Barack Is Sure Shoveling Something

Shovel Ready My Ass

Surely there are less expensive ways to learn that “shovel-ready projects” are a myth.

Back in early 2009, President-elect Barack Obama was asked on Meet the Press how quickly he could create jobs. Oh, very fast, he said. He’d already consulted with a gaggle of governors, and “all of them have projects that are shovel-ready.” When Obama revealed the members of his energy team, he explained that they were part of his effort to get started on “shovel-ready projects all across the country.” When he unveiled his education secretary, he assured everyone that he was going to get started “helping states and local governments with shovel-ready projects.”

In interviews, job summits, and press conferences, it was shovel-ready this, shovel-ready that. Search the White House website for the term “shovel-ready” and you’ll drown in press releases about all the shovels ready to shove shovel-ready projects into the 21st century, where no shovel is left behind.

Only now it turns out that the president was shoveling something all right when he was talking about shovel-ready jobs — a whole pile of steaming something.

In the current issue of The New York Times Magazine, Obama admits that there’s “no such thing as shovel-ready” when it comes to public works.

It’s not that Obama was lying when he said all that stuff. It’s just that he didn’t know what he was talking about. All it took was nearly a trillion dollars in stimulus money and 20-plus months of on-the-job training for him to discover that he was talking nonsense.

See Jonah Goldberg at the National Review for the whole story.

Moonbattery did find a shovel ready job that The Anointed Won created:

Free Speech Isn’t Free in D.C.

This sums up the the way the “Ruling Elite” on both sides of the aisle feel about us peons. From Hot Air.

Only in Washington DC could a person who describes the First Amendment’s protection of free speech wind up in jail for 90 days. The Institute of Justice has decided to challenge DC’s regulation of the tour-guide industry, where the capital of the free world exercises a prior-restraint licensing regime on those who would describe the city to tourists, who come to admire this bastion of liberty:

Read It All, and vote the bums out in November.

Mr. Brown Goes to Washington… In a Pick-up Truck, No Less!

Congratulations to the new Senator-elect from Massachusetts! Scott Brown’s victory proves that the desire for real solutions transcends notions of “blue state” and “red state”. Americans agree that we need to hold our politicians accountable and bring common sense to D.C.

Recent elections have taught us that when a party in power loses its way, the American people will hold them accountable at the ballot box. Today under the Democrats, government spending is up nearly 23 percent and unemployment is higher than it’s been in a quarter of a century. For the past year they’ve built a record of broken promises, fat cat bailouts, closed-door meetings with lobbyists, sweetheart deals for corporate cronies, and midnight votes on weekends for major legislation that wasn’t even read. The good citizens of Massachusetts reminded Democrats not to take them for granted.

Americans cheered for Scott Brown’s underdog campaign because they viewed his candidacy as a vote against the Democrats’ health care bill. You know that there’s something wrong with this legislation when opposition to it inspired a Republican victory in a state that currently has no Republicans in Congress and last sent a Republican to the Senate nearly 40 years ago.

Clearly this victory is a bellwether for the big election night ten months from now. In the spirit of bipartisanship, let me offer some advice to the Democrats on how to stem this populist tide. Scrap your current health care bill and start from scratch. We all want true reform, but government mandated insurance is not it. Scott Brown campaigned against this top-down bureaucratic mess. We need common sense solutions like reforming malpractice laws, allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, giving individual purchasers the same tax benefits as those who get coverage through their employers, and letting small businesses pool together to provide insurance for their employees. Focus your efforts on jobs, not on job-killing legislation. Such a change in approach would show Americans that you’re listening.

My best wishes to Senator-Elect Brown. When you go to Washington, may you never forget the ordinary citizens you met while driving that truck through the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

- Sarah Palin

Go Ahead, Laugh at California. You Are Next

If you haven’t heard the saying “As California Goes, So Goes The Nation”, you had better listen up. Thankfully, it looks like the TEA parties had some effect yesterday, but pay  attention to the train wreck that is headed your way.

Sadly, I did vote for Arnold, twice, I’m so ashamed about the second time.   Hindsight being 20/20, I should have voted for Mary Carey. Honestly, she did run for Governor. But so did Gary Coleman and Larry Flint.

No, really Tom McClintock should have been the Governor. He’s in the video if you haven’t watched it.

