off Afghanistan these days. The economic news here at home is looking increasingly grim.

Just 28 days after Time magazine ran an April 2 cover story boasting that "in the past few weeks, signs of economic expansion have been everywhere" it warned that "the economy might be stalling."

The article pointed to "disappointing" news that Q1 GDP had climbed just 2.2% — below expectations — and job growth in March was 120,000, also a miss.

Now, two more troubling signs have emerged. The government reported on Wednesday that new factory orders fell 1.5% in March, the steepest drop since March 2009, when the country was still in recession.

Then ADP reported that private employment climbed just 119,000 in April — the smallest gain in seven months and also far below expectations. The April employment report comes out Friday, which economists think will show an unimpressive 160,000 job gain.

Seems that, once again, all the talk about "green shoots" and "turning the corner" and reaching "escape velocity" are just more false hopes.

Instead, we're starting to get another round of economic reports that contain "unexpectedly" bad news.

What's surprising, though, isn't that the economy's still struggling nearly three years after the recession ended; it's that anyone could have expected anything different.

Obama's economic policies have put a stranglehold on the private economy, turning what could have been, and should have been, a powerful recovery from a deep recession into a record-breaking slog.

Just think about what his policies have produced:

• Unemployment has been stuck above 8% for the longest stretch since the government monthly records began in 1948, and the pool of long-term unemployed is twice the size of the previous post-World War II peak.

• GDP growth hasn't exceeded 4% once in the 11 quarters since the recovery officially started in Q3 2009. By contrast, GDP growth averaged 6.1% during the comparable quarters in the Reagan recovery.

• Household incomes have fallen steadily for three years, to the point where median incomes are almost 10% below where they stood when Obama took office.

We could go on and on.

Indeed, the only thing Obama has managed to produce in abundance since taking office are excuses.

The GOP was able to mostly stop Obama from doing still more damage after it took control of the House. But Obama also refuses to take any of the steps needed to unleash the country's true economic potential.

Too bad Obama doesn't have any more foreign policy triumphs left to distract voters from that fact.

5/2 - Today's updates…

President Obama is getting desperate -- and it shows – Fox News

Dick Morris: Obama Will Lose Big - Conservative Byte.com

Factory Orders Post Biggest Decline in Three Years – CNBC

ADP: U.S. Added Only 119,000 New Jobs In April; Stocks Slump On Labor Worries – Forbes

Fed Presidents: U.S. Could be Headed For 'Fiscal Cliff' by the End of 2012 – TheBlaze

Morning Market Roundup: EU Unemployment Record High, UBS Profit Drop, U.S. Futures Down on Lousy Jobs Data – TheBlaze

Obama Full-Month Approval Slips Again in April –Rasmussen Link

Obama in 2006: 'I've Had Enough of Using Terrorism as a Wedge Issue in Our Politics' - CNSNEWS

Ex-CIA counterterror chief says Pelosi 'reinventing the truth' about waterboarding - The Washington Post

'Taxmageddon,' Coming in 2013, Means You'll Work Longer Than Ever to Pay for Government - CNSNEWS

Navy SEALs to Obama: Stop Using Us to Get Re-Elected – Townhall.com

Obama Fails to Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed on Bush – Bloomberg

New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism –The Washington Times

Romney tells Obama to back off on bin Laden issue – Yahoo News

Gingrich ends campaign, urges party to back Romney - MyWay

Va. Gov. McDonnell to campaign with Romney - USA Today

Mobile app helps report unfair airport screeners – AJC.com

Breitbart's Coronor Is Dead — Mysterious Circumstances - The Tea Party Economist

Obama's Crucifixion of "Big Oil" - The Heritage Foundation

Video: Must-See Takedown of Obama's Record - Townhall.com

ABC Fawns Over Discredited Dan Rather: Hypes the 'Legendary' Newsman's Pursuit of 'Truth' - Media Research Center
George Stephanopoulos and the reporters at Good Morning America did not treat Dan Rather like a - MRCdiscredited journalist who disgraced CBS with faked documents. Instead, Rather was extolled as a "legendary newsman," and a "news legend." Those two terms were used four times on Monday. Stephanopoulos interviewed the ex-CBS anchor who was let go after using discredited documents in a 2004 story about then-President George W. Bush. The GMA co-host sympathetically explained how Rather is "upset" by his abrupt exit: "...You felt that your team at CBS and its corporate ownership at Viacom, didn't back you up in that pursuit of the news and the truth."

Top ICE figure pleads guilty in brazen, $500G scam - Fox News - How much corruption can one administration have?

Elizabeth Warren's embattled campaign: Cherokee tie found 5 generations ago - Boston Herald

HARVARD PROFESSOR'S CAMPAIGN HIT BY CONTROVERSIES SURROUNDING HERITAGE, TAXES, RECORD OF PARTISANSHIP, OUT OF STATE SUPPORT - The Washington Free Beacon

"Sacaja-Whiner": Elizabeth Warren and the Oppression Olympics –Townhall.com

Inevitable: Media Circling Wagons to Protect Warren Over Bizarre 'Native American' Flap - Townhall.com

The Clinton-Obama Deal! Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

Christie: Romney might be able to 'convince' me to be running mate – Fox News

Jewish Voters Leaving Obama - The Washington Free Beacon
Polling significantly worse than in 2008

Blogger offers $10,000 bounty for Obama college transcripts – The Daily Caller

Bin Laden Dead, but the Mission Remains –The Heritage Foundation

ObamaCare Still Wildly Unpopular and Expensive –Townhall.com

For The Truth About ObamaCare, Just Follow The Money - Investors Business Daily

DWS: Republicans Would Redefine Rape - Townhall.com - What an idiot.

Obama's Afghan trip: 14,000 miles for brief remarks lacking one crucial word –Investors Business Daily

Barack Obama: A Legend In His Own Mind – RedState

This Treasure Hunter Says He Has Located Bin Laden's Body – Gizmodo

Obama's whopper about an Ohio River bridge - The Fact Checker

MEET THE FIRST OBAMA GIRLFRIEND - Breibart

Obama Pushes False GM Success Story - Investors Business Daily

Politics: The Obama camp can't stop clucking about how he saved GM and the car industry. But if the GM bailout is such a success story, why can't it pay back its debt to taxpayers?

The president's new campaign video narrated by actor Tom Hanks claims GM has "repaid" its loans. But in a revelation by the special inspector general monitoring the TARP bailout program, GM and GMAC together still owe the biggest share of the remaining $119 billion TARP debt.

Of the top bailout recipients, GM is the biggest laggard, the TARP watchdog says in his latest quarterly report to Congress. Bank of America, Citigroup, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial all have paid off their debt and left the TARP program. Even AIG has paid back more than 75% of what it owes taxpayers.

GM, on the other hand, still owes more than half the $50 billion in federal funds it received when the combination of the recession and its costly union contracts drove it into bankruptcy. And its lending arm, GMAC (now Ally Financial), still owes $14.5 billion.

