Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Obama maxes out his credit card again

obama-credit-card

Obama to ask for debt limit hike

The White House plans to ask Congress by the end of the week for an increase in the government's debt ceiling to allow the United States to pay its bills on time, according to a senior Treasury Department official on Tuesday.

So is he going to phone it in from his luxurious Hawaiian retreat?

michelle-obama-good-life

Which reminds me - do you think Barry really asked Michelle to rein in her spending on taxpayer funded vacations and shopping trips? What a laugh and as usual with Obama, the laugh is on us.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas

Rural-Christmas-Scene

Best wishes for a Merry Christmas from the folks at the Country Store.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Juche Fruit Kim Jong Il Goes To Hell

North Korean state media say that long time wingnut dictator Kim Jong Il has finally kicked the bucket:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died Saturday on a train trip, a tearful state television announcer, dressed in black, reported Monday. The announcer said that the 69-year old had died of physical and mental over-work on his way to give "field guidance."

I guess being a crazed dictator was a ronery job but someone had to do it:

Thursday, November 24, 2011

George Washington's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

You can find the original in the National Archives, but the following is bit easier to read:

WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;

WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand at the City of New York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.

--George Washington - October 3, 1789

The current occupant of the White House ought to study the last paragraph.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Veterans Day 2011

American Eagle in Cemetery

Our thanks to the veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep this country free and who remain our bulwark against tyranny, both foreign and domestic.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

NEWS FLASH: Joe Biden sworn in as new President

Joseph Robinette Biden becomes 45th President of the United States

Joseph Robinette Biden was sworn in today at noon as the 45th President of the United States. This succession follows the theft of President Obama's teleprompter. This resulted in Obama's inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office as outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. When asked about the succession Obama was quoted as saying, "um..er..um..I..bill..pass."

Here's an audio clip of the Obama statement:

Easy for him to say.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Occupy Wall Street Poster Boy: Edward T. Hall III

The New York Times has finally found a poster boy for the Occupy Wall Street mob. It must have been tough to filter out the usual clowns from 15 splinter communist parties, the peace groups, Code Pink, and MoveOn.org as well as the street people, druggies, and panhandlers; but after careful consideration Times reporter Cory Kilgannon settled on Edward T. Hall III. The problem as P.J. Gladnick reveals is that Little Eddie is a rather bizarre drama queen (Warning: crude language):

You too can be a Drama Queen

 

The Times article describes Little Eddie thusly:

Mr. Hall is a well-educated young man with a privileged upbringing who said he was following a calling greater than getting a job and making money. He said he saw the protest as a global movement to help fight poverty and economic inequality. He has spent the past month sleeping in the park and is one of the organizers of the protest.

...

Mr. Hall said that he grew up in New Mexico and that both his parents were politically active lawyers who were thrilled that he was pursuing a socially conscious life and was involved in the Occupy Wall Street protest. Mr. Hall said he attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and then transferred to Bard College in upstate New York because of its reputation as a socially conscious school.

He had been renting in Washington Heights for the past two years while attending doctoral classes at Columbia University as a nonmatriculated student. He said that he supported his modest lifestyle with savings from working as a teenager and that he also had “a small trust fund” from his grandfather that he had not drawn from yet. For the past four weeks, he has eaten free meals and has slept in the park.

Translation: Little Eddie is a spoiled Trust Fund Baby whose family is paying for him to hang around in New York amusing himself and annoying others. Probably a good idea since having Little Eddie living in the basement might be fraught with peril. Particularly since there is more to Little Eddie than just bad acting - among other things he is also well known for crawling though the baggage carousel at JFK airport in January to get around security so he could visit a girlfriend in San Francisco (more at Loon Has A Lot of Baggage). The best part is:

Conditional discharge in New York State means that if Ted stays out of trouble for a year, he stays out of jail. When he was not actively looking for trouble or trying to spend a little more time with Maya, Ted was previously employed as a research assistant at Columbia University’s Center for Research on Environmental Decisions: his specific discipline, human impatience.

