In the news…

1.  The hypocrisy continues with this administration and the Democrat Party…  Jeffrey Zients will serve as President Obama’s new acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  Zients and Romney are both alumni of Bain & Company and that connection may undercut Obama’s attacks on his potential Republican rival.

2.  The race war is being revved up by the left in order to get blacks to the polls in November.  For example, MSNBC guest Joy-Ann Reid, who writes for NBCUniversal-owned website theGrio.com, suggested that Mitt Romney was racist for helping a struggling African American woman he met while on the campaign-trail by giving her money from his own wallet. ”It galls me,” Reid started. “I don’t even like to watch it. I felt like it plays into every sort of patronizing stereotype of black people. Oh, here’s this little lady, let me give her 50 bucks.”

3.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday launched political grenades at Mitt Romney, arguing that Republicans haven’t coalesced behind the GOP frontrunner because they don’t believe he can beat President Barack Obama in November.  That’s interesting… Perhaps, the Minority Leader forgot the 2008 Democrat Primary in which Hillary Clinton did not concede until June 7th- nearly 5 months from where we are today.  In fact, on the heels of his caucus win in Iowa, Obama lost to Hillary in New Hampshire. Obama only garnered 36% of the vote compared to Mitt Romney who won 39% in New Hampshire.  To make matters worse, Obama wasn’t qualified to participate in the Michigan Primary and lost the Florida Primary by 17 points managing to only get 33% of the vote.

It’s obvious that Pelosi and nimble minded liberal like her would forget the results of their own primary… or do they think that we are so ignorant not to recognize that this is a failed attempt to make Mitt Romney appear to be a weak candidate.  Either way, it’s a failure on her/their part.

Courtesy:  John Paulus

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I’m alive and well.  I needed to take some time off from politics- the environment that liberals have created has just sickened me.  I watch the way liberals and their sycophants in the media unfairly attack Republicans and mislead the American people and it makes me angry.  Do these people really care about America or is it, as I have always thought, a quest for more political power?

Let’s look at some information that we may not find in the news:

- During her tenure as speaker of the House, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi invited investment banker William Hambrecht to participate in multiple economic meetings with her party’s leadership without revealing her extensive personal and financial relationship with him.

According to Roll Call, which reported this story, Pelosi never disclose her relationship with Hambrecht.

The links between Hambrecht and Pelosi are a matter of public record, the paper reports. Hambrecht was Pelosi’s son’s boss between July 2009 and September 2011. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, has holdings in a half-dozen companies linked to Hambrecht. The Pelosis purchased a team in Hambrecht’s nascent United Football League for $12 million in 2009, just days before the then-speaker invited Hambrecht to participate in an economic forum and press conference.

Detroit near bankruptcy

In the news…

- After several request and Obama stall tactics, Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee authorized issuing a subpoena for any White House documents related to Solyndra, which received renewable energy loan guarantees under President Obama’s stimulus program. The request for documents could include details of the president’s own travel and communications.

-  The Obama administration has failed to meet more than half of the new health care law’s deadlines, from submitting plans for new, value-based Medicare purchasing programs to publishing criteria for determining the medically underserved.  This is the same administration who has been campaigning against the “do nothing” Congress.

-  Detroit is facing bankruptcy and state government may have to intervene.  After years of government overspending, heavy union-back pensions, overly generous government social program the city is facing fiscal insolvency.  Will the rest of the country learn from Detroit’s failure?

-  Newt Gingrich continues his steady surge in the Republican primary.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary voters shows Cain with 26% of the vote over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s 23%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich draws 14% support, with no other GOP contender reaching double-digits.

-  Nancy Pelosi faced the hot seat at a press conference when a reporter with 60 minutes asked her about a preferential IPO from VISA that her husband and she participated in while she was Speaker of the House.  At the time, legislation was making its way through Congress that would affect the credit card companies and in the end a weaker piece of legislation was passed.  In the video, Pelosi seems shocked, and gets testy.  VIDEO

Courtesy:  John Paulus

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There’s a lot in the news today so let’s get started.

- Tonight the Republicans will hold their debate in New Hampshire and all eyes will be on Herman Cain as new polls showing him becoming the front runner.  In Virgina, Cain and Romney are tied for 1st place and in South Carolina Cain leads Romney by 1 point and Perry by 11 points.  Meanwhile, the liberal attacks continue to grow.  Cain responded to the attacks by far left pro-Castro activist Harry Belafonte who called Cain “a bad apple” by saying, “I left the plantation a long time ago.”

