Tag Archives: Washington

Jobless No. Tops Last Week

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Bloomberg reports:

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a one-month high, showing little progress in the labor market.

Jobless claims rose by 4,000 for a second week to reach 372,000 in the period ended Aug. 18, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 41 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 365,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, increased to 368,000.

This prompted ZeroHedge’s response: “The real story continues to be the steep fall off in those on extended benefits and EUC, which declined by a total of 48K in the past week, and down by about half a million in the last few months, and lower by 1.3 million in the past year. This is 1.3 million fewer consumers who can recycle Uncle Sam’s dole back into the economy and iGadgets.”

Later in the morning we got a nugget more information. Again, ZeroHedge brings us back to reality:

Looking at the headline number in the just released New Home Sales data one would be left with the impression that the tepid “recovery” in housing may be chugging along: after all with a seasonally adjusted annualized 372,000 new homes sold in July, this was an improvement to the revised 359K in June (ignoring that the US housing market at best continues to drag along the bottom). This impression, however, promptly changes when one looks at the underlying data. The reality: the actual number of new homes sold in July was 34,000, the same as in June, and the lowest since March. Of this, a massive 3,000 (yes, three thousand) homes were sold in the Northeast in the entire month. Where things get worse is when one looks at the number of new homes for sale. At 142,000 (of which just 38,000 actually completed), this was the lowest number. EVER. And finally, to ruin all hopes that the housing bottom may mean an actual pricing bottom, the median new home price slid to $224,200, down from $229,100 in June, and the lowest since January, while the average home price declined from $266,900 to $263,200. This was the lowest average price posted so far in 2012.

Romney’s Excellent Speech

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Romney gave a good speech in Chillicothe, Ohio. Notable among his comments was, “Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America.” Amen and about time.

Here’s his entire speech:

Thank you, Ohio. It’s good to be back in the Buckeye State. And it’s a privilege to be here with two good friends – your great governor, John Kasich and your outstanding senator, Rob Portman. Governor Kasich is doing a great job despite the head winds from Washington. As President, I can’t wait to work with Senator Portman to turn those Obama headwinds into pro-job policies that will help working families all across Ohio.

Tonight, we’re wrapping up our five-state bus tour to towns big and small. That trip reconfirmed to me just how important this election is – and why we need to change the direction of the country by changing the current occupant of the Oval Office.

We started out on the decks of a battleship in Norfolk, Virginia, where arbitrary and reckless defense cuts threaten our national security and 150,000 jobs. From there it was on to North Carolina, through towns that have lost thousands and thousands of manufacturing jobs. And yesterday we were in Florida, where families are still struggling with the Obama Economy.

The people I met on this tour – and the thousands of Americans I’ve visited in break rooms and lunch rooms, in school gymnasiums and on factory floors – are worried about their children, their jobs, their mortgages, and their future. And they are right to be worried.

All across the country, I’ve met people who are hurting. Some have lost their jobs; others work two jobs just to get by. Some have fallen out of the middle class and now they’re struggling to get back to where they started. The cost of living keeps going up, and they’re living paycheck to paycheck.

They are tired of being tired.

And tonight, I’d like to say to each of them: You have not been forgotten. We will not leave you behind. This is America. We are Americans. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Unemployment has been above 8 percent for 42 straight months. We will put Americans back to work!

Half of recent college graduates can’t find work or a job that matches their skills. We’ll get good jobs for our kids.

Nearly one out of six Americans are in poverty today. This is a disgrace we will end.

And President Obama has amassed five trillion dollars of debt – nearly as much debt held by the public as all other Presidents combined. We will end this moral failure.

After four years, it’s clear that President Obama’s policies aren’t fixing these problems, they’re making them worse. That is why Ohio will lead the way by electing a new President on November 6th.

For the first time, most Americans believe that our best days are behind us. This is an election in which we should be talking about the path ahead, but you don’t hear any answers coming from President Obama’s re-election campaign. That’s because he’s intellectually exhausted, out of ideas, and out of energy. And so his campaign has resorted to diversions and distractions, to demagoguing and defaming others. This is an old game in politics; what’s different this year is that the president is taking things to a new low.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

In 2008, Candidate Obama said, “if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.” He said, “if you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.” And that, he told us, is how, “You make a big election about small things.”

