Saturday, August 24, 2013

A Recap of This Week’s College-Bound and Down Tour

obama-ohio big black busPerhaps I could just stop here

Because there wasn’t much of anything else of import going on, Big Guy took to the open road last week to resume his mythical “How I saved America” tour.

“What we’ve got to do is to build on the cornerstones of what it means to be middle class in America -- a good job, good wages, a good education, a home, affordable health care, a secure retirement.  That’s what we need to focus on.” 

Amen, brother!

Then he spent the balance of his time explaining how the Republicans are to blame for not letting him focus on any of them.

“I’ve got to say it’s not always Washington’s highest priority.  Because rather than keeping focus on a growing economy that creates good middle-class jobs, we’ve seen a faction of Republicans in Congress suggest that maybe America shouldn’t pay its bills that have already been run up, that we shut down government if they can’t shut down Obamacare.

That won’t grow our economy.  That won’t create jobs.  That won’t help our middle class.  We can’t afford in Washington the usual circus of distractions and political posturing.  We can't afford that right now.”

The real highlight of the tour was the appearance of an unexpected protestor in Syracuse:

free manningBecause you can never have too many traitors in your midst

It was unclear if she was protesting the conviction of a traitor or was simply in favor of transgender sex reassignment for convicted traitors. Either way, Big Guy handled it with his usual aplomb:

No, no, no, that's fine.  Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.  We're okay.  We're okay.  That's okay.  Hold on a second.  Hold on.  Hold on.  Hello, everybody, hello.  Hold on.  Hold on a minute.  Hold on a minute.  Hold on.  So, now -- hold on a second.  (Applause.) Can I just say that as hecklers go, that young lady was very polite.  (Laughter.)  She was.  And  (Applause.) 

Then he complimented the protestor for being very polite, and noted that:

…she brought up an issue of importance, and that's part of what America is all about. 

So of course, they threw her out.

Butt rest assured; as Eqypt burns, battle ships cruise toward Syria and the phony IRS/DOJ/NSA/HHS/EPA/NSA scandals languish in the summer stupor, Big Guy carved time out of his busy schedule to tell a bunch of ill-prepared college kids how he plans to make college “more affordable” in the future. Unfortunately, none of the kids learned beans about basic economics in high school, so they’re still willing to shell out a quarter of a million dollars for a degree in “sociology” or, any other major with no math requirement, from a “prestigious” university - even though they won’t be able to pay it back in their entire productive lifetime.

einstein-albert-blackboard-1931-sized

Among many other good ideas, Big Guy offered this suggestion on how to contain college costs:

“This is probably controversial to say, but, what the heck, I’m in my second term, so I can say it,” Obama said. “Law schools would probably be wise to think about being two years instead of three years.”

I’m just guessing here, butt I think that last year might be optional because they focus on constitutional law in the third year.

obama-burning-constitution

Anyway, there was also a little time for fun during the “college-bound and down” tour, as captured in this photo at a local soccer practice:

bo kicks itHandicapped by his transparent presidency, BO attempts to advance the ball

Naturally, it spawned a fun photo-caption contest. Here’s the winner so far:

Screenshot Studio capture #1294

So have at it, and enjoy your weekend.

Linked By: Andrea Shea King: Surfin’ Safari on WND, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Adrienne’s Corner, and Kathleen Franklin Avant, Abby L Call, Clint Counts on facebook, and ValCSilver on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Friday, August 23, 2013

Sooner or later you even run out of part time jobs.

It’s sort of like Maggie’s warning about running out of other people’s money; sooner or later you also run out of part-time jobs and people who’ve ‘voluntarily” dropped out of the workforce or joined the ranks of the “disabled.”

And when that happens - just like when you run out of other people’s money - bad things happen. In the instant case, unemployment numbers begin to go up. A lot.

bo gap

Gallup is showing a huge 30 day jump in the unemployment rate, from 7.7% on July 21 to 8.9% on August 21, and the underemployed rate (those with some work, seeking more)  jumped from 17.1% to 17.9%.

Yikes! And as usual, Republicans are unfairly blaming Obamacare.

University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan [asserts that] ObamaCare discourages hiring, discourages full time employment and discourages businesses from becoming large rather than small.

This is very murky, what’s really going on here?

