The chattering classes in DC
Photo of the day from the DC Tea Party. It is the leitmotif that ran through the protests across the country. Can’t say it any better than this:
(The photo is courtesy of Dr. Michael Hankamer)
Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives – plus Michelle Malkin on CSPAN – 8am Saturday Feb 28th
Im very insulted i’m not on this list! (list kidding). Heres a list:
#10: Rick Santelli
#9: David Brooks
#8: Ann Coulter
#7: Michael Savage
#6: Patrick Ruffini
#5: Michelle Malkin
#4: Karl Rove
#3: Sean Hannity
#2: Matt Drudge
and coming in at #1… Rush Limbaugh
No Michelle Malkin on this list? Well you can catch her on C-SPAN tomorrow morning at 8am Eastern for about half an hour. Try to phone in if you can get through and provide some balance to the moonbat callers. After that, she’ll be at CPAC tomorrow afternoon. PJTV’s “Washington Tea Party” panel, part of the Conservatism 2.0 conference, begins at around 2pm Eastern-ish.
I’ll post tons more Tea Party photos tomorrow from Seattle, Santa Monica, Tampa, Sacto, Houston, St. Louis (1,000+ turnout!), Asheville, and more. But gotta put this one up right now — our friend and photoshopper extraordinaire Tennyson Hayes will love seeing his Schumer-as-Antoinette image (first published here) supersized. Took this one at the DC Tea Party:
Thousands of Muslim Brits Join Taliban
This is what happens when you let liberal pigs run your country.. Britian and the rest of europe is slowly being taking over by islamic militants, and who gets banned? a dutch politican who made an “anti islam” film.. extremism is slowly taken whole of islam, the moderate muslims becoming more and more marginilized, and the liberal excuse for islamic terror grows everyday..
I honestly will never understand the tolerance liberals have towards muslims militants..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl…ghanistan.html
________________________
THOUSANDS of British-born Muslims have joined the Taliban in Afghanistan. UK troops say they are facing a mini civil war as more Brits head out to fight for the enemy. Senior officers said British-born Muslims from the West Midlands and Yorkshire have travelled to Helmand province and other parts of southern Afghanistan.
*SHOCKING* An actual MSM reporter, Patrik Jonsson REPORTS on the various Tea Parties today.
I guess theres always a few exceptions to the liberal biased mainstream media rule. Christian Science Monitor reporter Patrik Jonsson braved the rain and covered the huge Atlanta Tea Party. Yes, an MSM reporter actually acknowledged the existence of the thousands who took to the streets in Georgia and across the country.
His fair and balanced piece is here. An excerpt:
To be sure, the federal spending package includes tax cuts for most Americans, and Obama has promised to eventually halve a US deficit the Democrats have largely blamed on the Bush administration.
But protesters like Kevin Tanner of South Dakota said deficit spending by both parties has unnerved Americans. “The Republicans have their own problems because we elected them and they didn’t do what we wanted,” says Mr. Tanner.
Many protesters expressed a sense that basic American freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are threatened by new Washington policies seen by many as more socialistic than capitalistic. The proposed taxpayer bailout of homeowners who may have inflated their earnings in order to secure mortgages is one example, says Jeff Crawford, a protester from Dacula, Ga.
“The first year after the Mayflower arrived, the colonists tried a communal method of storing and sharing food and it failed miserably,” says Mr. Crawford. “Why are things any different now?”
Eighteenth-century symbolism was rife at the Atlanta event as speakers drew comparisons with the Boston patriots who dumped the King’s tea in Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation, an act that began the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.
Some kids at the Atlanta protest wore tri-cornered hats, and one held a sign that said, “When I grow up I want to be free.”
In Tampa, two dozen protesters held handwritten signs with slogans like “Keep Your Bailout; I’ll Keep My Freedom.” About 300 people showed up in 25-degree weather in Wichita, Kansas, and someone brought a pig.
In St. Louis, local media expected about 50 people to show up while actual turnout surged to over 1,000 people.
…“Fiscal responsibility is the new counterculture, and that’s what we’re seeing here,” says conservative columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin. “People were so mad about how the bill was passed, not just what was in it, and the lack of deliberation that preceded the signing.”