That was Candidate Obama describing the strategy that is the now the heart of his campaign.

His campaign and his surrogates have made wild and reckless accusations that disgrace the office of the Presidency. Another outrageous charge came a few hours ago in Virginia. And the White House sinks a little bit lower.

This is what an angry and desperate Presidency looks like.

President Obama knows better, promised better and America deserves better.

Over the last four years, this President has pushed Republicans and Democrats as far apart as they can go. And now he and his allies are pushing us all even further apart by dividing us into groups. He demonizes some. He panders to others. His campaign strategy is to smash America apart and then cobble together 51 percent of the pieces.

If an American president wins that way, we all lose.

But he won’t win that way. America is one Nation under God. American history has been a story of the many becoming one – uniting to preserve liberty, uniting to build the greatest economy in the world, uniting to save the world from unspeakable darkness. Everywhere I go in America there are monuments that list those who have given their lives. There is no mention of their race, their party affiliation or what they did for a living. They lived and died under a single flag fighting for a single purpose. They pledged allegiance to the United States of America. So, Mr. President, take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America.

This election is about restoring the promise of America. It’s a choice between two visions for our nation’s future. It’s about the challenges America faces. It is about a better tomorrow and a better future.

We don’t need more excuses. We don’t need more blame. We don’t need more small-minded attacks.

What we really need is a new president.

Voters deserve an honest debate. And that’s what Paul Ryan and I will give them.

Paul and I have a positive agenda that will lead to economic growth, to widespread and shared prosperity that will improve the lives of our fellow citizens. Our Plan For A Stronger Middle Class will get America back to work and get our country back on track.

We are offering solutions that are bold, specific, and achievable. We’re committed to helping create 12 million new jobs and to bring better take-home pay to middle class families.

My plan focuses on five things.

First, energy independence. We will achieve North America energy independence by 2020, by taking full advantage of our oil, our gas, our coal, our renewables and our nuclear power. Abundant, inexpensive, domestic energy will not only create energy jobs, it will bring back manufacturing jobs.

Second, we must give our workers and our children the skills they need to succeed. Our nation cannot continue to fail in public education. For too long, we have let the agenda of union bosses steer the agenda of our schools. It is time to put our kids and their parents and their teachers first, and the union bosses behind.

Third, trade must work for America. We are one of the world’s most productive nations. Trade creates jobs and raises take-home pay for American workers. We must open more doors for trade in Latin America, where there is a growing middle class. But when any nation cheats, as China has cheated, we must make sure that there are clear and compelling consequences.

Fourth, we will do what politicians in both parties have been promising for years, but have failed to do. We will cut spending, shrink deficits, and put America on track to a balanced budget.

Fifth, we will champion small business. Unlike President Obama, I won’t raise taxes on small business. I’ll make sure regulators protect the public, but that they stop killing our jobs. I will remove the crippling uncertainty that is preventing businesses from hiring.

That begins by repealing Obamacare. It’s bad for jobs and it’s bad for seniors. If the President is re-elected, he will succeed in raiding $716 billion from Medicare — from the trust fund you have paid into all your lives – to pay for Obamacare. He is taking your money to finance his risky and unproven takeover of the health-care system. He is putting Medicare at greater risk. He is putting health care at greater risk. He is putting your jobs at greater risk. We must not let Obamacare happen.

If we focus on these five areas – energy, education, trade, deficits, and championing small business – America’s economy will come roaring back to life. And we will finally see a comeback for America’s middle class.

My plan is based on proven principles that will produce real results. I spent 25 years in business, and I know what it takes for the private sector to create jobs. I know why jobs go away, what it takes to bring them back, and what we must do to make America the best place in the world for entrepreneurs and innovators and job creators. My five-point plan will bring more jobs and more take-home pay for middle-class Americans.