Let’s have Big Guy himself bring some transparency to the situation; he’s on one of his Big Black Bus tours, addressing middle class issues, so this should be right up his alley.

bo big black bus

 

“At some point, the government’s going to run out of money,” the president said.

No, wait a minute - he was talking about money for higher education, not unemployment:

Mr. Obama said the federal government and colleges have been in a type of financial arms race in recent years, with the government boosting its contributions and schools raising their prices.

“At some point, the government’s going to run out of money,” the president said.

Odd, that’s what some people have been saying about other government funded programs too; Obamacare, for example.

Butt I digress; what the heck’s really going on with unemployment? We’re in the middle of our 4th Summer of Recovery, and just recently pivoted to focus on JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!, how on earth can unemployment be going up?

It’s almost like we’re already running out of other people’s money. What could be going wrong?

Allow me to explain: In order to keep our summer of recovery 4.0 myth alive we’ve had to remove more and more people (7.5 million so far) from the denominator of the unemployment rate calculation. By doing so, we’ve inadvertently dropped our “labor participation rate” to 63% – the lowest in decades!

us-labor-participation-rate

A low labor participation rate, combined with the slowest job-market recovery since World War II and most of the job growth is part-time, more or less ensures that we will be run out of other people’s money.

Because when you’ve established a trend of fewer and fewer people working, you get fewer and fewer people paying taxes to support a government that’s getting bigger and bigger and spending more and more of other people’s money.

In short: we have more and more “spenders” and fewer and fewer “other people.”

imagesCA09ZP72

See? Economics is really pretty simple if you cut through all the crap.

obamanomics

Gosh, even some of the LSM seems to be, finally, getting the picture.

The only thing that could make this mess worse would be run away inflation. Oh wait…

what-causes-inflation_s600x6001If we tell you there’s no inflation, can you ignore the fact that the cost of hamburger has gone up 62% over the past 18 months? 52% of Americans say “yes, we can!”

Butt isn’t it the inflation in the cost of a college education *cough* that Big Guy is currently railing against on his BBB tour?

0822_obama-education

Why yes, yes it is. And if those bastions of out-of-control spending don’t figure out a way to reel it in, there will be sanctions.

Perhaps a frown:

obama_2651276b.jpg frown

So let that be a lesson to behemoths everywhere that are running out-of-control spending programs. Keep it up and you’re likely to get a very hard stare. 

bo coy

Linked By: Clarice Feldman and Abby L Call, Bobbie Jo Coffey, Claudia Smith, Mireille Buser on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Fundamentally Transforming America, Hip Hop Style

It might have been a gang initiation, or just a thrill kill by a bunch of bored, disaffected “yutes.” Either way, Big Guy is not yet aware of it because he’s got much bigger fish to fry right now. So he’ll get back to you when he’s done straightening out the mess he caused in the Middle East.

The Reverend Jackson, on the other hand – having been embarrassed earlier this month into (finally) commenting on the black-on-white school bus beating - did weigh in. With his usual robust rhetoric he sent out this tweet on the cold blooded murder of a white boy by a black boy, a half-black boy and their white accomplice:

jesse jackson tweet

PHILANTHROPY-CLINTON/Frowning: it’s like a hard stare, only not quite as harsh.

As I said, Big Guy was too busy with international affairs to get involved with a local crime. It seems that the bright red line that he drew for Syria last year has been breached.

iPad-wallpaper-red-lineReports of hundreds of deaths due to the use of chemical weapons have been received. And although Samantha Power, our new UN Ambassador, was apparently too busy to attend, our second highest-ranking American official at the United Nations, Rosemary Di Carlo, circulated a draft resolution to "urgently take the steps necessary for today's attack to be investigated by the U.N. mission on the ground."  That was apparently too harsh for Russia and China, who stripped  “the most strenuous provisions of the American draft…during closed-door negotiations.” So there was no agreement on calls for an investigation.

We ended up with a UN resolution agreeing to give Assad another stern warning and a harsh stare.Sad smile

la proxima guerra obama assad siria

Meanwhile, BO issued the following statement:

bo tweet syria copy

*See Legal Disclaimer below.

Obama-Press-Conference-Frown-600x469

Butt getting back to the yutes who allegedly shot Chris Lane in the back, they are a cross section of America: a black teen, a half-black teen with a white mother and a white kid. Their commonality? They were all Crip gang wannabes who idolized the hip rapper-thug lifestyle of livin’ large and violently.  Their iPods were loaded with some of the same “music” that occupies space on Big Guy’s: Ludacris, Jay-Z, Kanye and Lil Wayne.