The California media is not pleased with the voters going against the liberal agenda. But that’s nothing new, we voted down gay marriage twice and they are still upset. Michelle Malkin has the scoop on the Sacremento Bee. They still think the TEA parties were a joke. Well, the joke is on them, and it’s not going to sit well, so be forewarned.

Thank You Fellow Californians

A fine job. This proves the TEA parties were not just for show, and not just a radical right wing idea. It took people from all parties to defeat these new taxes and phoney fixes by such wide margins. Not one proposition even got 40% support except 1F, and that’s the one that needed to pass.  Now, remember this at election time and get rid of the idiots that have caused this mess. And also, quit voting for every “Green” scam put on a ballot. If they just did away with all that bullsh!t for two years the budget would be balanced.

— Proposition 1A would have been the most damaging to taxpayers, as it would extend tax hikes on sales, income, and vehicles for two years, to the tune of $16 billion. It was disguised as a spending cap, but that cap was weak. Voters sniffed out the tax hikes and overwhelmingly opposed them 66-34.

— Proposition 1B didn’t fare much better, as it was rejected by a 62.5 to 37.5 vote. This measure was Gov. Schwarzenegger’s bow to the all-powerful teachers unions. It would have thrown an addition $9.3 billion toward education. It hoped to draw that money from the rainy day fund 1A would have established (so much for a spending cap). Thankfully for taxpayers, both measures were defeated.

— Proposition 1C would have allowed the state to borrow against future lottery revenues, about $5 billion. You have to give state government credit for creativity — they’re tops when it comes to new and innovative budget gimmicks that ignore the reality that they consistently spend outside their means. Voters recognized that Prop 1C ignored this fundamental reality and rejected it 65-35.

— Proposition 1D would have shifted almost $2 billion from the California Children and Families Program into the general fund to close the budget gap. This is more budgetary maneuvering that would have left taxpayers on the hook when the program’s funding was inevitably restored. It lost 66-34.

— Proposition 1E failed by the same 66-34. Like Prop 1D, it would have diverted funds from elsewhere in the budget to shore up general-fund overspending (about $230 million annually from Proposition 63 — a tax on the rich).

— Proposition 1F was the only measure to pass. It imposed a weak limit on pay raises for legislators, theoretically disallowing them during budget deficit years. Regardless of its actual teeth, the results show true populist outrage in California: The measure passed by a resounding 74-26.

Source: The Corner@NRO

Freedom Of The Press?

Not at USC.

!!UPDATE!! John tells the whole story. The Truth About My Arrest At USC

John went to USC to witness and ask questions about Katie Couric getting the Walter Cronkite journalism award for her interview of Sarah Palin. He intended to also give away copies of his film but was literally prevented from doing so. He did not go there hoping for or expecting any sort of confrontation, especially with law enforcement. He was simply shocked and horrified by what happened there, as should every freedom loving American. He did absolutely nothing wrong and was handcuffed, detained and literally abused by law enforcement at the event.

Is this what we have to look forward to with the Obama administration in charge? Can’t get an answer form them, and can’t confront the Lap Dog Media that got him elected.

Check it out at How Obama Got Elected.

Where is Helen Thomas when we need her?

PEBO is still getting the kid glove treatment. This crap has got to stop….send in the dogs!!

As I watched President Bush’s final tango with reporters this morning, I was reminded of how Chicago Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin described President-elect Obama’s press conferences thus far:

“As ferociously as we march like villagers with torches against Blagojevich, we have been, in the true spirit of the Bizarro universe, the polar opposite with the president-elect. Deferential, eager to please, prepared to keep a careful distance.

The Obama news conferences tell that story, making one yearn for the return of the always-irritating Sam Donaldson to awaken the slumbering press to the notion that decorum isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The press corps, most of us, don’t even bother raising our hands any more to ask questions because Obama always has before him a list of correspondents who’ve been advised they will be called upon that day.“

How long will the Obama-friendly press corps, no matter how “deferential” and “eager to please,” tolerate such tight management?

source

Ya know….on second thought, even Obama doesn’t deserve that.

Sarah Talks About Media Bias. With Video

Excerpts from an upcoming documentary by John Ziegler via the great new site Big Hollywood.