What's worse, it's not clear that GM actually repaid what it's gotten credit for repaying. Check out this note buried in the inspector's report: "As part of a credit agreement with Treasury, $16.4 billion in TARP funds were placed in an escrow account that GM could access only with Treasury's permission."

As it turns out, GM got Treasury's OK to "repay" more than $6.7 billion "using a portion of the escrow account that had been funded with TARP funds." So GM is merely paying the government back with government money, not money GM is earning selling cars, as the administration has claimed.

Worse, GM in effect is still borrowing money. Consider this item from the report: "What remained in escrow was released to GM." Bottom line: Taxpayers have not been paid back and are still on the hook as GM continues to require government help. Yet Obama has hailed the GM bailout as the signature achievement of his big government programs.

"On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen," the president said. "Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's No. 1 automaker."

Even that's a stretch. GM edged tsunami-crippled Toyota by counting sales at its joint ventures in China, which aren't wholly owned subsidiaries. And the government is directly subsidizing new GM auto lines like the star-crossed Chevy Volt.

Ford, which didn't take TARP funds, grabbed market share from GM and is now more profitable. Ironically, Ford for the first time in years has outsold GM in the number of cars bought by the federal government — although Washington still owns a huge stake in GM. Not exactly a vote of confidence.

In North America, Ford just recorded its highest quarterly profit since 2000. GM missed profit estimates in the fourth quarter. And analysts are not sanguine about its first-quarter results due Thursday.

The GM story is hardly what we're looking for in terms of a recovery. That Obama is touting it as a top economic achievement speaks volumes about his policies.

4/30 - Today's updates…

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 47% Obama 45%- Rasmussen Link

Election 2012 Trial Heat: Obama vs. Romney – Gallup

Obama's Falling Personal Popularity – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

The Results Are In: Conservative States Prosper, While Liberal States Decline - Center for Individual Freedom

America's Budget Crisis in Pictures –The Heritage Foundation

Major Obama 'bundler' gets Dutch ambassador's post - The Washington Times

KARL ROVE'S ELECTORAL MAP: IF ELECTION WERE HELD TODAY, OBAMA WOULD WIN - TheBlaze

Election 2012: Rasmussen Poll Florida – Romney 46%, Obama 45% - Conservative Byte.com

Obama struggling to win back under-30 crowd - The Washington Examiner

Young Voters: Obama's a Cool President, and You're a Broke Clod Living with Mommy – Conservative Byte.com

Hollywood Returning to Obama Fold – Wall Street Journal

Obama has held more re-election fundraisers than previous five Presidents combined as he visits key swing states on 'permanent campaign' – Daily Mail

Clinton gives Obama $2 million worth of faint praise - The Daily Caller

OBAMA'S RESCUE OF CHRYSLER AND GENERAL MOTORS UNPOPULAR WITH VOTERS, CREDITORS, AND GM MANAGEMENT - The Washington Free Beacon

Boehner: Obama picking fake fights - The Washington Post

Thomas Fisher's "My America" - Newsletter #68

When hit by Obama, Romney's reply is 'jobs' - The Washington Times

Obama Advocates Student Loan Plan at U. Offering Class on 'Disney's Women and Girls' - CNSNEWS

SENATE DEMOCRATS "CELEBRATE" THREE YEARS WITHOUT A BUDGET - The Washington Free Beacon

Blaming "Oil Speculators" Is Like Scapegoating Gamblers for the Super Bowl Result - Center for Individual Freedom

Obama lifts freeze on $192 million aid package to Palestinian Authority - Times of Israel

Biden to donors: 'You all look dull as hell' - The Washington Examiner

Slush Fund Sleight-of-Hand: ObamaCare's Medicare (Dis-) Advantage - Center for Individual Freedom

Gingrich expected to leave GOP presidential race Wednesday, sources say - Fox News

Voters Still Polling Conservative on Most Issues - Townhall.com

Osama bin Laden operation, Part Two - Politico

CONGRESSMAN GRILLS SECRETARY SEBELIUS ON HHS MANDATE - WND

Muslim Brotherhood Passes Law Allowing Sex with Dead - Conservative Byte.com

Drive-By Media Can't Spin Unemployment Numbers Anymore -Conservative Byte.com

Transcript: Al Gore Got 'D' in 'Natural Sciences' at Harvard - CNSNEWS

Maybe no housing rebound for a generation: Shiller - Chicago Tribune

If Our President Were Muslim He Would 'Get Something Done': Farrakhan Encourages Obama to Convert to Islam! – TheBlaze

Occupy Wall Street Plans Global Disruption of Status Quo May 1 – Bloomberg

MoveOn Says "Illegal" in Relation to "Aliens" Is a Racist Hate Crime –The Tea Party Economist

Top EPA official resigns over 'crucify' comment -The Washington Examiner

'I Wish [Republicans] Were All F**king Dead': Dan Savage's History of Bizarre Rhetoric & Ties to the Obama White House – TheBlaze - I admit I am sick of being called every vile name in the book. Why do these a**holes continue to get away with it?

Harvard Has $31.7B Tax-Exempt Endowment—But Still Got $5.6M in Federal Student Loans and Grants - CNSNEWS

FDA may let patients buy drugs without prescriptions – Washington Times

55% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law; 56% Expect Costs to Rise – Rasmussen Link

Only 11% Think War on Terror Is Over – Rasmussen Link

Obama's deficit attention disorder – Conservative Byte.com

Solyndra Not Dealing With Toxic Waste At Milpitas Facility – CBS SF

It's Cool To Be In The Tank For Obama - Investors Business Daily

Media Bias: Reporters normally cast a jaundiced eye at a political campaign's PR strategy. Yet they are eagerly parroting the Obama campaign's talking point about how "cool" the president is.

In early February, Politico reported that the Obama campaign, hoping to rekindle enthusiasm among young voters, was "looking to revive the cool appeal." Then, suddenly, news stories started popping up about Obama's alleged coolness, in contrast to that drip Romney. A sampling:

• President Obama: The cool factor

• 'Cool' Obama Returns GOP Fire on Gas Prices

• Obama: The new King of Cool

• Barack Obama is cool. Mitt Romney is not. What does it mean for 2012?

• Campaigning for the 'Cool' Vote

• The Obama-Romney 'Cool Gap'

• The Ned Flanders of Politics: Romney Isn't Cool

• Obama On Late Night Too Cool For Cool?

• Obama, Jimmy Fallon and the race for cool

Now, keep in mind that before the Obama campaign decided to push this "cool" PR talking point, news reports rarely mentioned it. And if they did, it was often in a negative way, as in "Should Cool Obama Warm Up?" or "Why Obama's Cool Comes Off as Cold."

Back then, the press could afford to gently chastise Obama for coming across as too aloof, particularly when the country was hurting economically while he was vacationing in Hawaii.

Now, when the stakes are higher, the mainstream press seems willing, if not eager, to focus on the real task at hand — helping Obama get re-elected. Nowhere was that more evident than in the coverage of Obama's idiotic appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show.

It's not that there aren't genuine angles that a truly independent press corps could pursue about Obama's latest PR gambit.

