Ever since S & P downgraded America’s Credit Rating last Friday Evening, Democrat Politicians have been whining like little children caught by the principal cheating on exams, trying to blame it on the smart kid. Their whining echoed throughout our land as they proclaimed:

It’s the Tea Party’s fault!!!

That’s what King George said.

The Democrats shouted their lies from the mountaintop all weekend long, culminating on the Sunday talk shows, all moderated by hosts sympathetic to the Dems.

Democrats argued that the tea party made House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) shy away from a “grand bargain” that would have produced deeper cuts and significant entitlement reform.  Republicans, in turn, feebly attacked Democrats for not supporting more spending cuts, failing to support a balanced budget amendment and being gung ho on tax increases to try to make a dent the debt.

Per foxnews.com:

“I believe this is without question the Tea Party downgrade,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. “This is the Tea Party downgrade because a minority of people in the House of Representatives countered even the will of many Republicans in the United States Senate who were prepared to do a bigger deal.”

“I agree that there is dysfunction in our system, and a lot of it has to do with the failure of the president of the United States to lead,” responded Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. “The fact is that the president never came forward with a plan. I was gratified to hear that he had plans, but it was never a specific plan, it was always the so-called leading from behind.”

…Kerry argued that if some Republicans are willing to default in order to reduce the size of government, then they are responsible for the downgrade.

“There were some people in the Republican Party — and (Senate Republican leader) Mitch McConnell even admitted this — who wanted to default. He said there were people in this party who are willing to shoot the hostage. In the end they found the hostage was worth ransoming. This is not about ransom, this is about our nation,” Kerry said.

But McCain, who followed Kerry on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said comments like Kerry’s aren’t going to increase solidarity.

“Talking about hostages? Lately the Democrats have been calling us terrorists. So, we need to lower that level of rhetoric obviously,” he said.

Which is funny, because McCain and the rest of the GOP Elite weres attempting to distance themselves from the Tea Party, and Conservatives in general during the negotiations, calling us “Hobbits”.  But, I digress…

Also, per foxnews.com:

Late Sunday, Europe’s central bank said it would “actively implement” its bond-buying program to calm investor concerns that Italy and Spain won’t be able to pay their debts. Last week, worries over the two countries’ ability to keep tapping bond markets contributed to the turmoil in global markets, which saw around $1.5 trillion wiped off share prices.

Seeking to avert panic spreading across financial markets, the finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of 20 industrial and developing world also issued a joint statement Monday saying they were committed to taking all necessary measures to support financial stability and growth.

“We will remain in close contact throughout the coming weeks and cooperate as appropriate, ready to take action to ensure financial stability and liquidity in financial markets,” they said.

…Earlier in Asia, the repercussions of S&P’s downgrade weighed on stock markets.

Among the major markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 2.2 percent 9,097.56, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell the same rate to 20,490.50. South Korea’s Kospi ended 3.8 percent lower as did China’s main exchange in Shanghai.

In the currency markets, the euro was flat at $1.4308 while the dollar was down 0.8 percent at 77.69 yen.

Fears over the global economy are having a major impact on oil markets, with the main New York rate down another $2.87 to $84.01 a barrel.

Obama, his administration, and Congress can not say that they were not warned. Representatives from S&P briefed Republicans in mid-July about the consequences of a default, and warned them that an increase in the debt ceiling may still not be enough.

So, boys and girls, look for Republican Congressmen conservatives to request more cuts before October 1.

Plans are in the making for the House and Senate to approve a stopgap bill (known as a Continuing Resolution or “CR” in Congressional terms) whose purpose will be to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September. The thing is, with angry Conservative constituents pushing them, incensed over the package approved last week and now witnessing a credit downgrade, the GOP could be forced to reluctantly support more extreme cuts immediately.

As one Tea Party Freshman said:

We’re just getting started.

Of course, as long as the Dems control the Senate, Republicans will continue to run into a brick wall of whiny opposition.

As a Senior GOP aide snottily observed:

Tea partiers can think whatever they want. But no deal with the Senate will get down at a lower number than what was agreed to already.

And where was the President of the United States yesterday, as America was in turmoil over the S & P downgrade and all of his Congressional minions were desperately trying to cover for him?

He was somewhere between the 15th and 16th green…FORE!

 

 

 

The President of the United States of America made history on his watch, once again, yesterday.  And not in a good way.

Standard & Poor’s announced Friday night that it has downgraded the U.S. credit rating for the first time in the history of our country, lowering our rating from AAA to AA.

Per S&P, “political brinkmanship” in the debate over the debt had made the U.S. government’s ability to manage its finances “less stable, less effective and less predictable.” The company also explained that the bipartisan agreement reached this week to find at least $2.1 trillion in budget savings “fell short” of what was necessary to tame the nation’s debt over time and predicted that leaders would not be likely to achieve more savings in the future.

David Beers, head of S&P’s government debt rating unit said:

It’s always possible the rating will come back, but we don’t think it’s coming back anytime soon.

S&P came to their decision after a day of frantic negotiations with the Obama Administration.

Treasury Department officials slammed s&P during the negotiations. Their argument remains that the companyss political analysis was flawed and that it had made a numerical error in a draft of its downgrade report that overstated the deficit over 10 years by $2 trillion. Treasury Officials had reviewed the draft earlier in the day.

