Health care reform bill: Hey Majesty, what's the rush?

His Majesty has purported to set an August 7, 2009 deadline for Congress to pass a health care reform bill (House dems unveiled their version of the bill yesterday). And dems are talking about the possibility, if necessary, of a strictly 60-40 party line vote on a health care reform bill in the Senate.

So what's the big rush? Actually, many of us know precisely what the rush is. His Majesty wants to ram-rod right down our throats every piece of massive ultra left-wing legislation that he possibly can before his poll numbers drop much further (low polls = high public pressure on dems in Congress not to vote for Majesty's bills). Cap-and-trade is another one that Majesty desperately wants to force through the Senate in the very near future. A second stimulus bill will probably be the next monster to creep out of the swamp.

And be sure to look for Majesty and the dems to choreograph as many distractions as they can over the next month to try to keep your attention off of these bills. You can expect, for example, more of the Pelosi/CIA soap opera, more talk about investigating Bush administration officials, and more efforts to keep fringe right-wingers like Palin and Slimebaugh at the top of the headlines. People, the world view of liberals is basically to think that you are an idiot. So don't be one -- recognize what's going on in Washington right now, and recognize the dangerous state of affairs that's been created as a result of one-party control of the entire federal government.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4.kYDWV9erc

Goodbye My Darlin', Hello Socialism.

Today comes word that His Majesty is considering a plan for the federal government to make mortgage payments for homeowners who can't afford their payments (or, alternatively, a possible "rental option" under which some such homeowners would turn over ownership -- presumably to the federal government -- and start paying rent). "As a part of this plan, jobless borrowers would cannot keep up with their home loans might receive a housing stipend along with regular unemployment benefits."

Meantime, the proposed health care reform bill unveiled by House dems today will include a surtax on millionaires of 5.4%, which is 3% higher than the surtax previously discussed by the dems. And apparently only members of the upper class (those making more than $350,000 annually) will be paying any surtaxes under the dems' bill.

I will give Majesty credit for one thing: When he says "redistribution of wealth," by God he means it. And to think that I used to scoff at all the right-wingers who called Majesty a socialist. Them days be over.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1429265720090714?rpc=77

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/14/house-democrats-unveil-health-care-obama-prods-senate-quicker-action/

Can You Take Me Higher???

Today the federal budget deficit tops $1 Trillion for the first time.

High Enough.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/13/federal-budget-deficit-tops-trillion-time/

CNN.com today: "Anderson Cooper interviews Obama in castle".

...which cries out for a very simple response: Where else?

M-a-j-e-s-t-y! M-a-j-e-s-t-y!

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/13/interviewing-president-obama-in-ghana/

GO **** YOURSELF! Gosh, now I feel a lot better.

A new UK study (link below) finds that getting angry, cursing up a storm, and ranting and raving actually have positive effects upon the swearer, such as reducing pain, increasing pain tolerance and "self-regulating the emotions" (whatever that means). So from now on, I'm not even going to give it a second thought; rather, I'm just going to let the expletives fly!

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/13/bleep-that-hurts/

What's the plan, man? Four more American troops dead today in Afghanistan.

And all we get from His Majesty today is just more of the same in the form of vague, superficial references to "our mission" in Afghanistan -- a "mission" that has never been clearly articulated or explained to the American people. Meantime, we just continue to ratchet up troop levels over in that absolute hellhole and continue to lose American troops seemingly on a daily basis. "Change we can believe in"? No, just more of the same.

And unlike the hypocritical American left -- which by and large refuses to say a word about Afghanistan since wars without objectives are O.K. to the left as long as a democrat is in the white house -- you won't hear me shutting up about this stuff.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56A2Q420090712?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hvWEqwq3CrRvaQCmt21MfoYhjZJQD99CUNLG0

Mixed Messages: Confusing, contradictory statements regarding the economy, courtesy of His Majesty.

Follow me through the progression of contradictory and confusing statements from Majesty & His Court:

1. February 2009: We are told by the White House that the first stimulus bill was absolutely necessary in order to remedy an economy (of course "inherited" by His Majesty -- they always throw that word in) that was the "worst since the Great Depression."

2. 7/1/09: His Majesty, in his best Bush "Mission Accomplished" impersonation, declares and ordains that the first stimulus bill has "done it's job."

3. 7/2/09: But the next day, the 9.5% unemployment figure comes out -- so much for Mission Accomplished.

