Obama realizes what he criticized was necessary, example no.#.........

.....oh, I've lost count.

Let's see.

"Bush started the stimulus spending!!"---That gives Obama permission to spend, now in the trillions.

"These are the LAST EARMARKS."---We heard that from Pelosi, Obama, & Co. a few weeks ago. Yeah, right.

And now?

The President is asking for $83 billion dollars for war funding.

You know, that evil "it's not in the budget" spending for the "War Formerly Known As The War On Terror".

Why?

Well, let's read shall we? Today's "response to why are we doing what Bush did" is from the usual suspect, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Emphasis mine.

"Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, acknowledged that Obama has been critical of Bush's use of similar special legislation to pay for the wars. He said it was needed this time because the money will be required by summer, before Congress is likely to complete its normal appropriations process.

"This will be the last supplemental for Iraq and Afghanistan. The process by which this has been funded over the course of the past many years, the president has discussed and will change," Gibbs said.

Last June, Congress approved $66 billion in advance 2009 funding for military operations. All told, the Pentagon would receive $142 billion in war funding for the budget year ending on Sept. 30."

----------------------------------

So, to repeat....

1) Bush did stimulus, so Obama does MORE! You know, "the Republicans forget they left us a trillion dollar debt" line? So let's just throw four trillion on top of it. Gee, can I go to Nordstrom's and spend like that?? Wouldn't I be helping the economy? Then I could just ask for a bailout.....

2) EARMARKS MUST STOP!--------Except for these few final ones......

and now:

3) NO MORE OFF BUDGET WAR SPENDING!

Shh! Except for this $83 billion.

-------------------------

MY POINT: I'm sure the military needs the $83 billion, but I just can't help but laugh at Robert Gibbs defending a policy his boss attacked a gazillion times during the campaign and since becoming President.

What's next?

LIVE BLOGGING: The President's First Speech To Congress

Now that the clap-happy is done.....(that always trips me out)

I don't think it's ever taken a President 17 minutes to get in, shake hands, and start speaking.......

Well, here we go.

1) So far, one "crisis" and lots of word pictures of difficulty and loss.
2) "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than ever before."

(Pelosi ruined that line by standing up too early; that was the cornerstone line of the speech, given to the press earlier, and some people missed it all. Why am I critical? She HAS A COPY of the speech in front of her, and has had it for some time!)

3) It didn't happen overnight. Here's the lineup. Energy. Health care. Education. Debt. "Short term gains were prized over long term prosperity".

OH, first notice of "wealth to the wealthy".

OH II----people bought homes they couldn't afford......

----------------------------------

We're five minutes in, have heard nothing new.

He gets applause for saying he wants to talk to us tonight. Dear heavens!!!

Our first split decision: That "Recovery and Reinvestment Act" is now law. GOP stays seated.

3.5 million jobs......when we're done building broadband, turbines, and rebuilding roads, what do we do then?? What jobs will be next to create?

UNEMPLOYMENT HEALTH CARE COVERAGE? WHAT?? I didn't get that option last year. No, I'm NOT jealous.

--------------------

9:25pm---"Nobody messes with Joe." And thus is the bone thrown tonight to the Vice-President, who won't be seen again for a week.

--------------------

Time for the "credit CRISIS". (I'm not being tongue-in-cheek with the CAPS, I am trying to keep tabs on the use of the word.)

3!

"A New Lending Fund"-----paid for by????????

"Plan to help Responsibile Families" on their homes------how do they determine who a deadbeat is?

"Provide Support to clean up (bad banks) balance sheets...."------is that code speak for some sort of "nationalization"?

4!

Everybody stands on accountability. :) No brainer.

CEO's: "Those days are over". What about the ball players who make eight figures?

(REMEMBER---I ASK QUESTIONS TO MAKE US THINK!)

SIDEBAR: I do VERY much appreciate Obama's speaking style. He is speaking "to" the American people. Not all Presidents do that.

---------------------------

Hmmm......."our outdated regulatory system." Haven't heard anyone in the media tackle this one yet.

Ut oh.......Obama history lesson. Ah, the GI Bill was AFTER THE DEPRESSION AND WAR. Sorry, that one doesn't wash.

Government "catalyzed"??? "CATALYZED"?? We can't spark anything without the government??? What the????

Now it's time to hear the cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching.......

REMEMBER, we're in a trillion dollar deficit. Trillions of dollars in debt.


1) Energy----love the ideas. Who pays for it all?

Good line about cars. "The nation that invented automobiles cannot walk away from it."

2) Health Care-----a bankruptcy every 30 seconds. It COULD cause 1.5 million people to lose their homes. (Can we check that figure in a year, just to make sure that wasn't a throwaway line? Didn't say it wasn't true, but it should be fact checked.)

OMG----Pelosi is jubliant almost to the point of RUDE!!!! She wasn't sure whether to stand for a cure for cancer in our time, but she jumped up at that 11 million children figure. Legislation! I'll clap to that! I love it when children have health care. Who's paying for it? That's my only question.

"It will not wait another year."---oh, boy; so, who's paying???? And how does the GDP grow when you're thinking of taking 1/6th of it and nationalizing it?

3) Education-----Okay...the same public high schools he applauded in his history lesson are now desperately in need of fixing. It's either one or the other.

College affordable for seven million more students. Details??? Figures??? Who's paying the tuition???

Teacher incentives...."rewards for success". Criteria? Based on what?