Your mortgage is not MY problem! – Highlights from Friday’s “tea party” protests all over the country
Michelle Malkin was at the DC Tea Party protest in Lafayette Park. Several hundred taxpayers are here to show their opposition to the spendalooza in Washington, D.C. as part of the nationwide demonstrations. Some photos from my iphone (see her twitpic page for original size). More to come. Send me yours:
Favorite sign:
12:30pm Eastern Crowd just wrapped up “The Star-Spangled Banner” — emphasis on the “Land of the FREE.”
Har:
With the DC Tea Party organizers: J.P., Brendan, and John:
She’s got tons of photos and e-mails pouring in from Tea Party people across the country. I joked to a Christian Science Monitor reporter covering the events that fiscal responsibility is the new counterculture. More coverage/photos/livestreaming at TCOT Report.
There is, as the old ’60s song goes, something happening here. And what it is, is very clear: A grass-roots revolt against the culture of entitlement. The spendzillas in Washington do not speak for us.
From Susan in San Diego:
Michelle,
Just back from the San Diego Tea Party. Great turn out, the San Diego Police estimated the crowd to have reached 600 and stated that it was a very peaceful and respectful display.
My husband is an immigrant from Australia having arrived in 2005. He was interviewed by several reporters and his message is “I entered this Country legally, was turned down for a home loan and car loan because my credit rating didn’t follow me from Australia. I have had to start all over building credit and now I have to do it while paying everyone else’s debt. When do I get a bailout?”
It has been a GREAT DAY!!!
Susan
Trafficknitter
From George in North Carolina:
From Michael in Oklahoma City:
From Augie in Nashville:
About 100 of the estimated 600 who protested in Nashville headed over to Democrat Rep. Jim Cooper’s office to give him some peaceful hell:
From Portland via TCOTTV:
From Scott Allan in Shelby AL:
Hi Michelle,
I attended the Shelby, AL Tea Party today organized by @ZanP. I found out about it from your site about 15 minutes before it started.
Considering the severe weather, it was amazing how many people stood outside and/or drove by. Less than one hour before the event, a tornado touched down down the street just one mile away! As you would expect, the people in Alabama were very supportive.
The pictures were taken on my phone while I was trying to hold my umbrella.
From Doug Powers in Lansing MI:
From Rachel in Cleveland:
From mes in Houston:
From El Presidente in Denver:
From Sidney in San Diego:
From Lori in San Diego:
Dear Michelle, Just got home from the Tea Party in Dan Diego, about three to three hundred and fifty people showed up, yes we had to skip work. What was new is the young families at the rally. Lots of strollers and signs, not sure how loud to be, but glad to have taken part, the signs were great. They are angry and scared for their children’s future loaded with debt. Please let’s keep the heat on, people want to have control of their future and keep what is theirs.
From Allen in Atlanta:
Dear Michelle,
I just wanted to let you know that I attended the Atlanta Tea Party. I would say there were over 200 people who came out and stood in a driving rain to listen to the speakers, and make their voices heard! The inclimate weather was not enough to dampen the spirits of modern day patriots, or to quench their outrage over the Obamanation.
Thanks for all you do, and keep up the good work!
More from Atlanta from reader Scott:
Michelle,
I’m sitting back at my desk, dress shoes, feet, and lower legs soaked, and I feel incredible! Although standing in driving rain, the turnout here in Atlanta was shocking. People spilled out from the steps of the capital building onto the sidewalk on both sides. I saw people of all ages. I saw children in strollers. I saw Americans rallying for America. I love this country enough to fight for it. I’m am elated that despite the weather conditions so many others in Atlanta agreed.
God Bless America.
More DC Tea Party blogging: Jonn Lilyea
***
The Tampa Tribune covers the local Tea Party protest in their backyard.
Andrew Marcus has coverage of the Chicago Tea Party, where the weather was freezing, but the folks were steamed:
From Rachel in Orlando FL:
From Maureen in Austin TX:
[I]n your tracking of the tea parties, several folks stood today in front of the Texas Capitol in support of the Tea Party Movement. It was organized on the fly by Debbie McKee and Peggy Venable is the Texas director of Americans for Prosperity and some others. State Rep Wayne Gilchrist joined us and urged us to make our voices heard. I send this to you in case you want to add it to your site. I think it’s amazing that people can spontaneously come to together and share their views… in most cases, complete strangers!
