Conservative Rumblings

WASHINGTON — [Barack] Obama is offering a broad-scale overhaul of the financial system, saying hard times struck largely because a post-Depression era business regulatory scheme couldn’t keep up with an increasingly global economy.

In remarks readied for the unveiling of new rules to govern business, Obama attributed much of the country’s current problem to “a cascade of mistakes and missed opportunities” which happened over several decades.

His plan would bestow vast new powers on the Federal Reserve, authorizing it to oversee the entire financial system. It also would create a new consumer protection agency to guard against the types of abuses that played a big role in the current crisis.

(emphasis added)

“Never waste a good crisis” is the motto of this administration. They are taking a financial “crisis” that was caused by Democrats forcing banks to give out loans to unqualified individuals (Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, reaffirmed in the 90s) and turning it into an assault on capitalism.

Anytime BHO gets up to the teleprompter and reads the line “vast new powers” for a federal agency, we should all be cringing. He’s using the finance issues as a battering ram to implement communism and destroy the free market.

And what greets this harbinger of the death of freedom? Cheers from the media, who hail Obama as “sort of God” who is going to “save us all.”

Joy.

For an administration obsessed with using poll numbers to guide decisions, I find it pretty ironic they are so gung-ho on nationalizing GM when most Americans want nothing to do with it.

Only 21% of voters nationwide support a plan for the government to bail out General Motors as part of a structured bankruptcy plan to keep the troubled auto giant in business.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 67% are opposed to a plan that would provide GM with $50 billion in funding and give the government a 70% ownership interest in the company.

Even when presented with the stark choice between providing government funding or letting GM go out of business, only 32% of voters support the bailout. Most voters (56%) say it would be better to let GM go out of business.

That last part is even more telling. Better than half, a clear majority of voters, would rather GM go out of business than it become another leg of the already bloated Federal government.

Obama’s seemingly impenetrable ice floe of public support is starting to show some cracks…and I’m loving every second of it.

I have this feeling though that we’re going to miss the good old days; you know, the days where if a company failed, it failed…it didn’t get bailouts, it didn’t get czars, it didn’t get an “auto task force.” It went out of business because its business model (or execution thereof) was lacking.

Those days are what created the robust economy that pushed the United States from a colony of Great Britain to THE world superpower in 200 years. For all of Obama’s hatred of capitalism, it is that very ideology that created the country he now seeks to destroy.

The outrage over AIG’s bonus distribution is reaching a fever pitch. Obama and his minions have been whipping the general public into a huge frenzy, trying to rally people as though he was staging a “get out the vote” effort. BHO wants people mad, and he wants them clamoring for the government to do something. What Barack Obama is doing is stirring up a disproportionate amount of rage over these AIG bonuses (which his own Treasury department protected).

The overall goal is not to “right the wrong” of AIG’s bonus distribution, however. No, no…that’s just a front. The real goal is to cap ALL pay in ALL businesses. Obama is using the AIG issue as a cudgel to wield against capitalism itself.

And it’s working. People are screeching for the government to step in and “fix” the situation, and Obama is more than happy to lay a comforting hand on your shoulder, smile slowly and say, “There, there, American people. Dear Leader is here to help you. Pay no attention to the stormtroopers marching in lockstep down the road behind me or the thought police breaking down your neighbor’s door. It’s all part of the plan.”

We need to think a little bit before we blindly wander down the road The Messiah points us toward. Chances are good we’ll end up walking the long walk of communism if we do.

Is anyone surprised by this? I know I’m not. I’ve been saying since before the election that Obama is a radical. Just wait til he gets to the Supreme Court. His fake “running on a moderate platform” has already been sent up the river in favor of radical, socialistic totalitarianism.

President Obama chose an Indiana judge with some bipartisan support for his first judicial nomination Tuesday, announcing he wanted to elevate U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

White House aides described Hamilton as a careful judge who follows the law and also shows “empathy for real people with real problems.”

“Real people and real problems?” Doesn’t that sound a lot like some sort of liberal drivel to explain away socialist tendencies?

I think it does. And I’m not the only one.

But within minutes of the White House announcement, a conservative legal group labeled Hamilton an “ultra-liberal” who was a “former leader of the Indiana chapter of the ACLU.”

The Judicial Confirmation Network, which rallied support for President George W. Bush’s court nominees, said Hamilton had issued “extreme rulings” — including a decision that barred overtly Christian prayers in the Indiana Legislature and another that blocked enforcement of part of an Indiana abortion law that required pregnant women to make two trips to a clinic before having an abortion.

Hamilton said the required advance visit to hear in person a warning about the risks of abortion amounted to an “undue burden” on the woman’s right. The 7th Circuit disagreed in a 2-1 ruling in 2002, and faulted Hamilton for delaying full enforcement of the law. It said waiting periods for abortion, including an advance visit, were constitutional.