- Questions are mounting for Democrat Nancy Pelosi and why she failed to disclose real estate holdings of millions of dollars belonging to her and her real estate developer and investment banker husband.  Pelosi disclosed the holdings only 1 month after the Washington Times revealed business dealings between Mr. Pelosi and Mr. Tsakopoulos and Mrs. Pelosi’s successful efforts to help his daughter, Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, become ambassador.  The real estate deal was put together by Mr. Tsakopoulos for the Pelosi’s and could net them a return of $24 million on an investment of $1-$5 million.  Perhaps, the march on Wall Street crowd should be marching on Pelosi’s investment banker hubby.

- And wouldn’t you know we have another scandal brewing and yes it involves another solar company and another Democrat.  Question are being raised how SunPower, another solar company, received $1.2 billion in taxpayer loan guarantees despite mounting rumors that it is heading into bankruptcy… follow the money trail.  First, SunPower donated more than $15k to Democrats and its chief lobbyist is the son of Rep. George R. Miller III, (D.-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and the co-chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. It’s amazing the connections that all these Democrats have to all these failing “green” companies.  It’s no wonder why they’re so adamant pushing the global warming myth- it’s worth billions to them.

-  The Democrat-controlled Senate defeated President Barack Obama’s job-creation package Tuesday in a sign that Washington is likely too paralyzed to take major steps to spur hiring before the 2012 elections.

-  A plot to kill the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the US was uncovered.  US officials say that the Iranian government was involved. The terror plot called for blowing up a restaurant frequented by members of Congress and a favorite of the Ambassador.  The Obama administration did not respond to questions how they would respond to Iran which is said to be within months of developing a nuclear bomb.

Those are the top stories for today.

Courtesy:  John Paulus

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Expect Vice President Biden to be called into the White House for a bit of a scolding.  Biden told Florida radio station WLRN on Thursday that voters should hold President Barack Obama, not former President George W. Bush, accountable for the poor state of America’s economy.  “Right now, understandably — totally legitimate — this is a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature of the state of the economy,” Biden said.  “Even though fifty-some percent of the American people think that the economy tanked because of the last administration, that’s not relevant,” Biden stressed. “What’s relevant is we’re in charge. And right now we are the ones in charge and it’s gotten better, but it hasn’t gotten good enough… I don’t blame them for being mad. We’re in charge,” Biden explained.

In the final few days on the month, the Obama Administration pushed to get $1 billion in additional loan guarantees to green energy companies.  One of those companies, SolarReserve LLC, based out of Democrat Senator Reid’s state of Nevada, received $737 million. But this story gets more interesting.  PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC is one of the investors in SolarReserve LLC, and Ronald Pelosi, a San Francisco political insider and financial industry polymath who also is the brother-in-law of Nancy Pelosi is an executive at PCG.  This is not to imply that Ronald Pelosi will benefit financially from the loan, but it is interesting to note all these connections between donors, Democrats, and family to these “green energy” companies.  By the way, the $1 billion in loan guarantees is expected to create just 65 long term jobs.

Parents are outraged that a liberal teacher in California intends to punish any student who says, “God Bless you”, in the classroom.  Steve Cuckovich, a health teacher at William C. Wood High School in Vacaville, California believes it is both disrespectful and disruptive.  The school has come to agree with concerned parents, with the teacher now pledging to implement a more palatable punishment for the offense.

If he were a republican governor liberals would be recalling him and the media would be reporting the story ad naseum.  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo started the process of laying off 3,500 union workers Tuesday night after the state‘s union rejected wage and benefit concessions negotiated to balance New York’s budget, reports Business Insider.  Union members voted, 54 percent to 46 percent, to reject the five-year deal that called for employees to forgo raises for the first three years and accept 2 percent increases in each of the final two years. The deal also called for union members to pay more for health insurance.

“I was not always the very best student that I could be when I was in high school, and certainly not when I was in middle school,” Obama said, speaking at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington DC.  “I did not love every class I took. I wasn’t always paying attention the way I should have,” Obama said. “I remember when I was in 8th grade I had to take a class called ethics. Now, ethics is about right and wrong, but if you’d ask me what my favorite subject was back in 8th grade, it was basketball. I don’t think ethics would have made it on the list.” Nothing needs to be added to these comments.

Courtesy:  John Paulus

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was heckled several times at a town hall meeting by radical liberals in response to her vote for the “Satan sandwich” debt ceiling bill in Oakland, California.

Pelosi received the crowd’s wrath after touting that the Democrats were able to get no cuts in entitlements in the deal. However, this was still not enough.

“Sell-out!” … “Why did you vote for it?” … “You voted for that Satan sandwich!” were just some of the phrases that were yelled at Pelosi.  No word on whether the Minority Leader will refer to the vocal group of liberals as “Nazis” as she did with members of the Tea Party.

*VIDEO*

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You lie!” Republican Rep. Joe Wilson famously shouted at President Obama during a 2009 televised presidential address to a joint session of Congress.