4. 7/5/09: Biden goes on Sunday morning TV and says that the White House "misread" how bad the recession and economy were back in February when the first stimulus bill was enacted. Gee, that's funny, since you seemed to have a firm handle on that issue in February when you said this was the worst economy since the Great Depression.

5. 7/7/09: One of His Majesty's advisors says that the first stimulus bill was a "bit too small" and that the U.S. should consider drafting a second stimulus bill. The statements of the advisor, Biden the day before, and other dems last week were basically their attempt at an initial trial balloon on the notion of a second stimulus bill.

6. Today, 7/11/09: His Majesty is back to the Mission Accomplished rhetoric, proclaiming that the first stimulus bill "has worked as intended" (link below).

Now, is it too much to ask for just an ounce of honesty and consistency from Majesty and his handlers? I'm frankly sick of the morass of seemingly contradictory statements and mixed messages. Is this "transparency"? Is this "change we can believe in"? Seems like just a lot more of the same to me, with the only difference being that this time it's coming out of the far left instead of the Neo-Cons. Same difference, as far as I'm concerned.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0StZd9y2rCY

Hey Newsweek: I'm Catholic. And an Independent. And Barack Obama does not represent me at all.

And it has little to do with the Pope, as explained and detailed nearly every day in this space. (Newsweek article: "Without a Doubt: Why Barack Obama represents American catholics better than the pope does").

http://www.newsweek.com/id/205961

The New Jacko!

The endless coverage of Sarah Palin this week by both the right-slanted and left-slanted mainstream media has been deplorable. I'm actually now more sick of hearing about her than I am of hearing about Jacko. As far as I am concerned, this woman is DONE (stick a fork in her) in terms of any ability to credibly run for president or a national office given her performance any time she's asked to think and speak on her feet and given that she quit on her gubernatorial term in Alaska. So enough already! I realize how much you HATE her, far left, and I realize how much FoxNews LOVES her for both her right-wing ideology and her celebrity, but ENOUGH! Most of us no longer care, and/or certainly don't care enough to watch this kind of wall-to-wall Jacko-type B.S. coverage. Act like journalists, and not jackasses, maybe just perhaps for once in your lives, mainstream media.

Postscript: I watched some loon named Sally Quinn (Washington Post -- a very credible source these days) tonight on O'Reilly delivering the same tired far left talking points about how Bristol Palin "is fair game for everything under the sun" since she dared to express a viewpoint on the merits of abstinence with respect to a teenage female. Tell me something, Quinn, you ultra-liberal freak, did Bristol "open herself up" and "just invite" widely disseminated comments (defended by your ilk) about her being knocked up by some greedy womanizing steroid freak, as well as all the other vile, evil, hateful, wholly mean-spirited comments (having nothing to do with the merits of the abstinence issue) that I read coming out of the far left blogosphere towards Bristol? Hey Sally, why don't you go **** yourself.

One toke over the line, sweet Jesus.

A new CNN poll today reports that most Americans say His Majesty's cigarette smoking does not change their view of him. I'm in the majority on this one too. I really don't give a rat's behind about Majesty's smoking, although I would like to see him quit just for his own better health. And kids: Never chew tobacco either.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/10/cnn-poll-do-american-care-if-obama-smokes/

Oba-ttoming out; Independents not happy with His Majesty.

Reports Politico's Ben Smith: "In a potentially alarming trend for the White House, independent voters are deserting President Barack Obama nationally and especially in key swing states, recent polls suggest."

That's correct -- it seems that plummeting support from Independents has been a key factor (or perhaps the key factor) in Majesty's rapidly diminishing approval ratings, as reported by Gallup and Rasmussen in the last 18 hours. Gallup late yesterday had Majesty's overall approval rating at a new low of 56%, while Majesty's Rasmussen numbers were even lower. Rasmussen this morning has Majesty's disapproval rating up to 48%, with only 51% of voters saying they somewhat approve or strongly approve of Majesty's job performance. Further, Rasmussen has Majesty's Presidential Approval Index rating at a new low of minus 8, meaning that only 30% of voters strongly approve of his job performance while 38% strongly disapprove of it.