A pinheaded Treasury spokesperson proclaimed defensively Friday night:

A judgment flawed by a $2 trillion error speaks for itself.

So does a country being downgraded to a AA Credit Rating, Skippy.

The downgrade to AA+ will send the already unstable global financial markets reeling, after a wild week in which panic over a worsening debt crisis in Europe and a faltering economy in the United States dropped America’s Stock Market like a stone, causing a loss of over 500 points on Thursday.

The AAA rating by Standard and Poors has made the U.S. Treasury bond one of the world’s safest investments

Through our history, the rating has allowed the leaders of our country to borrow at extraordinarily cheap rates to finance our government’s operations, including two wars and Social Security.

Treasury bonds have also been a fortress wall against the crushing economic tide of the last few years (say, since this Congress took over in 2007).

Before the Obama Administration lost it for us, America has had a AAA rating for 70 years.

According to those in the know, this downgrade could push up borrowing costs for the U.S. government, which would cost you and me, gentle reader, an additional tens of billions of dollars in taxes a year. It may also drive up interest rates for consumers and companies seeking mortgages, credit cards and business loans.

This downgrade to AA could also effect states and localities, including just about all of those in the Washington metro area. These local and state governments could lose their AAA credit ratings as well, which could raise the cost of borrowing for schools, roads and parks.

We’ll find out just how bad this downgrade is on Sunday night, when Asian markets open. However, the full effects of this financial body slam by S&P may not be felt for months. for months. The fact is, the initial effect on the markets may be minor, as they have been anticipating an S&P downgrade for weeks.

The following explanation is available in a pdf on standardandpoors.com:

We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating.

We have also removed both the short- and long-term ratings from CreditWatch negative.

The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government’s medium-term debt dynamics.

More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

Since then, we have changed our view of the difficulties in bridging the gulf between the political parties over fiscal policy, which makes us pessimistic about the capacity of Congress and the Administration to be able to leverage their agreement this week into a broader fiscal consolidation plan that stabilizes the government’s debt dynamics anytime soon.

The outlook on the long-term rating is negative. We could lower the long-term rating to ‘AA’ within the next two years if we see that less reduction in spending than agreed to, higher interest rates, or new fiscal pressures during the period result in a higher general government debt trajectory than we currently assume in our base case.

America’s imperious Administration insisted that this would never happen.

In fact, Treasury Secretary, “Turbo Tax” Tim Geithner, said last Tuesday there was “no risk” the U.S. will lose its top credit rating amid a new analysis that revised its outlook on American debt to “negative.”

Per thehillcom:

Geithner took to the airwaves of financial news networks to push back against a report Monday by Standard & Poor’s that lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to “negative,” reflecting political uncertainty over whether lawmakers will reach an agreement to address long-term debt.

There is no chance that the U.S. will lose its top credit rating, Geithner said, forcefully disputing the notion that S&P or other ratings services might downgrade U.S. bonds from their current AAA rating.

“No risk of that, no risk,” Geithner said on the Fox Business Network.

“Washington is a hard place to read. And it’s hard for people to look past the political rhetoric and try to understand whether the leadership of Washington is going to take the tough steps necessary to get ahead of this problem,” the Treasury secretary explained. “I think the prospects for a bipartisan agreement are better than they’ve been in a long period of time. Of course, we have to turn that into action.”

Well, gosh.  I feel better now.  Hey, does anyone have a million dollars they can loan me?  I need to go buy a loaf of bread as we will soon be Zimbabwe West.

Barack Hussein Obama, President of these United States, celebrated his 50th birthday at the White House Thursday with a Rose Garden party, surrounded by his Senior Staff and his devoted wife.

After actually working yesterday morning (probably starting at 10:00) in the Oval Office, Obama went to the Blue Room of the White House for a barbeque birthday party with top aides. White House chefs had been seen earlier, cooking chicken and burgers on outdoor grills.

What, no prawns and arugula?

Later, Obama continued partying down with family and friends, including some of his buds from Chicago, in the Rose Garden.

Moochelle decided to poke fun at her hubby, composing a campaign email with the subject line “Gray Hairs” that she “asked” supporters to sign electronically for the president. According to Moocheelle, there is a reason for Scooter’s salt-and-pepper hair.

I see Barack make choices he knows will affect every American family. That’s no small task for anyone – and more proof that he’s earning every last one of those gray hairs.

Uh huh.

While the Obama’s and their sycophants were having a par-tahy…America’s Stock Market was doing it’s impression of the Titanic.

Per cnbc.com:

Stocks plunged sharply Thursday, with the Dow down more than 500 points, in its worst one-day drop since December 2008.

All three major averages tumbled into negative territory for the year as investors were rattled over an intensifying global economic slowdown and ahead of the widely-followed monthly unemployment report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 512.76 points, or 4.31 percent, to close at 11,383.68, led by Alcoa [AA 12.94 -1.32 (-9.26%) ] and BofA [BAC 8.83 -0.71 (-7.44%) ]. The last time the Dow dropped more than 500 points in a single session was in Dec. 2008.

The S&P 500 sank 60.27 points, or 4.78 percent, to end at 1,200.07.

The Nasdaq plunged 136.68 points, or 5.08 percent, to finish at 2556.39.