People ask me why I think the President’s policies have been such a disappointment. I just don’t think President Obama understands what it is that drives our economy.

America runs on freedom. Free men and women, pursuing their dreams, working hard to build a better future for their families. This is what propels our economy. When an American succeeds, when she wins a promotion, when he creates a business, it is that individual, that American that has earned it, that has built it. Government does not build our businesses, the American people do.

The American people also build the government. We pay for it with our taxes. We choose who will lead us with our votes.

Do you want a president who believes that your rights come from God, not from government?

Do you want a president who honors your right to pursue happiness, not as government commands, but as you choose?

Do you want a president who will work every day to bring us together, not tear us apart?

Do you want a president who will celebrate success, not attack it?

Do you want a president who will never, ever apologize for the greatest nation on earth?

With your support, I will be that President.

We are 84 days away from the start of the better future we deserve.

We need new leadership, and new ideas, and a new approach – because four years of failure is enough.

Paul Ryan and I believe in America – and in this election, we’re offering Americans a clear and honest choice. Every single day we’re going to do our part. And we need you to do yours.

I commit to you that I will be the President that this moment demands. I will work to strengthen our families, to rebuild our economy and to keep our military second to none in the world.

I ask you to commit like never before over the next 84 days. This election can come down to just one more vote. I ask you find that vote. Ask one more person to join our campaign. Ask one more person to join us who supported President Obama four years ago and didn’t get the change they deserved. One more vote can make the difference in Ohio. And Ohio will make the difference for America.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Americans Shifting Blame

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From The Hill comes this good news: “Two-thirds of likely voters say the weak economy is Washington’s fault, and more blame President Obama than anybody else, according to a new poll for The Hill.”

Finally! Maybe Americans have awakened to the fact that most of Bush’s presidency was a time of improving economics. Americans and the media forget or conveniently forget that when Bush took office he was handed a poor economy from the dot.com bubble.

Bush was getting us out of that morass and then 9/11 came along and dealt a severe blow to us. We had been underfunded at the Defense Department and had to put together a campaign from the leftover bits Clinton left them. Still, the economy improved, reaching a 7.8 GDP in one of the quarters.

It wasn’t until the Democrats took the House that things began to go wrong. First, Nancy Pelosi pushed through a raise in the minimum wage. Sounds good, but the result was many businesses had to stop hiring people, especially young people.

Then, Bush asked Congress five times to take a look at Fanny and Freddie. The Dems wouldn’t. Barney Frank assured us they were OK. Every time Bush pressed, they pushed back and nothing was done at a time when some of the damage could have been avoided.

The Hill has more:

It found that 66 percent believe paltry job growth and slow economic recovery is the result of bad policy. Thirty-four percent say Obama is the most to blame, followed by 23 percent who say Congress is the culprit. Twenty percent point the finger at Wall Street, and 18 percent cite former President George W. Bush.

The poll, conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research, found 53 percent of voters say Obama has taken the wrong actions and has slowed the economy down. Forty-two percent said he has taken the right actions to revive the economy, while six percent said they were not sure.

Obama has argued throughout the presidential campaign that his policies have made the economy better. He says recovery is taking a long time because he inherited such deep economic trouble upon taking office in 2009.

“The problems we’re facing right now have been more than a decade in the making,” he told an audience last month in Cleveland.

We’re not a society known for our patience. I think it has finally worn out.

And Obama wants us to worry about Romney’s success? Would he have preferred he failed?

The Word According to Obama

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I must post this entire piece from the brilliant Iowahawk. It is a must read because no one satirizes as well as he does.

You Didn’t Build That

Readings from the Book of Barack

1 In the beginning Govt created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the economy was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the ATMs, and the Spirit of Govt was hovering over the land.

3 And Govt said, “Let there be spending,” and there was spending. 4 Govt saw that the spending was good, and that it separated the light from the darkness. 5 Govt called the spending Investments, and this he did in the first day.

