Barack Obama -- March 5, 2009

March 5, 2009

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From $1 trillion in debt
to $4 trillion in debt
in six weeks

event	description
We've Elected A Leninist	Is Obama intentionally attempting to bring the stock market to its knees? Some argue that, indeed, he is. "The free market has failed," he could say, "just as it failed the housing market!" Consider that, in the teeth of a devastating recession, Obama has: • Raised taxes on small businesses, the engines of entrepreneurship and job growth • Raised the capital gains tax • Lied about "tax cuts for 95% of Americans", offering instead $13 a week, achieved not through tax cuts, but by changing the federal withholding tables! • Destroyed charitable giving by axing the tax breaks for 26% of all giving (or $81 billion in 2006) • Proposed a carbon cap-and-trading scheme designed to punish oil companies and further tax consumers Why would Obama inflict these destructive policies while the economy is collapsing? Simple. Each step strengthens the role of government in people's lives. • Squelching the stock market kills its attractiveness as a parking lot for private capital. Combined with an increase in the capital gains tax, investors will swarm to bonds -- tax-free vehicles like municipal bonds, which benefit the growth of state and local government. And unions, of course. • Carbon cap-and-tax will raise taxes on all Americans as the cost of goods and services will increase to address a non-existent threat. • True tax cuts would grow the economy, which is why, of course, Obama shuns them. The last major recession was Jimmy Carter's malaise. It consisted of of double-digit inflation and unemployment. It was finally licked by across-the-board tax cuts for everyone (even the despised rich), which touched off a twenty-plus year run of prosperity. • Charities reduce the role of government assistance for those in need. That, in Obama's world, can not be tolerated. That is why charities must be choked off and allowed to die. Especially faith-based institutions. The only plausible explanation is that Obama's destruction of the economy is intentional. It is based on a failed ideology that has never -- and can never -- succeed. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Jim Cramer is a long-time investor who's been around the block a few times. He thinks the Obama agenda is crystal clear, stating "...their agenda is destroying the life savings of millions of Americans... we've elected a Leninist."
Obama's Intel Nominee	Is Obama's intel chief violating Iran sanctions? -- Obama's nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is in the midst of a multibillion dollar deal with Iran which may violate U.S. sanctions, WND has learned. The oil company is widely seen as conducting business deals meant to expand China's influence worldwide. One of its recent attempts to purchase a large U.S. oil firm drew bipartisan congressional opposition amid fears the deal would harm American national security interests. Charles "Chas" Freeman, the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War, is slated to head the U.S. National Intelligence Council. The NIC is a crucial component of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, serving as the center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking within the American intelligence community. It provides intelligence briefs for Obama and key U.S. agencies and produces reports that help determine American policy on crucial issues, such as Iran's nuclear program. Since 2004, Freeman has been on the international advisory board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC. • Iran Can Get Material to Make 50 Nukes -- Iran can develop a nuclear weapon within a year and has ready access to enough fissile material to produce up to 50 nuclear weapons, according to a panel of current and former U.S. officials advising the Obama administration. William Schneider, Jr., chairman of the Defense Science Board and a former under secretary of state in the Reagan administration, offered those estimates Wednesday during a news conference announcing the release of a new "Presidential Task Force" report on Iran by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. • Iran urges world Muslim 'resistance' against Israel -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Wednesday for world Muslims to join the Palestinian "resistance" against Israel as he kicked off a two-day summit in aid of war-torn Gaza. His statement came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and premier Salam Fayyad in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on her first visit to the region since taking office. She had met Israeli leaders in Jerusalem on Tueaday. "The only way to save Palestine is resistance," Khamenei said in his address to open the global summit Tehran organised in aid of Gaza and the Palestinians. "Support and help to Palestinians is a mandatory duty of all Muslims. I now tell all Muslim brothers and sisters to join forces and break the immunity of the Zionist criminals," Khamenei said. • Clinton says U.S. diplomacy unlikely to end Iran nuclear program -- The Obama administration has already concluded that a diplomatic overture to Iran, one of the central promises of the president's election campaign, is unlikely to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates in a private meeting Monday that it is "very doubtful" a U.S. approach will persuade Iran to relent, said a senior State Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under customary diplomatic rules. • Iran demands Hollywood apology -- Iran's presidential arts adviser, Javad Shamqadari, is quoted by Iran's ISNA news agency as saying: "We will only believe Obama's policy of change when we see a change in Hollywood too." Shamqadari also said that Iran's cinema officials would meet with members of the delegation only if they apologize for the "insults and slanders they have hurled at the Iranian nation over the past 30 years." Shamqadari said that Iranian hospitality did not prevent Tehran from urging the Hollywood team to apologize and added that Hollywood is making other films aimed at "insulting and accusing" Iran. Last week, a spokesman from Iran's Foreign Ministry said that Hollywood "has 30 anti-Iranian movies in the offing with the subject of hostility towards Iran's historical and Islamic identity." Films like "300" and "The Wrestler" have particularly angered the Iranians.