All the best,
Maureen Metteauer
From Ian in Hartford CT:
As the libs still wait for those 15 long minutes to expire, even Joe the Plumber showed up in DC!
No tea for you in Iowa!
Via Snapped Shot and STACLU comes news that Iowa state officials have banned the use of tea by Tea Party protesters holding an event tomorrow in Cedar Rapids.
The tea violates environmental standards because it will discolor the water:
A Cedar Rapids group will do a symbolic tea dumping into the Cedar River on Saturday because state officials won’t let them use the real thing.
An anti-tax group wanted to pitch in real tea like the Bostonian revolutionaries opposed to England’s tea taxes.
Tea, although natural and quite tasty, is considered a pollutant that can’t go into a body of water without a permit, said Mike Wade, a senior environmental specialist at the DNR’s Manchester field office.
“Discoloration is considered a violation,” Wade said.
What would our Founding Fathers say?
If you want the liberal spin about this, you can check out this article.
More liberal racism against “minority” republicans!
On Thursday’s Countdown show, left-wing actress and comedienne Janeane Garofalo appeared to talk about a recent poll finding that Rush Limbaugh is substantially less popular with women than with men. Evoking laughter from host Keith Olbermann, Garofalo remarked that “the type of female that does like Rush is the same type of woman that falls in love with prisoners.” After mentioning serial killers Richard Ramirez and Charles Manson, she then compared women who like Limbaugh to Adolf Hitler’s girlfriend, Eva Braun: “Eva Braun, Hitler’s girlfriend. That is exactly the type of woman that responds really well to Rush.”
After mentioning that former CNN anchor Daryn Kagan used to date Limbaugh, Garofalo cracked that Kagan has Stockholm Syndrome, which she also attributed to RNC Chairman Michael Steele, with Olbermann agreeing that Steele suffers from “self-loathing”:
JANEANE GAROFALO: She dated him, so either she suffers from Stockholm Syndrome – a lot like Michael Steele, who’s the black guy in the Republican party who suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, which means you try and curry favor with the oppressor.
KEITH OLBERMANN: Yes, you talk about self-loathing.
GAROFALO: Yeah, and there’s, any female or person of color in the Republican party is struggling with Stockholm Syndrome.
For a complete transcript, of relevant comments from the Thursday, February 26, Countdown show on MSNBC, visit NewsBusters.
Nationalizing Banks USA: Another day, another multi-billion-dollar bank bailout for Citigroup
(Photoshop credit: Radio Vice Online)
Another day, another multi-billion-dollar bank bailout.
The Treasury Department is back with a half-baked plant to soak up 36 percent of ailing Citigroup. Because the first $45 billion worked so well!
The deal will convert preferred shares into nearly worthless common stock, put the taxpayers’ stake in the company at nearly 40 percent, and continue the borrow-spend-panic-bailout-repeat cycle.
Instant verdict: “Shares of Citi tumbled 56 cents, or 22.7 percent to $1.90 in premarket trading.”
Insanity.
Gary Locke isn’t as clean as the biased liberal media wants you to believe
Liberal media outlets are doing their best to boost former Washington State Gov. Gary Locke, President Obama’s third pick for the beleaguered Commerce Secretary job. “Obama’s New Commerce Pick Has Clean Reputation,” declared National Public Radio’s Tom Banse. The Democrat possesses “a largely scandal-free resume” reported the New York Times. He is a “safe choice,” the Washington Post asserted, because of his “strait-laced reputation.”
But repeating the Mr. Clean claim doesn’t make it so. Those in his home state who know Locke best paint a far grimier picture of a crony politician with a serial habit of skirting campaign finance laws and conflict-of-interest rules. In other words: Locke’s “Do As I Say, Not as I Do” record makes him a good fit for the ethically-impaired Obama administration.
The left-leaning Seattle Weekly newspaper notes that Locke presided over a $3.2 billion tax break for Boeing while “never disclosing he paid $715,000 to – and relied on the advice of – Boeing’s own private consultant and outside auditor for advice.” Then there’s the tainted matter of Locke’s “favors for his brother-in-law (who lived in the governor’s mansion), including a tax break for his relative’s company, personal intervention in a company dispute, and Locke’s signature on a federal loan application for the company.” Locke’s laces ain’t so straight.
The glowing profiles of Locke have largely glossed over his troubling ties to the Clinton-era Chinagate scandal. As the nation’s first Chinese-American governor, Locke aggressively raised cash from ethnic constituencies around the country. Convicted campaign finance money-launderer John Huang helped grease the wheels and open doors. In the same time period he was drumming up illegal cash for Clinton-Gore at the federal level, Huang organized two 1996 galas for Locke in Washington, D.C. (where Locke hobnobbed with Clinton and other Chinagate principals); three fund-raisers in Los Angeles; and an extravaganza at the Universal City, Calif., Hilton in October 1996 that raised upwards of $30,000. Huang also made personal contributions to Locke — as did another Clinton-Gore funny money figure, Indonesian business mogul Ted Sioeng and his family and political operatives. Sioeng, whom Justice Department and intelligence officials suspected of acting on behalf of the Chinese government, illegally donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to both Democrat and Republican coffers. Bank records from congressional investigators indicated that one Sioeng associate’s maximum individual contribution to Locke was illegally reimbursed by the businessman’s daughter.
Checks to Locke’s campaign poured in from prominent Huang and Sioeng associates, many of whom were targets of federal investigations, including: Hoyt Zia, a Commerce Department counsel, who stated in a sworn deposition that Huang had access to virtually any classified document through him; Melinda Yee, another Clinton Commerce Department official who admitted to destroying freedom-of-information-act-protected notes on a China trade mission involving Huang’s former employer, the Indonesia-based Lippo Group; Praitun Kanchanalak, mother of convicted Thai influence-peddler Pauline Kanchanalak; and Kent La, exclusive distributor of Sioeng’s Chinese cigarettes in the U.S.; and Sioeng’s wife and son-in-law.
Locke eventually returned a token amount of money from Huang and Kanchanalak, but not before bitterly playing the race card and accusing critics of his sloppy accounting and questionable schmoozing of stirring up anti-Asian-American sentiment. “It will make our efforts doubly hard to get Asian Americans appointed to top-level positions across the United States,” Locke complained. “If they have any connection to John Huang, those individuals will face greater scrutiny and their lives will be completely opened up and examined – perhaps more than usual.”
That scrutiny (such as it was) was more than justified. On top of his Chinagate entanglements, Locke’s political committee was fined the maximum amount by Washington’s campaign finance watchdog for failing to disclose out-of-state New York City Chinatown donors. One of those events was held at NYC’s Harmony Palace restaurant, co-owned by Chinese street gang thugs. And then there were Locke’s not-so-squeaky-clean fund-raising trips to a Buddhist temple in Redmond, Wa., which netted nearly $14,000 from monks and nuns — many of whom barely spoke English, couldn’t recall donating to Locke, or were out of the country and could never be located. Of the known temple donors identified by the Locke campaign, five gave $1,000 each on July 22, 1996 — paid in sequentially ordered cashier’s checks. Two priests gave $1,000 and $1,100 respectively on Aug. 8, 1996. Three other temple adherents also gave $1,000 contributions on Aug. 8. Internal campaign records show that two other temple disciples donated $2,000 and $1,000 respectively on other dates. State campaign finance investigators failed to track down some of the donors during their probe.
But while investigating the story for the Seattle Times, I interviewed temple donor Siu Wai Wong, a bald, robed 40-year-old priest who could not remember when or by what means he had given a $1,000 contribution to Locke. He also refused to say whether he was a U.S. citizen, explaining that his “English [was] not so good.” Although an inept state campaign-finance panel absolved Locke and his campaign of any wrongdoing, the extensive public record clearly shows that the Locke campaign used Buddhist monks as conduits for laundered money.
The longtime reluctance to press Locke — who became a high-powered attorney specializing in China trade issues for international law firm Davis, Wright & Tremaine after leaving the governor’s mansion — on his reckless, ethnic-based fund-raising will undoubtedly extend to the politically correct and cowed Beltway. Instead, supporters are now touting Locke’s cozy relations with the Chinese government as a primary reason he deserves the Commerce Department post. Yet another illustration of how “Hope and Change” is just another synonym for “Screw up, Move Up.”
Ok chartering classes. Tell Schmucky Schumer you do care about those “yes, porky amendments”..
(Photoshop: Tennyson Hayes)
He went on the Senate floor and derided Americans who care about bailout-mania and porkapalooza.