They might, for example, focus how this "cool" campaign seems to smack of desperation. As columnist Michael Barone notes on the next page, the president spends a lot of time trying to shore up his youth base. A confident Obama would be chasing swing voters.

Nor did the press bother to mention how the left-wing Fallon was last seen sandbagging Michele Bachmann when he had his band play "Lyin' Ass Bitch" as she walked on stage. Civility police, anyone?

There's also the more important question of whether Obama's Fallon appearance crossed the line on campaign finance laws. As Ben Shapiro notes on Breitbart's "Big Hollywood" site, letting Obama read a campaign speech on that show, without offering equal time to his political opponents, appears to violate the federal equal-time rule.

Ah, but who has time to worry about such trivialities when you're busy looking for new ways to advance Obama's I'm-cool-and-Romney's-not story line?

4/27 - Today's updates…

Donors Beware: Obama Posts Online 'Enemies List' –Townhall.com

In First Quarter, GDP Grew Less than Expected. Unexpectedly. –Townhall.com

US Economy Grows at Tepid 2.2% Pace; Misses Estimates – CNBC

Slowing Growth Raises Fears of Stall –Wall Street Journal

U.S. Firms Add Jobs, but Mostly Overseas –Wall Street Journal

Insight: Falling home prices drag new buyers under water – Reuters

Michelle Obama's $500,000 shopping trip: Huge taxpayer bill for First Lady's Spanish beach getaway revealed – The Daily Mail

Issa, Chaffetz confirm contempt plans for Holder over Fast and Furious - Fox News

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 48%, Obama 45% - Rasmussen Link

What 'Gutsy Call'?: CIA Memo Reveals Admiral Controlled bin Laden Mission – Brietbart

Obama's Money Dwindles – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

Virginia: Romney 45%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link

29% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction - Rasmussen Link

RNC Files Complaint Over Obama Swing State Travel - Fox News

Celebrity Obama Crushed By Rove Ad - Conservative Byte.com

Romney fundraiser: Donors 'coming out of the woodwork' - The Hill

US jobless aid requests near 3-month high - Fox News

More Americans Than Projected Filed Jobless Claims Last Week - Bloomberg

KenyaCare: Obama's Cousin Gets Millions of Dollars to Play With - The Tea Party Economist

Washington Needs A Lesson on Student Loans –The Heritage Foundation

GOP ignores veto threat, passes student loan bill – Fox News

EPA official apologizes for call to 'crucify' oil companies, senator investigating - Fox News

Salazar: 'No one knows' if US headed to $9/gal gas - The Washington Examiner

Morning Bell: Stopping the Cyber Espionage Threat - The Heritage Foundation

Ariz. migrant case could lead to sweeping changes - MyWay

Romney doing the job Republican establishment just won't do - Ann Coulter

Tenured New Jersey Union Teacher to 10-Year-Old Autistic Child: Shut Up, Bastard - Townhall.com

NBC's 'Today' Spends More Than 11 Minutes Fawning Over Obama Late Night Comedy and College Tour - Media Research Center
Throughout the Wednesday broadcast, NBC's Today repeatedly found time to promote President Obama as funny, hip, and connecting with young voters. Touting the President's appearance on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, co-host Matt Lauer gushed that Obama, "gave our colleague Brian Williams a run for his money when he helped Jimmy Slow Jam the News." Highlighting Obama's tour of college campuses, Lauer and fellow co-host Ann Curry conducted a four-minute live interview with a Colorado college student who met the President when her yogurt was accidentally spilled on him. Lauer teased the segment at the top of the show: "And what a mess! A college freshman gets the chance of a lifetime to meet the President. And then spills her food on him....The President laughed it off, saying at least she's got a good story to tell. She does. And she'll tell it to us in a live interview."

REPORT: RUSSIAN TROOPS TO 'SEIZE' CIA FACILITY IN ELABORATE WAR GAME… ON U.S. SOIL - TheBlaze

"Crucify them:" It's the Obama Way – Malkin

Romney: It's Still The Economy And We're Not Stupid - Investors Business Daily

Campaign 2012: Putting aside 59-point plans, the certain Republican nominee for president now frames the debate in terms of our children's future. Will we toss away the faux Greek columns for a real American renaissance?

In what was billed as his de facto acceptance of the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney took the stage in New Hampshire Tuesday night on the heels of a five-state primary sweep and told President Barack Obama, "game on."

Stepping out of the boardroom and onto the stump, the challenger spoke in plain English and turned a famous slogan from the 1992 Clinton campaign into a battle cry for freedom, using words everyday Americans can understand as gas prices rise and millions leave the workforce in despair.

Romney said he will not accept Obama's rich vs. poor class-warfare mantra, nor will he apologize for his own success. He applauded the dreams of his father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, and echoed the dreams of fathers across America who worry about an America in which half of college graduates can't find jobs and the only thing we're leaving our children is an unconscionable debt and a generation in hock to the Chinese.

Romney envisions an America where success based on hard work is applauded, not punished or taxed away, where every child can be the next Steve Jobs and not the next food-stamp recipient. Romney wants American wealth redistributed, but not from those pulling the wagon to those riding it. He wants to create more of it and redistribute it from successful parents to even more successful children.

Obama has given us an America that has stopped dreaming, that puts its spacecraft into museums and leaves its oil in the ground, where gas prices top four bucks a gallon while debt soars to $16 trillion.

Unemployment has long since entered double-digits as workers give up looking for work, thanks to a president who promised hope and change and left us with despair and chump change.

The president began his drive to transform America amid faux Greek columns in mile-high Denver. He has given us an economy not far from that of Greece — sliding into the abyss with an economy gasping for oxygen that his policies have sucked out of the room.

Echoing Ronald Reagan's game-winning question — "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" — Romney asked: "Is it easier to make ends meet? Is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? Have you saved what you needed for retirement? Are you making more in your job? Do you have a better chance to get a better job? Do you pay less at the pump?'

The answers to these are the same as to: "Should President Obama be re-elected?"

4/25 - Today's updates…

Mitt Romney's Speech: "A Better America Begins Tonight" – Fox News

Mitt Romney, with nod to Ronald Reagan, asking voters how life has improved under Obama – Boston.com

Fox News Poll: 45 percent approve of Obama, as 83 percent say country still in recession - Fox News

HEAD OF SWISS FINANCE HOUSE UBS INVESTMENT BANK IS ONE OF PRESIDENT'S BIGGEST BUNDLERS - The Washington Free Beacon - See, he is "just like us."

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 49%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link

Romney's Big Speech: It's Still About The Economy …and We're Not Stupid. - Buzzfeed - Not carried by the MSM

Gingrich to leave presidential race next Tuesday, sources say – Fox News

Mitt Romney's correct stat on the 'Buffett Rule' - WP Fact Checker

Boehner: '1-in-3 chance' Republicans could lose House in November – Fox News – Would be a disaster. This is our only block on a gone wild Obama.

Food Stamp Participation the Highest It's Ever Been – Townhall.com

Wasserman Schultz: Romney Wants To Take Away All Of Women's Healthcare – Townhall.com – Yeah, sure. That is what he will do. The politics of fear.