United Kingdom's Strange Impression	Hot Air blog says British press are under the strange impression that Obama doesn’t like to be questioned. From Tim Shipman at the Telegraph, a companion piece to Dana Milbank’s story on the glaring dearth of diplomatic niceties extended to Gordon Brown on his trip to D.C. Remember that press conference that supposedly got snowed out? Word on the street is that no presser had ever been scheduled despite Brown’s desire for camera time with The One. The Oval Office photo op? Four questions taken in all, and no obligatory warm words of introduction for Brown from Obama. What gives? Shipman thinks he knows: It will doubtless be seen as self-indulgent bleating by the media but there is much about this incident that is revealing about the way President Obama does business. A Washington Post colleague just called me and said that the White House press corps cannot think of a single previous occasion when a British Prime Minister was treated in this way… Major British hack involvement in a full blown press conference has always been regarded as useful by the White House press corps. We ask different questions from them, usually more aggressively and get answers they could not. There were several spiky and revealing moments between President Bush and the BBC political editor Nick Robinson. It is bizarre that Mr. Obama is less willing to answer questions than Mr. Bush. It reflects very poorly on his tendency towards control freakery, which has been in evidence since his campaign… Obama has been running scared of the international media and the British press in particular since the start of his campaign. He didn’t give a single interview to a British outlet even when he was in the UK. This is very unusual, particularly from a man who so desperately wants to be loved on the world stage. We know we’re not special, given Obama’s general contempt for beat reporters (as opposed to his schmoozing with editors), but it is still peculiar. At Britain’s Spectator, Alex Massie shares Shipman’s suspicion but puts it, er, a bit more bluntly.
Obama's Health and Human Services Secretary	As a Democratic governor in red-state Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed several bills that would modestly restrict abortion. She supports late-term abortion. She's socialized and taken money from well-known abortion extremists, and she has been unofficially ostracized from the Catholic Church for her stance. But you'd have to go out of your way to learn much about that from the news reports that followed the Feb. 28 announcement that Obama planned to nominate her as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This is a position that controls a $700 billion budget and, according to the New York Times, "would have considerable influence over government policy on abortion." Sebelius' association with Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. In May 2007, Sebelius spoke at a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The chapter's summer 2007 newsletter related: Friends of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri gathered Tuesday, May 15th for a truly star-studded affair. "I've Got Rhythm, I've Got Rights" showcased two champions of our cause, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and PPFA National President, Cecile Richards. Both Cecile and Governor Sebelius spoke passionately about the challenges Planned Parenthood faces, specifically citing the more than 240 "uninvited guests" lining the streets of the Jazz District. Governor Sebelius walked right through these unpleasant protestors and didn't miss a beat. In fact, both women mentioned in their remarks how meaningful it is for supporters to experience first hand what PPKM staff and thousands of women trying to access health care must deal with on a regular basis. It was only Bill O'Reilly on Fox News who discussed Sebelius' record on March 2. He reported: [T]he governor is a controversial choice because she has opposed most restrictions on abortions even late term. And the archbishop from Kansas Joseph Naumann suggested she refrain from receiving communion as the governor's Catholic. Well, she came to our attention after accepting campaign money from George Tiller, known as Tiller, the baby killer. He's currently charged with a variety of crimes centering on his abortion practice. He aborts babies at any time for just about any reason if you pay him $5,000. Even absent the abortion controversy, the nomination to Health and Human Services Secretary of someone who declined to address such basic issues in her own state should be news.
