Tag: Republicans

The Shutdown: Obama Stonewalls. Vichy Republicans Plot Their Surrender. Who Speaks for Average Americans?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics8 Comments

Cartoon-Cruz-Vs-Establishment-600I’m sitting here, facing the reality of an imminent GOP”strategic surrender” to President Barack Hussein Obama’s demands, regarding ending the 17% Shutdown of the Federal Government.

Evidently, House Speaker John Boehner and the rest of the Vichy Republicans actually believed the obviously rigged NBC/Washington Post poll showing that more of the country sided with the Democrats on the issue of the Shutdown.

It turns out that the poll included not only the usual oversampling of Democrats, it also included a 20% sample of Government Employees.

Heck yeah, they’re going to support the Democrats’ side. They, like the rest of us in the Obama Economy, need their jobs.

The Republicans, themselves, are another issue.

There is a schism in the Grand Old Party, which is about to blow wide open.

Ever since 2010, when a groundswell of average Americans, like you and me, bonded together in our disgust over our out-of-control Federal Government, and the Progressive Politicians on both sides of the aisle, responsible for the situation, and voted a lot of the bums out of office, replacing them with Conservative Public Servants, the Old Guard Establishment Republicans has been solidifying their power. At the same time, in conjunction with Obama and the Democrats, and their lap-dogs in the MSM, they have publicly ridiculed and isolated the Tea Party and the Conservative Representatives and Senators whom we elected.

The difference between these ‘Vichy Republicans” and “Tea Party” or Reagan Republicans, can be clarified if we focus on two Senators,:  John McCain of Arizona and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Politico.com reports that

Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that there was never a chance of defunding Obamacare, blaming politicians who said it was possible for the current government shutdown.

“We started this on a fool’s errand, convincing so many millions of Americans and our supporters that we could defund Obamacare,” McCain (R-Ariz.) told Wolf Blitzer on CNN. “[That] obviously wouldn’t happen until we had 67 Republican senators to override a presidential veto.”

McCain stopped short of naming any of his colleagues specifically when asked who was to blame for the shutdown, but he did say that he believes those who initially advocated for tying the president’s signature health care law to budget negotiations were responsible.

“[It was] the people that convinced so many millions of Americans, tea partiers specifically we’re talking about, that there was some way to defund Obamacare. We can’t,” McCain said.

Negotiations to end the government shutdown have become entangled with discussions over the debt ceiling in recent days. According to the Treasury, the debt ceiling must be lifted by Oct. 17 to avoid a default on the government’s debt.

That deadline has been questioned by conservatives who insist incoming daily revenues will allow the government to continue paying interest on its debt, thereby avoiding a default altogether.

McCain stressed that such an option could still be disastrous.

“Technically they may be correct, because there are tax revenues coming in,” McCain said. “But I know some people on Wall Street that are telling me that the markets would react in a very, very negative fashion.

Concerning Cruz, the Boston Globe reported that

Hours before he and other Senate Republicans were scheduled to meet with President Obama at the White House on Friday, Senator Ted Cruz, the Tea Party firebrand from Texas, called upon Republican House members to stand strong in their fight against “Obamacare.”

Federal power has exploded under the Obama administration, Cruz declared at the Value Voters Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, a gathering of social conservatives.

“None of us knows what is going to happen on this Obamacare fight right now. In my view the House of Representatives needs to keep doing what it’s doing, which is standing strong!” Cruz exhorted to wild applause.

“That is the model for every other fight,” Cruz said. “We need no more Washington solutions. We need to go back to the American people.”

Cruz pumped up the crowd from the stage, telling them that they – not him or any other elected official – have the power to stop the health law. “It is because of you that the House of Representatives has been standing strong, because the House has been listening to the people,” he said.

“The nice thing is the left will always, always, always tell you who they fear, and they fear you,” Cruz said. “They fear the American people. The fundamental problem in Washington is Washington is not listening to America.”

Cruz blamed the White House for the impasse as the shutdown entered its 11th day and the government is less than a week from the Oct 17 deadline to raise its borrowing limit or face a government default and resulting economic calamity .

“The Democrats are feeling the heat,” Cruz said. Noting that he planned to head to the White House Friday with other Senate Republicans to meet with the president, he joked: “If I am never seen again, please send a search and rescue team.”

Others scheduled to speak to the faith-based activists include Senators Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, as well as Representative Michele Bachmann. The summit is often seen as a platform for potential Republican presidential contenders.

Someone once wrote that power is an aphrodisiac…and total power corrupts totally.

I find the words and actions of McCain, Boehner, McConnell, Ryan, Graham, and the rest of the Vichy Republicans quite revealing. They are blindly determined to sell out their constituency, in order to preserve the status quo in Washington, and therefore, hang on to their Seats of Power.

They believe that by selling out, they will keep their “seats at the table”.

That is why Senator Ted Cruz and the rest of the Tea Party Conservatives scare the Hell out of Progressives on both sides of the aisle, and in the Main Stream Media, as well.

True Public Servants like Cruz, Mike Lee, and Rand Paul, are a threat to those who roam the Beltway Halls of Power with impunity. Their servants’ hearts and their forthrightness, are anathema to the Good Ol’ Boys and Girls. who have made a lucrative, self-serving career off of the American Citizenry whom they are supposed to be serving and protecting.

Just as turning on the light in the kitchen makes the cockroaches scatter for cover, the speaking of the truth by Tea Party Conservatives, makes the Old Guard Republicans close ranks, and then lash out, in a desperate attempt at self-preservation. While at the same time, continuing to “reach across the aisle”, in continuation of the Washingtonian Status Quo.

Leaving American Citizens to pick up the tab.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Does Obama View Himself as the “Real Victim”?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics7 Comments

Obama-Shrinks-2Boys and girls, as the Government Shutdown wanes on, the inner workings of the Obama Administration more clearly resemble a Mack Sennett Comedy Pie Fight Scene, with every new crisis they have to deal with.

First, “Jaybird” Carney said that there was no reason for the President to sign the bill passed by the House and Senate which would restore Military Death Benefits.

Then, Obama signed it, as Fox News reports…

President Obama signed a bill late Thursday to pay death benefits to families of fallen soldiers during the partial government shutdown.