Now, you have an opportunity to tell Chuck Schumer what you think of his contempt for taxpayers.
Just learned that Sen. Schumer will make an appearance next week in NYC to tout the federal spending spree to business leaders:
WHAT: New York’s senior senator will discuss the financial industry bailout, stimulus package and efforts to impose tougher regulations on Wall Street. He will be questioned by Crain’s editorial director Greg David.
WHO:
Charles Schumer, United States Senate
WHEN:
Monday, March 2, 2009
8:30 AM
WHERE:
Hilton New York
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY
Bring a bag of pork rinds!
Joe the Plumber’s 15 minutes of fame still aren’t up apparently
I heart Huckabee at CPAC: We need “competent conservatism”
Parts two, three, and four of today’s stemwinder to the faithful in D.C. Where’s part one, you say? Good question. This comes from Huck’s PAC YouTube account and part one is nowhere to be found. Pity, too, because he evidently went off on McCain over TARP and Obama over everything else (“The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics may be dead, but the Union of American Socialist Republics is being born.”). If anyone can find the video of that, please e-mail us.
If you only have the patience for one clip, watch the middle one. I confess, I perked up at the mention of “strong, defensible borders.” Exit question: I know you guys hate him, but come on. Tell me he wouldn’t have rocked that rebuttal speech to Obama if they’d given it to him instead of Jindal.
$25,000 per taxpayer? Thats Hussein Obama’s budget that even turncoat Olympia Snowe doesn’t like
I have nothing to offer you except links and despair. $3.6 trillion in spending divided by 139 million taxpayers equals $25,573.48 apiece. Just put it on my tab along with my student loans. Or better yet, put it on your kids’ tab: According to Boehner’s office, by 2019 the annual deficit will still be north of $700 billion and the national debt will stand a shade over … $15 trillion, almost double what it is now.
New taxes? Tapper’s run the numbers and says they’ll hit $1 trillion over the next 10 years, but (a) evidently that doesn’t include another $600 billion businesses will have to cough up as part of the new cap-and-trade program and (b) it assumes that the only new taxes levied will be on individuals making more than $250,000 and corporations, which of course is absurd. Read the Journal’s analysis of The One’s “2% lie” to see why. Quote:
Even the most basic inspection of the IRS income tax statistics shows that raising taxes on the salaries, dividends and capital gains of those making more than $250,000 can’t possibly raise enough revenue to fund Mr. Obama’s new spending ambitions…
[A]s a thought experiment, let’s go all the way. A tax policy that confiscated 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America earning over $500,000 in 2006 would only have given Congress an extra $1.3 trillion in revenue. That’s less than half the 2006 federal budget of $2.7 trillion and looks tiny compared to the more than $4 trillion Congress will spend in fiscal 2010. Even taking every taxable “dime” of everyone earning more than $75,000 in 2006 would have barely yielded enough to cover that $4 trillion.
Fast forward to this year (and 2010) when the Wall Street meltdown and recession are going to mean far few taxpayers earning more than $500,000. Profits are plunging, businesses are cutting or eliminating dividends, hedge funds are rolling up, and, most of all, capital nationwide is on strike. Raising taxes now will thus yield far less revenue than it would have in 2006.
How bad is it? Even Olympia Snowe sounds unhappy.
For good measure, one of the bill’s 9,000 earmarks comes courtesy of The One himself, left over from his Senate days when he was off on the trail every day railing against earmarks. And I haven’t even mentioned TARP II, which they’ve gone ahead and allotted $250 billion for on the assumption that most of the money given to the banks will be recouped. If it isn’t, then the true cost’s more like $750 billion, which would be slightly more than the original TARP that blew everyone’s mind back in September. That’s my only comment on this, really — how completely and dangerously inured I am now to unbelievably extravagant spending. And given the fact that 63% of the public’s already blessed the idea of a second stimulus, I can only assume they feel the same way. Gulp.
Prayers for Phyllis Schlafly – taken to the hospital for broken hip
If Phyllis Schlafly were a liberal, she’d already have buildings and holidays named after her, MacArthur genius grants, countless women’s magazine covers, and the unending admiration of the media elite.
At 85, this mother, grandmother, and political icon remains a tireless activist, prolific author, and frequent lecturer. But because she is an unapologetic and outspoken conservative, she is demonized instead of lionized.