The outburst, prompted by Obama pledging his health care reform bill would not benefit illegal immigrants, provoked outrage from liberals, not to mention a steely death-glare from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But now Wilson says time has proved him right.

In an appearance on Fox News’ America Live on Wednesday, Wilson said a recent award of $28 million to community health care centers around the country will no doubt benefit illegal immigrants, despite Obama’s pledge.

Department of Health and Human Services spokesmen have confirmed $8.5 million of the grant will go to centers serving migrant and seasonal farm workers, saying patients will not be asked about immigration status. The centers will offer primary care to all residents who come in.

“It is clearly providing money that should be going to American citizens to illegal immigrants,” Wilson said. “It’s even worse than I thought. They won’t even ask for status.” 

On his campaign website, Wilson wrote: “It is inevitable that they will serve illegal aliens. The president specifically promised the American people that ‘Obamacare’ would not cover those who are here illegally. He misled all of us.”

The Department of Health and Human Services shot back, saying the patients still must pay for care.

“By statute, health centers are required to provide primary health care to all residents of the health center’s service area without regard for ability to pay,” spokesman Chris Stenrud wrote in an email to Fox. “However, health centers do not provide free care. All health center patients are expected to contribute to the cost of their care.”

Citing the Defense of Marriage Act, the Obama administration denied immigration benefits to a married gay couple from San Francisco and ordered the expulsion of a man who is the primary caregiver to his AIDS-afflicted spouse.

Bradford Wells, a U.S. citizen, and Anthony John Makk, a citizen of Australia, were married seven years ago in Massachusetts. They have lived together 19 years, mostly in an apartment in the Castro district. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied Makk’s application to be considered for permanent residency as a spouse of an American citizen, citing the 1996 law that denies all federal benefits to same-sex couples.

The decision was issued July 26. Immigration Equality, a gay-rights group that is working with the couple, received the notice Friday and made it public Monday. Makk was ordered to depart the United States by Aug. 25. Makk is the sole caregiver for Wells, who has severe health problems.

“I’m married just like any other married person in this country,” Wells said. “At this point, the government can come in and take my husband and deport him. It’s infuriating. It’s upsetting. I have no power, no right to keep my husband in this country. I love this country, I live here, I pay taxes and I have no right to share my home with the person I married.”

Husband’s pleas

Wells pleaded with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Obama to intervene.

“Anyone can identify with the horror of having the government come in and destroy your family when you’ve done nothing wrong, and you’ve done everything right, followed every law,” Wells said.

The agency’s decision cited the Defense of Marriage Act as the reason for the denial of an I-130 visa, or spousal petition that could allow Makk to apply for permanent U.S. residency. “The claimed relationship between the petitioner and the beneficiary is not a petitionable relationship,” the decision said. “For a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other a woman.”

Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder decided earlier this year that the law, commonly known as DOMA, is unconstitutional on equal protection grounds and that the administration would no longer defend it in court. House Republicans hired an outside counsel to defend it instead. However, the administration said it would continue to enforce the law, while exercising discretion on a case-by-case basis.

ICE’s director, John Morton, issued a memorandum in June that offered guidance to agents in making enforcement decisions. Because no law enforcement agency can pursue every case, they routinely prioritize where to commit the government’s limited resources.

The memorandum said prosecutions should seek to promote “national security, border security, public safety and the integrity of the immigration system.”

Makk meets several of the circumstances specified in the memorandum. Aside from being a spouse of an American citizen, he is also the primary caretaker of a citizen, has no criminal history, and has legally resided in the country under various visas for many years.

The couple said they spent nearly $2,000 to file the petition that was denied, and now must decide whether to file a motion to reconsider the decision, which Wells said would almost certainly be denied, giving the couple at most another 30 days of residency.

Makk gave up a professional career in Australia to be with Wells, and started a business in San Francisco and invested in rental property to meet various visa requirements. He said he has never remained in the country illegally.

Poor alternatives

Wells could move to Australia, but he said doing so would require him to give up his extensive medical care and insurance in the United States.

“We are appealing to the Obama administration to begin to put into action what they’ve said repeatedly they can do,” said Immigration Equality spokesman Steve Ralls. “The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have said again and again that they can exercise discretion in individual cases, but they have not done so for a single gay or lesbian couple yet.”

In rare cases, lawmakers can introduce so-called private bills to shield specific immigrants from deportation, but only after deportation proceedings have begun. Such bills are considered a last resort.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said Pelosi has contacted immigration officials on behalf of the couple and “will be working to exhaust all appropriate immigration remedies that are open to pursue.”

Obama Second Worst President on Job Creation: Following the bipartisan debt agreement, President Obama and his fellow Democrats tried to pivot by promising to turn their attention to job-­‐creation. In a Rose Garden press conference, the President vowed to “…continue…to fight for…new jobs, higher wages and faster economic growth.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined in, saying “Enough talks about the debt, we have to talk about jobs.” And Sen. Charles Schumer (NY) went a step further to claim that job-­‐ creation is in fact Democrats’ “strong suit.”