The move came after the White House drew heavy criticism from Republicans over White House press secretary Jay Carney’s comment earlier in the day that it was “not necessary” to sign the bill since a charity already had stepped in to foot the expenses.

The Senate approved the bill Thursday afternoon, after it cleared the House a day earlier. The bill reinstated the $100,000 “death gratuity” payments to military families and resumed funeral and burial expenses.

The funding had been suspended as a consequence of the partial government shutdown.

Carney claimed the bill was “not necessary,” noting that charity group The Fisher House Foundation had just entered into an agreement with the Pentagon a day earlier to provide the benefits in the short-term.

“The legislation is not necessary,” Carney said, adding that the Defense Department had already agreed to reimburse the Fisher House.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who pushed the bill in the Senate, blasted the White House over Carney’s remark.

“Now, we’re learning the president has taken his political obstinacy to a new low and believes the legislation Congress has passed to right this wrong is ‘not necessary,'” he said in a written statement. “Not only is this legislation necessary it’s the moral obligation of this nation and it’s the spoken will of Congress that we deliver immediate assistance to the families of fallen service members.

“I call on the president to sign this necessary legislation without delay. Anything less would represent dereliction of duty by our commander in chief,” he said.

By voice vote Thursday, the Senate approved the measure that would reinstate benefits for surviving family members, including funeral and burial expenses, and death gratuity payments. The Pentagon typically pays out $100,000 within three days of a service member’s death.

Twenty-nine members of the military have died on active duty since the government shutdown began last Tuesday.

The Pentagon infuriated congressional Republicans and Democrats and touched off a national firestorm when it claimed earlier that a law allowing the military to be paid during the partial government shutdown did not cover the death benefit payments. Congress passed and Obama signed that measure into law before the partial government shutdown last Tuesday, and lawmakers insist that the benefits shouldn’t have been affected.

Despite the Senate vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sided with the White House. He said the voice vote was “for show” and the Pentagon had essentially resolved the problem. He said the issue was moot, but he didn’t object to passage of the bill.

Uh huh. Tell us another one, Dinghy.

As I have observed in previous blogs this week, Obama has not acted like an American President at all, in dealing with this Government Shutdown. His behavior has more closely resembled a petulant child.

Dr. Keith Ablow, seen on Fox News, has a theory about Obama’s “issues”…

President Obama’s rhetoric is finally coming closer to what appears to be his psychological truth: Because America victimized him and countless millions of others, any person or party or movement that opposes his views and does not yield to him is not just his adversary, but abusive, predatory and even threatening.

…It is exceedingly difficult to come to terms with a person who sees you as his oppressor, his kidnapper, and someone terrorizing him who might well destroy him. You aren’t likely to consider whether your assailant and jailer and would-be killer has a few good ideas, after all.

A victim mentality would explain why the president immediately allies with anyone else he thinks might be a victim, too.

Seeing Barack Obama as someone who has a victim mentality would explain a lot. That mentality relies on believing one has been harmed, that one was not responsible for the injuries that occurred, that one could not have prevented what happened and that the person’s suffering makes that person morally right and deserving of sympathy.

As a young boy, Obama was, indeed, helpless.

He was helpless to stop his father from abandoning him.

He was helpless to stop his mother from leaving him with his grandparents.

He was helpless to stop his white grandmother and caretaker from communicating to him her fears of black people.

I’m not sure the president ever got over it.

Dr. Ablow’s theory definitely seems to have a basis in fact.

That chip that Obama continuously carries on his shoulder would certainly go along with the diagnosis of “victim Mentality”.

If Obama views the world as being “out to get him”, the defensive, non-negotiable stance he has taken since the Shutdown started, would definitely make sense, psychologically.

The problem is, American does not need a thumb-sucking , Little Lord Fauntleroy, siting at the President’s Desk in the Oval Office. We need a leader of men. One who is willing to protect the citizenry from “enemies foreign and domestic”.

And, in the situation we’re in right now, we do not need a President who views the citizens he is supposed to be serving, as brutish, victimizing louts, who deserved to be punished, because it makes him feel better about himself and his lack of leadership skills.

We need a President who is not only a people person, but also a shrewd negotiator, with Real World experience in business negotiations.

Unfortunately, we have Obama, instead.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Shutdown: Will the Republicans Snatch Defeat Out of the Jaws of Victory?

On By kingsjesterIn Politics11 Comments

boehnercrying

There is an old political adage which states,

If your opponent is digging a hole for himself, get out of the way. If you can, lend a hand.

Republicans do not seem to realize that they’ve got a good thing going. The American public has had it up to here with the antics of their Petulant President, and the political pendulum is beginning to swing to the right again. The problem is, the Republican Establishment’s Vichy inclinations are handicapping them from taking advantage of the egregious behavior of the Manchurian President.

According to the great American Economist, Dr. Thomas Sowell,

If the continued existence of mathematics depended on the ability of the Republicans to defend the proposition that two plus two equals four, that would probably mean the end of mathematics and of all the things that require mathematics.

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, epitomized what has been wrong with the Republicans for decades when he emerged from a White House meeting last Wednesday, went over to the assembled microphones, briefly expressed his disgust with the Democrats’ intransigence and walked on away.

We are in the midst of a national crisis, immediately affecting millions of Americans and potentially affecting the kind of country this will become if ObamaCare goes into effect — and yet, with multiple television network cameras focused on Speaker Boehner as he emerged from the White House, he couldn’t be bothered to prepare a statement that would help clarify a confused situation, full of fallacies and lies.

Boehner was not unique in having a blind spot when it comes to recognizing the importance of articulation and the need to put some serious time and effort into presenting your case in a way that people outside the Beltway would understand. On the contrary, he has been all too typical of Republican leaders in recent decades.

When the government was shut down during the Clinton administration, Republican leaders who went on television to tell their side of the story talked about “OMB numbers” versus “CBO numbers” — as if most people beyond the Beltway knew what these abbreviations meant or why the statistics in question were relevant to the shutdown. Why talk to them in Beltway-speak?

When Speaker Boehner today goes around talking about the “CR,” that is just more of the same thinking — or lack of thinking. Policy wonks inside the Beltway know that he is talking about the “continuing resolution” that authorizes the existing level of government spending to continue, pending a new budget agreement.

But, believe it or not, there are lots of citizens and voters outside the Beltway. And what is believed by those people whom too many Republicans are talking past can decide not only the outcome of this crisis but the fate of the nation for generations to come.

You might think that the stakes are high enough for Republicans to put in some serious time trying to clarify their message.

As the great economist Alfred Marshall once said, facts do not speak for themselves. If we are waiting for the Republicans to do the speaking, the country is in big trouble.

What the heck does Boehner want? He’s got an out-of-control narcissist, punitively picking and choose which National Parks and Monuments to close down, while rolling out the Red Carpet for protesters, who are here illegally, to demonstrate, in front of God and everybody, on the National Mall.

On top of that, he’s got a Speaker of the Senate, from the Opposition Party, asking why Congress should be worried about saving a Pediatric Cancer Patient’s life!

Obama’s and the Democrats’ bungling of the whole Government Shutdown, has left a gaping maw of a Public Relations Hole big enough for The Speaker of the House to drive a semi-truck through.

However, Cryin’ John and his Republican Elite cronies, for all of their public protestations, seem to be stuck in their typical “reach across the aisle” mode.

Boehner needs to hold a scorcher of a press conference every day, hammering Obama and his minions on their refusal to negotiate. He needs to point out how many “mini-funding” bills they’ve passed in the House to attempt to keep parts of the government funded during the President’s Temper Tantrum.

In fact, today, he needs to hold a press conference about passing a bill yesterday to fund survivors’ benefits for the families of our Best and Brightest who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.

Right now, the Republicans actually seem to be united in their opposition to the Petulant President and his punitive punishment of American Citizens.

It would be an absolutely politically ignorant move to fall back on their Vichy Republican ways and capitulate to the Presidents’ wishes to spend our nation into oblivion.

Put a muzzle on John McCain and a leash on his pet dog, Lindsey Graham, and tell that out-of touch Mitch McConnell to sit down, Boehner, you’ve got this.

Now is not the time for surrender.

Now is the opportunity to stand up on your hind legs, Republicans, and actually do what you were sent to Capitol Hill to do: represent your constituency.

Now is not the time to be timid and inarticulate, Republicans.

 It is time to fight for the American people, like your jobs depended on it

Because, they do.

Until He comes,

KJ

“If You Can Help One Child Who Has Cancer, Why Wouldn’t You Do It?” “Why Would We Want To Do That?” – Senator Harry Reid

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

3stoogesobamapelosireidSo far, this has been a very revealing and remarkable week. We’ve seen the President of the United States  “Barry-cade” National Memorials, which have no government funding, such as the World War II Memorial.

The optic of octogenarian veterans, busting through the barricades to visit THEIR Memorial, has stirred the red, white, and blue corpuscles of Patriotic Americans from coast-to-coast.

It has been quite obvious, and therefore, telling, that these closings have only been set up to punish Americans, in order for Obama and his Democrat Minions to score political points, by showing how mean the Republicans are, by forcing the Government Shutdown.

Unfortunately for Scooter, Dinghy, and the rest of the “Most Compassionate” Political Party,

The best laid plans of mice and min oft’ times go awry.

On Wednesday, Senator Harry Reid revealed more of the self-serving nature of the Democrats’ dark souls.

In face,  Senator Reid allowed his mask to fall completely off, while appearing on CNN, in an interview with reporter Dana Bash.

“If you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?,” Bash asked.

“Why would we want to do that?,” Reid shot back. “I have 1,100 people at Nellis Air Force base that are sitting home. They have a few problems of their own. This is — to have someone of your intelligence to suggest such a thing maybe means you’re irresponsible and reckless.”

In the exchange with Bash, Reid had been trying to argue that Democrats would not bow to Republican attempts to pick and choose what parts of the government to fund, because they were looking to fund everything except for ObamaCare.

Democrats have so far rejected the GOP’s piecemeal approach, and Republicans have countered by voting on bills, such as funding for veterans, to put the Democrats in the difficult position of voting against something that has strong public support.

Conservatives jumped on Reid’s comment, with the Drudge Report leading with the headline: “Why would we want to help one kid with cancer?”

Later, in an interview with The Bill Press Show, Reid elaborated on the exchange.

“The whole answer is this – why would we want to have the House of Representatives, John Boehner, cherry pick what stays open and what should be closed?,” he said. “Listen, I gave a speech on the floor talking about the babies – 30 babies, little kids who are not going to have clinical trials. Of course I care about that. I have 16 of my own grandchildren and five of my own children.”

Reid said that there are other agencies, like the Center for Disease Control, that are just as important to fund, and that he’s working to get everything back online.

“What I told Dana Bash, who is a fine reporter, is that we care about all of these things,” he continued. “We care about our state parks, we care about our veterans, but we can’t fall into the trap…of Cruz-led Republicans. That is this…we’ll cherry pick…and finally at the end, everything will be open except for ObamaCare.”

The National Institute for Health is renowned for their Pediatric Oncology Department. according to their website,

The Pediatric Oncology Branch is dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young adults with cancer and genetic tumor predisposition syndromes. We conduct translational research that spans basic science to clinical trials. Our clinical studies are performed in an environment that supports our patient’s medical and emotional needs, alongside cutting edge scientific research. Whether you are a referring physician, family member or patient with childhood cancer or neurofibromatosis, or are interested in training at the Pediatric Oncology Branch, we hope that this website will provide the information you need to access our programs.

The NIH is one of the “victims” of Obama’s petulance, as  government funds are being withheld from this fine institution.

The Democrats, including Speaker of the Senate Harry Reid, while pretending to be concerned, while withholding money from the NIH on purpose to make a point and putting on a public mask of “righteous indignation”.

Once upon a time, Reid, said,

It’s time that America’s government lived by the same values as America’s families. It’s time we invested in America’s future and made sure our people have the skills to compete and thrive in a 21st century economy. That’s what Democrats believe.

About that “American Values” thingy, Harry. Americans sacrifice for their children.

The denizens of DC live a bubble, isolated from the citizens they are supposed to be serving.

Remember a couple of years ago, when Reid referred to Americans visiting Washington, as “smelly tourists”?

Why should anyone be surprised that he made such a cold, calloused statement?

If you visit any Political Website where comments are being made about the WWI Veterans storming the memorial Site “Barry-cades”, you will note young Liberals asking “What makes THESE Veterans so special?”

Their stunning ignorance is due to a number of factors.

1. Being Liberal.

2. Our Dumbed-down Educational System

3. Not being raised to respect our flag, our country, and the people who sacrificed their lives for their Freedom.

As evidenced by Sen. Reid, this disrespectful callousness begins at the top of the Liberal Hierarchy, and has been passed along to this latest generation.

Fortunately, average Americans, living in the Heartland of America, still believe in the principles that made this country the greatest on the face of God’s green Earth.

And, that is why this ill-conceived Shutdown is backfiring on the Petulant President and the “most compassionate political party evah!”

Stay strong, Americans.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Countdown to the Shutdown

On By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

government shutdownHere we are. The day before the Government shuts down.

Yesterday, the House of Representative sent their modified Continuing Resolution back to the Senate.  This latest Continuing Resolution calls for delaying by a year, key parts of Obamacare and the repeal of a tax on medical devices, in exchange for avoiding a shutdown.

Here’s a big secret: The Government will not actually shutdown.

Social Security checks will not be interrupted. Troops will remain at their posts. Doctors and hospitals will get their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

The fact of the matter is,virtually every essential government agency, like the FBI, the Border Patrol and the Coast Guard, will stay open. Furloughed federal workers probably would get paid, eventually. Transportation Security Administration officers would continue to man airport checkpoints.

The hitch is, sometime around late October or early November, the government might possibly run out of cash. If that were to happen, our government would be unable to pay all of its bills in full and on time for the first time in history if it couldn’t borrow more money.

Even though the Treasury Department probably would make interest payments to bondholders to prevent a catastrophic default on the debt, it wouldn’t be able to make other payments on time, which would mean delays in Social Security benefits and in paychecks for federal workers and troops in the field.

Congress must pass a temporary spending bill before Oct. 1, to prevent the “Shutdown”. To prevent a default, it must raise the $16.7 trillion cap on government borrowing.

Senator Ted Cruz knows exactly at whose feet this imminent shutdown lies…

“So far, [Reid] has essentially told the House of Representatives and the American people, ‘Go jump in a lake,'” Cruz said on “Meet The Press” on NBC. “He said, ‘I’m not willing to compromise, I’m not willing to even talk,’ His position is 100 percent of Obamacare must be funded in all instances, and, other than that, he’s going to shut the government down. I hope he doesn’t do that. If Harry Reid forces a government shutdown, that will be a mistake. I hope he backs away from that ledge that he’s pushing us towards, but that is his position.”

Cruz continued: “Twice Harry Reid has said, ‘We won’t even have a conversation. I refuse to compromise. We want to fund it all. We want to stick it on the American people. And we won’t budge.’ That’s not a reasonable position. And if we have a shutdown, it will be because Harry Reid holds that absolutist position, and essentially, holds the American people hostage.”

Cruz commended the House’s early Sunday vote to keep the government open and delay Obamacare for a year, despite Reid’s contention that the bill would be dead on arrival when the Senate resumes work Monday.

“President Obama has granted a delay for giant corporations,” Cruz said. “Every big company in America has gotten a one-year delay. If Harry Reid shuts the government down, what he will be saying is, “American families don’t get treated as well as we treat giant corporations.” Giant corporations don’t have to suffer, get a delay on the horns from Obamacare. But hardworking American families, he’s going to insist that they suffer now.”

Cruz, who last week made headlines with an epic 21-hour filibuster-like speech on the Senate floor railing against Obama’s landmark health care law, continued his crusade.

“The American people overwhelming reject Obamacare,” Cruz said. “They understand it’s not working. The only people who aren’t listening to the argument are the career politicians in Washington. It’s Harry Reid who wants to use brute political force.”

During his Senate speech, Cruz was criticized for comparing the funding of Obamacare to the rise of Hitler in Nazi Germany. On Sunday, he denied he made such a comparison.

“There have been many voices in Washington who’ve said, ‘We can’t do this, we can’t do this, we can’t do this.’ And I went through the contracts where, over and over again, when facing big challenges, Americans have risen to the occasion, whether it was the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, whether it was going to the moon under John F. Kennedy, or whether it was winning the Cold War,” Cruz said. “At every stage, there were voices of conventional wisdom who say, ‘This can’t be done.’ And at every stage, the American people rose to the occasion. And what I said is, ‘We should do the same here.’ We should look to, if we empower the American people, if we get Washington to listen to the people, that’s how we get this changed.”

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin made a good point on her Facebook Page:

A friend sent me this graphic today [see above]. It says it all. “If there’s a government shut down, who will spy on me, waste my money and have contempt for me?”

We could add so much more to this list, friends. For example, if the government shuts down, who will:

*block responsible resource development
*borrow more money from foreign countries to give to foreign countries
*mortgage my kids’ future to bail out their friends on Wall Street & finance their big government crony capitalism
*”misplace” IRS receipts and ledgers to the tune of tens of millions
*stockpile ammo at DHS
*commandeer pro athletes to testify in front of Congress while watching bureaucrats plead the Fifth

The Democrats themselves, along with their buds, the Vichy Republicans are responsible for this mess.

Last week, Rush Limbaugh pointed out that

Okay. So this Dan Pfeiffer guy, he’s in charge of White House communications, senior advisor to the president for strategery and communications, he says the Republicans are running around with a bomb in their vests and they want to blow up the economy, defund Obamacare and government shutdown and all that kind of stuff. Don’t forget, back in 2006 Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Harry Reid, Pelosi, the rest of the Democrat Party, demanded that we defund our troops or they would vote against raising the debt ceiling.

Do you remember this? And Obama and Pfeiffer were asked about this. Well, wait a minute, now. How come, you know, Obama said it was purely political. He was against raising the debt limit, funding the troops and all that, and they said, “Well, that wasn’t political like the Republicans are doing now.” But these guys — Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid — they all threatened, demanded, that they wanted Bush to lose. They wanted America to lose the Iraq war. They threatened to defund the military operation in Iraq or they’d vote against the debt ceiling, raising it.

As I wrote yesterday, this whole fiasco is a cross between a game of ‘Chicken” and a game of “Dare”.

All brought about by a president who promises bi-partisanship…and who still wants it.   …as long as everybody keeps their mouths shut and does what he wants.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama Calls the President of Iran, Refuses to Negotiate With Republicans

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

michelleobama2Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition. I saw it firsthand as a child in Indonesia, where devout Christians worshiped freely in an overwhelmingly Muslim country. That is the spirit we need today. People in every country should be free to choose and live their faith-based upon the persuasion of the mind and the heart and the soul. This tolerance is essential for religion to thrive, but it’s being challenged in many different ways. – President Barack Hussein Obama, “A New Beginning”, Speech to the Muslim World at the University of Cairo, Egypt

Since the ouster of the Shah, Iran has been a thorn in the side of the Free World, and, especially, the United States of America.

As a Radio News Director in College, I covered the Iranian Revolution and the resulting Hostage Crisis from start to finish.

Are you old enough to remember the Hostage Crisis? If not, here is a summary, courtesy of u-s-history.com:

 On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of some 300 to 500 “students” who called themselves “Imam’s Disciples,” laid siege to the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, to capture and hold hostage 66 U.S. citizens and diplomats. Although women and African-Americans were released a short time later, 51 hostages remained imprisoned for 444 days with another individual released because of illness midway through the ordeal.

…Upon the death of the shah in July [1980] (which neutralized one demand) and the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September (necessitating weapons acquisition), Iran became more amenable to reopening negotiations for the hostages’ release.

In the late stages of the presidential race with Ronald Reagan, Carter, given those new parameters, might have been able to bargain with the Iranians, which might have clinched the election for him. The 11th-hour heroics were dubbed an “October Surprise”* by the Reagan camp — something they did not want to see happen.

Allegations surfaced that William Casey, director of the Reagan campaign, and some CIA operatives, secretly met with Iranian officials in Europe to arrange for the hostages’ release, but not until after the election. If true, some observers aver, dealing with a hostile foreign government to achieve a domestic administration’s defeat would have been grounds for charges of treason.

Reagan won the election, partly because of the failure of the Carter administration to bring the hostages home. Within minutes of Reagan’s inauguration, the hostages were released.

And now, with America at her most vulnerable, with our economy in horrible shape and about to get worse, thanks to the implementation of a National-run Healthcare System which nobody wants, and with an ineffectual Foreign Policy,which is as big a global joke as the President behind it, that self-same wuss of a United States President is now looking to negotiate with the before-mentioned Islamic Terrorist State.

President Obama proudly announced yesterday that he had talked on the phone with the new “Moderate” Iranian President Rouhani.

“Just now I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said. “The two of us discussed our ongoing efforts to reach an agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.”

This is the first time leaders from America and Iran have spoken since 1979.

“I reiterated to President Rouhani what I said in New York. While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution.

“I’ve directed Secretary Kerry to continue pursuing this diplomatic effort with the Iranian government. We had constructive discussions yesterday in New York with our partners, the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China, together with the Iranian foreign minister, and going forward, President Rouhani and I have directed our teams to continue working expeditiously in corporation with the P-5 plus one to pursue an agreement. And throughout this process we will stay in close touch with our friends and allies in the region, including Israel.

“Now we are mindful of all the challenges ahead. The very fact that this was the first communication between an American and Iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries.”

Obama said that “Iran’s supreme leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons, President Rouhani has indicated that Iran will never develop nuclear weapons.”

This, from the same guy who will go down as the most partisan President in United States History, whose Administration has become notorious for calling Republicans everything but “children of God”.

And, who now, refuses to negotiate with Republicans about the Debt ceiling, Obamacare, or anything else.

So, what is the explanation for this? Naiveté? Stupidity? Ego? Yes, indeedy. However, there is something deeper behind this bonehead move by Obama. In fact, it’s soul-deep.

It goes back to a young Barack Hussein Obama, who, in one of his two books, written by Bomber Bill Ayers, “Dreams of my Father”, said,

Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

Right now, in our nation, the political winds have shifted in an ugly direction, thanks to Obama’s lack of leadership. Political Partisanship has intensified to such an extent, that political pundits on both sides of the aisle, have labeled the situation a “Civil War”

Instead of seriously attempting to unite the country he is supposed to be serving and protecting, Obama is acting like a petulant child, insisting that everybody play by his rules, or else, he will take his ball and go home.

Now, on top of that, he reaches out to a country who sponsors Islamic Terrorism, and with whom we have not had diplomatic relations since their revolution in 1979.

What is he going to do? Help them with their “Nuclear Enhancement Program”, so they can launch one at us quicker?

He negotiates with those who want to kill us, and gives ultimatums to his own countrymen.

He truly is our first Anti-American President.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Republican Civil War Over Obamacare: Conservatives Vs. the Vichy Republicans

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

Cartoon-Cruz-Vs-Establishment-600Just a few days away from the end of the greatest Healthcare System in the World, the grizzled veterans of the Grand Old Party are acting like a bunch of children who got beat on the playground in a kickball game, and who now want to take their ball and go home.

Fox News reports that

Republican tensions grew Thursday as Tea Party-aligned senators rejected a bid to speed up the vote on a bill to fund the government while defunding ObamaCare, with one senior lawmaker accusing his colleagues of posturing — as the chances of a government shutdown increased.

The flurry of activity occurred late Thursday afternoon on the Senate floor. With lawmakers facing a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a spending bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to get approval to hold key votes on Thursday, in order to give the House more time to consider the legislation.

But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, objected, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. That puts off the next vote until Friday.

Their complaints prompted a tense encounter on the floor with Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who suggested the only reason they want to wait until Friday is because they want to turn the vote into a show for supporters.

“This is confusing to me,” Corker said. “I’m understanding the reason we’re waiting is that y’all have sent out releases and emails and you want everybody to be able to watch. It just doesn’t seem to me that that’s in our nation’s interest.”

Cruz later said: “I think it is unfortunate that any member of the United States Senate should want our votes to occur outside of the view of the American people.”

The brief dispute underscored the divide in the GOP over this vote.