The appeals court also set aside Hamilton’s ruling on prayers in the Legislature. It said the taxpayers who sued to stop the prayers as unconstitutional had suffered no real harm, and therefore had no standing to sue.

Hamilton “is no moderate, as the Obama White House is trying to spin him,” said Wendy Long, counsel for the Judicial Confirmation Network.

The courts are the unsung rulers of our country. We must be vigilant and fight for our values as Obama tries to fill the seats with radicals, lest we join the ranks of countries rules in tyranny by a minority.

As if Obama needed any encouragement, Hugo Chavez is out trumpeting the benefits of socialism and urging Obama to follow in his footsteps and create a socialist state in the U.S. Obviously, that’s what Obama wants long-term, but he’s really hesitant about using the “s-word” right now. He needs and wants to implement socialism gradually, without actually calling it that (bank takeovers, porkulus programs, universal healthcare and the like). That way, the population doesn’t see what’s happening to them until too late.

But here’s Chavez out using that forbidden word and pointing it right at Obama, who is probably on the phone with good old Hugo right now going, “Dude, I’m getting there, you just gotta give me some time!”

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gleefully declared Friday that President Obama may have no choice but to turn to socialism because capitalism in America has “failed.”

In pure economic numbers, considering the fact that our GDP is about 40 times larger than Venezuela, he really doesn’t have much to say. Regarding our supposed failure, I direct you to the immortal words of the CDB:

Well the eagle’s been flying slow and the flag’s been flying low
And a lot of people are saying that America’s fixing to fall
But speaking just for me and some people from Tennessee
We got a thing or two to tell you all
This lady may have stumbled but she ain’t never fell
And if the Russians don’t believe that they can all go straight to hell
We’re gonna put her feet back on the path of righteousness
And then God bless America again

You can substitute ‘Russians’ with whatever anti-American faction you want to put in there (Iranians, scientology loons, liberals, Keith Olbermann, etc).

In a plea evoking Darth Vader’s attempt to turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday urged President Obama to join the socialist movement.

“I recommend to Obama — they’re criticizing him because they say he’s moving towards socialism — come Obama, ally with us on the path to socialism, it’s the only road,” he said on Venezuelan state television, according to a Bloomberg report.

That entire quote is irrelevant except for one point - did they just liken Hugo Chavez to Darth Vader? Frigging hilarious.

Of course, that would make Obama Luke Skywalker, which really doesn’t fit. The only common ground I can find between the two is that they both whine a lot.

ACORN, which earned national fame for it’s rampant voter fraud efforts in the 2008 Presidential Election, is a far more dangerous organization than just one that registers people to vote 80 times each.

It’s essentially a front for the radical socialist agenda in America…their website platform is basically a 21st century version of the 10 planks of communism.

Their most recent plan of attack on America? The Foreclosure Civil Disobedience Program. Essentially, they claim that housing is a “right” that everyone deserves no matter how much of a bum they are or whether or not they pay their mortgage.

Now, the consequences of promoting illegal activity have caught up to one ACORN nutjob.

Police in Baltimore today made what is believed to be the first arrest in a civil disobedience program aimed at supporting homeowners who refuse to vacate their foreclosed homes.

An activist with ACORN — the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now — faces criminal charges after breaking into a home in southeast Baltimore on Thursday to protest the foreclosure crisis sweeping the country.

“This is our house now,” ACORN member Louis Beverly reportedly said after cutting a lock with bolt cutters at the home.

Beverly will be charged with fourth-degree burglary, according to Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police. Attempts to reach his attorney, Justin Brown, were not immediately successful.

Keep up the ‘civil disobedience’ idiots. Pretty soon we’ll have all of you locked up.

Found a couple of phenomenal posts across the blogosphere that I have to share.

First, American Missive, who points out how Obama is having it both ways on the stimulus bill, saying that his “Pork-Laden Stimulus Bill Has No Pork!”

The whole post is great and is a good analysis of Obama’s little jaunt across the country campaigning for Sir Porkulus the Bloated, otherwise known as the ‘American Reinvestment Act’ or whatever it’s called.

One specific highlight:

We cannot build roads and railways forever. In the end, you have to spur private investment and build sustainable jobs.

One of the best statement I’ve seen on Obama’s “infrastructure” jobs program. It’s 100% true, of course; “shovel ready jobs” evaporate when all the ditches are dug. People keep pointing at the New Deal and how it worked, but they need to pull out a history book. The New Deal didn’t work; World War II saved our economy.

Next up, Manly’s Republic, a blog I’ve been reading for about a week now and highly recommend. The tagline is great…”Answering the Question: What Would Reagan Do?”

Snowe, Collins and Specter should have thought that one through today.

Anyway, this post brings in a great pop culture twist, likening the applause and worship Obama is receiving to the adoration heaped upon Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars as he founded the first Galactic Empire.

When the President announced that the Porkulus Bill has passed (thanks to three RINOs who are now on the politically endangered species list) the crowd cheered lustily. It reminded me of George Lucas’ unintentional irony in his positively awful Revenge of the Sith installment of the Star Wars saga - an episode he intended as a shot at the Bush presidency.

Upon hearing the roar of approval in the Galactic Senate when Chancellor Palpatine announces the formation of the First Galactic Empire, Queen Padme responds: “So this is how liberty dies…with thunderous applause.”

Thunderous applause indeed, George.

My response on Twitter was to point out that there’s another Episode 3 correlation to be had: just wait until Obama takes on “emergency powers,” just to get the country “through the crisis.”

The much-touted auto bailout has collapsed in the Senate, failing a key procedural vote.

A deal on $14 billion in aid to Detroit’s Big Three automakers fell apart Thursday night in the Senate despite intense negotiations on Capitol Hill between lawmakers, union officials and representatives from the three companies. The bailout died after failing 52-35 on a Senate procedural vote.

Earlier in the evening, the talks appeared to have produced a breakthrough, with Democratic leaders “hopeful” that an agreement had been reached that would be acceptable to Senate Republicans, who have resisted the aid package. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came back later to report the effort had failed, adding he was “terribly disappointed.”

Any time Harry Reid says he is “terribly disappointed,” you can bet the farm that something is going right. I’m as big of a fan of the Big 3 as anyone, but the government cannot continue to step in and save private industry. It is not the taxpayer’s responsibility to pay for business mistakes.

If you run your company badly, you deserve to fail. It’s not like the Big 3 are simply going to vanish. They need to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and renegotiate their screwed up and crooked union contracts that are driving their costs through the roof. It may become necessary for two of the three to combine (GM taking over Chrysler makes the most sense), but it’s absurd to think that without this loan all three companies are simply going to close their doors.

Thank God that enough senators decided to oppose socialism. The main sticking point that eventually had senators diving off the bandwagon appears to be union conflicts. Congressional Republicans were pushing the UAW to cut wages in order to save costs, but the union refused to reduce those wages until 2011. The auto manufacturers have no one to blame but the corrupt unions now.

So much for democracy. The will of the voters from 2000 didn’t matter to the court earlier this year, and it doesn’t matter much to them now, apparently.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California’s Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state’s voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime.

A decision by the same court in May opened marriage to same-sex couples in America’s most populous state, one of a handful of states, provinces and mostly European countries where such unions are recognized.

When state voters passed the ban on November 4, social conservatives celebrated, but nationwide protests by gays and other ban opponents since then have given the debate new life.

The court case also pits two fundamental concepts of U.S. democracy against one another, with gay marriage advocates saying the proposition would open the doors to systematic repression of minorities and opponents saying courts must recognize the will of the people under separation of powers doctrine.

I am really getting tired of justices legislating from the bench. Stop stomping on the will of the voters! This isn’t democracy!

Barney Frank, one of the most pathetic congressmen in the absolutely hated Pelosi/Reid Do Nothing Congress, is also the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the architects of the financial market fiasco (thanks in large part to his receiving campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and looking the other way when they did bad things while he was on the House Banking Committee).

Now, he is calling for cuts to the military and increased taxes.

Why? Another stimulus-palooza!!!

After the November election, Democrats will push for a second economic stimulus package that includes money for the states’ stalled infrastructure projects, along with help paying for healthcare expenses, food stamps and extended unemployment benefits, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said Thursday.

There are so many things wrong with that paragraph. Let’s start:

1. Let the states fund their own infrastructure. If they can’t, they don’t need it.
2. Healthcare is not a charity nor is it a right. It’s a business. Doctors are not state employees; that is their livelihood. Not the government’s place to be paying for it.
3. Food stamps = welfare. Welfare = bad. Nuff said.
4. Unemployment benefits only encourage the bums to sit on their, well, bums, and not get jobs. Slash ‘em! As the great Ronald Reagan once said, the best social program is a JOB!

In a meeting with the editorial board of The Standard-Times, Rep. Frank, D-Mass., also called for a 25 percent cut in military spending, saying the Pentagon has to start choosing from its many weapons programs, and that upper-income taxpayers are going to see an increase in what they are asked to pay.

So the barbarians are at the gate, we are fighting two wars plus an overarching ‘war on terror’ and Iran and North Korea are threatening to start WWIII. And you want to CUT THE MILITARY SPENDING? How about instead we remove you from office and use your salary to buy another tank?

Unfortunately for the Dems, the 80/20 rule that works in business does not work for taxes. You can’t just sit on the “upper-income” taxpayers and expect that to fix the economy. The “upper-income” business taxpayers (who already pay one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world) are the backbone of our economy.

You tax the big guys too hard, they stop expanding their businesses and stop hiring, which HURTS the economy. Spending goes down and unemployment goes up. Frank already knows this, of course; that’s why he’s pushing for more unemployment benefits.