6 Then Govt said, “Let there be roads and bridges across the waters, and let dams divide the waters from the waters.” 7 Thus Govt made the infrastructure and the patronage jobs for eternity under the firmament from the Potomac which was above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And Govt called the firmament Washington. This Govt did on the second day.

9 Then Govt said, “Let the regulations and the guidelines under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the Bureaus appear”; and it was so. 10 And Govt called the Bureaus demigovts, and the gathering together of them He called AFSCME. And Govt saw that it was good.

11 Then Govt said, “Let there be police, and firefighters, and teachers according to their kind, for they will create more jobs”; and it was so. 12 And then Govt bade the void bring forth crime, and arson, and stupidity, that each would yield seed to bring forth more police, and firefighters, and teachers, and jobs. And Govt saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 On the fourth day Govt said, “Let Us make the economy in Our image, according to Our likeness; let it have dominion over the cars of the road, over the appliances of the supercenters, and over the pet groomers of the strip malls, over all the clickthroughs of Amazon and over every creepy thing of the Dollar Stores.” 15 So Govt created the economy in His own image; services and wholesale and retail He created them. 16 Then Govt blessed them, and Govt said to them, “Be fruitful and use the multiplier effect; fill the land with jobs; thou have dominion over thy realm, within limits, as long and thou remember to get thy permits and tithe thy taxes, for they are good. Hope to see you at the fundraiser.”

17 And on the fifth day Govt made an official Govt holiday, and headed off for a 3-day golf weekend at Camp David. But first Govt said to the economy, “you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, except the tree of Knowledge. There is a serpent in that thing, and thy health care does not cover it.”

18 So when Govt was on vay-cay the economy set about the garden, plowing its fields and generating revenue for the glory of Govt. They obeyed the regulations and were not ashamed.

19 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the balanced, publicly-funded birds the Lord Govt had made to sing news to the economy. The serpent was on the AM band. He said to the retail sector, “Did Govt really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”

20 “Only yours, serpent,” said the retail sector.

21 “Don’t be a wuss,” the serpent said to the retail sector. 22 “For Govt knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will wise to Govt’s scam.”

23 When she saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, and also free to download, she took some and ate it. She emailed a copy to her wholesaler, and he ate it; and then the wholesaler to the manufacturer, and he to the servicer. 24 Then the eyes of all of them were opened, and they realized they were being taxed naked; so they outsourced fig leaves to make coverings for themselves.

25 Then the economy heard the sound of the Lord Govt returning from vay-cay with the demigovts Osha and Tarp and Irs. It was the cool of the day, and they were hiding their profits from the Lord Govt among the trees of the garden. 26 But the Lord Govt called to the manufacturer, “Where are you?”

26 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, so I sought a tax shelter.”

27 And Govt said, “Who told you that your profits were yours? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”

28 The man said, “The retailer made me —she has a thing for serpents.”

29 Then the Lord Govt said to the retailer, “What is this you have done?”

30 And she said to the Lord Govt, “Don’t take that tone with me, fat boy. And why should I give you my profits?”

31 The Lord Govt was in wrath, and said, “For I am the Lord Govt, creator of Eden! 32 I gave unto you the roads and bridges, and schools and cops, brought unto you of gentle showers of Tarp and Stimulus and rivers of Subsidy, I am the purifier of the waters, cleanser of the air, without which you and your profits would not exist. Thus all that thou have created is created by Us. Thus ye shall render unto Govt what is Govt’s, and this is the Word of your Lord.”

33 At these words, Solydra and Gm and Seiu and all the Cronyans and Laborites dropped to their knees in trembling fear and supplicated themselves before the Lord, presenting Him golden gifts of contributions.

34 Then the retailer said to Govt, “And who created you?”

35 In righteous anger did the Lord Govt again rise up and said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Tri-Delts and the Dekes, I am and have always been! I am the great cosmic turtle on which you and the entire economy rest.”

36 “And on whom do you rest, turtle?” said the retailer in blaspheme.

37 “Do not mock me with your knowledge trickery, harlot!” said the Lord Govt. “I am turtles all the way down.”