The major indexes are firmly in negative territory for the year. In addition, all three averages fell into “correction territory,” defined by a drop of 10 percent from its peak from its intraday high in Apr. 29.

…On the economic front, weekly jobless claims were little changed last week, edging down to a seasonally adjusted 400,000, according to the Labor Department.

“The jobless claims number was not too encouraging … we need to see more of a significant improvement than the data just squeaking by,” said Doreen Mogavero, president and CEO of Mogavero Lee & Company.

The claims news comes ahead of Friday’s government non-farm payroll data, which likely increased 85,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey, after rising only 18,000 in June. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 9.2 percent.

“We’ve reduced our equity exposure by half at the end of the second quarter,” said Rob Stein, portfolio manager and senior economist of Astor Asset Management. “We’ll need to see the economic data stabilize.”

The economic news just keept getting better.  Per marketwatch.com, the Stock Market did something historical yesterday, something it had not done for 323 years: it  has now experienced a decline for 9 straight sessions:

The last time the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -4.31%, did that, in fact, was Feb. 22, 1978, when Jimmy Carter was president and the country was struggling to come to grips with a period of anemic economic growth and high inflation.

Isn’t it comforting to know that we’ve made such progress over the last three decades?

Actually, about the only thing that is comforting in the historical data on Dow losing streaks is that many of them have occurred near major bear-market bottoms.

For example, before February 1978, the previous time the Dow declined for nine straight sessions was in October 1974. That came just two months prior to the end of the punishing 1973-74 bear market.

No worries, though.  Scooter has a plan!

From thehill.com:

President Obama will travel the Midwest by bus in August to talk up his job-creation efforts and try to shore up political support in battleground states.

Obama will embark on a three-day tour from Aug. 15 – 17. The administration said Wednesday that the trip had long been planned, but wouldn’t outline an itinerary beyond saying the stops would be in the Midwest.

The bus is a rare mode of travel for a sitting president. Commanders in chief usually travel in the comfort of Air Force One or Marine One, and on the ground, the president has a blast-proof limousine for all occasions.

The trip might help explain why the Secret Service purchased two armored buses for its fleet earlier this year. The protective agency told The Hill it planned to use the buses during the presidential campaign — with one bus designated for the Republican nominee — and also for large entourages of visiting dignitaries.

And by the way, gentle reader, we’re paying for it.

Courtesy of theblaze.com:

Taxpayers will be footing the bill when President Barack Obama sets out on a Midwest bus tour to visit some traditionally key swing states later this month, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

In the latest example of tension between Carney and the White House press corps, Carney told reporters the tour will be an official event as opposed to a campaign event and snapped back when reporters questioned whether taxpayers would be paying for it.

“So is it being funded by taxpayers in battleground states?” a reporter from CNSNews asked.

Carney paused for just a moment before saying with an exasperated smile, “He’s the president of the United States:”

And that, Jaybird, is a fact that Americans are all too painfully aware of.

By the way…great idea…a bus tour..waitaminute…hasn’t that been done before?  Oh, yeah…

 

Now that President Barack Hussein Obama (Peace be upon him during Ramadan) has gotten that pesky Debt Ceiling Thingy out of the way, and has partied down in celebration of his 50th birthday, doing what he loves best: taking other people’s money(fundraising), he has announced that he will turn his legendary laser-like focus to America’s Job Situation…again.

According to Obama, Americans “want us to get this economy growing and adding jobs”.

Gee, Scooter…ya think?

Y’know, I had a Frampton Comes Alive album that used to repeat itself like that…

Fox News reports that:

Since January 2010, the unemployment rate has averaged about 9.4 percent. On average, the economy is creating about 94,000 jobs per month — well below the at least 125,000 needed to keep pace with population growth. Not only is the jobless rate on the upswing, but those out of work are staying out of work longer. The jobless typically are out of work for nearly 40 weeks, which is 30 percent longer than in January 2010.

Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have had much success, and have no more ideas on how to fix the Job Situation, than they had on how to cut the deficit.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch “Grandpa” McConnell has a brilliant idea:

Quit borrowing. Quit spending. Quit trying to raise taxes. Quit over-regulating and let the private sector flourish.

What an original idea…

Repuplicans say that the key to their Jobs message is certainty.  According to Washington policies fuel the “uncertainty” in the private sector and keep businesses from hiring.  Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chimed in, saying that Obama has “made it worse.”

Republicans, trying to emulate the Tea Party Movement, have sounded the alarm.  They are emphasizing  reining in government, tackling spending, lowering tax rates, stripping regulations and whittling away at the federal health care overhaul to whatever extent they can  (repeal and replace, you RINOs!).  Also, yesterday, they called for more domestic oil production.

Per academic pinhead,Harry Holzer, a Georgetown University professor and Urban Institute fellow who used to work as a Labor Department economist, Obama and his administration are economic geniuses.

Holzer insists that the stimulus may be possible for keeping the jobless rate from rising even higher, though it is impossible to know. He also said the enormity of the economic crisis has made any government response tantamount to “spitting into the wind.”

TRANSLATION:  It’s not Obama’s fault!!!!

When you have this kind of recession caused by the collapse of a financial bubble, it’s always hard to recover from it.

According to the Harvard professor, the nation’s debt limits how much the U.S. government can spend on recovery, while the uncertainty in Europe and recurring “antics” in Washington make for a tentative business climate.