Let's see, a whacked-out 1%er pretending solidarity with the common folk. One can't help but congratulate the Times on their choice. One can only hope that Little Eddie gets to use his Go Directly  to Jail card soon.

Today's Hoot: Meet the 1%

Exurban League alerts us to the inconvenient truth that the "I Am The 99 Percent" crowd refuses to face:

1_percent

The Democrats love to claim that the Republicans are the party of Big Business, but whatever the truth in the past, those days are long gone. Nowadays the Democrats regularly haul in truckloads of cash from Big Business, dish out taxpayer money to their wealthy business backers (Solyndra anyone?),  find sinecures for their leading lights on the boards of large corporations (how about Chelsea Clinton's new gig?), and fill the ranks of the GSEs (Government Sponsored Enterprises) with thieving politicos of the worst stripe like Franklin Raines and James Johnson. Meanwhile the Republicans have become the party of the small businessman, the self-employed, and the long-suffering middle class. Don't hold your breath waiting to hear that from the wannabe members of the Democrat ruling class in the Lamestream Media though.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Obama invades Africa - again!

Obama-il-duce

Friday war document dump: Obama sends troops to Africa. Hey, whatever happened to the antiwar movement? First it was Libya, and now it is Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. C'mon moonbats, time to protest the imperialist aggressor.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Elizabeth Warren tells The Story of the Ant and the Grasshopper

This seems to be Elizabeth Warren Greatest Hits Week so I thought I would contribute her wish fulfillment version of The Story of the Ant and The Grasshopper:

The ant worked hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thought the ant was a fool and laughed and danced and played the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper called a press conference and demanded to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others were cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC showed up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America's chattering class was stunned by the sharp contrast.

How could this be in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper was allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appeared on Rosie O'Donnell's show on Oprah's network with the grasshopper and everybody cried when they sang, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

ACORN staged a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations filmed the group singing, ‘We shall overcome’.

Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren proclaimed in widely publicized speeches that the ant had got rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both called for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the Federal EEOC drafted new Economic Equity and Grasshopper Anti-Discrimination (EEGAD) rules retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant was fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home was confiscated by the government Green Czar.

And on the big screen TV, which the grasshopper bought by selling most of the ant's food, Elizabeth Warren stood before a wildly applauding group of progressives announcing that a new era of "Fairness" had dawned in America!

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he was in, which just happened to be the ant's old house, crumbled around him because he did not maintain it.

The ant had disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper was found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, was taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorized the once peaceful neighborhood.

It certainly makes one wistful for the old days of the Marxist screech that the workers should own the means of production. The new progressive line seems to have supplanted the workers with everyone who is breathing.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Never Forget and Never Forgive 9/11

Never Forget, Never Forgive 9/11

Click the picture for the Remember the Blood of Heroes slideshow which serves as a useful reminder of reality while the apologists seek to paper over what happened 10 years ago today.

In that regard, please see Mark Steyn's From ‘Let's roll' to 'Let's roll over' and See-Dubya's Ten years on at the 9-11 7-11
and Kathy Shaidle's New low for Bloomberg: not enough room for firefighters at official 9/11 ceremony on Sunday.

There's nothing wrong with the American people, but there is a whole lot wrong with large portions of of our cultural and political elite. If the rest of us do not remove them from power we will suffer worse than 9/11 in the years to come.

Monday, August 08, 2011

Welcome to the Obama Downgrade

Obama_downgrade

How's that Hopey Changey stuff working out for you? Pretty good if you own gold, I guess.

That's what you get when the clown in the White House maxes out the USA's credit card and spends it on bureaucratic bloat and payoffs for his union and community organizer pals and then demands more. It's going to take a fire hose to clean out Washington and the White House after Obama gets kicked out.

Sunday, August 07, 2011

The Obama Downgrade

Barack Obama and his Congressional Democrat pals have been on wild spending spree and have now gotten the unsurprising result of the Obama Downgrade of the USA's credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

Then came the Obama blowout, in league with Nancy Pelosi's Congress. With the recession as a rationale, Democrats consciously blew up the national balance sheet, lifting federal outlays to 25% in 2009, the highest level since 1945. (Even in 1946, with millions still in the military, spending was only 24.8% of GDP. In 1947 it fell to 14.8%.) Though the recession ended in June 2009, spending in 2010 stayed high at nearly 24%, and this year it is heading back toward 25%.

This is the main reason that federal debt held by the public as a share of GDP has climbed from 40.3% in 2008, to 53.5% in 2009, 62.2% in 2010 and an estimated 72% this year, and is expected to keep rising in the future. These are heights not seen since the Korean War, and many analysts think U.S. debt will soon hit 90% or 100% of GDP.

Ah, but then there's the good news:

And yet, in a certain sense, these are still the good times. At the end of the week, U.S. Treasury yields plunged to Eisenhower-era rates. America, explained Ethan Harris of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, "still gets the safe-haven money." That's to say, as crazy as Washington is, Europe is perceived to be crazier. In confirmation of the point, over in Italy, which is (believe it or not) a G7 economy, police raided Moody's and Standard & Poor's over allegations that all the meanie things that the rating agencies have been saying about the Italian economy were having an impact on Italian stock prices. Apparently that's a crime in Italy. They're not yet shooting the messenger. But they are dragging him through the streets in chains pour encourager les autres. Good luck with that.

But I wonder if "the safe-haven money" is quite as safe as its investors assume. Under the "historic" "resolution" of the debt crisis (and don't those very words "debt crisis" already feel so last week?), America will be cutting federal spending by $900 billion over 10 years. "Cutting federal spending by $900 billion over 10 years" is Washington-speak for increasing federal spending by $7 trillion over 10 years. And, as they'd originally planned to increase it by $8 trillion, that counts as a cut. If they'd planned to increase it by $20 trillion and then settled for merely $15 trillion, they could have saved five trillion. See how easy this is?

I gotta get me some of that stuff!

As part of this historic "cut," we've now raised the "debt ceiling" – or, more accurately, lowered the debt abyss. Do you ever discuss the debt with your neighbor? Do you think he has any serious intention to repay the 15 trillion racked up in his and your name? Does your congressman? Does your senator? Look into their eyes. You can see the answer. And, if none of these parties seem inclined to pay down the debt now, what are the chances they'll feel like doing so by 2020 when, under these historic "cuts," it's up to 23-25 trillion?

And of course that is why S&P finally screwed up the courage to lower the USA's credit rating. That was apparently a big surprise to a lot of innumerate folks (e.g. talking hairdo Jeff Glor), but it has been obvious to the financially savvy who aren't so beholden to the Obama regime that they can't notice that Emperor Obama is buck naked. Cue well known investor Jim Rogers from before the Obama Downgrade:

While there is nothing new in the just released Jim Rogers interview with the WSJ, it is always refreshing to hear him tell the truth, which is, of course that "the US has already lost its AAA status. Who cares what Moody's say." As for the response: "The market looks ahead: this is not the first time that the market has dealt with the fact that the US is bankrupt." As for his proclivity to buy long term US debt: "I wouldn't lend money to the US in US dollars for 30 years at 3%, or 4%, or 5% or you name the interest rate.... I shorted it June 10. I am short the US bond market as we speak."

So where do we go from here? It doesn't look pretty, but we are talking banana republic time unless we can get Barack Obama and his clown posse out of Washington.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Obama still clueless about deficit

Obama-Priorities

Here's what Barack Obama, the Clown in The White House, had to say about the negotiations to resolve the USA's out of control deficit:

"We are not out here trying to use this as a means of doing all these really tough political things. I would rather be talking about stuff that everybody welcomes like new programs or the NFL season getting resolved."