38 So the Lord Govt said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
39 And I will keep you from tenure
and grants and the airwaves,
and condemn you to the bowels of internet.”

40 Then the Lord Govt turned the retailer and the manufacturer and the wholesaler and all the servicers, and said,

“I will make your taxes and regulations very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to profit.
You shall be afflicted with plagues of audits,
the coming of Osha, and the trials of Irs.
By the sweat of thy brow you will earn thy living
until you return it to Me.
You will suffer the droughts of subsidy and stimulus,
and will thirst forever. You’re welcome.”

41 And so the Lord Govt banished the economy from paradise, and bade them go outsource to the Far East of Eden. And as the chastened economy slouched out of of Babylon He said unto them,

40 “How do you like them apples?”

Flinn Refutes CA Version

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This morning’s Commercial Appeal devoted some of the Viewpoint section to profiles of the candidates up for election Aug. 2.

Missing in the District 9 primary was Dr. George Flinn, perhaps the leading candidate on the Republican side. There was an editor’s note that read “The other candidate in this race, George S. Flinn Jr., did not respond to repeated requests made to his campaign to submit information.”

Not so, says Dr. Flinn who writes on Facebook today:

This morning the Commercial Appeal printed a 2012 Ballot Primer in the Viewpoint Section of the newspaper. It was incorrectly noted that we did not respond to their request for information. In actuality we did respond to their request and the paper posted our response on-line this past Friday morning. We hope the paper will correct this error and I wanted to make sure that you all had an opportunity to read the information we provided.

He then links to this:

Name: George Flinn
Age: 68

Political background/experience:Republican nominee for Shelby County Mayor in 2002. Appointed to the Shelby County Commission on October 20, 2004 representing District 1, elected to the position on August 3, 2006. Ran for Congress in the 8th District of Tennessee in 2010.

Education: Memphis Central High School (1961), University of Mississippi (B.S., electrical engineering, 1965), Medical Degree, University of Tennessee 1969.

Occupation/career: Radiologist with seven offices in Memphis and throughout Shelby County. Owner of Flinn Broadcasting, with over 40 radio and TV stations.

Family: Single with two children and three grandchildren.

Personal: N/A

Motivation: My motivation for running for Congress is the future of not only my children and grandchildren but of our country’s next generation. I have been blessed in my life with a wonderful family and career. Serving patients in Memphis for the last 30 years has allowed me the opportunity to see the unique issues that face our area. My medical and business background perfectly positions me to craft solutions to the very difficult issues that our country faces today.

Top issues: We are facing so many issues as a nation right now but the three issues most impacting the 9th Congressional District are healthcare, the economy and joblessness and leadership.

The healthcare delivery system in our country is broken. Reforms are desperately needed but the Affordable Care Act has done nothing to address the real problems facing our citizens. I will take to Congress a unique perspective on health care and what it should be in our country.

Our community has struggled with joblessness for years and it has only gotten worse as our economy has gotten horribly off track. We need better opportunities in Memphis for meaningful work.

These problems cannot be addressed without strong leadership in Congress. I will go to Washington to represent all of the people of the 9th Congressional District.

Grim Unemployment Numbers

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This morning before the announcement of the June unemployment numbers I thought about the president’s visit to Ohio yesterday and today. I realized then that the number would probably be bad and he knew it.

Forget about the old wives tale about everything being kept secret in Washington. Loose lips spilled the numbers early; that’s probably why he decamped D.C. Obama would want to be out of Washington and away from reporters’ questions. He would also want to be in the critical state of Ohio to reassure them that everything wasn’t as bleak as it is.

So this morning’s 8.2% with only 80,000 jobs added was not a surprise. The ADP report had suggested that 176,000 jobs were added to the private sector and raised hopes among the Democrats that the number would be high. Didn’t happen though.

Actually, the U-6 (unemployment) went from 14.8% in May to 14.9% in June. Those not in the labor force rose by 34,000, the second highest rise ever. The labor participation rate stayed the same at 63.8%, above the April low of 63.6%.