The bill itself, passed by the House last week, would keep the government open past Sept. 30 and defund the health care law. Senators like Cruz, who spoke for more than 21 hours on the Senate floor in opposition to ObamaCare, support this language.

However, Cruz and others plan to oppose the test vote on Friday — because they say Reid, as his next step, will strip out the ObamaCare provision and promptly send the bill back to the House.

They argue that anybody who votes to advance the bill on Friday is effectively voting to restore funding to the health law.

Other Republicans argue that this position is counterintuitive, and have indicated support for the upcoming vote.

This has led to some nasty infighting.

Now, I know that I’m just an average American, but, it appears to me that the members of the Republican Establishment are both embarrassed by and jealous of the massive public support for Ted Cruz and the rest of the Conservative Republicans.

Now is not the time for whiny divisiveness, as Conservative Pundit Patrick J. Buchanan points out…

…The Republican war over whether to bow to the seemingly inevitable and fund Obamacare is a Panama Canal issue. How one votes here may decisively affect one’s career.

Ted Cruz may have, as Richard Nixon used to say, “broken his pick” in the Republican caucus. Yet, on Obamacare, his analysis is right, his instincts are right, his disposition to fight is right.

These are more important matters than the news that he is out of the running for the Mr. Congeniality award on Capitol Hill.

If Obamacare is funded, the subsidies starting in January will constitute a morphine drip from which America’s health-care system will not recover. If not stopped now, Obamacare is forever.

Senate Republicans should be asking themselves why Cruz and Rand Paul, two newcomers to the Senate of decidedly different temperaments, are being talked of as credible candidates in the presidential primaries of 2016.

Answer: Both are clear in their convictions, unapologetic about them and willing to break some china to achieve them. And that part of America upon which the GOP depends most is increasingly frustrated and angry with those who run the national party.

Americans don’t want a dignified surrender on Obamacare. They want someone to drive a stake through Obamacare.

And the question that is going to be answered in coming weeks is: Is the GOP willing to shove its whole stack into the middle of the table, for a showdown over Obamacare? Or will the House GOP in the end cast the decisive vote to make Obamacare permanent?

For, as columnist Terry Jeffrey writes, “[M]ake no mistake. If Obamacare is funded and implemented, it will be because Republican members of Congress decided to do it.”

As Terry notes, Congress has absolute power over the public purse. Article I of the Constitution says, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law.”

The law authorizing President Obama to spend more money for Obamacare expires Sept. 30. If the House refuses to vote for any bill that contains new Obamacare funding, Obamacare is dead.

Thus the Republican House controls the fate of Obamacare.

But if we don’t fund Obamacare, comes the Republican wail, Harry Reid will let the government shut down, the American people will blame us, and all of our pundits say we can’t win this fight.

For sure you cannot win if you do not fight.

Right on. Right on.

However, the Vichy Republicans, as I dubbed them a while back, would rather reach across the aisle, and give up any Republican ideals they may possess, than be actual public servants, instead of self-serving mountebanks.

They are beclowning themselves, in their missionary zeal to appear to be “statesmen” and to “go along to get along”

Their desire for protocol and “statesmanship”, has trumped any desire of the Republican Elite to actually stand on principles and fight the socialization of the greatest Healthcare System on the face of the Earth.

And, for that, they should be embarrassed.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama’s Banana Republic: Daylight Come and Me Wanna Go Home.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

obamamyworkThere is no question that Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) is the most petulant President we have ever had in United States History.

If whatever Machiavellian Scheme he is working on at the time is foiled by the Republicans, usually because they have been forced to actually act on behalf of the American People, Obama’s modus operandi is to act like child who has been told to come in for supper on a school night. He usually throws a temper tantrum, surrounded by human props and/or shields, designed to distract the public from what an immature, shallow schmuck “the smartest man in the room” actually is.

A prime example of this petulance is the memorable tantrum/speech he gave after Congress voted down his Gun Control Bill, in which he attempted to take advantage of the massacre of American Children by a psychopath in Newtown, CT.

Obama, using some of the childrens’ parents as props, blamed everyone but himself for the failure of his attempt to deprive Americans of our Second Amendment Rights.

Now, the president’s petulance is showing again, as yesterday, after the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government until Mid-December, but not Obamacare, the Manchurian President lashed out at Republicans during a speech at a Ford plant in Liberty, Mo., on Friday afternoon,

…So what Congress is doing right now is important. Unfortunately, right now the debate that going on in Congress is not meeting the test of helping middle-class families. It’s just they’re not focused on you. They’re focused on politics. They’re focused on trying to mess with me. They’re not focused on you. They’re not focused on you.

…Defunding Affordable Health Care would rob 25 million Americans of the chance to get health care coverage. It would cut basic health care services for tens of millions of seniors on Medicare already. That’s what House Republicans are fighting for.

And now they’ve gone beyond just holding Congress hostage, they’re holding the whole country hostage. One Republican senator called shutting down the government over the Affordable Care Act “the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.” I agree with him. But that’s the strategy they’re pursuing. House of Representatives just voted on it today.

Now, I tell you what, Missouri. The American people have worked too hard for too long, digging out of a real crisis just to let politicians in Washington cause another crisis.

This is the United States of America. We’re not some banana republic. This is not a deadbeat nation. We don’t run out on our tab. We’re the world’s bedrock investment. The entire world looks to us to make sure the world economy is stable. We can’t just not pay our bills. And even threatening something like that is the height of irresponsibility.

So what I’ve said is I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States. I am not going to allow anyone to harm this country’s reputation. I’m not going to allow them to inflict economic pain on millions of our own people just so they can make an ideological point.

[Republicans in Congress] Just do your job. Don’t be the other guy, be the guy who’s doing your job. No obstruction. No games. No holding the economic hostage — economy hostage if you don’t get 100 percent of what you want.

Nobody gets 100 percent of what you want. You guys know that in your own lives, in your own families. I don’t know how many people are married here, but you know you better learn not to expect getting 100 percent of what you want. Otherwise you’ll be divorced real quick. Especially you men, I’m telling you.

So you should expect the same thing — same common sense out of Congress. You should expect some compassion. You should expect some compromise. You should expect the conviction of leaders who wake up and go to work every day, not to tear something down, but to build something better; not just for today but for the world we want to leave our kids.