I look at these trends, and they tend only to mirror the sentiments that this Independent has himself held in recent weeks. I did not vote for His Majesty (nor for McCain), and I knew what we were dealing with when he came into office, i.e. likely the most liberal American president in history. And to be sure, that's precisely how Majesty has governed -- absolutely nothing "moderate" or "centrist" about it. Given that I am not a liberal, I've disagreed with many of Majesty's words, positions and policies from day one, but it's truly been only recently that Majesty, in combination with his agents in Congress, has really sparked some genuine anger from me. The final straw for me was the cap-and-trade fiasco in the House. Ram-rodding that massive 1300 page bill right down our throats, with 300 pages thrown in at the last minute, and with no one reading the bill before voting on it (they didn't have time!!!) -- that was it for me. These dems in Washington, His Majesty included, are completely out of control right now and are not representing me nor the majority of the people of this country in any appreciable fashion. The people who did vote for Majesty last fall were trying to vote for change, but they were not voting for this.

A final thought: His Majesty's White House still seems remarkably oblivious to the ongoing shift in Independent approval. As Politico reported, "the White House denies there's any real shift [in Independents]." Of course, that could just be B.S., but I'm not so sure: I've not seen anything from the White House indicating any recognizion whatsoever of the current Independent unrest. Instead, it's just full steam ahead trying to force every possible huge government and huge spending measure through the Congress like there was no tomorrow. And if it continues, I'm frankly not sure what kind of tomorrow we're really going to have to look forward to (sorry Jeeves for ending a sentence on a preposition).

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0709/Independents_on_the_move.html
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

This looks like Hell.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530801,00.html

...That, or some long lost Apocalypse Now outtake. The current numbers in Afghanistan? 57,000 American troops on the ground. 68,000 to be there by year's end. More troops dying seemingly every day. And still no explanation from His Majesty as to the plan we're purportedly trying to follow over there or why we need to continue to ratchet up troop levels. And, Majesty, why is one of your Generals saying today that we "don't necessarily need more [U.S.] troops" in Afghanistan (yet we keep sending more), but rather that we need to have more Afghan forces involved? (A statement, by the way, which makes no sense to me on its face, but I digress.) So what's the plan, Majesty? I think you owe us an explanation (as I've been stating for at least a few months). The American left has largely run for the hills on this issue, but I won't.

Hey libs: Trigger, Trigger, Trigger!

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/08/emanuel-faces-liberal-pressure-over-trigger-comments/

Trigger, Trigger, Trigger!

Second Stimulus: The buzz is growing!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aIHpsBT0JHFc

Although, the best read would seem to be that the dems will not be trying to push a second stimulus bill immediately. Forcing cap-and-trade through the Senate, and pushing Majesty's health care legislation, are the two biggest brinks trucks on the left's plate right now.

Let's be clear: Sarah Palin did quit & will have huge problems ever overcoming that politically. But the Left's "quitter, quitter, quitter" drumbeat..

http://davidnyc.dailykos.com/

...simply touches upon again for me something that I commented upon a few days ago: This poor lady, even though she's a conservative ideologue (hell, she's my "Deranged Right-Winger of the Day" today) and was ill-equipped and ill-prepared for the national spotlight which was thrust upon her (and yes, which she accepted), has been probably the biggest target of leftist HATE (yes, absolute, unadulterated HATRED), inappropriateness, and mean-spiritedness that I have ever witnessed in my almost four decades on this planet. So you just keep pounding away, pathetic far left, on a lady who is no longer a serious player on the national political stage, and keep pounding away on her family and children as you like to do, and in the meantime I will just keep pounding on you slimes for being the hateful, almost sub-human creatures that you are. And if you have a problem with those sentiments, go **** yourselves (yeah, I've been looking for a good spot to bring back my catch-phrase!).

Here it comes!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=ajQbZ.WrAVwQ

I suspected that Biden's so-called "admission" Sunday that the White House previously "misread" the seriousness of the economic recession really wasn't much of an admission at all, but rather possibly an intentional opening salvo in trying to build momentum towards a second economic "stimulus" bill (on which there have been small rumblings in recent weeks). And guess what? It looks like it's already starting. Today one of His Majesty's advisers, Laura Tyson, said that the U.S. should consider drafting a second "stimulus" package. She actually claims that the $787 billion approved the first time around in February was "a bit too small." Well, maybe she does have a point there. After all, I can only imagine all the nice, new, greasy pork barrel projects that the dems have been able to identify in the intervening 4.5 months. I would assume that Pelosi & Reid already have the keyboards (and calculators) going on a new bill. Stay tuned...

Today's Russian deal will make our warfare in Afghanistan more fuel efficient.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/06/u-s-russia-reach-deal-on-afghanistan/

"The new transit routes [through Russia as a result of the deal] will allow the U.S. military to resupply international forces more quickly, saving up to $133 million a year in fuel and other transportation costs, the White House said."