Democrats have joined in the IT’S NOT MY FAULT!!! chorus:

Senate Majority Leader Dinghy Harry Reid feebly explained:

If their [Republicans’] theory was right, the huge taxes that took place during the Bush eight years — the economy should be thriving.  These tax cuts have not helped the economy.

Well, you idiot, they sure as all-get-out haven’t hurt it!

According to the rocket scientist in the White House, economic growth

…isn’t just about cutting spending. It’s not about rolling back regulations that protect our air and our water and keep our people safe. That’s not how we’re going to get past this recession.

The afore-mentioned economic genius wants his minions in Congress to implemented several previously discarded proposals, ranging from patent reform to new trade deals to what he describes as an “infrastructure bank” aimed at helping private companies repair U.S. roads and bridges and airports — an idea that the academic pinhead from Harvard, Holzer, proclaimed a “winner.”

Obama said yesterday, that:

We have workers who need jobs and a country that needs rebuilding. An infrastructure bank would help us put them together.

Obama also ured Congress to extend Unemployment Benefits.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., chimed in, hawking clean-energy investment as well as currency reform to bring countries like China back on a level playing field with other trading partners.

He must have stock in General Electric.

Congress is on Summer Recess and will not return to plague us until September.

Thank you, Lord.

Yahoo News reports that:

US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, Treasury figures showed Wednesday.

Treasury borrowing jumped Tuesday, the data showed, immediately after President Barack Obama signed into law an increase in the debt ceiling as the country’s spending commitments reached a breaking point and it threatened to default on its debt.

The new borrowing took total public debt to $14.58 trillion, over end-2010 GDP of $14.53 trillion, and putting it in a league with highly indebted countries like Italy and Belgium.

Public debt subject to the official debt limit — a slightly tighter definition — was $14.53 trillion as of the end of Tuesday, rising from the previous official cap of $14.29 trillion a day earlier.

If Obama, his administration, and the Clown College known as the United States Congress “help us” anymore, we won’t have a country left.

After a disappointing day for the majority of Americans, in which we felt like we had just watched a desperate political battle for the future of our nation’s economy turned into a professional wrestling match, whose outcome had been determined behind the scene before the match even started, Former Alsaskan Governor Sarah Palin appeared on Sean Hannity’s program on Fox News.  Here’s the interview:

As you saw in the video, the following dialogue occured when Hannity asked about the frontrunner for the Republican Presidential Nomination (until she gets in the race), Mitt Romney:

This is gonna leave a mark.

Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin:  [I’m] getting closer to making the decision, of course, for legal reasons, for practical reasons; but still haven’t made up my mind yet, Sean. But, doggone it, I want these candidates who are in there, I want them to not be sitting back. And bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney, but I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate. He did this [puts finger in air]. He waited until it was a done deal that we would increase the debt ceiling and more money would be spent, more money borrowed and then spent on bigger government; and then he came out and he made a statement that ‘oh he didn’t like the deal after all.’ You know, you can’t defer an issue and assume that the problem is going to be, then, avoided. No, you defer an issue like not speaking out on how you really believe about an issue that we’ve just gone through as a nation and you are inviting a crisis. So Mitt Romney and other candidates, you need to get out there, you need to tell the electorate what you really feel about these issues. Don’t do this [puts finger in air]. Don’t just wait and sit back.

The Artic Fox sure nailed that one.  Romney, as is his practice, stayed down in his foxhole until the battle was over.  He then stuck his finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing.  Finally, he issued a statement.

What a Profile in Courage, huh?

She also commented about a meeting on Monday (which I wrote about yesterday) in which Vice President Joe Biden said Republicans were “terrorists” during a closed-door meeting with Congressional Democrats about the debt compromise.

According to Gov. Palin, “enough is enough” and she’s “not going to sit here and take it anymore” when pontificating politicians like “Sheriff Joe” accuse the Tea Party Movement of being Raaaciiists:

It’s all talk and no real action. Otherwise he’d be on Biden and tell Biden to tone it down a little bit. Yeah, right, independent patriotic Americans who desire fiscal sanity in our beloved nation being called terrorists. Heck, Sean, if we were real domestic terrorists, shoot, President Obama would be wanting to pal around with us, wouldn’t he? I mean he didn’t have a problem paling around with Bill Ayers back in the day when he kicked off his political career in Bill Ayers’ apartment.

Honest.  Direct…and to the point.  How…refreshing. 

Especially, as compared to these three nattering nabobs of negativity:

Three MSNBC hosts, at an appearance before reporters on Tuesday at a meeting of the Television Critics Association, predicted the winner of the 2012 Presidential Race…their messiah, the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, of course:  President Barack Hussein Obama (Peace be upon him, as he celebrates the holy days of Ramadan).

Lawrence O’Donnell, host of “The Last Word,” flatly predicted the re-election of President Barack Obama.

Rachel Maddow fell in line with O’Donnell, citing a thus-far weak Republican field as the reason for her pick.

But “Hardball” host Chris “Tingles” Matthews unexpectedly waffled, proclaiming that Obama’s fate will rest largely on the economy as well as whom the GOP nominates.