We are the greatest country on Earth…in spite of you, President Obama.

Earlier this past week, Reuters.com reported that

The number of U.S. residents living in poverty edged up to 46.5 million last year, the latest sign that an economic recovery marked by a stock market boom has not trickled down to ordinary Americans.

The figures from the Census Bureau on Tuesday highlighted the lingering scars from the 2007-2009 recession and added fresh fuel to debates over government austerity and widening income inequality. It could also renew calls to raise the minimum wage.

Although the number of people in poverty went up from 46.2 million in 2011, the national poverty rate was unchanged at 15 percent, the annual report said. The poverty threshold in 2012 was an income of $23,492 for a family of four.

“Today’s data underscore that it is time for Congress to pivot from a focus on austerity to an agenda emphasizing jobs and shared economic growth,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy group in Washington.

The recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s has been marked by a jump in stock prices to record highs, aided in part by the Federal Reserve’s ultra easy monetary policy.

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 16 percent on a total return basis last year, including reinvested dividends, the Census Bureau report showed median household income slipped to $51,017 from  $51,100 in 2011.

The economy has struggled to sustain growth rates of more than 2.5 percent since the recession ended.

Although the bulk of the more than 8 million jobs lost during the downturn have been recouped, many of the jobs have been in services industries such as retail and restaurants that typically do not pay well.

Belt-tightening in Washington to slash the government’s budget deficit has significantly shrunk the social safety net.

About 16.1 million children and 3.9 million people aged 65 years and older were living in poverty last year.

Since you have taken office, Mr. President, there has been a steady erosion of the pillars of American Society: self-reliance, self-discipline, and self-responsibility.

From the moment you took office, with your stated philosophy that “spreading the wealth around is good for everyone”, average Americans, such as myself, have found themselves out of  their job, with their home and car getting foreclosed and repossessed.

More and more Americans have decided that the American Tradition of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps (with God’s help) and getting on with your life, just isn’t worth all the hassles.

In other words, Pookie does not want to get up off the couch. 

Why should she be responsible for herself? She’s simply following the example of her president. 

When things have gone wrong (and, plenty has) during your watch, Mr. President…you have blamed on someone else: Bush, Congress, or us “Bitter Clingers”, with our Bibles and guns.

And now, once again, one of your Machiavellian Schemes, Obamacare, is on the verge of falling apart….and you are on the verge of another temper tantrum.

I can’t wait to see if Senator Ted Cruz launches a filibuster against your Socialist Healthcare System.

If he does, your temper tantrum should be one for the ages.

You mad, bro?

Until He Comes,

KJ

Massacre at the Navy Yard: 13 Americans Die. Obama Pontificates on How Bad the Republicans Are.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

American flag half mastYesterday morning, America witnessed another incident of “workplace violence”. Only this time, it occurred right in the heart of our nation’s capital, at the U.S. Navy Yard.

The Washington Post reports that

…13 people are dead and 14 others were injured after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, Navy officials said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities sought to contain the panic.

The incident, in which the death toll rose almost hourly, represents the single worst loss of life in the District since an airliner plunged into the Potomac River in 1982, killing 78.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier and Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced the mounting number of casualties in a series of news conferences. The suspected shooter, identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, 34, living in Fort Worth, is among the 13 dead. Alexis was a military contractor, one official said.

But even hours after the rampage began, it was still unclear whether the shooting was the act of a lone gunman, or if other shooters were involved. Lanier initially said authorities were looking for two more potential shooters dressed in military style clothing. But shortly after she announced a detailed description of two suspects, city officials said one had been located and cleared.

Lanier described the other possible suspect, who has not been located, as a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform. He, and the man who was cleared, came under suspicion when they were seen on surveillance videos.

Police are asking anyone with information on the suspect to call 202-727-9099.

Gray said no motive is known yet. He said there is no reason to believe it was an act of terrorism, though he added that he could not rule it out.

Gray said that in addition to those killed, about a dozen people were hurt. Later in the evening Vice Adm. Bill French said the number of injured was 14.

It was not clear whether those people were shot or suffered other injuries.

Pentagon officials said the Navy will wait 24 hours before releasing the names of people killed in the attack.

As of 8:30 p.m. Monday, Navy officials said about 2,000 people remained on base, and that it could take another 3-4 hours before everyone was cleared to leave.

The FBI was still interviewing every person leaving the base out of concern that a second suspect may still be at large, French said. And SWAT teams are still finding people hiding in places on the base, where some had remained hunkered down since the initial attack early Monday morning. One city officials said that shortly before 7 p.m., officers found an employee hiding in a locker, where the employee had been for nearly 11 hours.

Throughout the day, people had been warned to stay in their homes and offices on the Naval Base as the incident unfolded.

Alexis was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun, two law enforcement officials said. One said he also had a shotgun. One official said all the weapons have not been accounted for.

Shortly after the massacre, President Barack Hussein Obama came out to deliver a previously scheduled speech on the Economy. He prefaced his prepared speech, with brief remarks on the Navy Yard Massacre, before launching into one of his usual partisan, didactic lectures about how he, the Lightbringer, could fix this rotten economy (which he is responsible for), if Republicans would just shut up and get out of his way.

What happens up on Capitol Hill is going to help determine not only the pace of our growth, but also the quality of jobs, the quality of opportunity for this generation and future generations.

The problem is at the moment, Republicans in Congress don’t seem to be focused on how to grow the economy and build the middle class. I say “at the moment” because I’m still hoping that a light bulb goes off here. (Laughter.)

So far, their budget ideas revolve primarily around even deeper cuts to education, even deeper cuts that would gut America’s scientific research and development, even deeper cuts to America’s infrastructure investment — our roads, our bridges, our schools, our energy grid. These aren’t the policies that would grow the economy faster. They’re not the policies that would help grow the middle class. In fact, they’d do the opposite.

Obama continued to expound on how horrible the opposition party, who stands in his path of  implementing socialism, err…fairness…is.

Meanwhile…at the Navy Yard…Americans lay dead,dying, and wounded. Their political affiliation did not matter, nor did their race, or their sexual preference. They were Americans, shot by a lunatic, who at the time, was thought to have two accomplices.