Apparently BO recognized the dangerous message of rap lyrics, butt he still listens to it because, well it’s cool:

"I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," he said, "but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

Some would question whether music really required desegregation, as cross-over artists have been around since the Jazz Age. Butt most would agree with the part about it having “shifted the culture.”

lane murder suspects

Critics might say that it is shifting it in the wrong direction. As far as Big Guy is concerned though, you could say that if he had a son who was bored, he would’ve looked just like any one of those three boys.

Meanwhile, back to world affairs, I see the cheese-eating French surrender monkeys are now calling for the rest of the world to respond with force if the chemical weapons charges against Syria prove to be true. Let the record reflect that BO concurs: “I swear, if Libya unleashes one more chemical weapon on its own people, they’re going to get one of these.”

Obamas-Death-StareBeware the hard stare

*Legal Disclaimer: The Barack Hussein Obama tweet depicted above is not a real tweet. I made it up.

Linked By: American Digest, and Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Teala Sindt Sipes, Abby L Call, Sharon Cox, Randy Hudgins, on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Tao of the Pooh-ba

“When I was Won,
I had just begun.”

WhenWeWereVeryYoung(with apologies to A.A. Milne)

Do you remember when we were very young – about a minute or two into our first historic term? Big Guy dispatched this memorandum to his minions far and wide.

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government. (snip)

Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.  Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. (snip)

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. [ed.- small print that means nothing you just read applies unless we say so]

This directive was followed up, during the 2010 “Sunshine Week,” with this official statement:

"As Sunshine Week begins, I want to applaud everyone who has worked to increase transparency in government and recommit my administration to be the most open and transparent ever."

So let’s take a 5 year look at how everything’s working out so far: beginning with Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests, because I’m sure you remember how upset people were with George W. Bush when he refused FOIA requests: 

“When it comes to implementation of Obama’s wonderful transparency policy goals, especially FOIA policy in particular, there has been far more ‘talk the talk’ rather than ‘walk the walk,’” said Daniel Metcalfe, director of the Department of Justice’s office monitoring the government’s compliance with FOIA requests from 1981 to 2007.

In fact, much to AP’s dismay, analysis demonstrates that the Won has refused far more FOIA requests than even the greatly maligned GWB!! What’s up with that?

With no signs that we can expect things to get any better:

Administration lawyers are aggressively fighting FOIA requests at the agency level and in court — sometimes on Obama’s direct orders. They’ve also wielded anti-transparency arguments even bolder than those asserted by the Bush administration.

Nor does it seem that we are going out of our way to thank those in our ranks who are trying to make things more transparent:

The administration has embarked on an unprecedented wave of prosecutions of whistleblowers and alleged leakers — an effort many journalists believe is aimed at blocking national security-related stories. “There just seems to be a disconnect here. You want aggressive journalism abroad; you just don’t want it in the United States,” ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper told White House press secretary Jay Carney at a recent briefing for reporters

Take Benghazi for example.

pooh soldiersThe Pooh-ba inspects his troops, and finds them unworthy

Nearly a year later we still don’t know what really happened and why we didn’t send the cavalry in to save them. That doesn’t mean somebody doesn’t know; it just means that we can’t handle the truth: Sharyl Attkisson, whose multiple FOIA requests were refused, has been trying to uncover the facts, to no avail:

Screenshot Studio capture #1292 “What difference, at this point, does it make?”

Butt let’s continue our search for transparency in the most transparent administration ever. How about the NSA phony scandal? How well are we doing with transparency with respect to that? It’s a bit hard to tell, as some portions of the evidence requested has been redacted:

 nsa document redacted

So we turn to Obamcare. Surely the Pooh-ba’s signature legislation is a reflection of his signature transparency policy.

You recall that Obamacare started with the promise that it would be discussed openly in order for the citizens to see everything being proposed. And then, the Pooh-ba promised, every citizen would have at least 72 hours to read it and send their comments to their legislators before it was voted on.

