Monday, November 02, 2009

So Much for That

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

-Presidential oath of office

When asked if there "is any concern at all about whether it is constitutional for Congress to impose a mandate [that individual Americans must obtain health insurance]," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "no." He also said he had no reason to believe White House lawyers had ever considered the issue.

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Labels: Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 5:58 PM

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Now That This Important Business Has Been Dispensed With, Perhaps Our Commander-in-Chief Could Notice Afghanistan

Thanks to a bill signed into law by President Obama today, it's illegal to murder a gay person now.

What, you say? It was illegal yesterday?

Labels: Crime, Culture, Defense, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:04 PM

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Reuters Reports...

From Ed Morrissey:

Barack Obama campaigned on restoring America's standing with its allies, accusing the outgoing Bush administration of insulting and alienating our closest friends with his alleged unilateralism. How has Obama done as President? He has repeatedly insulted the British, insisting that there is no "special relationship" and demonstrating it by denying Gordon Brown the usual joint press conference on his visit to the US. Reuters reports that another close ally has taken the measure of Obama and started looking elsewhere for cooperation...

To be fair, Reuters is a right-wing, racist rag.

Hat tip: Instapundit.

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Labels: Foreign Policy, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:16 PM

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Biden Commits Plagiarism Again?

Speaking to the AFL-CIO's 2009 legislative conference in Atlantic City, Vice President Joe Biden said, "When a guy in Minooka is out of work, it's an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law's out of work, it's a recession. When you're out of work, it's a depression."

Hmm... Sounds a bit familiar.

Didn't Ronald Reagan say on the campaign trail in 1980, "Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his"?

I hate it when people remake a classic.

Written by David A. Ridenour, vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: History, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:01 AM

Friday, October 16, 2009

What's Happening Now

Bob Moffit on a new way the Senate leadership is trying to deceive you.

Roundup of black conservative opinion of NFL-thinks-it-is-too-good-for-Rush-Limbaugh dustup.

Judge tosses out yet another lawsuit trying to set global warming policy in the courts instead of the legislatures.

Is the Honduran constitution negotiable?

Snow in New Jersey on October 15 does not disprove the global warming theory.

Daniel Henninger: Donald Rumsfeld was right.

Obama says the damage from Katrina was caused in part by a "breakdown of government." If gov't came make a hurricane worse, why would we want it to run health care?

E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow the National Center for Public Policy Research on Twitter. | Download our book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Business, Climate, Courts, Environment, Project 21, Race, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:51 AM

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Nobel Committee's Not-So Unanimous Selection of Obama

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Agence France Presse today reports that three of the Nobel Committee's five committee members had problems with awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama.

Nobel Committee Secretary Geir Lundestad, however, insists that the selection was unanimous.

This is doubtful, given that one of the members represents the free-market-oriented, unabashedly pro-Israel Progress Party. The party's leader, Siv Jensen, not only criticized the Nobel Committee's choice of Obama but called on its chairman, Thorbjoern Jaglund, to step down just one day after the committee's announcement. Although Jensen called for his resignation for a supposedly unrelated reason, the timing of her demand is interesting.

Lundestad wasn't being honest when he claimed "unanimous" vote as he neglected to mention that the Nobel Committee's selections are always "unanimous" -- even if such unanimity doesn't exist.

The Nobel Committee makes its decisions by "consensus" and the functionally-illiterate often use this interchangeably with "unanimous." Now you know why so many Norwegian parents are asking, "why can't Jens read?"

Just to make sure that no committee member challenges its "unanimous" claim, Nobel Committee rules prohibit them from speaking publicly about its proceedings.

Unanimous decision? It really depends on what your definition of "unamious" is.

Bill Clinton may not have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but it turns out the Nobel Committee has found another way to honor him.

Editor's note: We covered President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize previously here, here and here.

Labels: Constitutional Law, Foreign Policy, Media, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 4:48 PM

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

On Nobel Funds, Talking Points Memo Misses the More Interesting Story

Christina Bellantoni of Talking Points Memo reported Tuesday afternoon that as of then, according to Robert Gibbs, President Obama was still planning to donate the cash prize accompanying the Nobel Peace Prize to charity.

Because Obama is President of the United States, it is unconstitutional for him to accept the money (which includes taking control of it long enough to direct that it be re-routed to a charity) unless Congress specifically gives him permission to do so.

As explained here, this is governed by Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution.

Perhaps Talking Points Memo either doesn't realize the Nobel Committee is appointed by a foreign government, or it doesn't have a problem with foreign governments bestowing cash gifts on U.S. presidents (surely not), but either way, it missed a better story when it failed to ask Gibbs why the White House seems to be ignoring the Constitution on this.

Written by Amy Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow the National Center for Public Policy Research on Twitter. | Download our book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care.

Labels: Constitutional Law, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:18 AM

Friday, October 09, 2009

National Center VP Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Great news! I just won the Nobel Peace Prize... along with 305 million other Americans.

Sure, the Nobel Committee meant to give it to Barack Obama, but it was so anxious to push its political agenda that it didn't bother to consider whether the President is eligible. He isn't.

For one thing, there's the little problem that the $1.4 million prize is just a tad over the federal gift limit -- $20 for each gift and no more than $50 from one source in a year, excluding meals and event tickets. I assume the Nobel Committee isn't sending over hundreds of thousands of Happy Meals.

If that's not sufficient evidence, look at Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution...

"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State."

You may recall that the Nobel Committee is composed of five people appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

All but nominal gifts to sitting Presidents of the United States are gifts to the people of the United States.

Obama thus didn't win the prize, the American people did.

Of course, Barack Obama isn't the first person the Nobel Committee has selected who was ineligible for the prize. In 1919, it selected then-U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and in 1906, it selected then-President Theodore Roosevelt. You may remember Roosevelt from when, armed only with an olive branch, he led a peace initiative up San Juan Hill.

For Americans 103 or older, congratulations, this is your third Nobel Prize!

This is only my first and I'm truly honored that someone finally recognized my contributions... as well as those of the other 305 million or so with whom I unfortunately must share this award.

Now I have to figure out how I'm going to spend my fraction of a penny.

Update: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs announced that President Obama will donate the $1.4 million prize to charity, likely more than one. The problem is that without Congressional approval, he is Constitutionally-barred from accepting the prize for himself and thus can't donate it to anyone.

Guess that Constitutional stuff is above Gibb's paygrade.

President Obama can, however, accept it on behalf of the American people. It belongs in the U.S. Treasury... you know... that big building one door down from the White House on the corner where they order the printing presses to run 24/7.

Labels: White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 2:38 PM

Thursday, October 08, 2009

What's Happening Now

There is no Baucus bill.

Study: Generous unemployment benefits create moral hazard.

Tasteful chimp statuary?

Anne Bayefsky: "The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression."

ObamaCare has been tried -- at the state level.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:36 AM

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Andrew Breitbart is Wondering...

Andrew Breitbart is wondering why a guy named Conor Friedersdorf, who writes for the Atlantic and the Daily Beast, keeps writing about Breitbart but refuses to interview him.

C'mon! Friedersdorf works for the Atlantic, which this month is running a very long cover story complaining about U.S. interrogation techniques without giving roughly equal consideration to the question of how many lives may have been saved by these techniques.

This is the logical equivalent of complaining about the U.S. dropping atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki without examining the possibility that these horrific attacks may have saved more lives than they cost. Did no one from the Atlantic even notice that the other side of the question was entirely missing from its cover story?

(Lest readers think it unfair of me to drag Andrew Sullivan -- who wrote the cover story -- into this, be aware that he injected himself by putting an approving piece on his own Atlantic magazine blog about what Conor Friedersdorf has written about Breitbart.)

MSM writers often fail to fact-check. Just ask Slate's Timothy Noah, or better, the White House staffers who relied on Noah's research when crafting President Obama's recent health care speech to a joint session of Congress.

(Not that the White House speechwriters have the slightest excuse for not checking the original sources themselves.)

When Conor Friedersdorf writes about Andrew Breitbart without giving Breitbart the courtesy of a phone call to give his side of the story, it's really just business as usual for the MSM.

And that, ironically, is in part why so many people choose get their news from Breitbart.

(As a very off-the-subject side note, the Atlantic cover story on torture contains this sentence, intended as part of its condemnation of U.S. interrogation techniques: "But 48 days and nights with no more than four hours' sleep every 24, combined with stress positions, hypothermia, and forced nudity, push these nuances over a line any decent person would acknowledge." Aside from the hypothermia, this is a precise description of the two-month period during which I gave birth to twins.)

Labels: Defense, Health Care, Media, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:02 AM

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Radio Day!

I'm having another of what I call "radio days."

If you live in one of the following cities and are so inclined, you can hear me talking about health care reform and our new book Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Medicine on the following stations between now and 11 AM Eastern today:

WTAG Worcester, MA
0706 AM ET

KTRH Houston, TX
0733 AM ET

WOWO Fort Wayne, IN
0738 AM ET

WSYR Syracuse, NY
0820 AM ET

KVI Seattle, WA
0834AM ET

WOAI San Antonio, TX
0840 AM ET

KOGO San Diego, CA
0907AM ET

WHLO Akron, OH
0915 AM ET

WTAM Cleveland, OH
1030AM ET

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:00 AM

Thursday, October 01, 2009

What's Happening Now

Tim Cavanaugh: Another fiscal year older, another $1.65 trillion in debt.

Michael van der Galien: Everybody loves clowns, right?

GE gets its payoff.

Jules Crittenden: Intelligence without experience is like knowing how roller skates work without ever having skated. (One guess who he's talking about.)

PhRMA spends $9.4 million more promoting left-wing health care "reform"; forgets left-wing health care means drugs gets rationed.

Patterico tries to get a Washington Post correction. Good luck with that.

British Christian hotel owners charged with criminal offense after discussing religion with Muslim guest.

E-mail any comments to the National Center for Public Policy Research at info@nationalcenter.org.
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Labels: Defense, Europe, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Media, Religion, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:34 AM

Friday, September 25, 2009

It's a Sad State of Affairs...

...when the leader of the free world isn't the President of the United States, but the Israeli Prime Minister.

Labels: Foreign Policy, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 5:04 PM

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Project 21's Joe Hicks to Discuss Race and Opposition to Obama on CNN HLN Friday Afternoon

Project 21 member Joe Hicks is scheduled to appear on CNN HLN (Headline News) to discuss the myth that racial animosity is fueling opposition to the policies pushed by the Obama White House.

Joe will be a guest of "Prime News" host Richelle Carey between 5:30 and 6:00 PM eastern on Friday, September 25.