In watching CNBC it was amusing to see ex-Obama official Austin Goolsbee try to make the claim that Obama was doing well. “The job creation of this first term of Obama for all the struggles we’ve had (is) about a million greater than the first term of George Bush…” which caused Rick Santelli to explode. “Who care about Bush? That’s the problem. You guys live in the past,” Santelli said then looked away in disgust.

Bush? The unemployment rate was 5.4 for eight years. That means people weren’t looking for work very much as most were employed. Goolsbee is playing with the data.

Goolsbee continued, “If you look at manufacturing – a big deal in Ohio and throughout the Midwest – manufacturing is having its best couple of years in a very long time in the midst of a tough job market.”

Manufacturing was just down this month. Goolsbee is the one manufacturing here.

Remember the stimulus promised unemployment would not hit above 8%?

A Sick Decision

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What’s in the water in Washington, D.C.? It seems to take average, clear headed, freedom loving and intelligent people and turn them into puffy headed selfish tyrants of the American people. Chief Justice Roberts, why?

Did someone threaten you? Did someone give you your thirty pieces of silver? Did they seduce you at their Washington elitist parties and media? Clearly you are not a man for all seasons.

Roberts, you indicated in your decision that you wanted to give the choice back to the American people and let them decide via elections. If we followed that way of thinking, why does the Supreme Court exist at all? Why don’t we just let every American vote online for what we should do. You have taken what’s right and just out of your decision and punted it back to politicians.

Speaker Boehner, you warned against our having a gloatfest. Do you think President Obama will heed those words?

I just heard Mitt Romney give his comment on the decision. Good God, man! Could you feel a little passion about the issue? You called the ruling “troubling.” Troubling? Troubling is a noise in your car engine. Troubling is an irritating cough. Troubling is when the offspring disobeys. Putting the largest tax increase in history on middle class people, eviscerating the pool of doctors for the future, making everyone wait for medical help even under severe ailments is DISASTER.

And Mitt, don’t talk about the Chamber of Commerce worried about a slump in jobs. People don’t want to here statistics at such an emotional time. Saying it’s a “time of choice” hardly gets busloads to the polls to vote for you. It’s “important to repeal and replace it” is an understatement, Governor.

Many of us feel we are living in an alternate universe. Everything that should be obviously right is wrong and vice versa. Tap into this.

Rush Limbaugh just asked how many embarrassed journalists there are this morning. He was referring to those who castigated Roberts as a right wing nut job when it looked like he would strike down the mandate. Sorry, Rush, but there are never any embarrassed journalists. They just shrug and move on to the next victim.

And, Justice Roberts, ever hear of “no taxation without representation”? You have just given Obama the power to tax us without putting it to a vote in Congress. Surely, that strikes you as wrong. Now he can bypass Congress with your blessing.

Weren’t you paying attention, Justice Roberts, when President Obama insisted that the mandate wasn’t a tax? Was he just being a jokester? Are you deaf? Did you miss that? The logic on it boils down to he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not. It’s a tax, it isn’t, it’s a tax, no it’s not. Just pick one.

Whatever happened to freedom of religion? Have you, Justice Roberts, supposed Catholic, just told the Church that they have to provide contraceptives and abortions? If so, they should start shutting them down now. Otherwise, they oppose a real and true authority.

By the way, veterans: Did you see that the Supreme Court ruled also that it is not a crime to lie about your medals? If you received a medal of honor but were sitting somewhere safe while your brothers were in battle but claimed to be a hero, it’s OK with them. How do you feel about that?

The kindest thing I can say, Justice Roberts, is that perhaps you were suffering from an epileptic fit when making this decision. It’s a malady you suffer from, one that liberals suggested makes you ineligible for the High Court.

I guess that’s not a worry for you, though. You’ll manage to get your necessary health care. Unfortunately for the rest of us, that is now in doubt.

Where’s the Protest?

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After the bishops under Cardinal Dolan expressed a willingness to fight the Obama administration on religious freedom following Obama’s announcement he would keep mandatory contraceptive funding in his health care, the bishops announced a special Fortnight for Religious Freedom would be observed starting June 21.

