Too Bad He's Not President Now

Sen. Obama: Irresponsible To Vote On New Regs Without Public | The Daily Caller: "In a Monday letter from House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to Wheeler lamenting his decline to appear before the committee and testify on any influence the White House may have had over the rules, Chaffetz pointed out that during his tenure in Congress, the president himself criticized the agency’s process of adopting new regulations prior to their public disclosure.

“At a September 2007 public hearing in Chicago, Senator Obama submitted a statement that he ‘strongly requested’ the FCC ‘put out any changes that they intend to vote on in a new notice of proposed rulemaking,’” Chaffetz wrote.

A month after his September 2007 statement, Sen. Obama submitted a letter to then-FCC Chairman Kevin Martin arguing that the “proposed timeline and process” used by the agency to adopt rules are “irresponsible,” noting that while a specific proposal “may pass the muster of a federal court, Congress and the public have the right to review any specific proposal and decide whether or not it constitutes sound policy.”"

H/T Glenn -- including the title.

Read More......

COTD: That Stupid Eisenhower

(Saving...) I am Under “Investigation” | The Climate Fix: "From president Eisenhower’s farewell address….

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in the newer elements of our defenses; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research – these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel."

He continues:

But each proposal must be weighed in light of a broader consideration; the need to maintain balance in and among national programs – balance between the private and the public economy, balance between the cost and hoped for advantages – balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between the actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their Government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well in the face of threat and stress.

But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise.

Of these, I mention two only.

(The first is the well known Military Industrial Complex) The second….

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

The comment finishes:

This day has come to pass, where scientific integrity has been sacrificed on the alter of political expediency. Science has become corrupted and is now being held hostage by federal money. This destructive spiral will continue as the leading proponents have become corrupted in the same manner that police officers are corrupted by what is termed as the “Noble Cause Corruption”.

Science and respect for science will be destroyed by this trend until scientists speak out and stand firm against such policies.

Oof.  You might want to read about what this looked like in the old USSR before Wikipedia finally sends it down the memory hole -- because we are about to relive it...

Read More......

All Petered Out

Instapundit » Blog Archive » OUCH: The Defenders of the Faith Apologize for America. “Barack Obama and his minions have set the…: "OUCH: The Defenders of the Faith Apologize for America. “Barack Obama and his minions have set themselves up as official interpreters and defenders of the Muslim faith. . . . This is simply insane. Does the Obama administration think that pleading guilty–falsely–to discriminating against Muslims is somehow going to pacify ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah and the rest? And what, exactly, is the ‘plight’ of American Muslims? How does it compare with the plight of Muslims who live in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Libya and elsewhere in the Islamic world? Not to mention the plight of Christians and Jews who live in those places, to the extent there are any left.”

The Obama Administration’s communications strategy seems to involve living up to the worst fears of its critics.

Related: State Dept.’s Jen Psaki To Become White House Communications Director. This isn’t even the Peter Principle, as she was beyond her level of competence in her previous job."

This one is for my dear departed friend Pete...

Read More......

The Con Man Lyeth

Ace of Spades HQ: "This is what Obama's former chief strategist David Axelrod meant when he wrote about the president's desire to have so-called "Bulworth moments" after being reelected in his new book. Translated into political terms, it means pushing his party to be more outspoken on sensitive issues, even when they may not be comfortable doing so. Challenging Israel was one of the president's top second term priorities, according to Axelrod. The worsening relationship between this administration and Israel was as much the president's preconceived plan as the result of a protocol breach.

This nugget was actually disclosed by Axelrod in his new book, as reported by Jake Tapper.

So that's where we are. We have an Oval Office occupied by a cheap hustler and con man who's now eager to tell us how he lied to us all."

Read More......

Leathernecks

neo-neocon » Blog Archive » Leathernecks: "A while back, while watching The Kelly File on Fox, I heard Glenn Beck make a remark about the origin of the term “Leathernecks” to refer to the Marines. I decided to investigate to see if he was correct, and sure enough, it appears he was. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose [emphasis mine]:

The term “leatherneck” was derived from a leather stock once worn around the neck by both American and British marines. Beginning in 1798, “one stock of black leather and clasp” was issued to each marine annually. Its use as a synecdoche for Marines began as a term of ridicule by sailors…. The origin of the leather neck collar has to do with early 19th Century military fashion trends in Europe and North America. Its use among enlisted men supposedly improved their military bearing and appearance by forcing the chin high and to serve as protection for one’s neck from sword blows by Muslim pirates. The stock was dropped as an article of marine uniform in 1872, after surviving through the uniform changes of 1833, 1839, and 1859.

Maybe it’s time to bring them back."

Read More......

Obama: Welcome Them Harder

Ace of Spades HQ: "Note that when the President urges "political solutions" to the problem of IS, he means specifically that the people being slaughtered and sold into rape slavery by IS aren't doing a good enough job welcoming IS in the "peace process" or offering enough power-sharing with these psychopathic rapists. Also note that, consistent with the President's worldview, which is radical, leftwing, and sympathetic to third-world revolutionary and terrorist movements, no people but third-worlders and non-Christians can have the exalted title of "Victim," so once again the victims of Islamist terrorism are not identified by the faith that got them murdered."

Read More......