Check your local listings for CNN Headline News on cable. HLN is available on channel 100 on Fios, channel 202 on Dish Network and channel 204 on DirecTV.

Written by David Almasi, executive director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Conservatives, Project 21, Protests, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 6:25 AM

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

David Ridenour Appearing on WBAL Baltimore

If you are in the Baltimore/DC area or on your computer now, you you can tune in to WBAL 1090 AM to hear David Ridenour discussing his latest paper, which is on how 820,000 people a year will lose health insurance if the Obama-supported Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill goes through.

Labels: Climate, Congress, Energy, Environment, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:39 PM

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Deneen Borelli to be on Fox and Friends Monday

Project 21's full-time fellow, Deneen Borelli, will be a guest Monday morning on the Fox New Channel's Fox & Friends show.

Deneen will appear at approximately 6:15 AM Eastern. She is scheduled to discuss President Obama's lackluster reaction to the ongoing ACORN scandal as well as the Obama Administration's Department of Justice's investigation of the CIA.

As noted here Saturday, Deneen also will be a guest of the nationally-syndicated G. Gordon Liddy radio show on Monday at noon Eastern and on the Great American panel on the September 24 9-10 PM Eastern Hannity Show on the Fox News Channel, among other upcoming appearances.

Posted by Amy Ridenour, president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org.
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Labels: Defense, Media, Project 21, Race, Radio, Scandals, Terrorism, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:30 PM

Friday, September 18, 2009

Quote of Note: Crybabies

"They are the biggest bunch of crybabies I have worked with in my 30 years in Washington."

-Fox News Sunday Host Chris Wallace, O'Reilly Factor, September 18, 2009, referring to officials of the Obama Administration, who appear to take media criticism personally

Labels: History, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:09 PM

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rebutting False Racism Claims - Upcoming Deneen Borelli TV Appearances

Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli will be a guest on Fox's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" today at approximately 4:10 PM Eastern to discuss claims by former President Jimmy Carter and others that critics of the Obama Administration are motivated by racism. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's comments today comparing current political rhetoric to that preceding the murders of two San Francisco elected officials in 1978 are also likely to be discussed.

The Fox News Channel has also booked Deneen for an appearance Sunday, September 20 at 11:05 AM Eastern.

Deneen also has been scheduled to appear as a part of the Great American panel on the September 24 Hannity Show on the Fox News Channel, and, as noted yesterday in this blog, will be a guest on Fox and Friends on Friday, September 18 at approximately 6:20 AM Eastern.

Deneen also continues to be interviewed by a variety of print and radio news organizations, so if you are a fan, keep an eye & ear out for her as she continues to rebut the offensive nonsense being spewed by the intolerant left (for example, this).

Labels: Conservatives, Culture, Liberals, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:03 PM

What's Happening Now

Even the anecdotes are lies. (Does this White House vet anything?)

Would you support a sex tax to pay for Obama's health care reform?

When a health care system has other priorities: "We were told to wrap him in a blanket and let him die."

How the poor cheat the IRS.

Scott Johnson: Who is lower, ACORN or the New York Times?

538: Baucus compromise draws enthusiastic support of Senator Max Baucus.

Obama Treasury Department admits: Cap-and-trade a huge energy tax.

This time, it's caribou: The left is trying to regulate energy using the Endangered Species Act again.

David Harsanyi: Conservatives have never opposed a president before. (So it must be racism.)

Congratulations to Mark Levin. (I'm one of the million.)

Labels: Climate, Congress, Energy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:46 AM

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Project 21's Deneen Borelli on "Fox and Friends" on Friday Morning to Discuss Race and Obama Opposition

Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli is scheduled to appear on the "Fox and Friends" program on the Fox News Channel on Friday September 18 at approximately 6:20 AM eastern.

Deneen has been asked to discuss the issue of race and opposition to the Obama Administration agenda. Deneen's comments on the issue of race and Obama in light of former President Jimmy Carter's comments on the issue can be found here.

Last Saturday, Deneen spoke at the 9/12 rally on the Capitol grounds. Coverage of her speech can be found here.

Check your local listings for BBCAmerica on cable. BBCAmerica is available on channel 118 on Fios, channel 205 on Dish Network and channel 360 on DirecTV.

This post was written by David Almasi, executive director of the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Media, Project 21, Protests, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 11:09 PM

Project 21's Deneen Borelli on BBCAmerica Wednesday Night to Discuss Race and Obama Opposition

Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli is scheduled to appear on the "BBC World News America on the BBCAmerica channel on Wednesday September 16 at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM eastern.

Deneen has been asked to discuss the issue of race and opposition to the Obama Administration agenda. Deneen was a speaker at the 9/12 rally on the Capitol grounds this past Saturday. Coverage of her speech can be found here.

Deneen's comments on the issue of race and Obama in light of former President Jimmy Carter's comments on the issue can be found here.

Check your local listings for BBCAmerica on cable. BBCAmerica is available on channel 189 on Fios, channel 135 on Dish Network and channel 264 on DirectTV.

Labels: Conservatives, Liberals, Media, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 6:35 PM

Deneen Borelli to Address Race and Criticism of Obama on MSNBC Wednesday

Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli is scheduled to be a guest Wednesday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Meeting" with host Dylan Ratigan.

The topic to be discussed: Are there underlying issues of race in regard to Obama's policies?

The segment should air between 9-9:10 AM Eastern.

Note: The time of Deneen's appearance has been changed to 9:15 AM Eastern.

Labels: Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:02 AM

Racial Politics and Pop Culture

Leftist reactions to the Tea Parties, Joe Wilson's 'liar' comment, and the recent expose of ACORN illustrate and verify that old sardonic joke often bandied about in conservative circles: "What is the definition of a racist? Anyone winning an argument against a liberal."

From Maureen Dowd's recent tirade in the New York Times chalking Wilson's outburst up to racism, to the charges of bigotry emanating from the ignorant lips of Bill Maher and Janeane Garofalo about Obama's dissenters, the humorous aphorism is proving evermore true. Mainstream talking heads on cable networks have not shied away from engaging in such vitriolic accusations either, fallaciously asserting that Obama's opponents do not oppose his policies, rather, they oppose and fear him because he is black, as Joe Klein elucidated recently on "The Chris Matthews Show."

All humor has an element of truth; sadly, this old joke has become indubitable fact. The reflexive reversion to the race card, as disgusting and transparent as it is, does show, however, that those in opposition to the administration's mass power grab and irreparably-flawed worldview are winning.

But while on this touchy subject of race, perhaps we ought to delve into a recent pop culture snafu which, though outside the purview of current policy debates, provides an interesting commentary on the societal double standard of contemporary racial finger pointing. Infamously at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, Kanye West, black rapper and outspoken Obama supporter, rushed the stage as the award for Best Female Video was awarded to the young, soft spoken country singer Taylor Swift. Snatching the microphone from her small white hands, West proceeded to protest that it was Beyonce who deserved to win (leaving the subject of his rant shocked and tastefully outraged). West has been known in the past for his racially-charged criticisms of the Bush Administration and his frank words about his fundamental identity as a black man in America... Would he have done the same if Swift were black?

Had the tables been turned and say, Toby Keith had rushed the stage and wrestled a microphone from Beyonce's hands to protest for Taylor Swift, the charges of racism would be fast and loose from all corners of society. Little to no racial connection has been made to Kanye West's outrageous actions. Charges of racism, it seems, go one way (often erroneously and with unfortunate results, a la the Gates 'profiling' affair, the Duke lacrosse injustice, and the current subversion of honest consideration of Obama's policy agenda).

To be sure, there are individuals across the ideological spectrum who see the world through racially-tinged glass. It is, however, the liberal wing of American politics which wields the charge of racism as a convenient tool to avoid debate and achieve desired political ends. As we have seen, time and again, and as Project 21 consistently reveals with alacrity, charges of racism are often an exercise in leftist hypocrisy. Best to move forward and attempt to relegate such ugly sentiments to the proverbial dustbin of history.

This post was written by Caroline May, policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Culture, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Caroline May at 12:01 AM

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Reality Check

"Brevity is the soul of wit." It is also a purveyor of wisdom.

The original U.S. Constitution was 6 pages long, contained 4,400 words, and set the foundation for the freest, most prosperous nation in the world. Last week, Barack Obama spoke of his plans for a health care bill expected to exceed 1,000 pages.

Further compounding this departure from the beautiful simplicity of America's founding is the present day propensity to complicate legislative language. The Founders were careful to produce a document that all Americans could easily understand. The hotly debated health care legislation is too complicated apparently for even legislators to understand. As that staggering intellect, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI), said, "I love these members, they get up and say, 'Read the bill,' What good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?"

My, how far we have come... but not for the better, I fear.

I comment on this abandonment of the ways of the past as it emphasizes a concern held by many: that this loss of legislative simplicity implies a complimentary loss of freedom. The eight year anniversary of the September 11 attacks is also a time to celebrate the liberty we, as Americans, have protected and maintained these many years. Though liberal activists have worked to marginalize the patriotic fervor of this most tragic anniversary, the majority of Americans not only remember those who were murdered, they also consider with reverence the strength and sustainability of America and her freedoms (so hated by our terrorist attackers). As we reflect on our liberty as Americans we should also remember the lurking legislative threats to our sacred freedoms, as signified by this rejection of simplicity.

This post was written by Caroline May, policy analyst the National Center for Public Policy Research. Write the author at info@nationalcenter.org. As we occasionally reprint letters on the blog, please note if you prefer that your correspondence be kept private, or only published anonymously.

Labels: Congress, Constitutional Law, Culture, Defense, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Caroline May at 11:15 PM

Friday, September 11, 2009

What's Happening Now

Final words from 9-11. Don't forget.

Iran, Libya and Obama's inexperience.

An American experiences the NHS.

Government Electric?

Death panels strike again.

ATR: Top five tax fibs in Obama speech.

Osteoporosis drug controversy in the UK.

Britain may not have enough hospital beds to handle swine flu.

Labels: Business, Defense, Europe, Foreign Policy, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:40 AM

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Project 21's Kevin Martin Rebuts Obama Health Care Address

Project 21 member Kevin Martin watched President Obama's address to Congress last night and didn't see much difference in what the White House and liberals on the Hill proposed before their summer vacation when it comes to reforming health care and what they are peddling now:

After losing control of their message on health care reform and having heard the criticism of their proposal at town hall meetings throughout the recent recess, one would expect the President and his liberal allies to return to Washington with new and innovative ideas about such reform. Instead, what the President said last night was a mish-mash of the same talking points, half-truths and misleading statements.