It has not gotten much attention and in Memphis I can only find two parishes participating: Church of the Incarnation in Collierville and St. Peter’s Downtown. They are having discussions and panels weighing in on it.

In the Sunday bulletin of my parish came this statement:

As Catholics we are constantly called to live out our faith in our daily lives. In our charities, we comfort the sick, feed the hungry, care for the poor, and protect life. In the marketplace, our values guide us. We strive everywhere to practice what we preach.

Across America, our right to live out our faith is being threatened – from Washington forcing Catholic institutions to provide services that contradict our beliefs, to state governments prohibiting charities from serving the most vulnerable. And around the world, it’s even worse – Catholics face persecution and even death for their witness.

These rights are fundamental. They belong to each and every human being. We cannot remain silent. Please join the movement to protect our right to live out our faith. Sign up to learn how you can help save our religious freedom. Test “Freedom” to 377377.

First, I was stupefied at the brush off this is. No link to local events. No official gatherings to protest Obamacare. I just text and I’m fighting it? Come on!

Then, notice how the blame is put on Washington. Not President Obama. Not his administration. Not the Democrats in the House or the Senate. The implication is that all of Washington is to blame, when not one Republican voted for the monstrosity either in the Senate or the House.

This is appalling. Lumping Republicans in with the Democrats is unfair and a lie. How can the people be expected to fight this decision if they don’t know the truth?

I have long suspected that our Bishop, Terry Steib, is a through and through Democrat/Socialist with little concern about the issue of abortion and right to life. He mouths it, but he doesn’t walk the walk. That’s probably why the issue has been thrust under the rug in Memphis. What a shame.

Obama’s Speech

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To give you an idea of how hollow President Obama’s speech was, networks bailed on it after just a few minutes.

That tells you all you need to know about it.

Expectations had been high. Fox anchor Megyn Kelly began by saying: “A huge hour in the 2012 race for the White House as we witness dueling speeches in a key battleground state by the president and the man who wants to replace him.” Well, that “huge hour” turned out to be a measly ten minutes.

And, Obama’s big speech was undercut by Romney, who was supposed to start his five minutes after the president started his, but ended up starting and finishing before Obama even reached the podium. Time management is not one of Obama’s fortes. Drudge reports there were even Romney buses circling the speech cite and honking horns. This shows the determination on the Romney team not to let Obama upstage them, but to do unto him as he does unto them.

Actually, Romney’s speech showed some flair and passion. He specified the programs Obama tried and failed – stimulus, health care, jobs, Dodd-Frank.

Obama began his speech talking about “the controversy that keeps both campaigns busy and gives the press something to write about. You may have heard I recently made my own unique contribution to that process. (A few nervous snickers.) It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last.”

That seemed a bit odd. I guess he referred to his comment about the private sector doing fine. He had that same smug look, with his habit of turning his head side to side as he delivers a speech in his peculiar cadence.

“There is one area where my opponent and I stand in complete agreement. This election is about the future.” He dismissed foreign policy and social matters to talk about two visions of “how to create strong, sustained growth; how to pay down our long term debt; how to generate good, middle class jobs so that people can have confidence that if they work hard they can get ahead.” Obama paused and there was tepid response from the audience.

Maybe that’s because he’s already had 3 1/2 years to try that, plus an earlier two as a U.S. senator. There has been little growth and an escalation of debt from spending. As for good middle class jobs, those will come after big companies decide they need to enlarge, not because we need more piddling government bureaucratic ones. And isn’t this the guy who’s going to Sarah Jessica Parker’s swank Manhattan party tonight with the swells to raise more money for himself?

“I have said this is the defining issue of our time and I mean it.” I can take that several ways and one of them is that you want – as you yourself said, Mr. president – to “fundamentally transform” America. He continued. “This is a make or break moment for America’s middle class.” Also true, but probably not in the way he means. If anything, he’s the one aiming to move the middle class down a notch.

We all know that the “decisions we make now will have an enormous influence on our country.” So where’s the beef? Where’s the plan? Not in this speech.

“What’s holding us back is a stalemate in Washington.” Yes, we’ve heard you try that ploy before in your tepid “We Can’t Wait” campaign that fell flat. Interestingly, a lot in the audience were not clapping.

He pursed his lips and went on with this flabby speech.

“For more than a decade it had become harder to find a job to pay the bills.” So we’re back in the Bush blame game already. Funny, I remember a quarter of 7.8% GDP growth and times of a small 5% unemployment. Is that what he’s referring to, because I’d trade it for what we have now.

“Hard to save. Harder to retire. Hard to keep up with rising costs of gas, health care and college tuitions.” Wasn’t he the candidate who said under his administration energy costs “would necessarily skyrocket”? Isn’t he the one with a Democrat majority who pushed the Affordable Care Act through which we will now see begin to increase our medical costs? As for tuitions, hasn’t the government inflated them over decades of Democrat planning so that the government ends up giving grants that encourage colleges to up their fees? This speech is a joke.

“We were told that huge tax cuts, particularly for wealthy Americans would lead to job growth.” (It did.) “We were told that fewer regulations especially for big financial institutions, corporations (you mean like your friends at GE and Warren Buffett who pay almost no taxes) would bring about widespread prosperity (it did for your friends like Jon Corzine).

“We were told it was OK to put two wars on the nation’s credit cards.” Well, yes, since Democrats had weakened our Defense Department to the point they were unable to scramble weaponry together when 9/11 hit. “That tax cuts would create enough growth to care for themselves.” If you don’t believe it, then why did you refuse to cut them back in the lame duck session of 2010 when they were about to expire and Democrats ruled Washington?

Then he went on to reopen his class warfare argument. It was a big yawn of the same old tired clap trap he’s talked about before, so that’s when the networks decided to bug out. All except MSNBC, it seems, because they are devoted to him.

In the end, if he’s not up for the job – which is what he clearly is telegraphing – time to get out of the game. If you can’t do it, Mr. Obama, please make way for someone who can.

Amusingly, David Axelrod was going to handle after the speech Twitter for him. Maybe Axelrod needs to take the stage.

The “huge hour” fizzled like Kim Kardashian’s marriage. All hype, nothing there. Best to slink over to Sarah Jessica’s and share a cosmopolitan with Anna Wintour.

Get Ready to Shell Out

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In Midtown, in the heart of our city, you can take an early morning walk and hear roosters announcing daybreak. Maybe these citizens know something, because, according to Mindy Patterson at the Americanthinker.com:

One day soon, America could wake up to a dozen eggs costing $8 or more. And unless you are involved in some aspect of farming or agriculture, you would never know that egg prices are about to skyrocket or the reason why. With food prices already increasing due to high grain and fuel costs, extraneous so-called animal welfare regulations are being imposed on U.S. food producers, large and small, by the animal rights powerhouse known as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

With HSUS’ vegan animal rights platform as the motivations behind crafting a controversial egg bill, S. 3239 was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Friday, May 25, 2012, inching U.S. egg producers closer to a mandate which would require them to phase out conventional cages for egg-laying hens and transition to a system called “enriched colony cages” by 2029, at a cost to U.S. egg producers ranging between $4 billion to $10 billion.

And while most Americans shrug their shoulders and live their lives, they are completely unaware of how this regulation will affect the cost of food and its availability in the future. The current egg shortage in the U.K. should be a jolting wake-up call for Americans, illustrating that the onerous animal welfare regulations which have phased out conventional cages there have caused egg prices to quadruple, while diminishing egg supply to a “crisis” level. This is a glimpse of what’s coming to America if HSUS’ egg bill becomes law.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/06/animal_rights_legislation_would_make_eggs_a_luxury_food.html#ixzz1wXCaeKw9

Can you imagine how many industries this would hurt? The bakeries would be devastated, the ice cream firms, restaurants, hotels, waiters, feed companies, even pharmaceuticals with things like flu shots. There would be many, pardon the pun, crack ups.

The American voter would be left with egg on his face to give these people more time in Washington.