What ISIS Wants

Scarborough Panel: ISIS Is Very Muslim | Truth Revolt: "e President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry insist that terrorist groups such as ISIS have nothing to do with Islam, Graeme Wood of The Atlantic investigated the group and its philosophy and found that, indeed, the groups is deeply connected to the faith. It may be a 7th century fundamentalist version of Islam, he concluded, but Islam is at the terrorist group's center."

Du'oh. The article is here. RTWT.

Read More......

No Kidding

Bad news: Notorious narcissist now has a “selfie stick” « Hot Air: "Giving this guy his own selfie stick is like giving Charlie Sheen his own meth lab."

Read More......

The Shock This Time...

Instapundit: "ED MORRISSEY: The Spectacular, Too-Big Failure Of Dodd-Frank. “One of the factors driving that consolidation was ‘economies of scale,’ the GAO found in an earlier study. The FDIC noted that was a particularly strong factor for banks that did more than $100 million a year in lending. Dodd-Frank actually made this worse, thanks to the massive amount of new regulation and its attendant compliance costs. The impact fell hardest on community banks, which made them less competitive and more likely to be consolidated.” Funny how whenever they roll out something that’s supposed to help the little guy, it winds up giving more money and power to Wall Street and the big banks.

Posted at 10:21 am by Glenn Reynolds "

And this one has the COTD:

Mkelley1000

Massive bills like Obamacare and Dodd-Frank are very lucrative for the Congressional staff that help the lobbyists write them. What they do to the economy or taxpayers is of no concern to these people. This Max Baucus staffer made a killing in the pharmaceutical industry and was a big player in the Obamacare train wreck:

--When the legislation that became known as "Obamacare" was first drafted, the key legislator was the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, whose committee took the lead in drafting the legislation. As Baucus himself repeatedly boasted, the architect of that legislation was Elizabeth Fowler, his chief health policy counsel; indeed, as Marcy Wheeler discovered, it was Fowler who actually drafted it. As Politico put it at the time: "If you drew an organizational chart of major players in the Senate health care negotiations, Fowler would be the chief operating officer."

What was most amazing about all of that was that, before joining Baucus' office as the point person for the health care bill, Fowler was the Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs (i.e. informal lobbying) at WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurance provider (before going to WellPoint, as well as after, Fowler had worked as Baucus' top health care aide). And when that health care bill was drafted, the person whom Fowler replaced as chief health counsel in Baucus' office, Michelle Easton, was lobbying for WellPoint as a principal at Tarplin, Downs, and Young.
--
Now, as Politico's "Influence" column briefly noted on Tuesday, Fowler is once again passing through the deeply corrupting revolving door as she leaves the Obama administration to return to the loving and lucrative arms of the private health care industry:

"Elizabeth Fowler is leaving the White House for a senior-level position leading 'global health policy' at Johnson & Johnson's government affairs and policy group."

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/05/obamacare-fowler-lobbyist-industry1

50 minutes ago Like (0) Link To Comment

Read More......

Whoops

The difference between the Muslim conquests and the Crusades, in a single picture: "You and I know that, had Obama seen this picture before the Prayer Breakfast, he wouldn’t have changed his speech by a single syllable. Facts are irrelevant. They must always bow before dogma. But to those of us who like facts, this picture is amazing:"

Read More......

Iowahawk Again

David Burge on Twitter: "I used to quietly laugh at my grandma for believing pro wrestling. Now I quietly laugh at my mom for believing the network news.": "I used to quietly laugh at my grandma for believing pro wrestling. Now I quietly laugh at my mom for believing the network news."

Read More......

COTD: Pissing Soma

All Job Growth Since 2007 Has Gone to Foreign-Born Workers | Power Line: Kermit Hoffpauir · Top Commenter 

Bay Ltd, had to import 4,000 welders and other crafts from India and the Philippines to Butte, MT for a multi-year contract worth about $1 billion per year to fabricate modules for Canada's oil boom. The reason being they couldn't find enough qualified welders who could pass a piss test. Not even paying $110 to $180 per hour with guaranteed weekly overtime. 20 years ago they would have had to turn people away because the wanted to work and yes there was drug testing 20 years ago. It's a safety issue.

The ghettos are today's plantations. And the Dems remain the slave masters.

Drugs are the new chains.

And the slave masters are expanding state-wide in Colorado, Washington and soon to a state near you...

Don't get me wrong.  If I hadn't read Brave New World I'd be for it.

Read More......

It's Ba(r)aaaack

Measles, Virus and Disease – President Obama’s Infectious Legacy…. | The Last Refuge: "[…]  In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control had thought that measles were eliminated in the US, but starting in 2008, cases began to climb. In 2014, the number of cases exploded to over 600, more than all reported cases between 2009 and 2013. The CDC also reported that cases reached a 20-year high in 2014. The CDC determined that the number of cases grew in the US due to an influx of foreign immigrants."

Read More......

Cultural Imperialism

Instapundit » Blog Archive » RICHARD FERNANDEZ ON JORDAN’S KILL-EM-ALL APPROACH TO ISIS: There are no more knockouts in intern…: "I think concerns about human rights and international law are cultural imperialism. ISIS’s behavior, and the Jordanian response, reflect the culture of the Arab world. It would be as insensitive of us to impose a western culture of lawyers and human rights on the region — or even to employ one there ourselves — as it would be to serve bacon at a mosque. Because no culture is any better than any other, and who are we to say that killing everyone in an enemy held city and building a pyramid of skulls outside is wrong — for them, or for that matter, for us?"

Oof.

Read More......