59% Favor Automatic Immigration Checks During All Traffic Stops - Rasmussen Link

Democrats plan to force vote on Arizona immigration law if it's upheld by court – Washington Post

Historic wave of Mexican immigration at a standstill, report says – LA Times

Barack Obama: coming up short among female voters. – RedState

Obama wants 469 million to fight overseas global warming - The Washington Examiner

Romney promises 'better America' after five-state primary sweep puts pressure on Gingrich – Fox News

'The War on Terror Is Over' – The Weekly Standard

44% Blame Government Regulations for Higher Gas Prices - Rasmussen Link

GE CEO defends tax rate after protesters disrupt speech - The Detroit News

Welcome to Massachusetts! Yes, We Can! - Our own Bruce the Bicyclist Speaks Out

'I've had my phone tapped': Susan Sarandon claims 'government is watching her'... and reveals she was denied White House security clearance – Daily Mail

ALEC-bashing NPR reporter fails to disclose ties to lead anti-ALEC group – Malkin

'F****** A******': Former SNL Star Slams Obama Over Taxes – TheBlaze

The Social Security Report Is Even Worse Than It Looks At First Glance – Business Insider

US home prices drop for 6th straight month – Yahoo Finance

Is there a drone in your neighbourhood? Rise of spy planes exposed after FAA is forced to reveal 63 launch sites across U.S. – Daily Mail

Most Prefer Cutting Mail Delivery to More Subsidies for the Postal Service – Rasmussen Link

As senator, Obama missed votes on student loan bill he now wants to extend – Politico

Senate Dems ready bill freezing student loan costs – Townhall.com

Don't Believe It: The Media Aren't Beating Up on Barack Obama - Media Research Center
Six months ago, Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) came out with a report claiming that the GOP candidates received more positive press coverage than President Obama. Monday morning, the group came out with another installment from the same ongoing study. Their press release claims: "The President's media coverage in 2012 has been consistently negative while his Republican challenger has experienced a more mixed narrative." As MRC documented in October, PEJ's methodology is seriously flawed, but that isn't stopping some who should know better from running PEJ's headline as if they have evidence that the broader news media is really a vast right-wing conspiracy.

Time To Shut Down The TSA - Michael Graham.com

Social Security Faces Unfunded Liability of $8.6T, or $73,167.83 Per Household - CNSNEWS

53% Of New College Graduates Are Getting A Rude Awakening – Business Insider

UK Slides Back Into Recession in First Double Dip Since 1970s – CNBC

Brown camp scolds Warren over interest-free loan – Boston Herald

DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE AND HARVARD PROFESSOR BACKS AWAY FROM OBAMA'S AGENDA AS ELECTION DRAWS NEAR - The Washington Free Beacon

87% Think Media More Interested in Candidate Controversy Than in the Issues – Rasmussen Link

An $8.35 billion 'demonstration' to get past November.
"Re-electing President Obama is really important to President Obama, which isn't news. What is news are the out-of-liberal-character acts that his Administration is committing to serve this political goal. ... ObamaCare slashes about $145 billion from Medicare Advantage, the program that allows one of four seniors to escape the traditional entitlement and choose commercial plans. ... Medicare's budget counters estimate that ObamaCare's cuts in the Advantage program will result in enrollment falling by half. The cuts were scheduled to begin this year. ... So in November 2010 Mr. Obama's Medicare team announced a nationwide Medicare Advantage 'demonstration project' that would test if paying insurers bonus subsidies would improve quality over the next two years. Lo and behold, according to a new investigation by the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, the $8.35 billion pilot program is just enough to reverse 71% of the Advantage cuts that would have hit seniors in the run-up to November. And behold again, the demonstration project turns into a pumpkin in 2013. ... [M]r. Obama's Health and Human Services Department is allowed to spend unlimited taxpayer dollars as long it claims the money is going to 'demonstration projects' to fine-tune Medicare Advantage. The real game here is purely political -- to give a program that is popular with seniors a temporary reprieve past Election Day. ... Given the pre-election timing of this short-term Medicare Advantage pardon, the Federal Election Commission should bill HHS for giving Mr. Obama's campaign what amounts to an $8.35 billion re-election contribution." --The Wall Street Journal

What's the Senate Thinking? –The Heritage Foundation

Lifetime City Pension of $50,000 a Year for 2 Years on the Job –The Tea Party Economist

'Data Doesn't Lie' Proclaims WashPost's Cillizza As He Peddles Faulty Study Saying Obama Getting Unfavorable Media Treatment - Media Research Center

Terror Defeated? Ask Afghans, Iranians and Egyptians - Investors Business Daily

War On Terror: The State Department declaring the global war on terror over is no surprise, even with Islamism thriving worldwide. The Obama administration never believed there was such a war.

The Taliban is regaining control in Afghanistan, Islamofascist Iran is building the atomic bomb for its ruling ayatollah, and in Egypt a leading presidential contender says a council of Muslim scholars should advise Parliament on how best to impose Shariah law.

But never mind any of that; the Department of State has just triumphantly declared the global war on terror to be over and won.

Hadn't you heard that Osama bin Laden was killed and buried at sea, the man who was literally the living embodiment of terrorism for so many simple-mindedly dovish liberal Democratic politicians?

"The war on terror is over," an anonymous "senior State Department official who works on Mideast issues" told the National Journal recently. "Now that we have killed most of al-Qaida, now that people have come to see legitimate means of expression, people who once might have gone into al-Qaida see an opportunity for a legitimate Islamism."

How is this statement a sign of American foreign policy naivete and an invitation for aggression?

Let us count the ways.

• Al-Qaida has proved surprisingly resilient in the past and could easily be so in the near future — especially if it sees U.S. weakness, which it certainly has these past three years, and various victories for the greater cause of Islamism.

• The notion that those tempted by Islamic fundamentalism now "see legitimate means of expression" because a couple of nasty rulers like Moammar Gadhafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt are gone underestimates the difficulty of cultivating anything approximating Western-style values of liberty in traditionally Islamic lands.

• Most egregiously, suggesting that there can be such a thing as "a legitimate Islamism" will go down in history as one of the most outrageously stupid assertions ever to come from a government institution responsible for a great deal of stupidity over the decades.

Islamism by definition seeks the annihilation of non-Muslim, Western cultural influences. You might as well believe Stalinism could be tamed.

Who can look at what is happening across the Islamic world and believe the global war on terror is over?

Mohamed Morsi, who has called ordinary Israelis "killers and vampires" is riding high in Egypt's presidential race. The New York Times reports that, "At his first rally, he led supporters in a chant: 'The Koran is our constitution, and Shariah is our guide!' "

Who can deny a connection between such a candidacy and President Obama's infamous 2009 Cairo speech decrying previous U.S. policy toward Egypt?

America withdraws from Afghanistan and Iraq before the job is done, and our policy against a nuclear Iran amounts to finger-crossing.

Heaven forbid another Islamist attack on the homeland. But should one take place we can rightly blame the kind of complacent, self-congratulatory thinking an anonymous State Department official has now revealed lies behind U.S. policy.