Butt we couldn’t work the terms and conditions for broadcasting the secret closed door bribes and horse trading negotiations required to seal the deal. And because the do-nothing Congress dragged their feet so long on giving in agreeing to our demands reasonable terms for passing the bill so they could find out what was in it, we had to rush the vote through. Because it was Christmas Eve and everyone wanted to get home in time to celebrate the Winter Holiday. So even Congress didn’t get 72 hours to read it so let’s not call it a lie, let’s just say it was a misstatement.

winnie_the_pooh_quotes_what_is_for_breakfastTransparency/opaqueness; it’s the same thing to the Pooh-ba

Anyway, the House Oversight Committee is currently investigating certain terms of Obamacare because, having rushed it through so fast we had a few loose ends we tied up unilaterally:

The administration’s decision to expand subsidies to the federally run health insurance exchanges mandated by Obamacare… it is unclear if the law permits the federal government to extend these subsidies to the federally run exchanges.

That should be easy enough to determine, right? Um, under our new transparency provisions:

The House Oversight Committee slammed the Treasury Department on Thursday for withholding documents related to the committee's investigation of the administration's expansion of subsidies in the ObamaCare exchanges. 

And then, there’s this CDC study that some critics are calling a violation of transparency by virtue of omission. You see, instead of trumpeting this landmark gun study, commissioned by our own transparent administration, we just ignored it. Because the results neither met nor exceeded expectations:

For example, the majority of gun-related deaths between 2000 and 2010 were due to suicide and not criminal violence. (snip)

If the president was looking to the CDC report for support on how to reduce the threat of firearm-related violence through legislation restricting the rights of American citizens, he was sorely disappointed. Perhaps that’s why so few of the media have publicized the report. In fact, the only establishment media even to mention the report was the Washington Post, which criticized it for not answering questions that it wasn't asked to answer!

winnie-the-poohballonNo, no! Don’t shoot!

So, where does that leave our signature program of transparency in government? Let’s just say it’s evolving:

“In retrospect, ‘open government’ was a bad choice,” former Deputy Chief Technology Officer Beth Noveck wrote in The Huffington Post last year. “It has generated too much confusion. Many people, even in the White House, still assume that open government means transparency about government.”

(Noveck) noted that the White House has subtly shifted from the “open government” theme, setting up a new Web page last year focused on “good government.” A few months later, it rebranded the effort again, as “21st Century Government.”

 

So, welcome to the world of 21st Century Government. It’s like transparency, only it really isn’t.

clint-eastwood-invisible-obama_0“So, Mr Pooh-ba, I see your transparency program is coming along quite well. 

All I can say is that this new transparency program, combined with our new gun policy, makes hunting a whole different sport. I’d be very careful about wandering into the 100 Acre Woods if I were the Pooh-ba.

imagesCA0J52HX

“This--whatever-it-was--has been joined by another--whatever-it-is--and the two of them are now proceeding in company. Would you mind coming with me, Piglet, in case they turn out to be Hostile Animals?"

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and Abby L Call, Mireille Buser on facebook, and kcrouch on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Wowie al Jezowie: Can’t find it in the heartland...Yet...

I don’t know where you slept last night, butt the quaint little heartland motel I slept in didn’t carry al Jezowie-America TV, so I missed the big launch of the only real competitor Ms.NBC has for the Muslim propaganda demographic. If you were one of the nearly 200 viewers who tuned in, you witnessed agitprop history being made.

This morning, I surfed on over to Algore’s former CurrentTV web site, to see what I missed, butt instead of CurrentTV, this is what greeted me:

Screenshot Studio capture #1293

I signed up pronto and was swiftly transported to the official al Jezowie-America website. Leading the lineup was a hard hitting report of the Egyptian military junta’s illegal detention of the most holy, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed (of course) Badie.

src_adapt_960_high_1376999504978

Following that report was an expose detailing, from recently declassified documents, the CIA’s evil role in the 1953 Iranian coupe which deposed the most holy, Dr. Mohammed (naturally) Mossadegh.

1

And let’s give credit where credit is due: al Jezowie would never have been able to file this expose - whipping jihadies into further frenzy - without big Guy’s unprecedented transparency. So let’s just drop all the griping about Team-Obama not being forthcoming. (More on that tomorrow – I arrived at my quaint little heartland motel  a little too late last night to file my complete report.)

