Obama and Hu

The observation was made that the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner hosted a dinner for the person who put the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner in jail. And the media doesn't seem to appreciate the irony.



Actually, maybe there is no irony here. The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu, published a 2004 article in support of Bush's war on Iraq, titled "Victory to the Anglo-American Freedom Alliance", in which he praised the U.S. led post-cold-war wars as "best examples of how war should be conducted in a modern civilization." and predicted "a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq will emerge." During the 2004 US presidential election, Liu again praised Bush for his war effort against Iraq and condemned Democratic party candidate John Kerry for not sufficiently supporting the US's wars. Meanwhile, he commented on Islamism that, "a culture and (religious) system that produced this kind of threat (Islamic fundamentalism), must be exteremely intolerant and blood-thirsty.” On Israel, he said "without America’s protection, the long persecuted Jews who faced extermination during WWII, probably would again be drowned by the Islamic world's hatred.
(from Wikipedia)

So, both Obama and Hu dislike Bush, apparently.

As for me, I can't figure out how someone who increased US death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan to a higher level than Bush in his last year got a Peace Prize anyway.

State Budgets and Health Care

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS:
"If state Medicaid spending increases by 41 percent as projected by CMS, then by next year Medicaid could end up consuming nearly 30 percent of the average state budget. Medicaid would greatly exceed all other state priorities, including education, which tops state budgets at about 22 percent. In fact, state spending on education would experience certain cuts next year.

Presumably, the state spending increase is so high because the enhancement of the federal Medicaid match will expire at the end of 2010. CMS projects that federal spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will decrease 7.1 percent between 2010 and 2011. The loss of federal funds will drive most of the increase in state Medicaid obligations.

Unfortunately, states have lost considerable flexibility to reduce Medicaid’s burden on their budgets. As a condition for receiving the additional federal dollars, both the stimulus bill and PPACA contain maintenance-of-effort (MOE) provisions that prohibit states from changing eligibility levels. "

http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/20/how-obamacare-is-hastening-the-day-of-reckoning/

One of the promises of the Health Care "reform" is that the reform would "bend the curve" of medical costs and the Federal Government could actually provide health care to 30 million people at less cost than current. That made no sense but people bought it. And maybe it was true-Federal costs go down but state costs go up.

Wikileaks

To save time, the following is basically what is in the quarter million Wikileak documents:

Berlusconi likes girls.
Sarkozy likes himself.
Angela Merkel is boring.
David Cameron is more boring.
Hillary thinks Cristina needs a shrink.
Benjamin Netanyahu can’t stand Ehud Olmert.
Al Qaeda hates America.
Yemen’s president hates Al Qaeda
Ahmadinejad is Hitler
North Korea likes Iran.
Saudi Arabia hates Iran
Julian Assange is Dennis Kucinich.
PFC Manning will never see the sun again.
America needs a new president.

http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2010/11/30/wikileaks-as-seen-by-dolphins/

The lessons that I learned from this are:
1. We keep too many secrets
2. The is poor control over classified documents
3. Leaking this information is good-don't we want transparency?
4. People should be fired, for writing such stuff, for leaking such stuff, for managing such stuff, and for (not) controlling such stuff.

Obama and Enemies, Foreign and Domestic

Every President developes a National Security Strategy and Obama recently came up with his. Some have described his policy as "Bush Lite" for while he wants to pull back from unilateral actions and pre-emptives strikes he does not disavow such actions. He just says that he will only undertake such actions as a "last resort" which, I would think, Bush actually thinks that he did as well.

But the scariest part of the "Obama Doctrine" is that for the first time,his National Security Strategy warns about "the security threat posed by “individuals radicalised at home”. Sounds like a return to the days of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and McCarthism. The only change will be who will feel the wrath of the federal government.

http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16243791&fsrc=rss

Obama and His Role

Obama recently explained his role as President:

"My job right now is just to make sure that everybody in the Gulf understands this is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about: the spill."

Think about that. This is amazing. He thinks that when he gets people
"to think about him and how much he's thinking about what he thinks they think he should be thinking about, his job is done", according to a Wall Street Journal article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704596504575272542364164212.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

In the book, Atlas Shrugged, a government official is infuriated that a train is stopped in a tunnel by a problem. Rather than try to understand the problem and help work toward a solution, he DEMANDS that the train continue on its way, ignoring the problem. And the train is destroyed along with everyone on it, as well as the tunnel.
" 'God damn these railroad people!' said Kip Chalmers. 'They're doing it on purpose. They want to ruin my campaign. I can't miss that rally! For Christ's sake, Lester, do something!' "

The scene is reminiscent to Obama's response to BP's oil leak. The problem is that it is extremely difficult to stop the leak and Obama believes that simply issuing orders is all that he needs to do. Obama is the one who approved this well. Obama is the one who wanted to expand off shore drilling around Florida. Complain all you want about deregulation and Palin's "drill baby drill" to obfuscate the issue.