WHOA----expand our committment to charter schools!!! Pelosi was STONE FACED on that one. Thank you, Mr. President, for realizing there are MANY ways to fix the education problem. I hope that wasn't a throwaway line.

By 2020----the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. CONGRESS IS ALREADY FILLED WITH THEM! Just a reminder, folks......

Responsibility begins at home. AMEN, MR. PRESIDENT!!!

--------------------------------------------

Okay, now the fun. Listen CAREFULLY. All this spending, and don't pass on debt. Hmmm......

WHOA---DEMS ARE DRUNK WITH POWER! Did U see Chuck Schumer laughing at the GOP while clapping over the "inherited deficit".

NO EARMARKS? EXCUSE ME?? 2 Trillion Dollars in the next decade. POST IT ALL ON RECOVERY.GOV!!!

"Cold War Era" weapons programs gone. Okay, so what do we REPLACE them with?

Notice, so far, NOT A WORD on defense. All this will be wonderful, so long as we don't get hit with "9/11 II", or, God forbid, beyond.

----------------------

"Not one single dime." Wonder how many people making between $250,000 and $500,000 owns small business and are about to get "gouged", now that they've been branded "rich"? I don't know a lot of people that make more than $250K that isn't either an owner or seriously invested in the company where they hang their hat, do you?

Americans-----PLEASE, PLEASE think for yourselves when it comes to the "definition of the rich".

---------------------

Yikes! We won't allow terrorists to plot attacks in safe havens halfway around the world. Do you realize what that means??? Did you see all the Democrats clapping?? That means CONTINUAL WAR for the FORESEEABLE FUTURE, FRIENDS! Don't you get it? Don't you understand?

And that's the reality of war that could never be wiped away by the campaign slogan, "ending the war in Iraq". There are people in that hall tonight simply not thinking. They're listening to soundbites and responding like Pavlov's dog to make sure they're doing the politically expedient "thing" if the camera comes upon them.

And DON'T get me started on "The United States does not torture......"

---------------------

Time for the conclusion.

Bank CEO in Miami shares wealth. Private citizen; private decision. That rocks!!!!

"We are not quitters."-----The Bible says "...out of the mouth of babes...."
Great story, and yes, government can answer the need and cry of a neglected public school system.

5!!!

And 51 minutes later, we're done. Let the pundits with cameras begin. :)

WHOSE recession??????

As usual, my first blog love hits the nail on the head regarding the first essential element of the house of cards that created the economic mess we are in.

As opposed to people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, my girl uses FACTS to prove her point.

WHO warned us about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

WHO praised them for almost a decade?

Moby Rebuttal brings the facts; you decide. Click the title above for the TRUTH!

I'm sorry, I can't help myself.....

....I just wanted to make sure you knew that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi now officially understands many of us in the "middle class" (whatever "middle class" officially is...)

From CNN.com:


"Many Americans in the middle class are living paycheck to paycheck," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after the vote.

Strike her off the list of "clueless". :)

Political strategy in the Men's room......

So, I stop by the restroom before I leave the office tonight, and someone had left a newspaper on the floor.

Who do I see? Nancy Pelosi (plus Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid). You may insert your own joke here, I will resist the urge.

Nancy says Congress will not allow the President to send in more troops to Iraq.

Which got me to thinking......like a politican..........

The LAST thing that ANY of us should politicize is the situation in Iraq. It puts our troops in more danger, first of all, and secondly, we are talking about the most sensitive region in the world (always has been, always will be).

Will "politics" inevitably come up in a frank, honest dialogue on the subject? Sure. What I'm speaking of is "using politics to further your political career/agenda/ambitions".

So, I started thinking like a politican who only wants to look good and get re-elected.

Let's say I'm George W. Bush. I hear the cries of the new majority on Capitol Hill and say, "Okay, let's do it your way."

Bush goes to the Iraqi Prime Minister and announces that all United States military personnel will be out of Iraq no later than December 31, 2007. So, they've got a year to get their own house in order.

Now, we know the following would most likely occur:

1) Terrorists and terror sympathizers would continue their sectarian attacks and count down the days until 01/01/08. More and more Iraqis will die.

2) After January 1, 2008, when we are "gone", it's most likely that the government there now could last, say, 30 days. So therefore, all-out chaos ensues and contributes to the destabilization of an already destablized region. Plus, with no blanket protection by the U.S. and coalition forces in their way, the attacks become bombardments.

3) So, by the 2008 political conventions, it could be argued that there would be more Iraqi deaths in the chaotic first half of 2008 (as well as maybe a threatened invasion by Iran, Syria, or both) than there were in 2007, or in 2006, or in 2005, etc......when the U.S. still had a presence.

Hmmmm.....now, to score possibly debilitating points to Hillary, Barack, whoever......the GOP can, at their convention, point to the Middle East and say, "Look how all hell has broken loose since our forces left. Yes, there were big problems while we were there, but there was some level of stability. There is none now. We have the Democratic Congress to thank for our role in the year of hell that is 2008 in the Middle East."

The Dems nominee would (correctly) remind the electorate that it was the GOP that led us into Iraq in the first place (which McCain, Guliani, etc. could retort that Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and John Edwards voted for the war, too).

I don't like thinking like a political think-tank. My above logic is only trying to protect my political future, and not the deaths of innocent people.

And, oh, by the way, while we continue to disintegrate as a society pointing fingers......who's minding the store called "Friends of Israel"?

God forbid........