President Obama and his allies are ignoring the real reform Americans want in our health care system - namely reining in high costs and lessening the burden of lawsuit abuse on caregivers. Dealing with waste, fraud and abuse is something Americans have long wanted and this can be a point of agreement with the President - but it is odd that this is a cause the President's team is late in joining. What took them so long?

When supporters of a government option preach that their plan will be cost-effective and deficit-neutral as Obama did last night, it rings hollow. One has to look no further than the pork projects in this year's partisan "stimulus" package and the resulting explosion of the deficit to realize that being cost-effective and deficit-neutral are not the President's forte.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 4:47 PM

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

My Take On the President's Speech

In his speech tonight, the President told the stories of several Americans who have had struggles with the American health care system, and unflatteringly compared the U.S. health care system to systems in other 'advanced democracies.' But people who live in those other advanced democracies would love to have the quality and quantity of care Americans routinely take for granted. And the stories the President shared in his speech, touching as they are, are not by any means worse than the stories Ryan Balis and I collected about the trials faced by people in Canada, Britain, Australia, Japan, Sweden and other nations with public systems.

The White House released a guest list of people who were to sit with the First Lady during the speech that included a gentleman whose insurance company delayed a colonoscopy for several months. A few months' delay is commonplace in countries with government medicine. In our collection, we tell the story of a man on Australia's public system who was told he had to wait TWO YEARS for a colonoscopy.

In the section of his speech about Senator Kennedy, the President evoked the sad hypothetical case of an American having to tell a loved one, 'there is something that could make you better, but I just can't afford it.' In Britain, it is estimated that 25,000 people die prematurely every year because the British government-run health care system 'can't afford' cancer drugs Americans take for granted. Surely the President knows this.

A few weeks ago, the President famously claimed that a noteworthy expense of the U.S. health system occurs when doctors unethically try to make money by performing tonsillectomies unnecessarily. Although the President's allegation was preposterous, this wouldn't even be a credible lie in many countries with government-run systems, where it can be difficult to even get a tonsillectomy. In one of the stories we've collected and made available for download, a small child in a public health system abroad waited TWO YEARS for a tonsillectomy.

The President complained in his speech that people oppose his public option because of 'politics.' He's just wrong. People oppose his public option, including triggers and government-backed co-ops and any other back door route to government-run health care, because they fear what government-run health care always brings: pain, misery and death. Anyone who doubts this should download a free PDF of our new book and read for themselves what President Obama's co-called 'public option' would really be like.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:13 PM

100 Stories of Personal Struggles with the Health Care System You Won't Hear from President Obama

As the White House has announced that the First Lady will watch the President's health care speech tonight with two people who have had what the White House terms as "struggles" with the U.S. health care system, I remind everyone about our new book, "Shattered Lives: 100 Victims of Government Health Care."

Shattered Lives tells of the struggles 100 people in countries that previously adopted the so-called "public option" (read: government option) on health care have had getting health care services. These are the kind of stories I think we can be confident the President won't reference during his speech tonight.

We are not charging for PDF copies of the book, which readers can download from http://www.nationalcenter.org/
ShatteredLives.html.

Why not download a copy now, and email it to any of your friends or family or are on the fence about the impact of increasing government control over our health system? Or post a link to the book's free downloads page on your Facebook page or blog?

Remember, folks: Government-run health care guarantees you health insurance -- it doesn't guarantee health care.

Labels: Congress, Europe, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, ShatteredLives, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:55 PM

Possibly It Can Be Found in the Kiddie Sex Section of the Constitution?

Where do you suppose the federal government found the authority for it to do this in the Constitution?

Labels: Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Government Power, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:11 PM

What's Happening Now

Penny Starr: Obama pitched health care to young people in audience before his national speech to students.

Rich Noyes: How media covered HillaryCare. Look familiar?

Michael Barone: The convenient fantasies of President Obama.

Prohibition coming back -- but in Britain? (H/T JunkScience.com)

When do the hearings begin? (H/T Devon Carlin)

We were wrong, says Commonwealth Foundation.

Labels: Education, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, History, Media, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:08 PM

The New Obama is A Deficit Hawk (Or So He Claims)

President Obama is saying he won't sign a health care bill that adds "one dime to the deficit":

"There are some principles that, if they are not embodied in the bill, I will not sign it," Obama said in an interview with ABC News' Robin Roberts aired on "Good Morning America" today.

Yet the president declined in the interview to draw a line in the sand on a so-called "public option," offering government-run health insurance to those who cannot find coverage privately.

Asked if the must-sign elements include that option, the president said: "I will give you an example -- if it's adding one dime to the deficit, if it's not fully paid for," then he will not sign the legislation...

Nice words, but if he means them, why has he been working for months for the trillion+ dollar House health care bill?

Surely even a man who spends tax dollars as easily as does our president considers a trillion dollars to be real money.

Or perhaps he's signaling an intention to cut even more from Medicare?

Labels: Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:10 PM

Steve Milloy on O'Reilly Factor Discussing Relationship Between GE, NBC and White House

Steve Milloy, author of the 2009 book Green Hell, proprietor of the Green Hell and Junk Science websites and co-director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project, was the first guest on the O'Reilly Factor Monday evening.

The topic: The mutual support system between General Electric, NBC News, the left-wing environmental movement and the Obama Administration.

The discussion included an August 19 email by a GE vice chairman saying "The intersection between GE's interests and government action is clearer than ever," among other things. The e-mail made it clear GE supports climate legislation for its own financial benefit, and is working hard to see it enacted.

The August 19 email also makes clear that the company is making campaign contributions as part of its strategy to see the enactment of legislation from which it can benefit financially.

For more information on the August 19 email, see Timothy Carner's article in the Washington Examiner, "Leaked E-mail Shows How GE Puts the Government to Work for GE."

Hat tip to ConservativeNewMedia for posting the video on YouTube.

Labels: Climate, Congress, Environment, FreeEnterpriseProject, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:34 AM

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks to Critique Obama Health Care Speech on BET

Update on post below: BET has decided to schedule Bob for a different panel discussion to be recorded at another time, so he will not be appearing on BET this evening.

Project 21 member Bob Parks is scheduled to appear as a commentator during Black Entertainment Television's coverage of President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, September 9.

President Obama is going to Capitol Hill to push for his foundering socialized health care agenda.

BET's coverage of Obama's speech is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM and continue until 9:00 PM or 9:30 PM, depending on the length of the speech. Its coverage will be broadcast from the Newseum.

BET is available as a basic service on most cable TV systems. Check your local listings for the channel. On national services, it is channel 329 on Direct TV, channel 124 on Dish Network and channel 270 on FiOS.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Project 21, Race, Retirement, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 6:29 PM

Outrage of the Day: ObamaCare Would Tax Some Workers So Others Could Retire Early

James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation highlights once again a genuine travesty included in the President's health care reform proposal, a $10 billion bailout of labor unions.

Sherk writes, in part:

...The most obvious benefit President Obama's health care plan provides to organized labor is a $10 billion taxpayer bailout for underfunded retiree health benefit plans. Many unions negotiate benefit packages that allow workers to retire early and collect health benefits until they qualify for Medicare. Many of these plans they are underfunded because unions mismanaged them.

The healthcare legislation transfers $10 billion to these accounts, in the form of a reinsurance program that pays most of the cost of claims for workers in these plans. Like the GM and Chrysler bailouts, the health care legislation requires all taxpayers -- including low income workers without retirement plans--to pay for benefits for already well-compensated union workers...

To recap:

1) The bailout is intended not for poor or disabled people, but people with jobs who would like to retire before reaching age 65;

2) The bailout would be paid for by taxpayers, most of whom will not enjoy the leisure and other benefits of retiring before 65. Many will not be able to retire even at 65;

3) The unions had funds available to pay for these benefits, but they mismanaged them.

Pathetic.

Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Retirement, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:49 PM

Monday, September 07, 2009

Next Year, Cancel Labor Day

President Obama said today that we all owe something to unions.

We certainly do: A big (figurative) punch in the nose, as a bigger job killing machine has never been invented.

Speaking of labor unions, I wish they (and the president) would stop claiming unions are responsible for the 40-hour work week. Prosperity and technological innovation, not lobbying or striking, is what made the 40-hour work week possible. Excluding businesses that accept bailouts, the only businesses that can offer workers 40-hour work weeks are the ones that can afford to. Lobbying and/or striking doesn't make that possible.

Besides, who has a 40-hour work week? Relatively few entrepreneurs and small business owners, I bet.

I suggest we cancel the day meant to honor people who only work 40 hours a week and instead create one to honor entrepreneurs and small business owners. The day could be spent penning thank-you letters to the people who make our jobs possible in the first place.

Labels: Business, Labor Unions, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:44 PM

Saturday, September 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

Government health care strikes again: 30 a day died in South Africa.

High taxes hurt soccer.

Scotland isn't the only nation releasing terrorists.

If government health care doesn't cure you, Joe Biden will claim it did.

Will Charlie Rangel face criminal charges?

Tom Blumer: "How crazy is it that Ford has to 'negotiate' a new contract with the United Auto Workers union, even though the union has ownership interests in two of its principal competitors...?

A competency question.

Jane Chastain: Cash for Clunkers not good for the environment.

Should government be able to harvest your organs without obtaining consent?

Labels: Congress, Environment, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Labor Unions, Retirement, Scandals, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:12 AM

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Don't Give the Speech, Mr. President

I issued a call to the President to drop his planned address on health care to a joint session of Congress earlier today. I suggested that the President instead meet with Congress in a Q&A session similar to Britain's "Prime Minister's Questions" in the House of Commons.

I did this because I believe another lecture by the President will get us (as a nation) no where. We've heard all his pretty words. Now we need to hear words that have specific, tightly-definable meaning. I doubt the President's teleprompter will provide him with that, but I think there's some chance that Members of Congress (assuming they don't get all tongue-tied because they are in the presence of the President, that is), given the chance to ask questions with followups, could get some specifics out of him.

I make no bones about the fact that I don't want an expansion of government-run health care in the United States. I'll be straightforward: I'm betting the President would muck up a genuine Q&A (especially if followups were permitted) and help defeat his own plan. but if I'm wrong about his abilities, I also think such a Q&A is his best chance to move his ball forward.

The President has gone as far as he can with charm, and charm is all he's going to be able to give us from the podium in front of Congress. A tour de force while engaging Congress in a specific, detailed way, however, would win him some support -- maybe enough to win the day for his side.