Obama and the Muslim World

The visit of Obama to Indonesia, where he spent some time while growing up, is protested.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100305/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_obama

I thought that the world loved us now that Bush is gone.

Obama and Success in Iraq

On Feb 10, 2010, Vice President Joe Biden was on with Larry King. During the conversation Vice President Biden, a cut-and-runner, said that Iraq was one of the great accomplishments of the Obama Administration.

BIDEN: "Well, you’ve heard me say that for the last 10 years. I think it’s the — it’s a big country. It has nuclear weapons that are able to be deployed. It has a real significant minority of radicalized population. It is — it is not a completely functional democracy in the sense we think about it. And so it’s — it — that’s my greatest concern.

I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer.

You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. I spent — I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months — three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society.

It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences."

Can't believe that he actually said that. Obama likes to talk about inheriting 2 wars. Prior to leaving office, Bush signed the Force Agreement with Iraq, removing the US from any active, independent, military role-we would be there to assist in Iraqi led operations. Seems that would have basically ended the war. (Although Obama violated that agreement and meddled in Iraqi sovereignty:)

http://ayfs.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/iraq-investigates-obama-administration-meetings-violated-iraqi-sovereignty-and-showed-tolerance-for-terrorists/

On a related front, it is beginning to look like the recession may have ended in July, 2009. At this point, we have had 2 quarters of growth. Now, I understand that Obama supporters are right in saying that it takes time to change direction and fix problems. But if the recession ended in July, 2009, less than 6 months after Obama took office, should he get any credit for ending it? What measures did he take to end it? I guess that the $787 billion stimulus had an impact but to this day I am hearing that hardly any of that money has been spent even now. How much of it was spent prior to July, 2009 and could this realistically have a impact that soon on the economy?

Obama and Assassinations

Not only is Obama pursuing a policy of drone attacks on Pakistan (started by Bush) which target suspected Al Qaeda but usually kill innocent civilians as collateral damage. Not only has Obama expanded the war on terror by sending US troops into Pakistan. But Obama has also continued a policy that makes it OK to assassinate US citizens overseas, with any "due process".

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/9/obama_administration_us_forces_can_assassinate
It is astonishing really. Here is a President, elected by many who condemn Bush for "torture" (scaring people-arguably without any physical trauma), who supports assassinations of US citizens. Where is the outrage?

The Bush Doctrine

No one, except that ABC guy, is really sure what the Bush Doctrine is but many think that it includes the concepts that evil exists and that war is sometimes needed for peace. In his amazing acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama reiterated those concepts. You may call it the "Obama Doctrine" but it sounds a lot like the things that Bush43 believed in.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/12/the-obama-doctrine.html

Narcissism and Obama

It seems that narcissism is one of the key character traits of Barack Obama. He seems to lack an understanding or appreciation or even association with the contributions of others. We first saw it in his disdain for his predecessor. When he was offered a book on the negative impact of the US on Latin America by Hugo Charez, written in the 1970s, he commented that at least he was not to blame because he was 10 at the time. As someone who was taught that we should have collective guilt for the transgressions of US history, this seemed odd.

Now others are noticing this. The British have been extremely helpful to Obama on many issues, including Afghanistan, yet they, along with all those countries assisting in Afghanistan, are never acknowledged.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1234291/NILE-GARDINER-Does-Obama-Britain.html

The World Still Hates the US

What a surprise! During the Bush Administration, opponents loved to bring out global surveys that indicated that the US was despised by many. While it is true in western Europe, surveys are not quite as clear in other parts of the world. Bush enjoyed an appreciation in sub-Saharan Africa and India, for example.

Now we find that the US continues to be maligned in the Arab world. We have actually lost ground in Pakistan which is certainly understandable since Obama is using drones to kill Pakistani civilians.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574558300500152682.html

Personally, I find it odd that anyone would change their opinion about a country based on the head of state. Countries tend to follow a pattern and the same country that elected Obama elected Bush. The US remains the US, as obvious as that sounds. Has your opinions of Canada changed recently? Your attitude toward Germany?