All that welcoming of new programs by Barack and his pals is what got us into this mess in the first place, but he apparently has a hard time making the connection with actually paying for it - kind of like a shop-a-holic with a credit card. Maybe he ought to stop sniffing around the NFL locker rooms and try a little reading:

“Socialism works only until you run out of other people’s money.” - Margaret Thatcher

Begone, Barack, and the sooner the better.

Monday, July 04, 2011

Calling all Sons of Liberty on Independence Day 2011

 

"The tree of Liberty needs to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

-Thomas Jefferson

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

How Greece ended up circling the bowl. Sound familiar?

The Greek Way of Sorrow

Thirty years ago this fall, on October 18, 1981, a charismatic academic with rather limited government experience and with a one-word slogan, “Change,” was elected prime minister of Greece. His name was Andreas Papandreou. Greeks may now wish that 30 years ago they had had a Tea Party movement. Things could have turned out differently.

Thirty years ago, Greece was in an enviable position on the matter of national debt, with its debt just 28.6 percent of GDP. Few advanced countries can manage that kind of debt-to-GDP ratio. By the end of Papandreou’s first term in office, that ratio had nearly doubled, with debt at 54.7 percent of GDP. By the end of his second term, the figure was in the mid 80s.

The 1980s in Greece were a time of dramatic expansion of government. Papandreou and his Socialist party created a new government-run health-care system, dramatically expanded employment in the public sector, nationalized failing companies, and increased government handouts of every shape and form.

Just change a few names and dates and you have the disastrous Obama regime in the USA. Hit the link for many more uncanny similarities, but one of my favorite parts is:

Finland may have the best educational system in Europe, but its ratio of students to teachers is double that of Greece, which has one of the worst educational systems.

Cue the US teachers union hacks wailing about "the children."

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A question for Tiny Tim Geithner

Zero Hedge wonders if Tiny Tim has invented some new math:

We have a quick question for the Treasury Secretary: according to today's DTS, as of close yesterday, the Treasury had $14.274 trillion in debt subject to the ceiling of $14.294 trillion, or a $20 billion "buffer." To the best of our knowledge there were no redemptions today, and certainly none in the non-Bill pipeline this week. So, uh, how exactly did Tim Geithner auction off $32 billion today? (and plans to auction off another $40 billion tomorrow and Thursday).

Probably another Turbo Tax bug, eh Timmy? Or perhaps, it's just the way the Obama junta deals with all inconvenient laws like the national debt limit - they ignore them.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Obama the narcissistic buffoon

Even when John Heilemann tries to write an Obama puff piece at New York magazine he can't help revealing some mighty dirty laundry:

... he rarely consulted outside the tiny charmed circle surrounding him in the White House. “What you had was really three or four people running the entire government,” says the former White House strategist. “I thought they put a pretty good Cabinet together, but most of those guys might as well be in the witness-protection program.”

A funny line, no doubt, but an overstatement, surely? Well, maybe not. “I happen to know most of the Cabinet pretty well, and I get together with them individually for lunch,” says one of the most respected Democratic bigwigs in Washington. “I’ve had half a dozen Cabinet members say that in the first two years, they never had one call—not one call—from the president.”

I would suggest that the tiny charmed circle runs the government while Obama spends his time on his hobbies.

The president’s friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett sometimes pointed out that not only had he never managed an operation, he’d never really had a nine-to-five job in his life. Obama didn’t know what he didn’t know, yet his self-confidence was so stratospheric that once, in the context of thinking about Emanuel’s replacement, he remarked in all seriousness, “You know, I’d make a good chief of staff.”

Those overhearing the comment somehow managed to suppress their laughter.

