Tag Archives: Obama

Are We Better Than This? Prove It. Deal With It.

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON | SEP 15, 2018

“John’s voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder: ‘We are better than this; America is better than this.’” — Eulogy for the late Senator John McCain at funeral services in the National Cathedral by former President George W. Bush

John McCain wasn’t alone wanting our politics to be better than this. It would do all of us some good to keep his memory alive more than a couple of weeks, despite what’s going on around us.

We know what ‘this’ is. It only took a few days for McCain’s legacy to turn to dust, replaced with more anger, distrust, dishonesty, hyperventilation, vulgarity, and incivility, and that, exclusive of President Donald Trump’s behavior.

The “this” has continued the erosion of American institutions and the abandonment of American values. I believe the vast majority of Americans agreed with McCain and are fed up with “this.” McCain preached the politics of inclusion and the personal behavior of courage and civility. He didn’t always succeed in putting them into practice, but they were among the values he considered critical to the survival of our grand experiment in self-governance.

Continue reading →

Short History of Executive Orders

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

The President’s power to issue an executive order is not spelled out in the Constitution.

And for the first 75 years or so of our Republic, an executive order wasn’t even made public. They were just directives sent from the White House to the various agencies, telling them what to do.

Continue reading →

Stop the Impeachment Chatter

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

When I worked for the Hammer, I told him point-blank it was unwise for him to lead the impeachment of Bill Clinton.

I explained to him that even if we could pass an impeachment resolution out of the House, a conviction would fail in the Senate because that required a two-thirds vote, and if he led the impeachment drive, it would automatically become a partisan event, making a conviction impossible.

Tom DeLay thanked me for my thoughts and said in no uncertain terms that Clinton’s actions were a moral stain on the Presidency and that he had to be made accountable. Continue reading →

Budget Issues Trump Other Scandals

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from TelemachusLeaps.com

Or should trump them, at least.

Despite all the consternation about the Obama Administration and Benghazi, the IRS harassment of Tea Party groups and the AP phone records being monitored, we still have a country to run.

Somebody better be paying attention to our spending and deficit/debt problems or else it really won’t matter if the Obama White House is lying about any of the above 3 scandals now a-brewing.

They are all important issues of governance or malfeasance, however you want to call it.

But none of them can do the damage to our future that out-of-control spending can cause because our debt gets too high and then, when interest rates return to ‘normal’? It either crowds out other essential functions of government or inflation rears its ugly, ugly head and everyone suffers. Especially the elderly, poor and infirm. Continue reading →

A Trillion-Dollar Coin? Seriously?

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from Telemachus.com

Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama and others on the national scene and in Washington are giving serious consideration to issuing a $1 trillion coin in the event that the debt ceiling becomes a major point of contention in the next several weeks with House Republicans.

Which it will. You can count on that.

Seriously. A group of 4 US Senators in the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body sent a letter to President Obama today basically saying they have ‘got your back, Mr. President!’ to do ‘anything possible’ to avoid any discussion on spending cuts in advance of the next debt ceiling debacle. Continue reading →

Greatest ‘Punt’ in History

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from Telemachus.com

No, it wasn’t the 79-yard punt by Duke punter Will Monday in the 2012 Belk Bowl in Charlotte, North Carolina, although that was pretty darned great, you gotta admit.

No, the greatest ‘punt’ of the recent college bowl season was performed collectively in a three-legged kick down the road by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Speaker John Boehner on New Year’s Eve in Washington, D.C. in the Fiscal Cliff Bowl Sponsored by The AARP, Grover Norquist, and The American People. Continue reading →

Fiscal Cliff Tragedy/Comedy, Part I

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

The tragedy and the comedy of the fiscal cliff negotiations are that they have little to do with the fiscal cliff.

The fiscal cliff is a relatively straight-forward collection of budget issues. But like so many other budget issues that have become the playground of ideologues, the fiscal cliff negotiations have been hijacked by a herculean clash over political dogma, a classic struggle between progressive forces dedicated to the redistribution of wealth and libertarian forces dedicated to dismantling government as we know it. Continue reading →

Capitalism

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

With the Redskins playing the Monday night game and the Nationals still not having made a deal with their 1st baseman, Adam LaRoche, there’s not much to think about here in Our Nation’s Capital other than that pesky fiscal cliff.

Depending on what comes up in your Google search for “what will be the effect on GDP of the fiscal cliff” you get answers ranging from a drop of about 1.4 percent (NASDAQ) up to four percent (Washington Post).

Most of the guesses fall in the 3-3.5 percent range. Continue reading →

Romney Will Win

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

As we have discussed before, someone – and I tried to find the source of the quote, but couldn’t – said that “four years ago Barack Obama was on a crusade; this year he’s in a campaign.”

Obama won the crusade, but Mitt Romney will win this campaign.

I know…I know. The polls are close. The national polls are tied; the state polls tilt toward Barack Obama. Continue reading →

Franken-Storm

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

Contrary to media reports, Franken-Storm has nothing to do with Al Franken still being in the Senate.

Just kidding. There are no media reports about Al Franken still being in the Senate. He’s a comedian, and now he is in the Senate. Enough said about that.

I wonder if it was Al Franken who coined the phrase Franken-Storm. I assume that whoever named Franken-Storm came from Washington D.C. I don’t know why I assume that, but I do. Continue reading →

Debate Backwash

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

The first debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney changed the direction of the campaign. In the two-plus weeks since that debate Obama’s lead in national polls and nearly every battleground state poll has shrunk or Romney has pulled ahead.

The second debate, which most observers believe Obama won on style points, has had no effect on the race whatsoever.

At least so far. Continue reading →

Presidential Debate, Channeling Al Gore

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

Naomi Wolf must have called Barack Obama and given her two cents about how the President could seem more macho in debate number 2. He certainly was channeling his inner Al-Gore at the beginning of the “Thriller on Long Island,” when he moved aggressively into Mitt Romney’s personal space.

Romney followed suit, and at a few points, you thought that maybe something bad was going to happen. It never did, but this debate showed the personal animosity that the President has for his opponent.

Continue reading →

Obama Rebounds for Win

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

Short answer: Obama rebounded strongly in this debate. Romney was prepared and did as well as he did in the first one, but Obama’s performance was so much better than last time, he gets the win.

Mitt Romney got the first question (from a college student asking about the availability of a job after he graduates). He walked over to “Jeremy” and spoke directly to him. Barack Obama also walked to the student and used the answer to attack Romney on wanting to “bankrupt Detroit.”

Candy Crowley busted the rules right off the bat by asking a follow-up question – what about short-term jobs – which both men used as an excuse to get on each other. Continue reading →

VP Debate Meaningless

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

The Vice Presidential debates are usually meaningless. The one last night was more meaningless than most meaningless Vice Presidential debates.

The most famous debate put-down in history came when Lloyd Bentsen tore into Dan Quayle, who, let’s face it, was no Jack Kennedy. Quayle looked like a fool, but his playing partner still won the election.

The highest-rated Vice Presidential debate had can-I-call-you Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. Palin exceeded all expectations and won the debate on style points, but that had no measurable effect on the trajectory of John McCain’s ultimate defeat. Continue reading →

A Case of Bad Gas

BY GARY JOHNSON
Reprinted from Loose Change (TCBMag.com)

There are certain things about human beings that are shared, validating the old joke about what the Zen master said to the hot dog vendor: “Make me one with everything.” Universally we all share sexuality, eating, loving, spirituality, even bad gas. I defy you to name any among us who hasn’t experienced a bit of the bubbly in the lower trunk.

Hang on to that feeling for a moment.

When it comes to the economy, how do we spell R-E-L-I-E-F? Romney and Obama have their plans, but God knows which is better or worse. Bottom line: This economic gas requires that something’s got to give. Continue reading →

Big Bird, Show Us The Money

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from Telemachus.com

‘Hey! Waddya Mean I’m Part of the 1%?’

Has anyone seen the slightly amateurish ads lately by the Obama campaign that tries to hammer Governor Romney on ‘cutting Big Bird’ out of the federal budget?

Probably not since even Big Bird and PBS have asked the Obama campaign to take them off the public airwaves.

At a time when we have 23 million un/underemployed people in this nation, gas prices spiking like Billy Idol’s peroxided hair, and the Middle East completely coming apart at the seams, the geniuses behind the Obama Phenomenon of 2008 have resorted to a childish attack on Governor Romney on a serious issue such as budget discipline behind…..Big Bird? Continue reading →

My Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

BY FRANK HILL
Reprinted from Telemachus.com

We were somewhat amused by President Obama and his political consultant David Axelrod ‘accusing’ Mitt Romney of ‘exploding the deficit’ with his ‘$5 trillion tax plan!’

Well, they should know, shouldn’t they? President Obama and his Administration have broken the world records for the accumulation of debt over the past 4 years. They are veritable experts at ‘exploding the deficit!’

President Obama and David Axelrod accusing Mitt Romney of ‘exploding the deficit’ is like Chicago mobster Al Capone ‘accusing’ squeaky-clean G-man Eliot Ness of illegally running bootlegged liquor during Prohibition. Continue reading →

Obama Performance: Excuses Keep Coming

BY WILLIAM I. GREENER III

The first presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 3 confounded the narrative of the mainstream media that Mitt Romney was a dead man walking and that President Obama was on his way to a significant victory. It rendered that view obsolete, at best.

Never mind that the most recent surveys already had indicated the race had tightened back to something pretty close to a dead heat. In the world where the media and the liberal chattering class reside, only a nitwit could pretend that Mitt Romney stood a chance to prevail. Continue reading →

The Big Debate: REE-Act

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

The pundiferous universe was acting as if the laws of political physics had been repealed as it tried to make sense of Barack Obama’s abysmal performance in his debate with Mitt Romney Wednesday night.

Why didn’t Obama respond? Why didn’t Obama mention the 47 percent? Or Bain Capital. Or that dog-on-the-roof-of-the-car thing?

Why, at a minimum, didn’t Obama challenge Romney on the facts? Continue reading →

Gillespie Deploys MacArthur Strategy

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

Ed Gillespie is a modern day Douglas MacArthur. Let me explain.

On September 15, 1950, MacArthur led a force of mostly United States Marines in an amphibious assault at the largely undefended port of Inchon that was located far behind enemy lines. The North Koreans had closed in on American forces around the city of Pusan and the UN forces needed a break-out strategy. The strategy to go on offense helped to turn the tide of the war and the United Nations forces were able to drive the North Koreans back to their portion of the peninsula.

What MacArthur did was a lot like what Ed Gillespie has reportedly done with the Romney campaign. He decided that the best defense was a very good offense. Continue reading →