Climate Control

OK, Clinton failed to get Congress to pass any global warming legislation for the Kyoto Accords of 1997 and now Obama will be equally unable to get any approval for legislation for the Copenhagen meetings, designed to replace the retiring Kyoto Accords in 2012.

And yet Bush is the bad guy, apparently. Obama, with the Democratic Party controlling 60% of both houses in Congress, has no excuse, except for his own poor leadership.

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14900648&fsrc=rss

The Federal Debt

Just had a look at the FY 2010 Federal Budget, the first totally controlled by Obama (although it would be wrong not to give him credit/blame for changes in the FY2009 budget).

At the end of Bush's last complete fiscal year, the debt held by the public (as opposed to on-the books debt held by the Social Security Administration, Medicare, and other governmental agencies) was $5,803 billion. It is currently, as of 11/12/09, $7,588 billion. By the end of Obama's first term's fiscal year, this debt is projected at $10,985.

At the end of the last complete Clinton Fiscal year (9/30/2000) this debt was $3,405.

So, if my math is correct, Bush added c. $2.6 billion to the public held debt in 8 years, while Obama is adding $5.1 billion in 4 years.

Note: The Total Public Debt (Federal) now is $11,986,954,033,520. as of yesterday.
The FY 2010 budget is projected to add $1,171 billion to the debt.

UPDATE: The FY2010 Budget is already off by $20 Billion with $176.4 Billion in deficits for the month. Revenues at 18% lower than expected.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/11/13/october-deficit-bigger-than-expected/

Obama's Health Tax

What is a tax? Wouldn't the requirement to buy insurance (regardless of anything you do, such as driving) constitute a tax? Certainly the dictionary would say so:
"a charge…imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes” is commonly considered a tax."

Anyway, it appears now that there may be a 2.5% of income penalty if someone does not purchase health insurance and a 11% of income "tax" (or compulsory premium) to buy health insurance. It will be interesting to see how many opt for the penalty instead of the tax.

http://reason.com/archives/2009/11/04/obamas-hidden-fees

http://republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/webreturn/?url=http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/106xx/doc10691/hr3962SubsidiesRangelLtr.pdf

Grad Student Wins Nobel Prize for Economics

"Pfuffnick's Nobel Economics Prize triumph hailed by manyLONDON — The surprise choice of first-year graduate student Quintus Pfuffnick for the Nobel Prize in Economics drew praise from much of the world Friday even as many pointed out the youthful economist has not yet published anything in scholarly journals."

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-year-grad-student-wins-nobel.html

Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize

A former member of the committe of 5 in the Norwegian Parliament can not understand why so many people care about what 5 relatively unknown people think about who should get an award for peace. Neither can I. Especially when the current group of voters in this group seem pre-occupied with influencing US actions, whether to encourage support for Palestinians (Carter 2002) climate change (Gore 2007) or sending more troops to Afghanistan or whatever they voted on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61KMw5zVhg

http://reason.com/blog/2009/10/10/reasontv-barack-obama-wins-200

US is the most admired country in the world

I find this interesting. US moved up from 7th place in 2008 to first place in 2009 in this poll of admired countries. One of the authors attributes this "astonishing" rise to the election of Obama. Congratulations to the US.
Meanwhile, Canada fell from 4th to 7th.

What I find interesting is not just those results but the idea that the US, which the media says is hated worldwide because of the policies of Bush, ranked 7th in the world. 7th! That is where Canada ranks now. And Canadians think that they are the most admired country in the world. How is it possible for the media to say that the US was despiced when it ranked as high as Canada ranks now?
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/06/survey-us-admired/

Cash for Clunkers

I don't think much of the idea behind Cash for Clunkers. I have never owned a car or truck that qualified as a "clunker" so I would not have been able to take advantage of it. I always have believed in buying fuel efficient cars. And the Cash for Clunkers program rewards foolish people for making foolish choices.
But there is another side: Does this program help the economy? Apparently not. Nor does it help the environment.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/135862.html

US ends non-humanitarian aid to Honduras

Despite the fact that both the high court and the legislature recomended that the Honduras President be removed for violations to the constitution, the US still wants to punish the Honduran people.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/03/us.honduras.aid/index.html?eref=rss_world

Another decline in Obama's popularity

Now 29% Strongly Approve of Obama's performance and 40% Strongly Disapprove.
I normally support the underdog because it is important to have a contrarian view and prevent the mob rule effect. So, if this keeps up, I may have to start writing good things about Obama.
But, for now, the main media is still doing that job. When they start looking accurately at Obama's performance, I will start supporting him.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll