Obama's Goal: Get Agenda Moving, Get People Believing

From Yahoo News re: the State of the Union address.

The state of WHICH union? AFL/CIO or SEIU?

"Facing a divided Congress and a dissatisfied nation, President Barack Obama will unveil a jobs-heavy agenda in his State of the Union address Wednesday, retooling his message more than his mission.

His goal: Get the economy, the confidence of voters and his own presidency on surer footing."

...

"Change is working against him.

"The president is going to explain why he thinks the American people are angry," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday morning." (emphasis mine)

Let the public display of disconnect begin!

Here Comes the Depression: Obama Proposes to Freeze Non-Security Spending for Three Years

From CNN Money.

"The officials would not reveal the details of which domestic programs would be cut, as they prepare to face major pushback from liberals in the president's own party because popular education and health spending could be on the chopping block. The details will be officially unveiled February 1, when the president publicly releases his next budget blueprint for fiscal year 2011 -- which starts October 1 -- and beyond."

I'm already hearing of "food" security loopholes--meaning food stamp programs, and "housing" security--meaning rent subsidy programs, and "social" security programs, which are self-explanatory. Dems are attaching thew word "security" to pet programs they want to keep alive.

Obama To Announce Aid to Middle Class

From the Washington Post.

Here we go again--Stimulus Round #3, or Bailout #3 if you prefer. He's throwing money around to people with kids, parents living with them, students, or retirement savers.

"The proposals to be unveiled by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House, and which the president will push in his Wednesday night speech, include a doubling of the child care tax credit for families earning under $85,000; an increase in federal funding for child care programs of $1.6 billion; capping student loan payments to 10 percent of income above "a basic living allowance;" expanding tax credits to match retirement savings; and increasing aid for families taking care of elderly relatives. The plan would also require all employers to provide the option of a workplace-based retirement savings plan."

Here he goes back to the drawing board--this is the crap he proposed when he first took office. He's trying to figure out who can be bought, and for how much.

Too Much of a Bad Thing

From the National Review Online.

"Who’s panting for Obama speech number 412? Exactly no one."

A humorous look at Obama's activities surrounding the Scott Brown barnstorming in Massachusetts. A must-read article.

Obama Declares War on Wall Street

From Financial Times. He wants money, so he's going to where the money is.

"Barack Obama set out broad new measures on financial regulation. The most significant of them is banning deposit-taking banks from proprietary trading that is “unrelated to serving customers”. This activity has generated politically incendiary profits for banks and bonuses for bankers.

The timing was political: the president spoke on the day that Goldman Sachs announced fourth-quarter earnings of $4.95bn. Those of a more populist nature than Mr Obama – both on the left and on the right – will say that he comes late to the game."

...

"Instead of using the control they enjoyed over the banks through the troubled asset relief programme in 2009, the authorities rushed to free banks from the restrictions associated with Tarp.

Mr Obama may now be ruing this lost opportunity. The public mood has swung against Wall Street – to which Mr Obama appears too close for comfort. Trillion-dollar bail-outs for people on million-dollar salaries have infuriated Americans living in fear of losing their jobs and their homes.

Mr Obama’s political team is running to catch up. In December he called bank executives to the White House to scold them and, last week, he announced a $90bn levy on the banks to claw back some of the costs of the bail-out. These actions were broadly justified. The new proposal, however, is a radical shift – and a mistake."

"Too big to fail" is failing...and guess what? Our own government's next--it's too big to fail, and will fail anyway--nobody's stepping up to bail US out!

For Obama, Massachusetts Equals Agenda Threat

From Business Week.

"With Republican Scott Brown’s victory in a special election to fill the Senate seat that had been long held by the late Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat, the president may have to scale back his second-year agenda, which includes overhauling immigration laws and financial regulations, analysts said.

Brown’s defeat of Democrat Martha Coakley is “a body blow to Obama and other Democrats,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “It’s a resounding message of rejection, disappointment and the loss of hope."

Obama's Agenda on a Precipice

From the National Review.

"If “the educated class” is for it — “health” “care” “reform,” cap-&-trade, Miranda rights for terrorists — Joe Six-Pack and his fellow knuckledragging morons are reflexively opposed to it.

This almost exactly inverts what really happened over this last year. “The educated class” turned out to be not that educated — if, by “educated,” you mean knowing stuff. They were dazzled by Obama: My former National Review colleague Christopher Buckley wrote cooing paeans to his “first-class intellect” and “temperament.” I used to joke that “temperament” was for the Obammysoxers of “the educated class” what hair was to Tiger Beat reporters."

Obama Seeking Tax on Biggest Banks

From Yahoo news.

"A senior administration official said the tax, which officials are calling a "financial crisis responsibility fee," would apply only to financial companies with assets of more than $50 billion. Those firms — estimated to amount to about 50 institutions — would have to pay the fee even though many did not accept any taxpayer assistance and most others already paid back their government infusions.

The official said banks could pay for the tax by tapping their generous executive bonus pools. The administration official described the plan in a conference call to reporters Wednesday evening on the condition of anonymity because it had not been officially announced."

Obama's Buck-Stopping Can Only Go So Far

From Yahoo news.

"He says "the buck stops with me," but nearly a year into office, President Barack Obama is still blaming a lot of the nation's troubles — the economy, terrorism, health care — on George W. Bush."

...

"Obama needs to show that he gets results. And so he describes a year of overlooked achievement since his predecessor left town, addressing a range of problems: hate crimes, tobacco advertisements toward children, pay disparities for women, abuses by credit card companies and many more.

In other words, change from Bush.

Except for when Obama sounds just like Bush with tough words for the enemy."

After Health Care, Obama Must Arm-Twist Senate on Climate Bill

From Yahoo Opinion.

"Mr. Obama’s persuasive style will be required to convince a dozen or so senators from coal-dependent states who are reluctant to tackle global warming. In two weeks, the Senate is expected to vote on a measure that would block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from imposing strict limits on carbon dioxide emissions."
...
"Obama now needs to justify a climate-change law mainly on economic grounds. Fear of global warming doesn’t seem to work in the Senate. Many top lawmakers believe that setting a cap on carbon emissions will damage the economy – especially if America’s competitors around the world don’t do the same. And they say there’s little chance of Senate passage in 2010 if unemployment stays high."
...
"The White House is also orchestrating a raft of regulatory rules in many agencies such as the Interior Department that would force companies to take carbon emissions into account. One major step would require “climate change impact statements” in any federal approval of projects. Another would push land-use policies that encourage urban density in housing – and thus less driving."

It isn't going to matter if all the manufacturing jobs are overseas now, is it? Pushing urban density in order to curb driving is akin to rebuilding Cabrini Green complexes throughout the country, because there won't be any jobs to DRIVE to!

...and no reason to own a car...

Tenement housing, here we come--by then, everybody will be on the dole and Obama won't have the means to support us all. Green will quickly become brown, then black as we morph into the "fundamental change" he promised on the campaign trail--turning this country into a giant welfare state.

This is just one more explosive charge meant to collapse the system. Health care was the first one. Immigration reform will be the next one.

New Year's Resolutions For Washington

From the Wall St. Journal.

"Ambitious Republicans should resolve to run next year. There will be a wave of voter support for GOP positions, but authenticity, passion and conviction matter. Voters can smell them, so bone up on the issues and say what you believe, not what someone tells you to say."

...

"As for me, I resolve to speak well of Mr. Obama more frequently, curry favor with liberals by being more critical of my fellow conservatives, and be guided by the words of Mark Twain, who said that the start of a New Year "is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."