Written by: John Ziegler – January 7th, 2009

If someone told me five months ago that in early January I would pay over $1,400 for an incredibly inconvenient plane ticket and $120 for a 3 a.m. cab fare to get from sunny Los Angeles to Wasilla, Alaska, I would have told them there was a better chance the Dow Jones would be below 9,000 and a gallon of gas less than two dollars.

If they would have told me I’d be glad to have made the journey (even with a seven-hour, weather-aided stop in Seattle), I would have told them Sarah Palin had a better chance to be John McCain’s running-mate. Of course, as we all now know this turned out to be true. And even though I still have the flu I got just before the trip, I’m thrilled to have experienced minus-eleven degrees in Alaska.

Obviously, I was there to interview Governor Palin for my forthcoming documentary about the media coverage of election 2008. My understanding is that the only reason Governor Palin did this interview (while rejecting hundreds of other requests) is because of her sincere devotion to setting the record straight on what really happened during the campaign and to determine why the news coverage was as dangerously slanted as it so clearly was.

Largely because of absurd claims by Democrats that she was violating ethics rules by answering campaign questions on state grounds (one of several ways in which the Democrats in Alaska, who used to love her, are now fully invested in the “take Sarah Palin down” industry), we did the interview at the Palin home. At 9 a.m., without a security guard or handler in sight, Bristol Palin, eight days removed from giving birth, politely answered the door and Governor Palin, not yet fully put together, rushed out to tell myself and my crew to make ourselves at home.

Be sure to check out the comments at the end of the article. The liberal attack dogs are still out there, and they are scared.

Chicago Politics: What a Wicked Web They Weave

With every new story out of Chicago there’s another piece of the puzzle put in place. In this new AP article it appears to me that Jesse Jackson Jr. didn’t pay the proper amount to get his wife appointed to be a lottery director. And in turn, that may be the reason that JJJ is more involved in the investigation more than he wants to admit right now. In Chicago politics, paybacks are a bitch.

CHICAGO – Shortly after his 2002 election, Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. he didn’t appoint the congressman’s wife as lottery director because he had refused him a $25,000 campaign donation, a person familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Blagojevich went out of his way to say, ‘You know I was considering your wife for the lottery job and the $25,000 you didn’t give me? That’s why she’s not getting the job,’” the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing federal investigation.

Jackson’s name has played prominently ever since Blagojevich was arrested last week on corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to sell or trade President-elect Barack Obama‘s vacant Senate seat for personal gain.

Ya think little boy Blago taunted the wrong person? His ego will be his downfall.

Jackson spokesman Kenneth Edmonds declined to comment on the account of the exchange shortly after Blagojevich’s 2002 election but said the congressman, the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, has approached federal investigators to discuss the governor and others for years.

“He has shared information with federal prosecutors about public corruption during the past several years, including information about Blagojevich and others,” Edmonds said.

And the biggest politician from Chicago refuses to answer any questions. Of course that’s not unusual. His Chief of staff to be is up to his eyeballs in this and has gone into hiding. I see a pattern developing here. Never answer a direct question, stall for two or three days till the handlers decide what the truth is, then call it a distraction.

And this little tidbit.

In April, the Chicago Tribune reported that an examination of campaign donations to Blagojevich showed that three in four donors who gave exactly $25,000 received administration favors such as state board appointments or contracts.

This is just one corrupt Chicago politician, and at the time of this post, Obama isn’t even officially president elect Obama yet. (that happens after the delegates meet) It’s going to be an interesting 4 years.

Read the rest.

Michelle Malkin has more on the corruption in Chicago.

The Real Housewives of Crook County

Cable television introduced us to “The Real Housewives of Orange County” – an estrogen-infused reality show featuring a coven of conniving and ambitious women living pampered lives in southern California. Blago-gate has brought us something even juicier: The Real Housewives of Crook County, Illinois. The public may be wearying of indicted Democrat Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Chicago boys’ club, but the conniving and ambitious women behind the scenes of the corruption scandal are a must-see political drama all their own.

Cuz We Have Barack Obama

Yep, The MessiUH will cure all. The sad part is, this is why they voted for him.