Barack Obama is a legend in his own mind.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Hu Jintao does Washington - the video

This visit of Chicom honcho Hu Jintao to Washington DC is comedy gold. Only Barack Obama would think it clever to put on a big party for the bill collector. On the other hand, Hu may take pity on us if Michelle shows up in another of her thrift shop explosion dresses.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Astroturfing the Obama Massacre Pep Rally

I guess Barack Obama's handlers were afraid that they wouldn't get enough wildly cheering fans at last Wednesday's Massacre Pep Rally despite holding it in the basketball stadium on the University of Arizona campus and giving out free t-shirts.

Massacre Rally t-shirts

So what better way to get their kind of crowd than by some astroturfing and arranging to bus in Obama supporters like those from Chicano Unidos Arizona? (According to Chicanos Unidos's web site the mailing address for the national organization is in Califas, Aztlan, so you know what planet they are from.)

While the Phoenix Public Library broadcast last night’s historic ‘Together We Thrive’ event, several members of Chicanos Unidos Arizona were bussed in from Phoenix to Tuscan for the event and here are the reports:

Aldemar Suarez: “Last night’s event was historic. The unity was amazing, until Jan Brewer took the stage. Then, there were people booing. But when Barack Obama spoke, the audience listened. He is a true American hero."

Hmm, mighty tasty Kool-Aid, but it begs the question of who thought to invite these clowns, how many were bused in, and who paid for it. As for why, we all know that, but here's another clue:

George Gonzales: “I was escorted from the back of the hall to the front by security, who told me there were a few empty seats that needed to be filled. I sat pretty close to Daniel Hernandez and Michelle Obama. It was an evening I will never forget.”

I wonder if George liked being used for yet another Obama diversity photo-op? 

Update: About those t-shirts - the University of Arizona says that "The school paid for the event, including $60,000 for 20,000 T-shirts bearing the words "Together We Thrive," which were handed out for free. The money will not come student tuition, fees or tax dollars." So who paid for them? Obama's campaign organization Organizing for America who had already been using the slogan?

Friday, January 07, 2011

The onerous burden of Obamacare doesn't apply to Obama's pals

Obamacare: A Uniquely Vicious Form of Corruption

If you haven't already seen it, don't miss Karl Rove's column in today's Wall Street Journal. Rove explains the vicious strategy at the heart of Obamacare: pass terrible legislation, and then collect a toll by exempting your friends--those who pay you lots of money--from that legislation, while your enemies have to live with it. We have had various forms of corruption over the years, but I don't believe we have had, within memory, anything quite this disgusting. The worst malefactor here, besides President Obama himself, is AARP...

Everyone expects the union goons to get payoffs from Obama, but it's nice to see the AARP revealed for the sleazy hustlers they actually are. The AARP is really an insurance marketing operation disguised as an old folks lobby and since they supported Obamacare, their marketing machine got exempted from a whole variety of Obamacare restrictions. Think of it as a protection racket organized by Obama and the Democrats.

Yolanda just forgot she had been deported

Boy hitman's mother pleads not guilty to immigration charge. Tell me again why we don't need a wall on the Mexican border?

Thursday, January 06, 2011

GOP kills House Global Warming committee

That's change we can believe in!  One piece of foolishness down and a whole lot more to go. Someone toss Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones a crying towel and no one tell her about the tooth fairy.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Obama comes out against raising the national debt limit

Barack Obama is uncharacteristically clear:

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

Er, hold on a sec. That was back in 2006 when luxury vacations at taxpayer expense and vast socialist programs were just a gleam in his eye.

Today's Hoot: Obama sending DHS agents to secure the Afghan border

Obama and Napolitano can't manage to secure our border, but they are sending some DHS agents to secure the Afghanistan-Pakistan border? Hey, isn't that violating the civil rights of the "undocumented migrants"? Well, if the agents actually get out in the field I only hope that they are armed with more than beanbag guns like they are back here.

If Nancy Pelosi's lips are moving, she's lying

Speaker Pelosi Leaves With a Whopper