Death%20to%20America

And finally, one for the Global Warming sect of the al Jezowie congregation: “The day the bees died.” The story blames the death of all the bees in America on genetically modified crops (GMC), global warming, and pesticides. So pick your villain or villains – or add one of your own. Al Jezowie will cover it as long as it involves evil interests in America trying to destroy the world.

bee hive“Resistance is futile”

In solidarity, Lady M is launching a limited edition “Golden Bee Pin” for a mere $250,000 donation to OFA (tax deductible of course) that will be used, in part, to promote the “Pollinator-Protection Act of 2013” which will outlaw pesticides, GMC, and place fines on all human activity that Algore considers contributing to global warming. I think you’ll want one:

midnight garden gold ombre bee pin by alexis bittar

Because what’s more important than protecting Lady M’s Big White bee colony,

white house Bees

whose honey is used to make Big Guy’s favorite White House Honey Ale?

white-house-super-bowl-beer-obama-homebrew-honey-ale1

And if that’s not enough, “Golden Bee Pin” wearers get “Pollinator-Protection Act of 2013” and Obamacare waivers! Are you in?

Linked By: Abby L Call, Fred Hopkins, Clint Counts on facebook, and LadyLiberty1885, ValCSilver on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Monday, August 19, 2013

On The Road Again Too

Following a well deserved rest, the Wons have returned to their nest.

ap-image-e6839017-396c-41c2-819e-62d79354a040

Unfortunately it’s still August and we all know what happens in August, don’t we? That’s right, everyone in Washington gets all wee weed up.

Butt until that happens I’m taking the slow road home and will be traveling in my air conditioned Jeep Grand Cherokee for the next few days, winding my way through the mountains and by-ways. I’ll probably be passing through places where people still bitterly cling to their guns and religion, stopping for lunch in diners, drive-ins and dives that serve lots of red meat where nobody’s never heard of, let alone eaten, arugula.

bo arugula posterIt’s an elitist thing; you wouldn’t understand

Tomorrow I’ll be back at work, Charles Kuralt style, to report on how people across America feel about Big Guy’s commitment to and constant pursuit of complete transparency in government – his #2 priority, right behind Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

So until then, please carry on with the topic of your choice: politics

politics

clowns:

mo clowns around IOTW

golf:

bo golf swishNice swish swing!

or mindless entertainment:

tv-keeping-up-with-the-kardashians14

See you on the road with MOTUS tomorrow!

 

 

calvin-and-hobbes-wagon

Linked By: BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Just Another Day in Paradise

There was a lot of smoke in Cairo as their annual “day of rage” carnival continued into the weekend.

egypt-cairo_2644407b

And there was a lot of smoke in Seattle as their annual celebration of hemp got under way.

hempBongs and gas masks: leave it to Seattle to find a way to recycle cannabis smoke

ufoseattle“Sanctuary Seattle” welcomed aliens to the “hash bash” (via American Digest)

Butt here on Martha’s Vineyard, it was just another day in paradise.

”Another Day In Paradise”: Phil Collins

A little golf with enlightened Hollywood guru Larry David and 2 other white guys.

bo golf4

No wait, that’s not Larry – here he is:

bo and david

After 5 hours of golf, and a relaxing hot tub, it was time for cocktails and dinner at Val’s waterfront home in Oak Bluffs. After dinner the village held a fireworks display for Lady M, Big Guy and the Wee Wons.

f6126219a467b21b3a0f6a70670068edIlluminati Illumination Night in Oak Bluffs

There was supposed to be a photo op, butt much to the disappointment of the trailing press pool, that was cancelled for some reason. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the Stoli on the rocks before and the case of fine Bordeaux that everyone enjoyed with dinner.

So in lieu of the family shot at the fireworks, how about this vintage shot of BO on Val’s deck (before the renovations were completed to bring it up to shadow-president standards).

valjar house

Or how about this selfie of MO and LIttle Bo?

130811_michelle_bo_obama_ap_605

Okay, it’s not from our vacay  either, butt it’s sure better than another one of those biking photos, and it does “pose” a lot of potential for discussion and commentary.

Now I’ve got to go pack since we’re leaving today. We have to get back to Washington to make everything transparent. You know, like the Republican’s War on Obamacare.

Screenshot Studio capture #1289

Wait a minute! If health insurance is a right…don’t I have a right to choose?

To be continued later, when my head doesn’t hurt so much.

MOTUS Public Service Announcement: If you haven’t done so already, and you probably have, scoot on over to Clarice’s Pieces on American Thinker. Supoib!

Linked By: American Digest, and Doug Ross@Journal, and Abby L Call on facebook, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network