Mrs. Schlafly is a dynamo who has carried the grass-roots conservative torch for decades while leading the Eagle Forum and publishing her popular “Phyllis Schlafly Report.” She carried her message to the University of California at Berkeley on Tuesday, where she gave a talk on “Feminism vs. Conservatism.” The California Eagle Forums’ Orlean Koehle reports that while coming off the podium after giving her speech, she missed a step and fell and broke her hip.
Orlean says that she was amazingly brave. The ambulance men lifted her up and onto their gurney. As she was wheeled away, she waved goodbye to them with her beautiful smile. She was charming to the end, even with a broken hip. What a great example she was of a gracious, refined, brave lady, even in great pain, to all of the young college Republicans and to the feminists who still were mingling around.
Phyllis was operated on Wednesday afternoon and was in the recovery room for several hours. She had to have part of the hip bone – the ball that fits into the socket replaced because it had been crushed.The doctor said the operation was successful. They just need to keep on eye on her now for a few days and make sure all else goes well. There is always fear of a blood clot or something else after such an operation.
Please keep Mrs. Schlafly and her family in your prayers. She was scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute at CPAC on Saturday. She is, in so many ways, the heart and soul of the grass-roots gathering. She will be sorely missed.
Send well wishes to eagle@eagleforum.org.
Friday is Tea Party day! Lets get this party started!
It’s really on. Tomorrow, thousands of sick and tired taxpayers on the ground and online will participate in “Tea Parties” across the country. Go here for links and locations. Chuck Simmins also has a handy thumbnail guide, as does Little Miss Attila, whose list I’m reprinting below the Tea Party Twitter widget, with as many additions as I can keep up with through the night.
There are two tabs on the widget: The #teaparty live feed and my #michellemalkin twitter feed. I’ll be on a plane tonight and (hopefully) in D.C. tomorrow to cover the Tea Party at the Washington Monument. Party on!
Libtalk Host Malloy And Wife Use Racism To Attack Governor Bobby Jindal
Related links regarding this blatant racism (that of course will be excuse, and ignored by the LMSM): Hotair and The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney
As the liberal biased news papers continue to fold, and ratings for CNN and MSNBC continue to go down the toilet, they still hide the ACORN’s foreclosure victimhood scam
With the impending closure of the Rocky Mountain News and the likely folding of the San Francisco Chronicle, several MSM types are lecturing conservatives that they will rue the death of newspaper journalism as we know it.
Michelle Malkin came from the newspaper business, still make a living as a syndicated newspaper columnist, and have many friends and former colleagues of the highest caliber in the industry. And yes, as a proud ink-stained wretch, there is much I will miss about dead-tree media.
But with all due respect, it is not the calamity some are making it out to be. And the lamenters gloss over the glaring editorial deficiencies that have turned so many off to their local and national fishwraps.
In the DC Examiner, Mark Tapscott picks up on the Washington Post’s failure to report the whole truth about ACORN’s foreclosure “victims.” I posted supporting court and public records earlier this week.
Investor’s Business Daily also picked up the info.
Where is the Washington Post, which slavishly printed Hanks’ tall tale without vetting it?
Will they continue to ignore the other side of the story, which doesn’t fit their victim narrative?
But, you know, only credentialed professionals at respectable newspapers know how to investigate.
And conservative blogs don’t do reporting.
Google map that pinpoints the pork in your ‘hood
GOP Hill staffer Tom Jones of Sen. Jim DeMint’s office has compiled a terrific Google map that pinpoints all the pork in the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill. There are roughly 1,500 earmarks plotted out by town.
It’s a rough draft that relies only on what the appropriators are willing to disclose. But it’s immensely helpful.
Would be great to have maps like this for all the other omni-pork spending.
Look out! Spendzilla is on the loose! The REAL Facts about Obama’s budget-busting budget
This handy breakdown of the Obama budget just landed in the inbox from the GOP leader’s office.
Look out! Spendzilla is on the loose:
In 2009, federal spending will approach $4 trillion, or 28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) – a one-third increase in the size of government in a single year. The budget released by the White House today is loaded with job-killing tax hikes and a slate of even more government spending. Overall, the blueprint projects a record $1.75 trillion deficit this year while doubling the national debt over the next ten years. Following are just 10 fast facts about the Administration’s budget, which our children and grandchildren will be paying for far into the future.