According to Chrissie, Mitt Romney, whom Matthews dismissed as “a mood ring,” would be a pushover for Obama and Michele Bachmann, whom Matthews can’t stand, because she told him off on live TV on the night of the Midterm Elctions, would fare even worse than Romney:

He’ll [Obama] just have a hoot.

EPILOGUE:  I have read that several of  my fellow posters on a well-known Conservative blog, supposedly feel the same way as Larry, Moe, and Shemp-ette from MSNBC do.  These posters claim to be Conservative, although I suspect that they are actually Libertarians, squishy Moderates, or just dyed-in-the-wool Liberals, whose sole purpose for posting is to spread negativity and disrupt Conservative dialogue (but, I digress…).

Gov. Palin’s statements, made on Hannity last night, have the potential to ignite a firestorm…and it’s about cotton-pickin’ time!  Reagan Conservatives need to get up off of it and start walkin’ real loud and talkin’ real proud again (courtesy of Charlie Daniels and the CDB).

As I posted the other day:

In a poll released on August 1st, 2011, gallup.com  reported:

Americans’ political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41% self-identifying as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.

If this pattern continues, 2011 will be the third straight year that conservatives significantly outnumber moderates — the next largest ideological bloc. Liberalism has been holding steady for the past six years, averaging either 21% or 22%, although notably higher than the 17% average seen in Gallup polling during the early to middle ’90s.

Gov. Palin was not afraid to speak her mind last night.  The rest of us who proudly wear the mantle of Reagan Conservatives should not be either.

 

 

As we wait this morning for the Senate to pass the quivering mass of Jello known as the Debt Ceiling Bill, which, barring a filibuster by the Vichy Republicans  (about as much chance of that as Lady Gaga exhibiting some talent), is a fait d’accompli, let’s review some periphery issues occurring inside the Beltway:

Politico.com reports that:

Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having “acted like terrorists” in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit, according to several sources in the room.

Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) at a two-hour, closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting.

“We have negotiated with terrorists,” an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. “This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.”

Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: “They have acted like terrorists.”

Biden’s office initially declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session, but after POLITICO published the remarks, spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said: “The word was used by several members of Congress. The vice president does not believe it’s an appropriate term in political discourse.”

Biden later denied he used that term in an interview with CBS.

“I did not use the terrorism word,” Biden told CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley.

Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have “guns to their heads” in trying to negotiate deals.

Last night, Former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, appearing on Fox News’ On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, fired back at the Vice-President, expressing her disgust with his idiotic statement, as reported, once again, by politico.com:

Palin called Vice President Joe Biden’s hits on the tea party “quite vile.”

But Palin said “independent patriots who happen to be believers in tea party principles” are “getting kind of used to being called names.”

Still, she said, such a slur is “more appalling” coming from the nation’s second-in-command.

“Perhaps some of these talking heads and liberal politicians, perhaps they thought [tea party congressmen] were going to be just typical politicians who get into office and they change their stripes,” Palin said.

“It should not come as any surprise when they’re sticking to their principles,” she said.

Palin strongly opposed any debt limit increase, taking to her Facebook page to issue a veiled threat of “contested primaries” to freshmen members of Congress. But in the wake of the debt deal’s House passage Monday night, she acknowledged a partial victory for the tea party in turning the national conversation to spending and debt.

Nonetheless, she voiced displeasure with the concessions made to the president, and blasted the Republican House leadership.

“What happened to the pledge that our Congress has made to America, saying they would post bills online three days before they voted on them?” she said. “They’ve already broken that pledge, and doggone it, that’s what makes us disappointed in politicians in Washington, D.C.”

However, that’s not half of what “Sheriff Joe’s” been up to.  Per foxnews.com:

In between keeping Vice President Biden and his family safe, the Secret Service is also cutting him a rent check every month.

The Secret Service pays the vice president $2,200 per month to rent a cottage next to his waterfront home outside Wilmington, Del., FoxNews.com has confirmed.

The Washington Times first reported that Biden has raked in more than $13,000 since April from the agency tasked with protecting him, and under the terms of their contract could make up to $66,000 by the end of 2013.

Though taxpayer watchdogs questioned the arrangement, it may be a matter of convenience.

“Having our command post in close proximity to the vice president’s residence affords us a level of security that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” Service spokesman Edwin Donovan told FoxNews.com.

Biden’s mother used to live at the cottage before she died in early 2010. According to the Times, Secret Service agents assigned to Biden had previously been renting properties in the area, but a year later the Service approached him about renting the cottage instead.

While the arrangement is rare, Secret Service agents apparently rented property from the Clintons in Chappaqua, N.Y., a decade ago — however, the Clintons reportedly declined to accept payment from the Secret Service at the time.

So, the Vice-President of the United States  America is charging rent to the very agency assigned to protect him?  I would say I’m shocked, but I’m not.  After all, he’s a Democrat.  Look at what they pulled during the House vote on the Debt Celing Bill…the slimiest photo op in the history of American politics:

As foxnews.com reported:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the House of Representatives for the first time since she was shot last January, making a dramatic entrance Monday night during a crucial debt vote and drawing loud applause and cheers from surprised colleagues.

As lawmakers stood on the floor, staring up at the vote board, Giffords slowly made her way through an entrance on the Democratic side of the chamber. Applause built and rolled like a wave through the House as lawmakers realized that their colleague had returned.