But, as I say, I'm betting he doesn't have it in him. Another show in front of the podium is his safe choice, and it is overwhelmingly likely that that's the one he's going to take.

For those interested, the full text of my statement earlier today can be found here.

Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:12 PM

Does Charlie Rangel Think We Opposed Government-Run Health Care When Hillary Clinton Proposed it Because She's White?

I notice the White House was quick to distance itself from New York Governor David Paterson when Paterson claimed racism motivates people who disagree with President Obama's political philosophy.

But now that the powerful chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel, has made the same racism claim, has the White House spoken out in disagreement?

Not immediately, anyway.

Rangel's comments are a disgrace. There's no question he knows better. After all, the vast majority of those who oppose socialized medicine held those views before the blink-of-an-eye ago when Barack Obama entered the national political scene.

Does Charlie Rangel think we opposed government-run health care when Hillary Clinton proposed it because she's white?

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Labels: Congress, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:36 PM

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Why Is the White House Doing This?

According to its website, the National Legal and Policy Center "has uncovered a plan by the White House New Media operation to hire a technology vendor to conduct a massive, secret effort to harvest personal information on millions of Americans from social networking websites."

Lots more information here.

Hat tip: Matthew Sheffield.

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Labels: Conservatives, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:00 PM

Sunday, August 30, 2009

What's Happening Now

What would John Jay do?

Obama and Kennedy "weren't that close." We could tell from Obama's eulogy.

Laws covering certain major campaign supporters will not be enforced, Obama Labor Department says. Equal justice under law is "the animating ideal of our democracy," says Obama. We aren't feeling animated today.

Ed Morrissey, optimist: "We've spent enough on the UAW, thank you very much." Realist: We'll never stop paying for the UAW.

Moe Lane/RedState: "Sometimes, I miss Tony Blair." Me, too, but I suspect it's because we live here.

Ed Driscoll: "It can't happen here." Or it can.

Nice enough to make you want to be a cave dweller.

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Labels: Business, Corruption, Europe, Foreign Policy, History, Labor Unions, Terrorism, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:02 AM

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

What's Happening Now

Media: Obama's a neologist; Bush was just dumb.

Jokes to play on the President.

Where does YOUR state rank? (H/T Coyote Blog.)

Examiner: If Americans were getting an average of 20 miles to the gallon before Cash for Clunkers, they are getting 20.0046 mpg after it. In a best-case scenario.

All hail Octavia: A novel new national debt relief program.

"Jackass" was the correct term.

Americans want the legal opportunity to opt out of Social Security, 49% - 37%.

Dr. Roy Cordato: And they say private insurance companies are the bad guys.

Evil doesn't die easily.

Think scientists are objective? Read this.

The power to force people to buy stuff is not in the Constitution.

Superman job: Fact-checking the White House.

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Labels: Foreign Policy, Government Spending, Health Care, Media, Retirement, Social Security, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:33 AM

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Dear President Obama: Please Read This

Join me in urging our President and every Member of Congress to read the article "How American Health Care Killed My Father" by David Goldhill in the September issue of the Atlantic.

Sample paragraph:

I'm a Democrat, and have long been concerned about America's lack of a health safety net. But based on my own work experience, I also believe that unless we fix the problems at the foundation of our health system - largely problems of incentives - our reforms won't do much good, and may do harm. To achieve maximum coverage at acceptable cost with acceptable quality, health care will need to become subject to the same forces that have boosted efficiency and value throughout the economy. We will need to reduce, rather than expand, the role of insurance; focus the government's role exclusively on things that only government can do (protect the poor, cover us against true catastrophe, enforce safety standards, and ensure provider competition); overcome our addiction to Ponzi-scheme financing, hidden subsidies, manipulated prices, and undisclosed results; and rely more on ourselves, the consumers, as the ultimate guarantors of good service, reasonable prices, and sensible trade-offs between health-care spending and spending on all the other good things money can buy.

Read it all here, pass the link (or this post) on to your Congressman, the White House and to others you know.

Hat tip: Greg Mankiw's Blog.

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Labels: Business, Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:18 AM

Friday, August 21, 2009

What's Happening Now

Is national health insurance Constitutional? No. Not convinced yet? Go here then.

"It's almost as if the president has no experience..." Ya think?

What planet is this guy on?

Independence Institute: Medical coverage is like a game show. (90 sec. video)

Write about the Fifth Amendment, get sued.

Death panels are real.

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Labels: Conservatives, Constitutional Law, Government Health Care, Health Care, Legal Reform, Liberals, Property Rights, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:46 PM

Thursday, August 20, 2009

What's Happening Now

The British government health care waiting list problem has been solved.

"Racial overtones," says MSNBC, capping its entry into the Stupidest News Clip of the Decade Contest.

British tax dollars at work: National Health Service gives Viagra to man with 30-year history of child sex crimes.

Sweden's largest newspaper claims Israel is kidnapping Palestinians and harvesting their organs. On MSNBC next?

White House deal with PhRMA undermines democracy.

Another polar expedition trapped in ice. Bonus picture of Al Gore's houseboat. Or go here.

Obama has lowest Gallup approval rating at this stage since Truman, except for one President. Find out which.

Ukraine's Got Talent.

Thomas Sowell on death guidance.

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Labels: Culture, Europe, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Project 21, Race, Retirement, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:46 AM

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

What's Happening Now

Why hasn't David Axelrod recused himself from ObamaCare lobbying?

No sunlight in Sunny California: Touchy agency trying to force someone to surrender video he shot of it.

The left told a lie? Say it ain't so!

Who said it? Climate bill out of control.

U.S. vs. Europe: Life Expectancy and Cancer Survival. (H/T Coyote Blog)

From Newt to Barack: Some good advice the President won't take.

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Europe, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:06 AM

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Postal Supervisors Are Not Happy With Our President

The National Association of Postal Supervisors is not happy with President Obama for what it says are his "negative references... without knowledge of the facts" about the performance of the U.S. Postal Service.

The Heritage Foundation, as usual, has excellent points to make about what Americans can learn from our experience with a "public option" postal system.

For myself, I wonder why the President -- despite his on-again-off-again-on-again statements about the public option over the last few days -- is so wedded to public health care option if he believes UPS and FedEx are doing fine, while the post office is not.

I hate to say it, but sometimes I wonder if he really thinks things through.

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Labels: Conservatives, Regulation, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:40 AM

Monday, August 17, 2009

Is Obama Really Dropping the So-Called Public Option? Not a Chance

The media is making much of the Obama Administration's hints that the President will no longer insist on a so-called "public option" in a health care bill he signs, but the idea of a government-started "co-op" alternative to private health insurance has not been abandoned.

What we have here is the left, finding a block on a road heading left, choosing another read, also heading left.

And heading to government-run health care.

Michael D. Tanner of the Cato Institute wrote instructively about the co-op "alternative" in June:

A closer look suggests that the only thing intriguing about the co-op alternative is whether it is a completely meaningless construct or simply camouflage for the "Public Plan" option...

...The new co-ops would presumably have to advertise like other insurance companies, build physician networks, pay competitive reimbursement rates, and in general act like, well, every other insurance company. It is suggested that the new federal co-ops would be nonprofits, and therefore would offer better service and lower costs. But many insurance companies, including "mutual" insurers and many "Blues," are already nonprofit companies. If the new co-ops operate under the same rules as other nonprofit insurers, why bother?

And there's the rub. Supporters of government-run health care have no intention of letting the co-ops be independent enterprises that operate by the same rules as other insurers. This is not really about creating more choices and competition. In fact, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) makes it clear, for example, that the co-op's officers and directors would be appointed by the president and Congress. He insists that there be a single national co-op. And Congress would set the rules under which it operates. As Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says, "It's got to be written in a way that accomplishes the objectives of a public option."

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks likes a duck, it's probably a duck.

Moreover, several previous attempts by governments to set up co-ops have, in fact, failed. Perhaps the largest such failure was the Florida Community Health Purchasing Alliance, which was set up by the State of Florida in 1993, and at one time covered 98,000 people. It was unable to attract small business customers and ultimately went out of business in 2000. Does anyone really believe that a Congress that is busy bailing out banks and automobile companies because they are 'too big to fail" is going to sit idly by while one of these new co-ops suffers a similar fate?

If a "co-op" is run by the federal government under rules imposed by the federal government with funding provided by the federal government, it's simply government-run health insurance by another name. Opponents of a government takeover of the health care system should not be fooled.

A single national co-op with officers and director appointed by the President and Congress and set up to accomplish the objectives of a public option.

Sounds exactly like government-run health care to me.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:14 AM

Friday, August 14, 2009

What's Happening Now

U.S. carbon dioxide emissions way down in '08.

If PhRMA doesn't want America to think it was bribed by the White House not to oppose government-run health care, it could oppose government-run health care.

Still deadly after all these years.

"Evil mongers"? But this is worse.

Father of cap-and-trade says there's a better way to regulate carbon (if you must). We agree.

Another one bites the dust.

ACLU movie: Big brother looking out for you.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Economics, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:31 AM

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

If You Don't Care Enough About Policy to Know Better Than This, Why Didn't You Go Into Another Line of Work?

Picked up by the Detroit News, and then the Heritage Foundation, is this nearly-unbelievably ignorant statement by Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan:

Climate change is very real. Global warming creates volatility and I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile.

Few readers of this blog would be caught dead saying something this stupid:

...this legislation is paid for by the polluters who currently emit the dangerous carbon emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air that we breathe.

That one, of course, can be credited to the President of the United States.

It is, a disgrace that people run for high office without caring enough to familiarize themselves with multi-billion-dollar issues (the official price tag for the ghastly Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill alone nears a trillion dollars). Although I can think of a couple of exceptions, on the whole, the American people do not deserve to be governed by ignoramuses.

So please, elected officials: crack a book once in a while, okay?

Hat tip: The Foundry.

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Environment, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:18 PM

What's Happening Now

Tonsils redux: President Obama says greedy doctors are coming for your feet... but LA Times says prevention in these cases is expensive. Why don't the greedy doctors do prevention, Mr. Prez?

Funeral Director Full-Employment Bill: President Obama sees post office as model for health care system.

Obama: "Technically, I'm not for a single-payer system." Technically?

Murder a child; go free. Worse than appalling.

Wrong again, Mr. President.

Why are people upset about ObamaCare? Because certain politicians lie and lie and lie and lie and lie.

Government health care would cost more than the politicians claim.

CNN says talk radio hosts are too predictable.

Astroturf for hire. By the left.

No plants at Obama "town meeting." Uh huh.

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Labels: Congress, Courts, Crime, Economics, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Media, Protests, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:06 PM

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What's Happening Now

Triumph of hope over experience: Pro-Georgian blogger asks Russian government to defend his free speech rights.

Got the flu in Britain? Need medical help? No problem! The government health service will put a 16-year-old on the phone with you.

President Obama claims U.S. private-care doctors remove tonsils too often. That's a problem the family of this 16-year-old in Britain wishes their government health service had.

A picture editorial: ObamaCare is "shovel ready."

A blogger's letter to flag@whitehouse.gov.

The BBC wonders: Why do Hollywood movies about autistic people focus on the very few who have savant abilities? I wonder: Why is BBC surprised to find Hollywood being unrealistic?

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Labels: Autism, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:22 AM

Monday, August 10, 2009

Obama/DNC Health Care Operation Urges Congressional Visits

Someone who lives in Virginia but who did not mention that his name could be used sent me and others the attached two-page flyer from President Obama's health care operation.

(Open each photo in a new tab or window to enlarge it, or download a PDF of the entire document here.)

The person had signed up to be on the Obama email list when Obama was a presidential candidate and received this by email.

In this case, the operation was encouraging this person to visit the office of Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia to lobby Senator Warner in favor of what the flyer calls "the President's health care guarantees."

Notice the flyer bypasses the issue of which, if any, legislation the recipient -- or the Senator -- is encouraged to favor. Recipients are just supposed to ask the Senator for the vaguely good-sounding items listed on the flyer, and leave the details to their supposed betters in Washington.

(For myself, I would never lobby anyone for "no gender discrimination" in health care, as I never used health services more than when I was carrying twins, and I have never once had even a bit of prostate trouble.)

Notice also that Obama's operation wants people to report to them how office visits go (see the section entitled "After Your Visit" on the flyer) and how the staff responds.

I post these pages for informational purposes only. Do with them what you will.

Note: This post was edited after publishing to add the option of downloading a PDF of the flyer.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:00 AM

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Obama Wants His Party to Shut Up?

Obama says he doesn't want the people who created "the mess" to do a lot of talking.

Given that his party has controlled the House and Senate since January '07, is he telling Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to shut up?

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow on Twitter.

Labels: Congress, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 3:37 PM

Attention Paul Krugman: This Isn't About Obama Being Black

The New York Times' Paul Krugman suggests that the protesters against ObamaCare at townhall meetings are "reacting less to what Mr. Obama is doing... than to who he is" -- a black man.

Really? If that's true where were all these protesters during the campaign last year? Has the president changed his ethnicity since then?

This isn't about Obama being black... it's about him being pink.

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour. E-mail comments to info@nationalcenter.org. | Subscribe to this blog's feed. | Follow on Twitter.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Retirement, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 8:53 AM

Project 21 Members Come Out Swinging Against Krugman Racism Allegation

Members of the Project 21 black leadership group have come out swinging against New York Times columnist Paul Krugman for "scurrilously pinning racist motives on critics of President Obama's health care proposals."

Project 21 has also called on President Obama to condemn "this effort to stifle debate with race-baiting tactics"; as well as "all efforts to derail legitimate public debate."

Krugman's column drew the following specific comments from Project 21 members:

Mychal Massie (Pennsylvania):

"Paul Krugman is the one with race on the brain. Specifically, he is using race in the lowest and most repulsive declinations. He is using it because every other argument to stem the growing tide of condemnation for the proposed health care reform bill has failed. Ergo, when all else fails, parade out the race card and attempt to incite blacks into becoming the useful idiots.

"Opposition to the proposed health care bill isn't based on race. It is based on a people who are tired of Congress and the President spitting in their faces. It is the collective resolve of a people who are tired of being tread upon. One would think a Nobel prize-winner such as Krugman could figure that out."

Mychal Massie is chairman of Project 21.

Joe Hicks (Los Angeles, California):

"I must have somehow missed the articles from Krugman and other liberal and leftist members of the mainstream media that were critical of the activities of ACORN - the radical, leftist group Barack Obama once represented. Somehow, their heavy-handed activities - that many argue bent the boundaries of legality - were just considered to be the organized expression of disadvantaged communities.

"Now the same shameless, clueless writers are trying to convince us that those Americans who rightfully feel threatened by government-run health care and confront Obama's noxious scheme at public forums are somehow the acts of a 'mob.' Krugman reveals his bias by admitting that people are genuinely angry without bringing himself to understand exactly why they are mad. Smearing the rightful anger and concern of everyday Americans as collections of angry, old white folks - or part of the 'birthers' movement - shows the elitist disdain that liberal journalists such as Krugman have for democracy in action."

Joe Hicks is a Pajamas Television commentator and vice president of Community Advocates, Inc. of Los Angeles. He is a former executive director of the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission and former executive director of the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Deneen Borelli (East Chester, New York):

"Krugman's commentary shows he is as out of touch as many of our elected officials are with real Americans. What's happening at town hall meetings has nothing to do with race and everything to do with concern over the rapid expansion of government.

"Americans are frustrated that letters, phone calls and e-mails to their elected representatives have had no impact on significant pieces of legislation such as cap-and-trade and stimulus spending. Americans are taking the next logical step by directly voicing their opinions to their representatives at town hall meetings."

Deneen Borelli is a full-time fellow with Project 21. She serves on the board of trustees of The Opportunity Charter School in Harlem, New York and previously served as Manager of Media Relations with the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).

Bishop Council Nedd II (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania):

"I have nothing to do with the 'birther' issue, but I do have concerns about health care. So do the people in my parishes and in the local diner where I eat every day. Living in central Pennsylvania, these truly are the people portrayed in the Norman Rockwell painting about freedom of speech that Krugman reference in his column. To imply these people are now racists is racist in itself.

"Approximately half of the U.S. population didn't vote for Obama in the first place. Why is Krugman shocked that there is opposition to the Obama health care plan, and that people dare to voice their concern at public meetings? The Obama plan inserts government officials into end-of-life decisions for seniors and those among us with the least. That is not a race issue, that is a privacy issue. The Obama plan has given a whole new meaning to the idea of government for the people. This health plan is a bitter pill shoved down people's throat against their will."

Council Nedd is an Anglican bishop, serving the Diocese of the Chesapeake.

Bob Parks (Athol, Massachusetts):

"Why is it when liberals want to make their points, their knee-jerk reaction is to go racial? Paul Krugman is supposedly a journalist. Before throwing out the race card while speculating, he should give us some attributed quotes. Minus that, what he thinks is irrelevant."

Bob Parks is a Project 21 member and media commentator, and operator of the Black and Right web site.

Jimmie Hollis (Millville, New Jersey):

"I knew the moment Obama became a presidential candidate that anyone disagreeing with him would be called a racist, and that any opposition to his political views would be seen as racism. The left has always played the race card because it works.

"But I am nonetheless happy to see that people on the right and many in the middle are now beginning to speaking out firmly and with passion against policies they oppose. President Obama should speak out and condemn Paul Krugman racial commentary."

Jimmie L. Hollis is a Project 21 member and is retired from the U.S. Air Force, in which he served from 1962-1987.

Geoffrey Moore (Chicago, Illinois):

"This is not about race. It is about government control. The system is not perfect, but there is no need to have the government take over control of the entire health care system. The government has not demonstrated the ability to efficiently control costs and provide good service.

"Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who are not up in arms about their insurance. There are people who are somewhat pleased with the coverage they have. The government getting involved will create enormous expense and waste, while creating more problems than they intend to solve."

Geoffrey Moore is a Project 21 member and a marketing analyst in Chicago.

Project 21's entire statement can be read here.

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Labels: Congress, Media, Project 21, Race, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:32 AM

Friday, August 07, 2009

"I Don't Want The Folks Who Created The Mess To Do A Lot Of Talking"

RealClearPolitics has a video (51 seconds) of President Obama telling a crowd in Virginia that "I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking."

Is he frustrated that Americans are turning out at town halls to express opinions different than his own?

Who else could he be referring to? Talk show hosts? Bloggers? Opposition party politicians?

Who is it he believes "created the mess"?

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Labels: Government Power, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:01 PM

More Beer at White House? Not Likely

A black conservative activist reportedly was attacked outside a Town Hall meeting in Missouri yesterday by a man who called him a racial slur.

From a report this morning by ABC's Jake Tapper:

Outside [a town hall meeting held by Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-MO], conservative activist Kenneth Gladney handed out yellow flags with "Don't tread on me" printed on them and was, he said, attacked. "He spoke to the Post-Dispatch from the emergency room at St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where he said he was awaiting treatment for injuries to his knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face. Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man, used a racial slur against him before the attack.

"'It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,' he said."

Don't look for the White House to intervene in this case.

Addendum: Video and more information at Gateway Pundit and numerous posts at Missourah blog.

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Labels: Congress, Conservatives, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:44 AM

Not All Senators Are Treated Alike

The Environmental Protection Agency has told Republican Senators Jim Inhofe (OK) and George Voinovich (OH) that it will not provide the analysis they sought of the House cap-and-trade bill, but it will provide an analysis (pdf) for a bill it expects Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to introduce in September.

Among other things, the Senators sought (pdf) a "cost analysis of the Waxman-Markey provisions on households and energy-intensive, trade exposed industries."

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Labels: Climate, Congress, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:35 AM

Bill O'Reilly Covers National Center Free Enterprise Project's Call on Obama to Dismiss Jeffrey Immelt

The National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project has called on President Obama to dismiss General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt from his Economic Recovery Advisory Board following findings from the Security and Exchange Commission that "GE bent the accounting rules beyond the breaking point" to "avoid missing analysts' final consensus EPS expectations."

You can read the Free Enterprise Project's complete press release here.

In the video above, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly covers the Free Enterprise Project's call in this nightly "Talking Points Memo" and adds commentary of his own. He then is joined by political strategist Dick Morris, who continues the Immelt-GE-Obama discussion.

Hat tip: To NewsPoliticsNews for posting the video on YouTube.com.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Corruption, Energy, FreeEnterpriseProject, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:17 AM

Thursday, August 06, 2009

What's Happening Now

Here's who voted which way when the Senate voted to renew Cash for Clunkers. Only 37 Americans in the Senate.

Here's who voted which way when the Senate voted to table Tom Harkin's amendment to limit the car welfare program to individuals earning under $50,000 and couples earning under $75,000. 65 Senators support welfare for the rich. Zero Dems for means testing.

Washington Independent: Cash for Clunkers "steals its funding from a Department of Energy program encouraging the development of renewable energy technologies." Someone thought this bill was about the environment?

John McCain calls Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill "a farce," saying "they bought every industry off - steel mills, agriculture, utilities." More welfare for the rich.

President of the United States or Captain Queeg with his strawberries? Seemingly both.

Searching for swastikas.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Congress, Environment, Government Spending, History, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:33 PM

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

It's Obama v. Obama, as Obama White House unleashes ex-ABCer Linda Douglas to rebut a video of Barack Obama.

The British government spends $12 million a year lobbying itself on global warming, but it won't buy Mrs. Fletcher Lucentis.

The White House is looking for some snitches. Michelle Malkin asks: How much is the snitch effort costing us?

The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on Cash for Clunkers, even as it asks the Senate to renew it.

Russian subs have begun patrolling our east coast. Resetting our foreign policy indeed.

John Stossel blogs about Cash for Clunkers. Not a fan.

10 reasons the government should take over health care (NOT).

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Labels: Business, Climate, Environment, Government Health Care, Government Power, Government Spending, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:11 AM

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

What's Happening Now

Democrat leaders are exploring using a loophole to get health care reform passed. Others -- like me -- call it cheating.

A picture is worth a thousand words: A metaphor for ObamaCare.

Benjamin Franklin would not have supported government health care.

Will a health care bill pass? Charles Krauthammer's prediction.

Consumer Reports magazine is lobbying for government health care. So much for objectivity!

Government health care may mean waiting in line. You think?

Does a "DUI on a horse" charge mean the rider is drunk - or the horse?

Not all the ignorant kids are American. One in 20 British children believe singer Bob Geldof discovered gravity and that the classic book "Pride and Prejudice" was written by JK Rowling. (H/T Adam Smith blog)

A website now tracks the wit and wisdom of Vice President Joe Biden. (H/T Danny_Glover on Twitter)

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Labels: Congress, Crime, Education, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:48 AM

Monday, August 03, 2009

"I Happen to be a Proponent... Of Single-Payer"

Barack Obama, in his own words.

Addendum, 8/5/09: The White House does not like this video one bit.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:27 AM

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Washington Post: Obama Has a "Ready Command of Facts"

In "Polling Helps Obama Frame Message in Health-Care Debate" in Friday's Washington Post, reporter Michael D. Shear writes, "Obama is known for his soaring speeches and his ready command of facts..."

Ready command of facts?

Is he talking about the same President who admitted he was unfamiliar with a critical provision in his own trillion+ dollar health care plan?

Who thinks one of the functions of a living will is to stop extraordinary measures if "brain waves are no longer functioning"?

Who believes carbon dioxide emissions "contaminate the water we drink"?

Who says 14,000 people "every single day" will lose their health insurance unless we follow his advice on health care policy?

Who believes pediatricians remove tonsils?

Who says the health care plan he is backing will "keep government out of health care decisions"?

Who was under the impression that Austrians speak "Austrian"?

Who says with a straight face that his health care plan "will be paid for"?

Who keeps saying the U.S. is importing more oil today than ever before?

Who thought Emperor Hirohito personally surrendered to General MacArthur?

Who says the $1 trillion price tag on his health care bill is less than what we have spent on the war in Iraq?

Who repeatedly asserts that if his health care plan passes, "if you like your health plan, you can keep it, the only thing that will change is that you'll pay less."

The article in which this appeared, by the way, is about how the White House staff uses polls to determine what to put in the President's teleprompter. As one "top advisor" (evidently, his name is top secret), told the Post: "I mean, I'm looking at polling, like, all the time."

Right, dude.

Cross-posted at Newsbusters.

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Labels: Climate, Culture, Energy, Government Health Care, Health Care, History, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:22 PM

Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Mouthing Disingenuous Assurances Isn't Leadership or Change"

Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie, writing in his personal column on WorldNetDaily, asks: "Why the rush on Obamacare?"?

Mychal (as usual!) doesn't mince any words in his conclusion:

Parading in front of teleprompters and mouthing disingenuous assurances isn't leadership or change. It is simply more of the same from another smarmy politician who will say and do anything to advance a diabolical agenda – no matter how bad it is for the nation.

You can see what Mychal has to say by reading his column here.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Government Power, Government Spending, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:27 AM

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

How Government Saves Money

This Wall Street Journal story about how government saves money is sad and funny at the same time.

Some sample savings found by U.S. government agencies in response to President Obama's request that agencies come up with $100 million in savings:

* The U.S. Forest Service will get by with new white vehicles, despite preferring green.

* When the Army sends soldiers on vacation, it will send more at a time.

* FEMA is going to re-use emergency trailers instead of throwing them out.

* Homeland Security and NHTSA are going to read newspapers online instead of subscribing to the paper versions.

* The Navy will delete unused email accounts, which, somehow, will save $5 million. (How many unused accounts can there possibly be?)

Regrettably, only one federal department -- the Labor Department -- suggested eliminating a program.

If only government agencies were as parsimonious about spending as they are about cutting programs.

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Labels: Government Spending, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:00 PM

What's Happening Now

If you like Fanny Mae, you'll love Fanny Med.

What is "de-developing" and why does President Obama's science advisor want to do it to the United States?

Vote for the most ridiculous lawsuit of the month. (I voted for the Katy Perry lawsuit; but was tempted by the Jose Canseco lawsuit.)

California's yearly pension fund contribution rose from $321 million to $7.3 billion in 8 years. The state pays over 5,000 people more than $100,000 annually in pensions.

Parody: "Nothing irritates me more than the pitter-patter of little carbon footprints."

Obama, Democrat leadership blame the GOP for good done by Dem Blue Dogs in stopping health care bill. Accidental compliment?

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Labels: Business, Climate, Government Health Care, Health Care, Labor Unions, Legal Reform, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:06 PM

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

What's Happening Now

Shocking proof Obama was born outside the United States. (But did Microsoft Word exist in 1961?)

I believe Obama wants to keep the birther story going.

The New York Times "house conservative" says: "I feel politically closer to Barack Obama than to House Minority Leader John Boehner." Hmmm... wonder why they hired him...?

Everyone's watching: Captain Kirk channel Sarah Palin. Even more fun: David Frum (4,700) v. Mark Levin (900,000).

Associated Press reports: Secret testimony claims Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad knew they got preferential treatment from Countrywide. (H/T Ace) The Senators themselves say, essentially, "hogwash."

Ten questions for supporters of ObamaCare.

Marta Mossburg: "The average state government employee benefit package in Maryland is $24,347 per year..." (And still the lady at the Maryland DMV wouldn't answer my question!)

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Labels: Conservatives, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 5:19 PM

Hear Barack Obama Complain About Congress Passing Bills It Hasn't Read

Why would the man who is trying to pass health care reform and cap and trade without Congress reading the bills say anything like this?

Because it was 2004.

Hat tip: Naked Emperor News for posting the clip on YouTube; P.J. Gladnick on Newsbusters for writing about it.

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Labels: Congress, Liberals, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:04 AM

Monday, July 27, 2009

What's Happening Now

Is Obama a brat?

The last Toyota you bought might be the last Toyota you ever buy.

How many 800-pound gorillas fit in the U.S. Senate? (Does it matter if they're very ugly?)

Steve Milloy has some questions about Goldman Sachs.

Spooky.

Obama missed his moment.

U.S. government to study dangerous pathogens in Tornado Alley. Yucca Mountain remains unused. Obama is tightening CAFE standards, which make cars less safe. The way we're going, the euthanasia provisions in the health care bill will be superfluous.

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Labels: Business, Energy, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:17 PM

Sunday, July 26, 2009

What's Happening Now

If the Congressional Budget Office keeps delivering news like this, will Pelosi and Reid try to shut it down?

Poor Bigfoot.

Is this a lie, or does President Obama just not know any better?

If we create more public health care, we will get more stories like this.

In the housing crisis, who does Thomas Sowell feel most sorry for?

Why do politicians with no business experience think they can run 15 percent of the economy? John Stossel doesn't know.

Just for fun: Nicholas Wade is a "denier."

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Labels: Climate, Conservatives, Economics, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:09 AM

Saturday, July 25, 2009

What's Happening Now

Under the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade climate bill, the taxpayers have to give General Electric $200 every time it sells a refrigerator.

Government medicine won't work for little Gunner.

Can you picture in your mind's eye the scene on the Battleship Missouri as Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers? Apparently, President Obama can't.

Who's uninsured -- in pictures.

India questions the science behind the global warming theory. Would James Hansen try the Indian government "for high crimes against humanity and nature"?

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Energy, Environment, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, History, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:30 AM

Friday, July 24, 2009

What's Happening Now

RedState reports: A top Democratic Congressional staffer says hospice is how the Democrats' health care bill controls health care costs.

MoveOn.org organized a rally in favor of Obama's health care reform legislation outside GOP Senator John Cornyn's Dallas office, but found itself outnumbered by Tea Party patriots as much as 20-1.

Midwives to be paid the same as doctors under the House Democrats' health care bill. America to follow Britain in giving up having a doctor present at births?

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus agree with President Obama about the Cambridge Police Department.

Put some tobacco in a pipe and smoke it, and your government health premiums go up. Put some crack in and smoke it and, hey, no problem!

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:44 PM

What's Happening Now

Animals can sue? Can we sue back?

FactCheck.org gave President Obama's press conference statements poor marks for accuracy.

The Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby observes Obama opposing integration.

Barbara Boxer says she's glad she was rude to an army general and the head of the Black Chamber of Commerce: "That only revs up my people. I use that to send them letters and say, 'Help me.' So I get millions of dollars..."

Robert Gates says President Obama "was not calling the officer stupid." No, he was calling him "stupidly."

Remember, it's all about him.

A case of it being better to have an enemy in the tent pissing out? Nah!

Attention Mr. President: Here's a way to lower health costs. Doesn't expand government, though.

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Labels: Defense, Foreign Policy, Government Health Care, Health Care, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 8:26 AM

Video of Project 21's Bob Parks Discussing Obama and Gates on Fox's O'Reilly Factor

Here's a video of Project 21's Bob Parks (right on the panel), guest host Monica Crowley and Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Thursday's Fox News O'Reilly Factor.

The three discussed President Obama's comment that the Cambridge MA Police Department "acted stupidly" when it arrested Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. for disorderly conduct.

Hat tip to jbranstetter04 for posting the video on YouTube.

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Labels: Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:12 AM

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Project 21's Parks to Debate Obama's Comments on Henry Gates Arrest on Tonight's "O'Reilly Factor"

Project 21's Bob Parks is scheduled to appear on the Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor" program on Thursday, July 23 at 8:00 PM eastern. Monica Crowley is guest host.

Bob has been invited to discuss President Obama's remarks last night about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Gates was arrested at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts last week for disorderly conduct after officers responded to a neighbor's call that Gates' home was possibly being burglarized. In fact, Gates had just returned from a trip and was trying to open a jammed door. The charges later were dropped.

In his nationally televised press conference, President Obama was asked about the arrest. While admitting he didn't "know all the facts," Obama nonetheless implied that he was angry about the arrest and said the officers acted "stupidly."

On his personal "Black and Right" web site, Bob says: "President Obama admits he didn't know much about the case, and yet slams a police department on national television. Is this stupid or what?"

The person Bob will be debating had yet to be determined at the time Bob was booked for the show.

Labels: Crime, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 5:12 PM

Letter on Obama and Public Charter Schools

Just caught the story about Obama's NAACP speech. It's quite off-the-mark in one respect: The President is a strong supporter of public charter schools. (Check our website, below, for plenty of evidence).

Best..

Nelson Smith
President & CEO
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
1101 15th Street, NW
Suite 1010
Washington, DC 20005
202-289-2700
www.publiccharters.org

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Labels: Education, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:15 PM

Outrage of the Day: The "Stupid" Remark

If President Obama was willing to confidently call the Cambridge, Massachusetts police department "stupid" even while admitting he didn't have all the facts of the case, on what other issues is the President confidently speaking without first examining the facts at hand?

As for the question immediately at hand: If our local police department sees someone breaking into our house, it is welcome to ask questions, even if the person doing it is me.

Do I only think that because I'm white?

Hat tip to NewsPoliticsNews for posting the video on YouTube.

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Labels: Outrage, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:29 PM

A Travesty, In My Opinion

It seems the White House plans to re-write the health care bill after some version of it passes the House and Senate, then jam the re-written version through Congress before anyone in Congress -- or the public -- has a chance to see what's in it.

Is this the transparency candidate Obama promised?

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Human Rights, Liberals, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 7:19 AM

Miscellaneous

The New York Times isn't buying everything Obama claimed at his press conference Wednesday.

Another hypocrite politician? Why, he's just like Al Gore.

Pay to play?

Paul Mirengoff says Walter Cronkite "didn't represent the victory of substance over style, but rather the victory of a style that implied substance over substance itself." I agree.

Hey Mr. President: Why no open meetings?

The CBO's integrity at risk?

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Labels: Environment, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, Media, Retirement, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:53 AM

Monday, July 20, 2009

Outrage of the Day: Administration Considering Forcing Men Out of Science, Engineering and Math Classes

The Obama Administration is considering the possibility of applying Title IX of the Civil Rights Act to force colleges and universities to mandate that half of all students taking science, engineering, math and technology classes be female.

Since it is illegal to force women to take these classes, the most practical response to this mandate by colleges would be to limit male enrollment in these courses.

Title IX is the law under which numerous men's college sports programs were closed so that the number of women and men participating in college sports programs could be made equal.

An article in BusinessWeek in 2004, "America's Failure in Science Education" by William C. Symonds, says America already has a shortage of science and technology graduates and explains how this shortage hurts the nation.

I'd suggest that President Obama might want to read it, but as he said at a March 24, 2009 press conference that "if we're not making serious investments in science and technology and our infrastructure, then we won't grow 2.6 percent, we won't grow 2.2 percent. We won't grow," I guess he already knows.

Hat tips: Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal and Walter Olson on Overlawyered.

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Labels: Education, Political Correctness, Regulation, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:24 AM

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Video of Project 21's Mychal Massie on the O'Reilly Factor

Here's a video of Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie (right), guest host Laura Ingraham and Mark Sawyer, Ph.D. of UCLA on Friday's Fox News O'Reilly Factor.

They discussed President Obama's speech at the NAACP convention (including the President's curiously changed accent) and Senator Barbara Boxer's patronizing comments this week to a witness from the Black Chamber of Commerce at a recent hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Mychal also mentioned the National Center for Public Policy Research's recent poll of African-Americans on cap and trade.

Hat tip to AmericasNewsToday1 for posting the video on YouTube.

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Labels: Climate, Congress, Culture, Environmental Justice, Media, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:00 AM

Friday, July 17, 2009

Project 21's Massie Critiques Obama NAACP Speech On Tonight's "O'Reilly Factor"

Project 21 Chairman Mychal Massie is scheduled to appear on the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" program on Friday, July 17 at 8:00 PM eastern. Laura Ingraham is guest-hosting. Also on with Mychal will be Professor Mark Sawyer of UCLA.

Mychal has been invited to discuss President Obama's remarks last night to the NAACP convention in New York City. Along with praising the group on its centennial, Obama specifically promoted his vision for education reform.

Fellow Project 21 member Kevin Martin made the following remarks following the President's remarks to the NAACP:

President Obama may believe his speech before the bobbing heads of the NAACP won him some points in the black community, but the reality is that it is the past and present actions of elected officials such as Obama that are responsible for the current state of education in our community. Obama and his liberal allies on Capitol Hill have sought to crush any alternative to our failed public education system - such as public charter schools, vouchers and increased parental involvement - most likely because it would ultimately make the teacher unions and elected officials have to become more accountable.

Expect Mychal to echo Kevin's feelings as well as discuss how Obama's plan to institute new energy taxes is also against the best interests and will of black Americans.

Labels: Climate, Education, Energy, Media, Project 21, Race, White House

Posted by David W. Almasi at 1:36 PM

Thursday, July 16, 2009

CBO: No Savings in Democrats' Health Care Bills

The Congressional Budget Office said today taxpayers should expect no net savings if one of the health care plans being developed by House and Senate Democrats is adopted.

In a nutshell, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf says any savings the plans might deliver are offset by additional costs they impose.

President Obama, has, of course, been insistent that health care reform is necessary so cost savings can be achieved.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Government Spending, Health Care, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:16 PM

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Have a Disabled Child? Mom Getting Forgetful? Expect ObamaCare to Let Them Die

Longtime conservative activist Foster Friess writes on his Campfire blog of Dr. Zeke Emanuel's plans to limit the health care expenses of "individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens..."

In other words, if you are getting old, or not all there mentally, bye bye to you if you need health services that cost money.

Is Dr. Emanuel some powerless nut? If only!

No, he's President Obama's Special Advisor for Health Policy, his brother is the White House chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel, and Dr. Emanuel laid out these views in the influential British medical journal The Lancet.

Have a severely disabled child? Mom getting forgetful? If this kind of thinking becomes policy (beware: it could), expect ObamaCare to let them die.

Addendum 7/22/09: Mark Tapscott and John Goodman see it the same way.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Government Power, Human Rights, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:22 AM

Monday, July 13, 2009

Video of Tom Borelli on Obama's Corporatism Strategy on Glenn Beck

Here's the video of Monday's broadcast of the Glenn Beck Show on the Fox News channel in which Tom Borelli, director of the National Center for Public Policy Research's Free Enterprise Project and Wall Street analyst/Fox Business News commentator Charles Payne talk about GE's quasi-merger with the Obama Administration, GE's hiring of Linda Daschle as a lobbyist, the recent appointment of a GE executive to a top Obama Administration post at the EPA and how, as Glenn Beck put it in the segment, "the little guy gets screwed."

Hat tip to America's News Today for putting the video on YouTube.

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Labels: Business, Climate, Congress, Corruption, FreeEnterpriseProject, Government Power, Government Spending, Liberals, Regulation, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:10 PM

Friday, July 10, 2009

Outrage of the Day: Obama's Unkept Tax Promise

Although I don't endorse every sentiment in every sentence of this Associated Press article "PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama's Unkept Tax Pledge" by Stephen Ohlemacher, it's well worth reading.

The piece begins:

President Barack Obama promised to fix health care and trim the federal budget deficit, all without raising taxes on anyone but the wealthiest Americans. It's a promise he's already broken and will likely have to break again.

Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress have already increased tobacco taxes - which disproportionately hit the poor - to pay for extending health coverage to 4 million children in working low-income families.

Now, lawmakers are looking for more revenues to help pay for providing medical insurance to millions more who lack it at a projected cost of $1 trillion over the next decade.

The floated proposals include increasing taxes on alcohol, which could raise $62 billion over the next decade, and a new tax on sugary drinks such as soda, which could raise $52 billion...

I recommend reading the whole thing.

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Labels: Government Spending, Media, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:04 AM

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Carol Browner's Hijinks: They Call This Open Government?

Mark Tapscott is on the case of White House "climate czar" Carol Browner, who appears to be continuing her wily Clinton Administration pattern of dodging and weaving whenever legal niceties interfere with her left-wing agenda.

As Mark writes in his piece entitled "'Put Nothing In Writing,' Browner Told Auto Execs on Secret White House CAFE Talks; Sensenbrenner Wants Investigation":

Carol Browner, former Clinton administration EPA head and current Obama White House climate czar, instructed auto industry execs "to put nothing in writing, ever" regarding secret negotiations she orchestrated regarding a deal to increase federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-WI, is demanding a congressional investigation of Browner's conduct in the CAFE talks, saying in a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, that Browner "intended to leave little or no documentation of the deliberations that lead to stringent new CAFE standards."

Federal law requires officials to preserve documents concerning significant policy decisions, so instructing participants in a policy negotation concerning a major federal policy change could be viewed as a criminal act...

Browner should answer these charges and very specifically, too, but President Obama must be held to account as well. It's not as though he didn't know what he was getting when he appointed Browner. As my husband David Ridenour pointed out in an op-ed published around the U.S. early this year, when Browner was head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton Administration, it made a practice of skirting the law.

David wrote, in part:

Throughout [Carol Browner's] years as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration, EPA officials routinely violated the Anti-Lobbying Act - a law prohibiting federal employees from using agency money for 'telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress.'

In 1995, the EPA flagrantly violated that law when it lobbied against the Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act, a bill that would have curbed some of the EPA's worst abuses.

As James Hinchman, comptroller general of the United States, noted, EPA officials 'distributed EPA fact sheets to various organizations' and 'directly lobbied the Congress.' Not only that, but an EPA regional administrator wrote a strong op-ed designed to stop the bill's passage.