I guess that's the most important thing, after all. I have to say, the lunacy and hypocrisy of the American left on Afghanistan is frightening. Suddenly, once a liberal dem is president, it's OK for a sitting president to wage warfare abroad without any clearly articulated plan for what the hell we're doing there and why we keep ratcheting up troop levels. Nope, apparently as long as the war we fight is a "energy efficient" as possible, it's OK by most of the left. H-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e-s.

Sarah Palin resigns as Alaska governor. Who cares?

I don't live in Alaska, do you? The almost wall-to-wall media coverage of Palin's resignation this weekend just illustrates how Palin is much more of a celebrity and circus act than serious politician -- as if her previous words, demeanor and actions weren't already sufficient evidence of the same. My views on Palin, I think, have always been fairly clear: I generally like her on a personal level, and she is hot. But even apart from her being a right wing ideologue (which I have no place for), I don't think she has what it takes to be president. I just don't see it. However, I would like to thank Palin for something. With the possible exception of "W!", there is no person in this country rising to the level of Palin in terms of being the incessant drumbeat target of far left hate, disdain and mean-spiritedness. Just by being you, Sarah, you help to remind me on a regular basis just how nutty and hateful the far left loons really are.

Happy Independence Day to All! Even you libs and conservatives!

And on this wonderful day of Independence, be sure to make a point in the near future to visit The Wounded Warrior Project website. There are many ways to get involved in this charitable organization that supports our wounded troops. One simple way is to download their small tool bar, which makes a small contribution to the Project for every internet search you do using the tool bar. I use it for all my searches. After all, Mr. T commands it (see below in the right sidebar). Happy Independence Day -- Bang, Bang!

On this Eve of Independence Day, a thought: "Elephants & Asses are destroying the masses."

No, that's not a quote of mine (I wish it was), but rather a bumper sticker that I saw today. Anecdotal, yes, but also illustrative of a larger point: We Independent Ragers are out here, and dems and repubs are definitely not entertaining us. We just need more of us to speak out -- loud and proud. As that happens, you'll see more of us grouping together into collective efforts to try to bring change (any change) to the rotten, hollow, corrupted, extreme-slanted political system that we currently have. And some day soon, I believe, these two B.S. extremist parties are gonna have to start paying just a bit of attention.

OK, enough Majesty posts already. The one question this weekend: Will we see a North Korean missile launch on July 4 (or otherwise) towards Hawaii?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529808,00.html

I'm putting the likelihood at about 45%. But regardless, I sure as hell hope not. Such an act of provocation (even from a non-nuclear missile that likely would get nowhere near Hawaii) threatens only to be a potential first step down a very dangerous road. I think that regardless of our political persuasions, we can probably agree on that.

Unemployment rate hits 9.5% -- the worst we've seen since 1983.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_economy

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2009/07/02/unemployment-reaches-95-percent-highest-in-26-years.html

Tell me, Your Majesty: Care to retract your Bush-esque "Mission Accomplished"-type rhetoric from yesterday? (Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it.)

His Majesty declares, decrees and ordains this day that the Stimulus Bill has "done it's job". Say it with me...

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/07/01/live-blogging-obamas-town-hall-meeting-on-health-care/ (see the 2:04 p.m. entry)

Gallup: "More Americans see Democratic party as too liberal." -- Largest percentage since the 1994 midterm elections.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/121307/More-Americans-See-Democratic-Party-Too-Liberal.aspx?version=print

This item is well-summarized in its first sentence: "A Gallup Poll finds a statistically significant increase since last year in the percentage of Americans who describe the Democratic Party's views as being 'too liberal,' from 39% to 46%. This is the largest percentage saying so since November 1994, after the party's losses in that year's midterm elections."

It's good to see that at least some folks are finally starting to wake up and get it. The dems are a party that was already too liberal for my tastes in the 1990's, and they have completely gone off the deep end during the Internet Age and in the years that have followed 9-11. During that period, the term "liberal" for me has gone beyond the simple left-wing ideology and has become also synonymous with hatefulness, bitterness and mean-spiritedness -- which is a bit of a problem since these are the people who control the democratic party. In a nutshell, this definitely ain't the democratic party that my grandparents grew up with in the 1940's and 50's, nor even the one that I grew up with in the 1980's.

As a final note, I do hope that the same 46% of Americans who view the dems as too liberal also understand that the repubs have the very same problem -- complete domination and control by the conservatives. Dems and repubs: Two peas in the same extremist pod, as I like to say.