Shortly after her appearance, a tweet appeared on Giffords’ Twitter account: “The Capitol looks beautiful and I am honored to be at work tonight.”

On Jan. 8, Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was shot in the head in the parking lot of a Tucson grocery store while meeting with constituents. Six people were killed and 13 others, including Giffords, were wounded. The man charged in the shooting, Jared Lee Loughner, has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges.

On the House floor, Giffords, wearing glasses, her hair darker and cut short since surgery, hugged and kissed fellow lawmakers. As time ticked off on the vote, Democrats and Republicans made their way toward her.

She cast her first vote — for the debt-limit bill — and left the Capitol.

“It means so much to our country … to witness the return of our colleague who is the personification of courage, of sincerity, of admiration throughout the country,” Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California told the House.

God bless Congresswoman Gifford.  I pray that she continues her miraculous recovery.

And may those who arranged this tasteless photo op receive their just reward.

But, hey..what do I know?  I’m just a Tea Party “Terrorist”.

 

Those of you out there who thought that the United States of America was going to instantly vanish on August 2nd, can breathe as sigh of relief now.  It’s not.

However, there will be meetings of every Congressional caucus and coffee clatch known to man today as Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers try to convince their rank and file to agree to back a compromise debt-reduction package that gifts President Barack Hussein Obama (Peace be upon him…at the start of Ramadan) up to a $2.5 trillion hike in the debt limit, upon the provision that Congress can find an equal or greater amount in spending cuts.

No worries for Scooter, though.  Even if the Congresscritters can’t come up with any areas in which to curb spending, the cuts will be found for them.  If the committee to be established by the proposal fails to submit their recommendations for additional cuts approved by the end of this year, a preconceived “DEFCON 4” alarm in the plan will automatically enact across-the-board cuts.

I believe that…don’t you?

Tea-Party-backed Republicans, hard-left progressives and Congressional Black Caucus members are already voicing their opposition to the deal. But those Republicans who just looove to reach across the aisle and those Democrats anxious to please their messiah and get themselves and him re-elected are steadfastly pushing an emergency form of phony bipartisanship as financial markets abroad rallied over the news.

Per Obama, the deal provides for an immediate cut of $1 trillion in government spending over a 10-year period accompanied by a $900 billion increase in the debt ceiling. That will be followed by the creation of the committee to come up with additional cuts worth at least $1.5 trillion. The debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion if the committee recommendations are approved by the end of the year.

Each of the GOP and Democratic leaders in the chamber will nominate lawmakers to the 12-member committee to report back in the fall.

Tax hikes are not part of the package and a pledge for a Balanced Budget Amendment vote is.

Obama assured Americans in a speech yesterday from the White House Briefing Room that everything will be on the table and both parties will find some of the cuts objectionable.

Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they’re still around for future generations. That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important.

The Senate went home Sunday night without a vote on a deal, but Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said that the parties {mostly Republicans) are going to have to give ground and compromise so the country doesn’t default.

I am relieved to say that leaders from both parties have come together for the sake of our economy to reach a historic, bipartisan compromise that ends this dangerous standoff. The compromise we have agreed to is remarkable not only because of what it does, but because of what it prevents: a first-ever default on the full faith and credit of the United State.

And, if you don’t believe me, I’ll have every Union member in Nevada come to your door, as I did in the Midterm Elections…Okay…you caught me…I made that up.

Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will both present the agreement to their caucuses this morning.

House Democrats also set a meeting this morning to discuss the details.

So, what happens now?

Per foxnews.com:

After weeks of talks, charade votes, heated barbs and exceptional brinksmanship, finishing the deal will come down to mathematics.

It’s simple, really: 60 votes to clear a filibuster in the Senate and then 51 for final passage. And in the House, the magic number for this exercise is 216.

To start, let’s look at the House where the legislative lift could prove most challenging.

As of this writing, it’s unclear which chamber might try to move the bill first. The measure is potentially loaded up, ready to go in the Senate, riding along in the skeleton of an old bill crafted to modernize the Freedom of Information Act. This piece of legislation already carries extraordinary privileges, skipping toward the front of the parliamentary line and vaulting at least one potential filibuster.

But Congressional leaders face a looming deadline of Tuesday night. So it’s likely Congressional leaders will choose the easiest course that assures passage of the bill in both chambers.

And starting in the Senate might be best under that logic.

Here’s why: the peripheries of both parties, liberal Democrats and tea party Republicans abhor this bill. It’s unlikely that many of those lawmakers at the margins can support it. That makes it challenging to cobble together a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. But that said, the bill seemingly has more backing in the Senate than it does in the House.

Fox News, which has implemented a move toward the squishy middle for several months now, calling the Tea Party the “periphery”…now that’s funny.  Conservatives sure weren’t the periphery when we won the Midterm Elections for the Republican Party.

And we still aren’t. In a poll released on August 1st, 2011, gallup.com  reported:

Americans’ political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41% self-identifying as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.

If this pattern continues, 2011 will be the third straight year that conservatives significantly outnumber moderates — the next largest ideological bloc. Liberalism has been holding steady for the past six years, averaging either 21% or 22%, although notably higher than the 17% average seen in Gallup polling during the early to middle ’90s.

No wonder the Liberals, the Main Stream Media, and the Vichy Republicans have been vilifying the Tea Party Movement during the Debt Ceiling Negotiations.