From MsUnderestimated

H/T Pat Dollard

Another Loser Joins the Global Warming Cult

John F Kerry will join his fellow loser Al Gore in the fight against global warming. He’s getting in at the end of the game of course. The world is starting to wake up to the fraud, and poor old John will be on the losing end once again.

Reporting for Duty

On the eve of going to a major conference on global climate change, Senator John F. Kerry said today that he will make the issue a priority as the incoming chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

And that, he said, is a sea change from the Bush administration.

“It’s a moment we’ve been waiting for, many of us, for some period of time — for eight years, to be blunt,” Kerry said. “And we intend to pick up the baton and really run with it here.”

“I have both the chairmanship of the committee as well as a president to work with,” he added in a conference call with reporters. “And I’m very excited about where the United States is going to be. I think President-elect Obama, in his remarks to the climate change summit that Governor Schwarzenegger held least week, made it very, very clear that after eight years of obstruction and delay and denial, the United States is going to rejoin the world community in tackling this global challenge.”

Source

H/T Skeptic

He might want to stay away from those athletic metaphors.

The Pass?

The Catch?

“The (smug) One” is a Study in Arrogance

He’s still using his phony props. Remember This? He has really bought into the whole Messiah bit. Now he’s made up a fake cardboard sign to stroke his ego a little more. Hell man, you got the job. Now try to act like you deserve it.

President-elect Barack Obama is looking very presidential these days. When he makes an announcement, he is ringed by American flags and stands behind a lectern that has a very presidential-looking placard announcing “The Office of the President-Elect.”

But the props are merely that. Under the Constitution, there is no such thing as the Office of the President-elect. Technically, Obama will not even become the president-elect until the Electoral College convenes after the second Wednesday in December and elects him based on the results of the Nov. 4 general election, as stated in the Constitution.

So what is Obama’s executive authority in the weeks leading to Jan. 20?

In the 11 weeks between Election Day and Inauguration Day, the next president must ensure a smooth transition by selecting political appointees to manage key agencies and offices within the Executive Branch, and by creating the policies that will define the new administration — all while respecting the authority held by the current president.

Yeah, respect. Like blabbing a private conversation with President Bush as soon as he left the White House? I don’t think he knows the meaning of respect. But considering where he came from, how could he?

The Rest

The Face of the “New” Obama Administration

I first posted this during the primaries. Who new it would come true. With all the old Clinton cronies, and even Hillary herself, being snapped up by “The One”, it really is the Clinton’s third term.

California Communist Party aka Democrats (plus Arnold)

Where to start….. I suppose the left is emboldened by The MessiUH winning the election. I guess they figure they might as well get get a head start on the road to socialism, if not communism, because they know that’s where they’re headed. I really thought they would try to hide it just maybe until the inauguration, but they just can’t help themselves. Drunk With Power keeps running through my head. Keep in mind here, The MessiUH wins by 5% and it’s a Mandate. Californians get the same 5% for prop 8, and it’s just fine to overturn a majority vote.

Democratic legislators ask state Supreme Court to void Prop. 8

Reporting from Sacramento — Forty-three Democratic legislators, including leaders of the California Senate and Assembly, filed a brief Monday urging the California Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and incoming President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg signed the friend of the court brief, filed with the state Supreme Court.

• 

• 

No Republican legislator signed the petition, though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, denounced the anti-gay marriage measure over the weekend.

With almost 11 million ballots tallied, Proposition 8 had 52.3% of the vote to 47.7%. Although many ballots remain to be counted, the 500,000-vote spread is viewed as insurmountable.

“The citizens of California rely on the Legislature and the courts to safeguard against unlawful discrimination by temporary, and often short-lived, majorities,” the legislators said in the document, written by attorneys at the firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

“This is a Hail Mary, no question about it,” said Frank Schubert, manager of the Proposition 8 campaign.

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown’s office would be obligated to defend the initiative. But Schubert said that if the high court agrees to hear the case, backers of the initiative would seek to intervene to defend it.

Source

This will be the second time the vote results on this same issue are overturned. And with A.G. Moonbeam and Arnold RINO Schwarzenegger wanting it done, we are so screwed.

Welcome to a preview of things to come with the Democrats controlling all three houses. It is at the very least socialism……and the next step? Communism.

Michelle Malkin says It’s Over. You Lost. Move On.

Zo Has a Message: Aftermath

Black and Right