But as American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassert points out, it certainly is not Mr. Obama’s “strong suit.” The graph above compares the first two and a half years in office of the five worst presidents on job-­‐creation since 1890. President Obama is the second worst, coming in behind President Herbert Hoover whose first two and a half years in office were during the Great Depression. Not very impressive for someone who has been saying since 2009 that his administration’s “overriding focus” is to “make sure that people are getting back to work.”

Rather than supporting his rhetoric with action, the president has spent the past two and a half years pushing a failed stimulus and ObamaCare. There are now 14 million unemployed Americans, and the jobs’ report to be released tomorrow is unlikely to show much improvement, considering last month saw the largest number of job cuts in 16 months, according to figures released by Chicago-­‐based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. If Mr. Obama does not want to be counted as one of the unemployed come November 2012, he had better start delivering on his promises of plentiful jobs for Americans soon.

Courtesy: KarlRove.com

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There’s nothing like a vote on federal spending cuts to make one of the most liberal lawmakers on Capitol Hill sound like a Tea Partier.

“We’re going to read this document,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said Monday, referring to the debt ceiling agreement reached Sunday night. “We’re going to understand it before we vote for it.”

Lee, who helped rush the 2,000-page Affordable Care Act through the House before nearly anyone had a chance to read it, promised to pore over the 74-page Budget Control Act in an effort to stop trillions of dollars in federal spending cuts.

After the passage of Obamacare, Republicans running for the House included in their 2010 “Pledge to America” a promise to allow the public sufficient time to read bills before lawmakers voted on them. “We will give all representatives and citizens at least three days to read the bill before a vote,” the pledge said.

Then came the debt bill, which was finished Sunday evening and released to the public Monday morning. In their race to finish work before the Treasury Department’s midnight Tuesday default deadline, Republicans ended up violating their own read-the-bill pledge.

“We wish there was time to wait three days,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, “but as a result of Washington Democrats’ refusal to offer their own plan, our backs are against the wall — and the three-day rule has a clear exception for such emergencies.”

Meanwhile, the deal’s spending cuts left some Democrats grasping for words to describe just how horrible they thought the measure really was. “This is a Satan sandwich, there’s no question about it,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., on Monday. “With Satan fries on the side,” added Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Lee, trying to make sense of it all, said simply, “We’re eating some sandwiches we don’t like.”

As they spoke, leftist protesters tried to bring a touch of Madison, Wis., to the Capitol, getting ejected from the House chamber after chanting, “Boehner, Boehner, get a clue, it’s about revenue.” As that was going on, Vice President Biden was meeting with angry liberals behind closed doors in an effort to sell the deal. The Tea Party Republicans had “acted like terrorists,” Biden told lawmakers. (Another Democrat, Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, referred to Tea Partiers as “arsonists.”) What was scheduled to be a one-hour meeting stretched beyond two, but not many people came out happy.

Meeting with his own members, Boehner tried hard to overcome concerns that the supercommission created in the bill would give a big edge to Democrats who want to slash the defense budget. “I told them this is the best defense number we’re going to get,” Boehner said, which many members found both truthful and depressing.

Making a deal after a long struggle left Republican leaders in a strange mood: relieved, happy to have prevailed, but eager to move on as quickly as possible. “Boehner created the framework of dollar-for-dollar cuts and increases in the debt ceiling,” said one GOP strategist involved in the fight. “That has been a huge change in the debate. At a tactical level, everything may not have been achieved, but at a strategic level this is a huge change in direction.”

Republicans know they’re on the right side of the spending issue. But they’re also acutely aware that federal spending, while critically important, is not the public’s No. 1 concern.

“People still want to focus on jobs and the economy,” says the GOP strategist. “So the challenge for Republicans is to make sure that connection is made. How do you make sure that you’re constantly putting this debate in the context of the larger issue?”

That’s the hard truth Republican leaders remember each time the spending fight threatens to overwhelm everything else in Washington. The deal they hammered out in talks with President Obama and the Democratic leadership — $2.5 trillion in total cuts and $2.4 trillion in debt limit extension — is important, but not the most important issue to most Americans. “The number that’s really going to matter is the one that comes out at the end of this week,” says the Republican strategist, referring to the July unemployment figures that will be released on Friday.

As the debt fight was at its height, Washington Post pollsters asked people for a one-word description of the battle. Three-quarters of those surveyed, the paper reported, answered with negative words; the top answers were “ridiculous,” “disgusting” and “stupid.”

Republican leaders firmly believe this fight was worth it. But they know they have to move on to still more important battles.

Courtesy:  Washington Examiner

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