We (Conservatives) outnumber them.

A note from KJ:  Today marks the start of the Muslim month-long holiday of Ramadan.  The devout do not work this month, nor do they wear jewelry.  Do me a favor.  Check out Scooter’s wedding band (or lack thereof) at his next press conference.  I ain’t sayin’…I’m just sayin’.

As the political soap opera concerning the Debt Ceiling Negotiations, which I have dubbed As the Stomach Turns, continues, Americans wake up this morning to the following developments, per foxnews.com:

The White House and Republican congressional leaders made significant progress toward a deal to avert a potentially catastrophic first-ever government default threatened for early next week, according to officials familiar with the talks.

Under a plan negotiated late Saturday night, the nation’s debt limit would rise in two steps by about $2.4 trillion and spending would be cut by a slightly larger amount, the officials said. The first stage — about $1 trillion — would take place immediately and the second later in the year.

Congress would be required to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, but none of the debt limit increase would be contingent on its approval. The officials who described the talks did so on condition of anonymity, citing their sensitive nature.

President Barack Obama is seeking legislation to raise the government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit by enough to tide the Treasury over until after the 2012 elections. He has threatened to veto any legislation that would allow a recurrence of the current crisis next year but has agreed to Republican demands that deficits be cut — without tax increases — in exchange for additional U.S. borrowing authority.

Without a compromise in place by Tuesday, administration officials say the Treasury will run out of funds to pay all the nation’s bills. The subsequent default could prove catastrophic for the U.S. economy by causing interest rates to rise and financial markets to sink, sending shockwaves around the world, they say. With financial markets closed for the weekend, lawmakers had a little breathing room, but not much. Asian markets begin opening for the new work week when it is late Sunday afternoon in the U.S. capital.

“There is very little time” Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. He called for an end to political gamesmanship, saying “the time for compromise on behalf of the American people is now.”

One official commenting on the late night negotiations said the two sides had settled on general concepts, but added there were numerous details to be worked out — and no assurance of a final agreement.

In other words:  same ‘ol, same ol’.

As polls published over the last couple of weeks have shown, Americans are downright disgusted with their elected representatives:

Per bloomberg.com:

A Washington Post-ABC News poll of 1,001 Americans showed 45 percent “strongly disapprove” of the way Obama is handling the budget deficit. The July 14-17 survey showed 77 percent said Republican leadership has been not willing enough to compromise on the issue.

A CNN/Opinion Research Poll July 18-20 found that 54 percent of people disapproved of the way Obama is handling his job, compared with 46 percent in an April 29-May 1 poll. The survey showed 55 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the Republican Party, compared with 48 percent in a March 11-13 poll. The poll showed 49 percent had an unfavorable opinion of the Democrats, compared with 48 percent in the March poll.

And, a recent poll by gallup.com on the handling of the Debt Ceiling Negotiations, gives a fairly clear picture as to how Americans feel about these “so-called” leaders:

President Obama’s 41% approval rating on handling the situation is 10 percentage points higher than Boehner’s and 18 points higher than Reid’s. However, more Americans have an opinion about Obama’s handling of the situation than is the case for the other two men, so when those with no opinion are factored out of the results, Obama’s advantage is lessened. Among those with an opinion about his handling of the situation, the president has 44% approval and 56% disapproval, compared with 39% and 61% for Boehner and 31% and 69% for Reid.

One notable challenge for Speaker Boehner is rank-and-file Republicans’ relatively low level of support for his handling of the situation. Half of Republicans approve of Boehner’s handling of the debt crisis, compared with 75% of Democrats who approve of Obama’s handling. Reid does worst of all among rank-and-file identifiers with his own party, receiving 36% approval among Democrats (36% of Democrats also disapprove of Reid’s handling the situation, with the remainder not having an opinion.

However, even though Obama is slightly ahead of Reid and Boehner in his handling of the Debt Ceiling situation, his overall approval ratings are sinking like the Titanic.  As of Friday, July 29th, 2011, again, according to Gallup:

President Obama’s job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking. His prior low rating of 41% occurred several times, the last of which was in April. As recently as June 7, Obama had 50% job approval.

Obama’s approval rating averaged 46% in June and was near that level for most of July; however, it has stumbled in the past few days, coinciding with intensification of the debt ceiling/budget battle in Washington.

…Obama’s job approval rating among Democrats is 72%, compared with 34% among independents and 13% among Republicans. In the prior three weeks, his average approval rating was 79% among Democrats, 41% among independents, and 12% among Republicans.

That poll by Gallup explains the release of this work of fiction, In Debt Limit Showdown, Obama Edges to the Right, by the New York Times’ Jackie Calmes:

However the debt limit showdown ends, one thing is clear: under pressure from Congressional Republicans, President Obama has moved rightward on budget policy, deepening a rift within his party heading into the next election.

Entering a campaign that is shaping up as an epic clash over the parties’ divergent views on the size and role of the federal government, Republicans have changed the terms of the national debate. Mr. Obama, seeking to appeal to the broad swath of independent voters, has adopted the Republicans’ language and in some cases their policies, while signaling a willingness to break with liberals on some issues.

Yeah, right, Ms. Calmes.  And I’m a 22-year-old Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader named Buffy.

Where Do You Go Beyond Disgusted?

How about Revulsion?

I’m there.  How about you?

Friday was a tumultous day for our country.  Those whom bear the mantle of our nation’s leadership, performed another day of political theater, making threats as to the future of the greatest country on Earth, holding votes, getting their mugs in front of the awaiting cameras of the national press, sending e-mails to supporters, and even tweeting (how classy).

The day came to a close as the Senate, headed by majority Leader ” Dinghy” Harry Reid tabled a Debt Ceiling Bill, proposed by House Speaker John Boehner, which had passed the House that afternoon by a Republican-enabled score of 218-210, setting up a crucial vote in the Senate, on a bill authored by Reid, early Sunday morning.

There’s one problem with Harry’s plan: he and his minions still lack the votes to repeal a GOP filibuster.  Reid begged his Republican counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to bail him out and reach across the aisle, so the Senate could pass his proposal and send it back to the House before our stock market crashes on Monday morning.

However, in a phone call Friday evening, McConnell told Reid he wanted President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) at the table, who had petulantly rejected a previous potential compromise between the two Senate leaders last weekend. According to some squishy aides, McConnell expected to speak with administration officials Friday night and tried to play down talk of an impasse.

Senate Democratic leaders immediately were outrageously outraged, and whined that McConnell was blocking a deal.

Dinghy Harry egotistically complained:

Unless there is a compromise or they accept my bill, we’re headed for economic disaster.

Of course that did not stop him and his Senatorial cohorts from tabling Boehner’s bill, and throwing it in the circular file along with the previously house-passed Cut, Cap, and Balance Bill.

Before yesterday’s House vote, President Barack Obama stuck his head out from under his desk and argued that the two parties are not “miles apart” and that he was prepared to work “all weekend long until we find a solution.”

Probably somewhere between the 16th and 17th holes.

President Scooter also said that the two sides are “in rough agreement” about the size of the first round of spending cuts and “the next step” to rein in borrowing:

If we need to put in place some kind of enforcement mechanism to hold us all accountable for making these reforms, I’ll support that, too, if it’s done in a smart and balanced way.

Watching the Debt Ceiling Soap Opera in DC as an interested observer yesterday, I decided that there are three categories, in which all the major players in this political drama fall.

1)  THE PRINCIPLED – Those who were not afraid to take a stand for what they believe in.  Unfortunately, in the Sodom and Gomorrah known  as Inside the Beltway, these individuals are few and far between.

In this continuing soap opera, the Tea Party Freshman stand out as sticking to their principles, much to the chagrin of RINOs, Moderates, and vichy Republicans everywhere.

On his syndicated radio program yesterday, heard by between 20 – 30 million listeners every day, Rush Hudson Limbaugh praised the Tea Party Freshman for sticking to their principles:

I want to say something to you conservatives out there. I want to tell you how damn proud of you I am, because you made this happen. The conservative intelligencia, the conservative so-called media inside the Beltway would have accepted anything. Yesterday, the day before, last night, would have accepted anything that Boehner put forth, because they are operating out of fear. The Republican leadership is operating out of fear. I want you to think, to transfer that to your personal life, and I want to ask you to consider: Whenever you do anything out of fear, how does it turn out? Doing anything from the perspective of fear is disastrous, or potentially so. And that has been the position of the Republican leadership and the inside-the-Beltway so-called conservative media. Fear. Fear of being blamed, primarily. But fear of other things. The age-old fears, the fears rooted in the mentality of being consistent, constant losers.

2)  THE UNPRINCIPLED – These individuals will do whatever it takes and shaft whomever they have to, in order to “win” and further impose their political ideology on American citizens.  For example (and you know I have to bring this up), America’s Emperor, Scooter Insipidus.

Yesterday, he spoke on national television, again imploring whatever base he has left, to call and “tweet” their Congressman, so that they would vote the way that he wants them to, in order for him and the First Family to begin Ramadan…err…summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.  (I added that.)

However, Scooter’s plan for intimidation by New Technology backfired, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Barack Obama generated a flurry of activity on Twitter Friday when he urged his more than 9 million followers to tweet at their congressional representatives to push for a compromise on the debt ceiling battle.

While some responded to the call, many others celebrated “Unfollow Friday.”

Throughout the day, the @BarackObama account tweeted the account names of Republican Congress members at a rapid pace. In about six hours, the account sent more than 100 tweets.

Several Twitter users expressed their annoyance and unfollowed the president’s account. The account had lost more than 35,000 followers by 5 p.m. Pacific time.

“I’m going to unfollow @BarackObama. You’re blowing up my feed, shouldn’t you be…idk, running the country or something? #cain2012,” wrote Twitter user @Lguyton08.

3)  THE POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT – These are individuals whom, unless they are backed into a corner, would prefer not to rock the proverbial boat, and are quite comfortable dwelling within the status quo Inside the Beltway.  Until Cryin’ John Boehner was thrust into a position of leadership as Speaker of the House, he appears to have been one of these people, as are Grandpa Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney,  John McCain, Dinghy Harry Reid, Nancy “Norma Desmond” Pelosi, Barney Franks, and the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam.

Perhaps I’m oversimplifying America’s present political leadership, but I don’t think so.

In the case of the president and certain members of Congress… if it walks like a lame duck, and talks like a lame duck…well…