Four years later, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., accused the EPA of violating the Anti-Lobbying Act again. Byrd - who has made a career of steering pork to his state - complained that the EPA's Transportation Partners Program was coordinating and funding anti-road lobbyists against the law and his state's interests. Browner was forced to terminate the program.
The following year, Browner was at it yet again. This time, her agency was accused of allowing special interests to improperly influence last-minute - so-called midnight - environmental regulations.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the EPA to preserve communications with such groups. Instead, Browner had her computer hard drive re-initialized, wiping it clean. Lamberth then held the EPA in contempt for 'contumacious conduct.'
As little respect as she's shown for the law, Browner has shown even less for science. During her years at the EPA, agency scientists who didn't toe the party line were subjected to relentless harassment.

David Lewis, an EPA Science Achievement Award recipient, publicly criticized the quality of science used in crafting regulations. In response, the EPA charged Lewis with ethics violations and repeatedly denied him promotion. Although he won whistle-blower judgments against the EPA, he was eventually forced into retirement.

I recommend reading both Mark's full editorial on Browner's CAFE shenanigans and David's full op-ed on Carol Browner's ideology and ethics, as well as a second commentary by Mark, "Browner Has History of Deceit on Government Files" in today's Washington Examiner.

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Labels: Climate, Corruption, Energy, Environment, Government Power, Regulation, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:47 AM

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Obama's Risky Energy Policy

National Center Senior Fellow Bonner Cohen has an op-ed running in newspapers nationwide saying President Obama is playing "Russian roulette" with our energy future.

The piece begins:

President Barack Obama is playing Russian roulette with America's quest for energy independence by rushing to replace fossil fuels with unreliable and expensive renewable energy.

The global balance of power is already shifting away from the United States toward China and Russia in the critical area of strategic natural resources...

You can read the full piece on the website of the McClatchy-Tribune News Service, which distributed the piece nationally, on the Baltimore Sun website, or find it elsewhere via search engines.

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Labels: Energy, Environment, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:41 AM

Thursday, June 25, 2009

ABC Stands for "All Barack Channel"?

Writing on the Fox News Channel's Fox Forum website, our Tom Borelli examines the political connections of ABC and NBC, saying the Obama Administration seems to have a deliberate political strategy of co-opting media corporations as a deliberate strategy.

But that's no reason, Tom also says, for corporations such as Disney, which owns ABC, and GE, which owns NBC, CNB and MSNBC, to play along, or for the public to stand for it.

Tom's entire piece can be read here.

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Labels: Business, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:10 PM

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Iran Quick Hits

Husband David says Obama's message to the Iranian government boils down to: What you're doing is unacceptable and it's none of our business.

Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner sees in the President's Iran stance a bit of an adolescent still growing up: "There is a tendency for newly installed presidents, like adolescents suddenly liberated from adult supervision, to do the exact opposite of what their predecessors did. Presidents of both parties indulge in this behavior, though Democrats who campaign as candidates of hope and change are more likely to do so."

I assume that last sentence is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

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Labels: Foreign Policy, Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:59 AM

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

"The American Family Needs Large Vehicles Too"

In a story he tells today in U.S. News and World Report, Peter Roff and his family go out for custard, finding themselves at the same frozen custard store as President Obama and his eleven SUVs and vans (not counting the ambulance).

Peter doesn't begrudge the President his big-vehicle motorcade. He figures the President and the Secret Service need big vehicles.

What he does is wonder is why our mileage-standard-tightening President won't return the favor, because, as Peter put it, "the American family needs large vehicles, too."

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Labels: Environment, Regulation, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:00 AM

Monday, June 22, 2009

White House Staff Misses George Bush

David Broder is reporting that the White House staff misses George Bush.

No, it's not about which President's family remembers to thank the permanent staff for the cooking and cleaning and door-opening.

It's Obama's political staff that misses Bush.

Hat tip: Jennifer Rubin at Contentions.

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Labels: Media, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:36 AM

Friday, June 19, 2009

Obama Shouldn't Be Taken Literally, Says White House

Courtesy of the White House itself, we now know why President Obama was willing to break a health care promise before he even made it.

According to the White House, the Associated Press reports, Obama didn't really do that, because Obama's promises "shouldn't be taken literally."

"Promises shouldn't be taken literally" could be the Obama White House's version of the Clinton White House's "depends on what the definition of is is."

Just speak straight, people! (But thanks for warning us that we can't trust you.)

Hat tip: Ramesh Ponnuru at the Corner.

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Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Media, Retirement, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:46 PM

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Obama Versus Inspectors General

It isn't just Fox News Obama doesn't like. It's scrutiny of any kind.

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Labels: Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:24 PM

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Obama Breaks Health Care Pledge... Before He Makes It

Everyone expects politicians to break their promises, but Barack Obama may have set a record yesterday by breaking one before he made it.

In his speech before the American Medical Association's annual meeting in Chicago Monday, President Obama pledged:

...no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period.

If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.

But Obama had previously unveiled a plan that would do just that: take health care plans away from millions of Americans who want to keep them.

In his 2010 budget, Obama calls for cutting federal outlays for Medicare Advantage plans by more than $175 billion over ten years. If he prevails, millions of seniors would face higher premiums, higher co-payments and reduced benefits.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the change would result in a decline in Medicare Advantage enrollment of seven million senior citizens.

A promise to the American people?

I guess it depends on what your definition of American people is.

This post was written by National Center for Public Policy Research Vice President David Ridenour. Write him at info@nationalcenter.org. Please state if a letter is not for publication or if you prefer that it be published anonymously.

Labels: Government Health Care, Health Care, Retirement, White House

Posted by David A. Ridenour at 1:21 PM

Obama Disses Kennedy

The White House is running away from Senator Ted Kennedy's health care reform bill, now that the bill is receiving adverse publicity.

I don't believe any of the liberal bills calling for an increase in the government's role in our health care system are a good idea for America, but I can't call myself impressed by the way the White House is dissing Kennedy here. Kennedy at least is man enough to put a bill out there.

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Labels: Congress, Government Health Care, Health Care, Liberals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:33 AM

Monday, June 15, 2009

Feds Fire Inconvenient Inspector General

This looks fishy.

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Labels: Government Spending, Scandals, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:34 AM

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Raising Taxes By the Mile

Project 21's Ak'Bar Shabazz has an op-ed opposing a new federal tax on driving in Sunday's Washington Examiner.

It begins:

During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama endeared himself to many voters with a promise that 95 percent of Americans would get a tax cut and those making under $250,000 "would not see a single dime of tax increase - not on anything."

Since Obama won and he's already spent so much, it was only a matter of time before his pledge went by the wayside. First came new taxes on tobacco to pay for middle-class kids' health care.

Now Rep. James Oberstar, D-MN, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wants a vehicle mileage tax (VMT) imposed on every vehicle. And he wants it right away.

When a colleague suggested state-level pilot programs to test the feasibility of the tax, Oberstar replied: "It's going to be done, it's something we have to do. Why not just move it along?" Oberstar hopes for a vote as early as June.

Obama's transportation secretary, former Illinois Republican Rep. Ray LaHood, promoted a VMT back in February. Although the White House backed off LaHood's trial balloon then, Congress may now try to ram it down Americans' throats...

Read the rest here.

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Labels: Congress, Project 21, Radio, Taxes, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:18 PM

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Barack Obama's Just Making Stuff Up

Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal writes: "Something's wrong when the president invokes a formula that makes it impossible for him to be wrong and it goes largely unchallenged."

Not quite. Two things are wrong. The White House shouldn't be making stuff up, and the media should be challenging the President over it.

Heck, according to the article, even the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, is exposing the White House on this. If liberal Democrats can do it, why can't the media?

I'm sure some reporters are too dumb to realize they're being lied to flat-out, but surely not all of them are idiots.

What's the point of us paying the price of a newspaper if the President can lie and the media doesn't notice?

Go to Bill McGurn's article for the full story.

P.S. If you don't have a Wall Street Journal subscription and you're wondering what President Obama made up, it's a fake figure for the number of jobs his so-called "stimulus" spending bill has "saved." As the article explains, there's no measurement for anything like that. The White House had to have made it up.

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Labels: Congress, Government Spending, Jobs, White House

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:16 AM

Important Links

About Amy Ridenour

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Featured from our Blogroll

Historic Documents

Archives

Highlighted Project

Fine print

Monday, November 02, 2009

So Much for That

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Now That This Important Business Has Been Dispensed With, Perhaps Our Commander-in-Chief Could Notice Afghanistan

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Reuters Reports...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Biden Commits Plagiarism Again?

Friday, October 16, 2009

What's Happening Now

Thursday, October 15, 2009

The Nobel Committee's Not-So Unanimous Selection of Obama

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

On Nobel Funds, Talking Points Memo Misses the More Interesting Story

Friday, October 09, 2009

National Center VP Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Thursday, October 08, 2009

What's Happening Now

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Andrew Breitbart is Wondering...

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Radio Day!

Thursday, October 01, 2009

What's Happening Now

Friday, September 25, 2009

It's a Sad State of Affairs...

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Project 21's Joe Hicks to Discuss Race and Opposition to Obama on CNN HLN Friday Afternoon

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

David Ridenour Appearing on WBAL Baltimore

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Deneen Borelli to be on Fox and Friends Monday

Friday, September 18, 2009

Quote of Note: Crybabies

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Rebutting False Racism Claims - Upcoming Deneen Borelli TV Appearances

What's Happening Now

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Project 21's Deneen Borelli on "Fox and Friends" on Friday Morning to Discuss Race and Obama Opposition

Project 21's Deneen Borelli on BBCAmerica Wednesday Night to Discuss Race and Obama Opposition

Deneen Borelli to Address Race and Criticism of Obama on MSNBC Wednesday

Racial Politics and Pop Culture

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Reality Check

Friday, September 11, 2009

What's Happening Now

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Project 21's Kevin Martin Rebuts Obama Health Care Address

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

My Take On the President's Speech

100 Stories of Personal Struggles with the Health Care System You Won't Hear from President Obama

Possibly It Can Be Found in the Kiddie Sex Section of the Constitution?

What's Happening Now

The New Obama is A Deficit Hawk (Or So He Claims)

Steve Milloy on O'Reilly Factor Discussing Relationship Between GE, NBC and White House

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Project 21's Bob Parks to Critique Obama Health Care Speech on BET

Outrage of the Day: ObamaCare Would Tax Some Workers So Others Could Retire Early

Monday, September 07, 2009

Next Year, Cancel Labor Day

Saturday, September 05, 2009

What's Happening Now

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Don't Give the Speech, Mr. President

Does Charlie Rangel Think We Opposed Government-Run Health Care When Hillary Clinton Proposed it Because She's White?

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Why Is the White House Doing This?

Sunday, August 30, 2009

What's Happening Now

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

What's Happening Now

Sunday, August 23, 2009