Obama Tells Unions Organizing Act Will Pass	Obama told AFL-CIO union leaders Tuesday in a videotaped address that the controversial Employee Free Choice Act will pass, signaling his full backing for legislation that makes union organizing easier. "We will pass the Employee Free Choice Act," President Obama told more than 100 top labor officials in a closed-door meeting at the labor federation's winter gathering in Miami, according to people at the meeting. The bill would make it easier for unions to intimidate workers because it would force them to join unions by signing cards rather than through secret-ballot elections. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations have been campaigning against the legislation. The president's remarks were taped on Feb. 20, according to a White House spokesman. Following his remarks, AFL-CIO officials held a meeting with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis -- who was buying.
Mel Martinez Doesn't Get It	Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., has suggested that voters have made Barack Obama eligible to occupy the Oval Office, whether or not he meets the constitutional mandate of being a "natural born" citizen. His remarks came in an e-mail sent to a constituent shortly after the election, which just now was forwarded to WND. A constituent had asked about Martinez's perspective on the claims made by dozens of lawsuits around the country that Obama might not meet the constitutional qualification for various reasons. "Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at least twice -- first in the primary elections and again in the general election. President-Elect Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination after one of the most fiercely contested presidential primaries in American history," Martinez responded. "And, he has now been duly elected by the majority of voters in the United States. Throughout both the primary and general election, concerns about Mr. Obama's birthplace were raised. The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the qualifications to hold the office of president," he wrote. Martinez admitted the "federal government has the responsibility to make certain that the Constitution of the United States is not compromised. We must fight to uphold our Constitution through our courts and political processes." But Martinez noted the Constitution does not provide for an enforcement mechanism, and he cited a federal court opinion that a taxpayer and voter in Pennsylvania didn't have standing to force Obama to provide documentation of his eligibility. "The District Court dismissed Mr. [Philip] Berg's suit and held that the question of Obama's citizenship is not a matter for a court to decide. The court further noted that voters, not courts, should decide whether a particular presidential candidate is qualified to hold office," he wrote. No! Mr. Martinez, that's not what the courts decided. You can't just make it up. No court ever found that "voters, not courts, should decide whether a particular presidential candidate is qualified to hold office."
Joint Resolution No. 34	Be it resolved by the Missouri House of Representatives, the Senate concurring therein: That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on Tuesday next following the first Monday in November, 2010, or at a special election to be called by the governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for adoption or rejection, the following amendment to article VIII of the Constitution of the state of Missouri: Section A. Article VIII, Constitution of Missouri, is amended by adding one new section, to be known as section 8, to read as follows: Section 8. We the people of Missouri adopt a voter’s bill of rights as a defense against corruption, fraud, and tyranny. Missouri voters shall have the following rights: 1. The right to vote using a paper ballot; 2. The right to protection from voter fraud by: (1) Identifying eligible voters by: (a) Requiring any person seeking to vote in a public election to establish his or her qualification as a citizen of the state lawfully present in the United States of America by providing election officials a form of identification with the voter’s photo and signature, including valid government-issued photo identification, as established by law. The state shall provide at least one form of such identification required to vote at no cost to any otherwise qualified citizen who does not already possess such identification and who desires the identification in order to vote; ... Update: Withdrawn
Steep, Continuing Stock Market Declines	Obama’s first five weeks in office have been marked by sharp declines in U.S. stock markets, as the economy has continued to decline despite numerous legislative proposals from Congress and the administration aimed at stabilizing it. Since Jan. 20, the nation’s largest stock market, the New York Stock Exchange’s Composite Index has declined steadily, losing 441 points, or $895 billion in value. The country’s second largest market, the NASDAQ, has also declined since Obama was sworn in, falling from 1,440 to 1,321 points, a 119 point drop. In fact, Obama’s rise has seemed to accompany the economy’s fall, with the NYSE index dropping by 3,732 points since his nomination on Aug. 27, 2008 to Feb. 27, 2009 -- the last day for which official statistics are available – for a loss of $7.7 trillion dollars. The NYSE Composite Index lost 2,004 points -- for a loss of $4 trillion -- from Obama’s nomination to his election Nov. 4 and lost 1,287 points -- $2.6 trillion in value -- from his election until his inauguration on Jan. 20. The markets have been trending downwards since Obama’s inauguration as well.