4/23 - Today's updates…

Obama's Lavish Lifestyle – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

An $8 billion trick?
Toying with Medicare to fix elex – NY Post

13th Quarter Jinx for Obama? - CNSNEWS

Romney: Back to New Hampshire to declare victory - The Washington Examiner

The Metrics in Favor of a Romney Win – RedState

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 47%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link

5.4 Million Join Disability Rolls Under Obama - Investors Business Daily

Romney on Keystone: 'I will build that pipeline if I have to myself' - The Hill

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 46%, Obama 45% - Rasmussen Link

Ohio: Obama 46%, Romney 42% - Rasmussen Link

Missouri: Romney 48%, Obama 45% - Rasmussen Link

The Bloated Government of America –The Heritage Foundation

Confidence in Economy Fizzling, New Poll Shows - The Heritage Foundation

Economic Recovery Myth Disproven! Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

1 in 2 new graduates are jobless or underemployed - MyWay

USAID training foreign workers for English-speaking jobs - The Daily Caller

Obama's 2.5 Percent Stall - National Review Online

Mort Zuckerman: President Obama's Economic Programs Have Failed - US News

Inside Politics: Bishop likens Obama's path to Hitler, Stalin - The Washington Times

Catholic Bishops Take on Obama –The Weekly Standard

Obama Takes Major Step in Controlling Natural Gas - The Tea Party Economist

Barack Obama, America's Most Radical Moderate - Center for Individual Freedom

“$5.00 gas by summer” (part 2 of 2) - Thomas H Fisher at 2IfByC.com

NEW BOOK CLAIMS FBI COVER UP OF THIRD GUN IN MURDER OF BORDER PATROL AGENT - The Washington Free Beacon

Iran claims to be copying US drone, reveals 'codes' - NY Post

'HISTORIC UPSET': ORRIN HATCH FORCED INTO PRIMARY FIGHT AFTER FAILING TO SECURE GOP NOMINATION - TheBlaze - Time for Orrin to go

Tea Party roars: Six-term incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch forced into primary – Malkin

New York Gas Station Reaches $5.99 a Gallon - Conservative Byte.com

OBAMA'S VIDEO MESSAGE BOOED AT BOSTON'S FENWAY PARK - TheBlaze

Van Jones thinks you should sit down and shut up - HotAir

BOXER: 'IF YOU'RE A SELF-RESPECTING HUMAN BEING,' 'VOTE FOR OBAMA' - Breitbart

And Now, Miguel - Center for Individual Freedom

"Baseball as a Road to God" — the name of a course at NYU. - Blogspot
American Professors Gather in Tehran for Occupy Wall Street Conference - The Weekly Standard - Any wonder why our educational institutions are a mess

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus Statement on March Fundraising - GOP.com

Obama posts 10-1 financial edge over Romney, putting $104M into campaign war chest - Fox News

Brown camp: Warren 'hypocrite' on taxes - Politico

No Vacancies: Squatters Move In - inthesetimes.com

Drone Use Takes Off on the Home Front - Wall Street Journal

Climate Alarmist Calls For Burning Down Skeptics' Homes - Infowars.com

Morning Bell: What if Fannie and Freddie Were Eliminated? - The Heritage Foundation

Science: GOP voters better informed, open-minded - The Daily Caller

Trouble in threes: Scandals hamper Obama's message - NH Journal

Former Justice official: Obama worse than Bush on civil liberties [VIDEO] – The Daily Caller

Government auditors call for end to $8 billion Medicare bonus program – Fox News

Cost to Discuss War on Women? $75,800 – Townhall.com

OBAMA'S FAVORITE "INDEPENDENT" ECONOMICS ANALYST DONATED TO HIS CAMPAIGN, CURRENTLY ADVISES HEDGE FUNDS - The Washington Free Beacon

The coming chaos from the Obama-Soertoro playbook - Canada Free Press

MSNBC: Obama graded harder because he's black - Washington Examiner - These people really are insane. He FAILED. Black or white doesn't matter.

Democrats Are Jumping Ship - Investors Business Daily

Politics: Perhaps Democrats know something the rest of us don't about Barack Obama's political fortunes. What else explains the increasing numbers who are openly defying the president on two key election issues?

The notoriously thin-skinned Obama could not have been happy with the news last week that, as the Hill newspaper put it, "an increasing number of Democrats are taking potshots at President Obama's health care law."

North Carolina's Brad Miller, who voted for the law, now laments that "we would all have been better off" if Congress had dealt with more pressing issues "and then came back to health care."

Barney Frank complained that the Democrats "paid a terrible price for health care." And Virginia's outgoing Sen. Jim Webb said the law would be Obama's "biggest downside" in the election and had cost him "a lot of credibility as a leader."

Meanwhile, stalwart Massachusetts liberal Elizabeth Warren is now calling to repeal a piece of ObamaCare — the 2.3% tax on medical devices — because, she says, it "disproportionately impacts the small companies with the narrowest financial margins."

Warren, by the way, is running for the Senate seat occupied by Republican Scott Brown, whose victory in 2010 was a result of the public's intense opposition to ObamaCare.

Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis went furthest. "I think the Affordable Care Act is the single least popular piece of major domestic legislation in the last 70 years," he said. "It was not popular when it passed; it's less popular now." Ouch.

These Democrats are no doubt familiar with polls that show surprisingly little support for ObamaCare within their ranks. Fewer than half of Democrats think the government should be able to force individuals to buy insurance — the core element of ObamaCare — according to the latest IBD/TIPP poll. Only a little more than a third say the Supreme Court should "uphold the entire law."

The fact that they're willing to trash-talk Obama's single biggest legislative achievement suggests they're worried about something more than how the Supreme Court will rule.

This fear is even more evident when you look at the growing opposition among Democrats to Obama's position on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Obama may have thought he'd cleverly handled the issue by putting it off until next year, and that no one would think to defy his veto threats.

But when Republicans called his bluff with a bill to force a start on construction, 69 Democrats rushed to join them, giving the House bill a veto-proof majority. The Senate bill is just a vote or two away from overcoming a Democratic filibuster.

The importance of this fight is huge. If Democrats defy him, it will severely undermine Obama's claim that he's pursuing an all-of-the-above energy strategy.

Obama came to the White House claiming that he alone was qualified to unite the country behind common objectives. The fact that he's losing support from his own party on two of the most important issues of the day is significant.

4/20 - Today's updates…

Morning Examiner: Five facts from 10 polls - The Washington Examiner

Food Stamp Rolls to Grow Through 2014, CBO Says - Wall Street Journal

200 days to go before the election - The Hill

Barack Obama's re-election bid is already in deep trouble - Mail Online

Weekly Jobless Claims Hit Higher Level Than Expected - CNBC

Momentum in US hiring, home sales appears to slow - MyWay

Top 10 Most Expensive Obamacare Taxes and Fees - Conservative Byte.com

High Profile Democrats Abandoning Obamacare Ship - Townhall.com

Missouri Senate: Steelman (R) 49%, McCaskill (D) 42% - Rasmussen Link

Dem Senator Doesn't Know If He Will Vote For Obama - CBS DC

Ann Romney's profile grows as election looms – MyWay

Vatican orders crackdown on 'radical' nuns in the US - BBC

Catholic leader says Obama pushes "evil acts" - The Washington Examiner

Romney's Weaknesses Pale in Comparison to the Obama Disaster –Conservative Byte.com

Romney has best month in fundraising, topping $12.5M - The Hill

No More "Mr. Obama Is a Nice Guy" - Michelle Malkin

ADMINISTRATION REPORT WARNS THAT LOOSENING EXPORTS ON SPACE TECHNOLOGY COULD BOOST CHINA'S SPACE WARFARE CAPABILITIES - The Washington Free Beacon

Leon Panetta: Worth The Price? - Fox News

House passes highway bill, Keystone OK included – Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: TransCanada submits new Keystone XL pipeline plan - Fox News

Longtime city official accused of staggering $30M theft from tiny Illinois city – Fox News – Illinois again

Romney: Obama's a "Nice Guy" Who's Failed Miserably – Townhall.com

Study: The Tax Code Cost Taxpayers $228 Billion – Townhall.com

Pentagon chief: 'We're within an inch of war almost every day' – The Hill

DOE's Vehicle Fleet Roughly The Size of Its 15,000+ Staff, Inspector General Calls The $60M it Spends Annually on Travel a 'Paltry Amount' – TheBlaze

55% Think Hate Is Growing In America –Rasmussen Link

NBC Touted Romney's Dog on a Car Roof Story, But Only ABC Notes: Obama 'Tried Dog' as a Kid - Media Research Center
Of the three major networks, only ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday covered the "dog wars" counterattack by Mitt Romney's operatives. Co-anchor George Stephanopoulos highlighted that the campaign is "tweeting around a picture of the President and trying to focus on a revelation he made in his memoir, that he actually tried dog when he was a young boy in Indonesia." CBS This Morning and NBC's Today both skipped the story. The Romney team used the dog-eating revelation from Obama's book to hit back on Democratic complaints that the Republican once put his dog on the car roof during a vacation. On January 31, 2012, Today made sure to bring up that liberal talking point.

Obama Doubles Down On More Solyndras - 2IfByC Waste Page

Kirsten Powers: 'Democrats are sort of trapped in the past' on voter ID opposition [VIDEO] - The Daily Caller

National Guard withdrawing 900 troops from U.S.-Mexico border - Boston Herald

Republicans target Dodd-Frank for deficit savings - Townhall.com

Obama camp tries to diversify - Politico

Mandatory 'Big Brother' Black Boxes In All New Cars From 2015 - INFOWARS.com - Huge assault on your freedom--running under the radar

New Bill Authorizes IRS to Take Passports, Mandates Black Boxes in Cars - Townhall.com

GSA waste, abuse more common than indicated - The Washington Examiner - Our money folks

Obama, Self-Proclaimed Unifier, Morphing Into A Divider and Conqueror - Canada Free Press

FLORIDA DEMOCRAT AT THE CENTER OF TRAYVON MARTIN MEDIA CIRCUS WAS FOR STAND YOUR GROUND LAW BEFORE SHE WAS AGAINST IT - The Washington Free Beacon

MSNBC HOST AL SHARPTON'S 2004 CAMPAIGN OWES NEARLY $1 MILLION TO CREDITORS AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, RECORDS SHOW - The Washington Free Beacon

WAPO AUTHOR WHO TIED ROMNEY TO KKK RESIGNS OVER PLAGIARISM SCANDAL - BigJournalism.com

Reid cites seniors' love of junk mail to argue for passage of postal reform bill - The Hill

The tab for U.N.'s Rio summit: Trillions per year in taxes, transfers and price hikes - Fox News

Pelosi: Amend the First Amendment - CNSNEWS

Democrats spring student loan trap on GOP -The Daily Caller - Feel like a pawn in a larger power struggle? I do.

FEARS OF A SECOND, MORE FLEXIBLE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAVE GUN BUYERS, OWNERS, AND GUN-RIGHTS ADVOCATES WORRIED - The Washington Free Beacon

5 Trillion Reasons Democrats Should Produce a Budget - Investors Business Daily

Budget: Senate Democrats this week decided that, after digging the nation $5 trillion deeper in debt, producing a budget plan to get us out would be just too darn hard. It's time for new leadership.

'This is the wrong time to vote in the committee," Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad said this week in an attempt to explain why Senate Democrats would once again fail to produce a budget. "This is the wrong time to vote on the floor."

Give Conrad credit for a little honesty at least.

Since President Obama entered the White House in 2009, the Democrats have managed to sink the country $5 trillion deeper in debt.

The national debt now exceeds the entire U.S. economy, and unless Congress manages to reform entitlements and control spending, it'll only get worse.

Any wonder Democrats think it's the wrong time to tell us how they'd get out of this mess? Either they'd have to get serious about spending cuts and entitlement reform — which they've refused to do — or they'd have to propose massive tax hikes on everyone.

Worse still, they'd have to cast votes announcing to the world where they stand on these choices. Who needs the hassle?

Better to just take pot shots at House Republicans — who've actually put forward a budget — and hope voters don't notice, or care about, Democrats' gross dereliction of duty until the election is safely behind them.

The cowardice on display here is bad enough. But this will be the third year in a row that the Senate, under Democratic control, has failed to produce a budget — as required by the 1974 Congressional Budget Act.

And during these three years, the nation's fiscal picture has darkened considerably, as lawmakers:

• Spent a total of $10.6 trillion.

• Ran deficits topping $1 trillion each year.

• Added $4.5 trillion to the national debt.

• Watched as mandatory spending shot up 27%.

Conrad, responding to pressure from the Democratic leadership, says that instead of producing a budget, he'll try to resuscitate the December 2010 Obama debt commission plan.

But this is simply another attempt to run out the budget clock. The Simpson-Bowles report, whatever its merits, couldn't get enough support from the commission's own Democratic members to go anywhere, and Obama promptly ignored its recommendations. The proposals aren't likely to do any better now.

Last year, Senate Democrats' excuse was that their budget plan would have to wait until lawmakers finished the debt ceiling talks with Obama.

Then, after that deal was struck, they claimed it absolved them of the need to produce a budget.

After Conrad announced the Senate would again punt on a budget this year, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the budget committee, said that "our nation has never needed a budget more."

What the nation really needs are some lawmakers who aren't such craven cowards.

4/18 - Today's updates…

CBS News/NY Times Poll: Romney: 46, Obama: 46 – Townhall.com

The $5 Trillion Man: Debt Has Increased Under Obama by $5,027,761,476,484.56 –CNSNEWS

ROMNEY RIPS MEDIA, 'VAST LEFT-WING CONSPIRACY' - Breitbart

Anti-gay marriage group accuses IRS of leaking Romney donation details - Fox News

Gallup: Romney 47, Obama 45 - Gallup

Undecided Lean To Insurgent - 2IfByC Opinion Page

GOP Senate Leader McConnell endorses Romney - Denver Post
Boehner endorses Romney, pledges to do "everything" he can to help - CBS News - You really don't need links for this. Right?

Romney: fire Secret Service agents in scandal – Yahoo News

Taxmageddon coming? Answer could cost Americans $500 billion – Fox News

Romney Tells Obama to 'Start Packing' in ABC News Exclusive Interview - ABC News

Polls: Obama's Winning! Or Maybe Not! – Townhall.com

To win burbs, Mitt may pick 'double-vanilla' veep - The Washington Examiner

Barney Frank: Obama Made 'Mistake' With Health Care Push - National Journal Online

Katie Pavlich's 'Fast and Furious' – Townhall.com

Boehner: Obama Should Contribute 10% More of His Income to the Government - CNSNEWS

Americans Making Over $50,000 a Year Paid 93.3 Percent of All Taxes in 2010 - CNSNEWS

Meanwhile.....

Subsidized, Bankrupt Solyndra Managers Got $368,500 in Court-Ordered Bonuses - CNSNEWS

Morning Bell: Tax Gimmicks, Tax Doom - The Heritage Foundation

EVEN THE LIBERAL NEW YORK TIMES ADMITS OBAMA WHITE HOUSE TRADES DONATIONS FOR ACCESS - The Washington Free Beacon

DEMOCRATIC SENATE BUDGET CHAIRMAN REVERSES COURSE, WILL NOT OFFER BUDGET THIS YEAR - The Washington Free Beacon

Photo: Senate Democrats Not Even Showing Up for Budget Meetings At This Point - Townhall.com

Special Report: Tax time pushes some Americans to take a hike – Reuters

Sen. Brown: Bill targets tax scofflaws in Congress – MyFox Boston

'Obama Money' Rumor Has People Lining Up In NYC… Again – TheBlaze

What Tax Day Could Feel Like in 2013 –The Heritage Foundation

GSA officials grilled on Vegas bash at Capitol Hill hearing - Fox News

73% Think Photo ID Requirement Before Voting Does Not Discriminate - Rasmussen Link

Liberals to Ann Romney: Happy Birthday, bitch. Hope you die. - Twitchy

Appeals court upholds Arizona's voter ID requirement – Fox News

Obama's New Gas Price Scapegoat –The Heritage Foundation

Joe Kennedy III calls for ending 'cheap oil' - The Daily Caller - Who voted for this idiot?

Widow takes fight to bury husband in backyard to state Supreme Court – Fox News

Revealed: The official fears US and Britain shared about over President Obama's 'anti-American' and 'anti-white' father – Daily Mail

District fires workers in unemployment benefits probe – Washington Post - Our money

The new cold war: Militaries eying Arctic resources - Fox News

The real GSA scandal: job-killing Big Labor payoffs - Michelle Malkin

Health Care Law
56% Favor Repeal of National Health Care Law - Rasmussen Link

Rasmussen Consumer Index
58% Believe US Economy in Recession - Rasmussen Link

Stephanopoulos Agrees 92% Women Job Losses Statistic 'Accurate' After ABC's World News Called It 'Mostly False' - Media Research Center
On Sunday's This Week, George Stephanopoulos stumbled into the truth when he told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that Mitt Romney's statistic, about how 92.3 percent of all job losses since President Obama took office have occurred to women, "is accurate." That, however, contradicted the liberal party line espoused by ABC reporter David Muir on Wednesday's World News when he stated:"The non-partisan group PolitiFact saying that number right there is 'mostly false,' arguing the President can't be held responsible for the job picture the day he took office."

Soledad O'Brien Tries (And Fails) to Debunk Romney's Women Job Loss Claim - Newsbusters

Rebates to cut price of $60 LED bulb - MyWay - The government running your life.

IRS Might Have Stalinist Powers Under New Law - Investors Business Daily

Liberty: The Republican House of Representatives may soon follow the Democratic Senate and give the IRS the power to confiscate your passport on mere suspicion of owing taxes. There's no place like home, comrade.

'America, Love It Or Leave It" might be an obsolete slogan if the "bipartisan transportation bill" that just passed the Senate is approved by the House and becomes law. Contained within the suspiciously titled "Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act," or "MAP 21," is a provision that gives the Internal Revenue Service the power to keep U.S. citizens from leaving the country if it finds that they owe $50,000 or more in unpaid taxes — no court ruling necessary.

It is hard to imagine any law more reminiscent of the Soviet Union that America toppled, or its Eastern Bloc slave satellites.

In his 1967 CBS "Town Meeting of the World" debate with Bobby Kennedy, Ronald Reagan declared, "we don't want the Berlin Wall knocked down so that it's easier to get at the throats of the East Germans. We just think that a wall that is put up to confine people, and keep them within their own country instead of allowing them the freedom of world travel, has to be somehow wrong."

Throughout the many decades of the 20th century's Cold War, the freedom of movement Americans enjoyed as a cherished right was one of our secret weapons. As the Communists in Moscow promised the world utopia out of the barrel of a gun, people around the globe noticed that the Soviets needed walls and barbed wire fences to keep their people in, while in the U.S. walls were as pointless as a fish's bicycle.

As Reuters reported Monday, overtaxation has led to close to 1,800 Americans living abroad renouncing their U.S. citizenship last year or turning in their green cards — many of them with broken hearts because of their love for this nation. The record number of former U.S. citizens is nearly eight times more than those who renounced U.S. citizenship in 2008, and it exceeded 2007, 2008 and 2009 combined.

They did it because of the nightmare the U.S. government puts them — and non-American spouses — through, sniffing over any and all of their finances.

There remain few things more prized than American citizenship. Yet now our ever-expanding leviathan of a government is forcing Americans abroad out, and it might soon build its own Berlin Wall, restricting our "freedom of world travel," as Reagan put it, even when there is no conviction from a court.

If House Republicans pass this assault on our Constitution, their credibility will be in tatters. And if it is passed and then signed into law, look for constitutional challenges in federal courts throughout the land. They should begin the next day.

4/16 - Today's updates…

Romney Overtakes Obama! Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com Video

BREAKING: David Axelrod Endorses Mitt Romney for President - RedState

Axelrod on the Loose: Stumbles with Buffett Rule, 'Endorses' Romney on Fox News Sunday - Townhall.com

Axelrod: No plans for Obama to donate extra to defray deficit despite low tax rate - Fox News

Cheney: Obama "Has Been An Unmitigated Disaster To The Country" - - Real Clear Politics

Obama in Colombia: 'Part of My Job Is to Scout Out Where I May Want to Bring Michelle Back Later for Vacation' - CNSNEWS

Two pro-life groups endorse Romney - The Washington Times

Biden Earned $21,000 Last Year From the Secret Service - White House Dossier

Bidens Donate 1.5 Percent of Income to Charity in 2011 - Conservative Byte.com

Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Romney 48%, Obama 43% - Rasmussen Link

Analysis: Obama leads in projected electoral vote totals - Politico

AFT Hires Socialist Truther Organizer - Independent Sentinel

Obama engagement policy 'in tatters' after North Korean rocket defiance - The Guardian

Obama's federal tax burden drops as book revenues dip - LA Times - So Obama is doing poorly under Obama's policies

Half Pay No Taxes & A Third Don't Work – Dick Morris TV: Lunch Alert! - DickMorris.com

JANET NAPOLITANO SIGNED 'STAND YOUR GROUND' LAW FOR ARIZONA IN 2006 - Big Government

North Carolina: Romney 46%, Obama 44% - Rasmussen Link

Fox News Poll: Majority Says Tax Dollars Spent Less Carefully Today - Fox News - Ya think!

Consumer Price Rise Puts Fed in Quandary - Wall Street Journal

Democratic super PACs gain ground but still trail GOP in fundraising - Politico

Report: Democrat-controlled Senate laziest in 20 years - The Washington Examiner

Siphoned Gasoline: Millions of Gallons Missing in Los Angeles - The Tea Party Economist

Why Unions Want Higher Taxes - Conservative Byte.com

'FAIR SHARE': CELEBRITIES CALLED OUT BY IRS FOR OWING MILLIONS IN UNPAID INCOME TAXES - TheBlaze

You Pay for Warren Buffett's Medicare - National Review Online

46% in Massachusetts Want Supreme Court to Overturn Health Care Law - Rasmussen Link

Welfare Money Being Used to Post Bail? - Conservative Byte.com

Rasmussen Consumer Index
11% Rate the Economy as Good or Excellent - Rasmussen Link

More Foreign Workers Take Stimulus Funded Jobs in US - Conservative Byte.com

House GOP to tie oil pipeline to highway bill - The Washington Post

Congressional Favorability Ratings
Boehner Is Most Liked Congressional Leader, Pelosi Still Least-Liked - Rasmussen Link

George Washington named Britain's greatest ever military opponent - Fox News

Amount of ice in Bering Sea reaches all-time record - The A Register

Why America is Devolving Towards Absolute Government Control - Canada Free Press

“5.00 GAS BY Summer” (part 1 of 2) - Thomas Fisher at 2IfByC.com

The Truth About The 'Housing Bottom': Home Prices Across The Northeast Are In Total Freefall - Business Insider

THE OUT OF TOWNER
AS MASSACHUSETTS SENATE RACE HEATS UP, LIBERAL PROFESSOR ELIZABETH WARREN RELIES ON OUT-OF-STATE CASH WHILE FACING A LIKABILITY DEFICIT AND THE RELUCTANCE OF MANY PROMINENT DEMOCRATS TO ENDORSE HER CANDIDACY - The Washington Free Beacon

Katie Pavlich exposes "Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up" - Michelle Malkin Site

ObamaCare Vs. LeninCare: U.S. Copies Soviets - Investors Business Daily

The Obama Record: When Vladimir I. Lenin sought to remake Russian society into a "proletariats' paradise," he targeted three sectors for control: health care, banking and education. Sound familiar?

Of these three, however, Lenin viewed socialized medicine as the "keystone" to building his socialist utopia.

The Bolshevik leader told the Russian people everybody would be able to afford going to the doctor, not just the "greedy rich." He also claimed centralized control of the medical industry would "reduce costs" and end the "waste" from "unnecessary duplication and parallelism" in a competitive market.

In 1918, the USSR became the first nation to promise "free" universal health-care coverage. Fifteen years later, major flaws appeared in its grand social experiment, even to Western observers who for the most part romanticized it.

"Monetary motives have almost entirely ceased to operate in medical practice in Soviet Russia," observed a pair of sympathetic physicians from America and Britain who traveled to Russia in 1933.

As a result, "there still exists a great shortage of physicians and hospitals," they wrote in their report, "Red Medicine: Socialized Health in Soviet Russia." "Drugs are almost fabulously dear and scarce."

"Overworked doctors" couldn't handle the flood of new patients. A bloated new medical bureaucracy, led by the People's Commissar of Public Health, only worsened delays in treatment.

"The dissatisfied patients objected to the many formalities before they were allowed to see a doctor at the public clinic, and to the fact that the intervals before they saw him again were excessive," the 1933 report said.

"Other complaints have been of lack of hospital beds when needed."

It was not uncommon for patients to die while waiting in line to be admitted.

Rationing became necessary. Elderly patients were often turned away from care. Death panels appointed by the health commissar decided their fate.

"This committee decides as to patients needing treatment at a rest home or a sanatorium," the Western doctors wrote in their report.

As bad as Soviet medicine was, it was anything but "free."

"Most workers and their families receive free medical treatment as insured persons," the report said. "But the funds for this treatment do not come from insurance funds, but from general taxation."

This is how President Obama intends to pay for his own universal health-care plan, which will subsidize some 28 million uninsured and underinsured Americans through tax hikes on the rich.

In a little-noticed 2009 speech, Obama vowed to demolish "structural inequalities" in America and rebuild the economy on three new "pillars" — socialized medicine, banking and higher education.

"My administration is working hard," he told the NAACP at its 100th anniversary conference in New York, "to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity that will put opportunity within the reach of not just African-Americans, but all Americans. Of every race. Of every creed. From every region of the country."

Obama continued: "One pillar of this new foundation is health insurance for everybody."

He promised to create a medical system that not only closes "health-care disparities," but "cuts costs and makes quality health coverage affordable for all."

ObamaCare creates some 160 new federal agencies and offices overseen by the Health and Human Services Department, which will control a handful of large insurance companies operating like public utilities.

Like Lenin, Obama plans to ration care, especially for the elderly.

A key part of his massive new health bureaucracy is a Soviet-style panel that has received little press attention — the Independent Payment Advisory Board. IPAB is not a household name. But, barring repeal by a Republican administration, it will be.

IPAB is a rationing body made up of health bureaucrats appointed by Obama.

Unaccountable to Congress, these commissars will make life or death decisions about the care of elderly, such as whether or not to continue dialysis or chemotherapy.

Their cost-saving recommendations, which are binding and cannot be overruled, go into effect starting in 2014. Cutting costs through rationing is now more critical than ever, as ObamaCare is already over budget. In its first decade, it will cost twice as much — more than $2 trillion — as first projected, according to a new Congressional Budget Office study.

Russians suffered through 70 years of Lenincare. By the end of the century, the USSR was infamous for having one of the worst health-care systems in the world. The horror stories are legion: surgeries performed without anesthesia; patients poisoned by bad hospital food, HIV spread through dirty needles; rampant abortions; and the highest infant-mortality rate in the industrialized world.

Obama is no Lenin. But he, too, thinks the state can provide medical care more equitably and less expensively than the "selfish," profit-oriented free market.

This sounds so altruistic. But as the Foundation for Economic Education's Anna Ebeling — born, raised and educated in the USSR — recently warned: "Let us remind ourselves that in the Soviet Union the road to medical-care hell was paved with the same good intentions."

Places we like to Visit

Fox News
TownHall.Com
The Patriot Post
Stratfor.com
Laura Ingraham
Michelle Malkin
The Weekly Standard
Drudge Report
Nick McNultly Blog
CNN
Defend Your Healh Care
Numbers USA - Immigration Reforms
Conservative Fact of the Day The Daily Caller
Project Appleseed

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