However, Obama was on a mission yesterday. He had his wonderful (just ask him) speech prepared, and by God, he was going to give it, come Hell…or dead Americans. 

In fact, if Valerie Jarrett, or one of his other aides, had not told him and Moochelle how horrible an optic it would have been last night, Obama would have been shaking his groove thing, at the Latino Par-tay that was scheduled for Monday Night at the White House. Word did not come out until yesterday afternoon, that the event had been cancelled .

There has never been such a self-involved president in United States History.

As evidenced by the Syria Fiasco, our opinion does not matter to him.

And, as he showed yesterday morning, American lives are not that high a priority to this United States President, either.

Because, after all, it is all about Obama, isn’t it?

Until He comes,

KJ

 

Obama’s Economic Soliloquy: “Sound and Fury…Signifying Nothing”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Obama-Shrinks-2Yesterday, President Barack Hussein Obama spoke for one hour and six minutes at Knox College in Illinois. The speech was longer than all but one of his State of the Union Addresses.

The bad news? It was just the first in a series of speeches he’ll be giving under the title “A Better Bargain for the Middle Class”.

That’s right, boys and girls, our Petulant President is campaigning again, this time to distract and obfuscate.

A better title for this traveling lecture series would be “The Magical Mystery Tour”.

The Prevaricator-in-Chief has literally run out of ideas. So, he is recycling his “Growing the Economy From the Middle Class Out” bogus economic theory, praying that it distracts the nation from all of the scandals that are hanging over his head, like a piano in a Tom and Jerry Cartoon.

The problem he’s got is that he doesn’t sound like a U.S. President, who has a vision for our nation. Instead, he sounds like a visiting collegiate lecturer who has no lesson plan prepared.

You can tell by all the insipid double-talk he filled his soliloquy with . A straight talker, he ain’t.

Today, five years after the start of that Great Recession, America has fought its way back.

Together, we saved the auto industry, took on a broken health care system, and invested in new American technologies to reverse our addiction to foreign oil and double wind and solar power.

Together, we put in place tough new rules on big banks, and protections that cracked down on the worst practices of mortgage lenders and credit card companies. We changed a tax code too skewed in favor of the wealthiest at the expense of working families, locking in tax cuts for 98% of Americans, and asking those at the top to pay a little more.

Add it all up, and over the past 40 months, our businesses have created 7.2 million new jobs. This year, we are off to our strongest private-sector job growth since 1999. And because we bet on this country, foreign companies are, too. Right now, more of Honda’s cars are made in America than anywhere else. Airbus will build new planes in Alabama. Companies like Ford are replacing outsourcing with insourcing and bringing more jobs home. We sell more products made in America to the rest of the world than ever before. We now produce more natural gas than any country on Earth. We’re about to produce more of our own oil than we buy from abroad for the first time in nearly 20 years. The cost of health care is growing at its slowest rate in 50 years. And our deficits are falling at the fastest rate in 60 years.

Thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, we’ve cleared away the rubble from the financial crisis and begun to lay a new foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. In our personal lives, we tightened our belts, shed debt, and refocused on the things that really matter. As a country, we’ve recovered faster and gone further than most other advanced nations in the world. With new American revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing, and health care, we are actually poised to reverse the forces that have battered the middle class for so long, and rebuild an economy where everyone who works hard can get ahead.

…A growing number of Republican Senators are trying to get things done, like an immigration bill that economists say will boost our economy by more than a trillion dollars. But a faction of Republicans in the House won’t even give that bill a vote, and gutted a farm bill that America’s farmers and most vulnerable children depend on.

If you ask some of these Republicans about their economic agenda, or how they’d strengthen the middle class, they’ll shift the topic to “out-of-control” government spending – despite the fact that we have cut the deficit by nearly half as a share of the economy since I took office. Or they’ll talk about government assistance for the poor, despite the fact that they’ve already cut early education for vulnerable kids and insurance for people who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Or they’ll bring up Obamacare, despite the fact that our businesses have created nearly twice as many jobs in this recovery as they had at the same point in the last recovery, when there was no Obamacare.

With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. Short-term thinking and stale debates are not what this moment requires. Our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you – the people we represent. And as Washington prepares to enter another budget debate, the stakes for our middle class could not be higher. The countries that are passive in the face of a global economy will lose the competition for good jobs and high living standards. That’s why America has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity. Rebuilding our manufacturing base. Educating our workforce. Upgrading our transportation and information networks. That’s what we need to be talking about. That’s what Washington needs to be focused on.

And that’s why, over the next several weeks, in towns across this country, I will engage the American people in this debate. I will lay out my ideas for how we build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America, and what it takes to work your way into the middle class in America. Job security, with good wages and durable industries. A good education. A home to call your own. Affordable health care when you get sick. A secure retirement even if you’re not rich. Reducing poverty and inequality. Growing prosperity and opportunity.

Some of these ideas I’ve talked about before, and some will be new. Some will require Congress, and some I will pursue on my own. Some will benefit folks right away; some will take years to fully implement. But the key is to break through the tendency in Washington to careen from crisis to crisis. What we need isn’t a three-month plan, or even a three-year plan, but a long-term American strategy, based on steady, persistent effort, to reverse the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades.

Obama did his very best Lt. Frank Drebin impression in addressing his scandals,

Nothing to see here. Move along. Nothing to see here.

He begged the American public to ignore them.

Ambassador Chris Stevens, Tyrone Woods, Glen Doherty, and Sean Smith remain unavailable for comment.

And, Mr. President, a series of didactic lectures designed to distract from America’s growing dissatisfaction with your lousy performance as an American President, is not a ‘debate”.

Especially, when your staff hand-picks the audience.

Oh, about the Vichy Republicans who you say are working with you. You had better work quickly, because they won’t be around after November of 2014.

And, as far as acting on your own, you do so at your party’s peril. 

As far as we hard-working members of the middle class are concerned, we would appreciate it, if you stopped generating twice as many Food Stamp Recipients as your idiotic Economic Policies produce jobs.

That, as least, would show you are actually accomplishing something positive.

But, you won’t. Just as the scorpion explained to the frog, after stinging him in the middle of riding piggy-back across a lake, you can’t help destroying a once robust American Economy.

It’s just your nature.

Until He Comes,

KJ