1. The Administration’s projected budget deficit of $1.75 trillion is higher than the last five years of deficits combined, and under this plan, we will see three consecutive trillion dollar deficits between now and FY 2012.
2. While it was purported to cut the budget deficit in half – from $1.75 trillion in 2009 to $533 billion by 2013 – this budget projects higher deficits in 2014 ($570 billion), 2015 ($583 billion), and 2016 ($637 billion). In 2019, the final year in the budget, the deficit is projected to be $712 billion.
3. Including the recently-enacted trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill, discretionary spending will soar by 24 percent this year under this budget.
4. The budget projects that the national debt will increase from $8.4 trillion in 2009 to $15.4 trillion in 2019.
5. The Administration’s budget contains $1.4 trillion in tax increases – tax hikes that will impact everyone, from small businesses, charities, and seniors to everyone who owns a 401(k) and anyone who flips on a light switch.
6. After promising that he will reduce taxes on 95 percent of Americans, the Administration’s budget establishes a $646 billion energy tax hike that will impact anyone who uses electricity, drives a car, or relies on energy in any way.
7. This budget forecasts more than $1.5 trillion in new health care spending, including a 10-year, $634 billion a health care “reserve fund.” The budget also calls for seven percent annual growth in Medicare and more than six percent annual growth in Medicaid over the next 10 years.
8. The budget includes a $750 billion placeholder for a second round of spending under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), even though the first round of TARP spending is not yet finished, nor is there a clear explanation of how funds under the initial round was spent.
9. The Administration’s budget claims that reducing the number of troops in Iraq over the next 10 years will cut the deficit by $1.6 trillion; however, that is only because the budget allocates the same amount of funds for the Iraq war each year over the next decade, even though most combat troops may be withdrawn during the next 19 months. The savings are, at best, deceptive.
10. The budget provides a scant 2.9 percent pay raise for military personnel as required by law, less than a week after Democrats in Congress provided the necessary funding to implement District of Columbia locality pay for overseas Foreign Service officers, which would constitute an 18 percent
pay increase.
(link)
***
Related: Helpful budget charts from AFP.
The road to censorship – DeMint bill passes 87-11. The bad news? so does Durbin’s
From Sen. Jim DeMint’s office:
Today, at 2pm, the Senate will vote on two amendments with respect to the Fairness Doctrine.
- The DeMint amendment (Broadcaster Freedom Act) would ban the Fairness Doctrine.
- The amendment by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) would achieve the same goals of the Fairness Doctrine through backdoor FCC regulations. His legislation forces the FCC to “take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership,” an attempt to dismantle successful syndicated radio programs. The Durbin amendment would hurt small, local radio stations who depend on popular syndicated programming for listeners and revenue.
Here’s an article that seems to get at what Durbin’s amendment is about.
Senator DeMint will encourage all senators to OPPOSE the Durbin Amendment.
The Duct Tape Brigade is out there in full force.
Eternal vigilance is required.
***
Update 1:30pm Eastern. The DeMint amendment passes 87-11, but as Sen. DeMint Tweets: “Our ban on Fairness Doctrine passes 87-11. But fight not over, Dems have attacked from back door on media ownership, localism.”
More from The Hill.
Durbin’s measure passed 57-41.
Here are the rolls for DeMint’s and Durbin’s bills; the latter, unsurprisingly, was party-line. Durbin himself voted for DeMint’s amendment, as did Debbie Stabenow — who, you’ll recall, was calling for hearings on bringing back Fairness as recently as three weeks ago.
Obama Joker Poster
Random Idiots
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Tax Day Tea Parties
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Posters
Newsbusters
Resources
Crooked Liberals
Obama’s Corrupt Cabinet
Tim Geither - Tax Cheat
Tom Daschle - Tax Cheat
Kathleen Sebelius - Tax Cheat
Hillary Clinton - Overseas conflicts of interests
Bill Richardson - Pay to Play
Judd Gregg - Obama steals GOP senate seat
Eric Holder - Pardons terrorists and Marc Rich
Barney Frank - Banking Queen
Nancy Pelosi - War Criminal/Liar!
Charlie Rangel - Tax cheat
Chris Dodd - Mortgage Fraud / AIG
Bill Richardson - Pay to Play
Chuck Schumer - Porky
