Czech President calls Climate Meeting at UN "Undignified Propaganda"

Czech President Vaclav Klaus sharply criticized a U.N. meeting on climate change on Tuesday at which Barack Obama was the star speaker. According to Reuters, Klaus described the proceedings as propagandistic and undignified.

"It was sad and it was frustrating," said Klaus, one of the world's most vocal skeptics on the topic of global warming.

"It's a propagandistic exercise where 13-year-old girls from some far-away country perform a pre-rehearsed poem," he said. "It's simply not dignified."

Klaus said there were increasing doubts in the scientific community regarding the causes of global temperature trends, but that politicians seem to be unstoppable in their quest for radical, expensive, and freedom-reducing climate change legislation.

"The train can't be stopped and I consider that a huge mistake..."

He has also authored a book on the global campaign to stop climate change entitled "Blue Planet in Green Chains: What Is Under Threat- Climate or Freedom?" In it he claims global warming has turned into a "new religion", an ideology that threatens to undermine freedom and the world's socio-economic order.

Klaus is of-course the one who famously confronted Al Gore with "I don't think there's any global warming, I don't see any statistical data for that"- at Davos, Switzerland last year.

The Czech and former EU President went on to say "I'm very sorry that some people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to competing theories- I do listen to them."

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-Reuters

-Breitbart

Another Limo Liberal Out of the Ether

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press -aside from being an authority in the sports world and accomplished author, screenwriter, playwrite, and musician- is about as left-of-center as one can be politically... or at least he was. For Mr Albom is yet another celebrity Obot who seems to have received a bit of a wake-up call upon the dawning realization that Obama's plan to spread-the-wealth does indeed include his money.

Judging by his column this week, Mitch is rethinking that November presidential vote, as yet another Pollyanna liberal realizes that Barack Obama misled the electorate as to the radical nature of his agenda... as well as to precisely who he and his Alinskyite class-warfare soldiers consider to be "rich".

All you other influential liberals and MSM "elites", you had your fun- and probably almost broke your arm patting yourself on the back when you got the Dear Leader elected by helping to convince the plebes he was some super-human-being that could help the country... rather than the arrogant, inexperienced Bolshevik thug that he actually is.

Now you are getting the taxes you deserve, as Barack Obama is going to bleed you dry. And you can forget writing off those local taxes on your overpriced eastcoast/leftcoast home mortgage... you'll be paying more on that, too. Plus here's the kicker: you'll be sending a lot of that money to people in red states... to people whom you can't stand.

New Yorkers, Californians, residents of the Northeast and the D.C. Corridor, politically fashionable media types- you elected Obama- so step-up and pay those absurd taxes without complaining. You wanted bigger government- try this on for size.

Those who live in places with more rational state tax structures will welcome you when you want to move there... well no, not really- LOL.

Not much to do now except head-out in the morning, jump in your Prius with the Hope-n-Change bumper-sticker on the back, and get to work... Barack Obama needs your money.

* Linked today at Riehl World View

Hump-Day Humor

[click to enlarge]

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http://hopenchangecartoons.blogspot.com

-Stilton Jarlsberg, MD-

Obama Below 50% in Rassmussen Poll

Back in March I did a piece Countdown to 49%, analyzing President Obama's already-slipping poll numbers.

Included was a reader's poll asking when the approval rating would fall below half- and congratulations to my readers, I'm proud to say they guessed it dead-on. July 2009 was 44% of The Reaganite Republican readers' choice, far and away the favorite pick. And I think I learned something from all of you... the next time I run a predictions-poll here... I'm running out to Vegas and putting $1000 on the result!

Besides the fact that Obama's now at the symbolic 49% point, the Rasmussen differential between those who "strongly approve" and "strongly dissapprove" of his overall job performance is also at an all time low... a negative eight. Hopefully this continuing shift in public opinion will embolden the GOP to filibuster both Cap-n-Tax and Obamacare right into the ground if either of these seriously flawed pieces of far-left legislation hobble their way on to the Senate.

And it's surely in the nations' interest that this arrogant montebank be knocked-down a peg or two... it's becoming more than obvious that Team Obama's radical agenda and ludicrous spending is not only completely out-of-control. This ideological binge comes at a time that calls for pragmatic management- and isn't what a lot of independents and moderate Democrats voted for last fall either... not by a long shot-

And that's not all from the 2008 election's most accurate pollster Rasmussen Reports... other interesting numbers out today:

Fifty-three percent (53%) now oppose the Congressional health care reformpackage. That’s up eight points over the past month. Just 20% now see healthcare as the most important of the President’s priorities. Nearly twice as many, 37%, say deficit reduction is most important.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of California voters oppose the budget agreementreached by the state’s political leaders. Sixty-four percent (64%) believe thatillegal immigrants create a major strain on the state’s budget.

Nationwide, 72% don’t want the federal government determining what type of light bulbs they should purchase.

Forty-six percent (46%) say that network television news is more reliable than the internet. Thirty-five percent (35%) disagree.

Thirty-one percent (31%) now say the U.S. is heading in the right direction. That’s down nine points from the 2009 peak. Republicans continue to enjoy a slight edge on the Generic Congressional Ballot.

A pitiful 25% believe that the economic stimulus package has helped the economy...

See recent demographic highlights from the Presidential Tracking Poll. For more measures of the President’s performance, see Obama By the Numbers.

UPDATE Sat July 25th: Obama slips in Rasmussen Poll differential to -9%... a new all-time low for this administration. Looks like a lot of people sympathized with Officer Crowley...

Stop Socialism Now!

I ask you, what red-blooded American wouldn't like a blog with a name like that?

Stop Socialism Now is one of my regular reads, and sources some great conservative news, humor, and videos/artwork. Here's some recent gems.. keep up the good work Jim!

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http://stopsocialism.wordpress.com

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Obama's Poll Numbers REALLY in the Toilet Now

Rasmussen'S differential has plunged to negative eight- and all-time low that breaks yesterday's record of a negative five.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 30% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –8. The President’s Approval Index rating has fallen six points since release of a disappointing jobs report last week.Thirty-four percent (34%) of voters nationwide say the U.S. is heading in the right direction, the lowest level of optimism since mid-March. The Rasmussen Indexshows consumer and investor confidence are down again today reaching the lowest level in three months. The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor fell for the first time in three months. A Rasmussen video report notes that 46% want the government to stay out of the housing market.


Oh Dear, Dear Leader...

Clintons Plotting Their Comeback on Obamamania's Ashes?

While many Obama supporters where still delirious in the fresh afterglow of Barack Obama's "historic" election victory, a strange thing happened last December- he appointed his critical, often hostile, and recently defeated primary opponent Hillary Clinton to the head the State Department.

Was it based upon her qualifications?

What qualifications?- Clinton had no foreign policy experience to speak of. Other presidents lacking diplomantic exposure have brought someone who has such a background to the State Department--- but he didn't feel the need, for some reason. Perhaps the most unsettling concern is that Hillary's judgement is warped by her blinding ambition to gain power and control- causing her to be manipulative in her dealings with others.

So maybe it was their friendship? Deep interpersonal respect? LOL, not exactly...

In addition to other puzzling cabinet choices that starkly contrasted Obama's Hope-n-Change theme -old-guard party aparatchiks like Joe Biden and other primary challengers like Bill Richardson- the only explanation would be fulfilling political deals that got him elected... as well as the calculated co-opting of Democratic rivals that could pose a challenge in 2012 when The One's numbers are in the toilet. When you're talking about a guy like Obama who had all three other Democratic Party challengers thrown off the ballot in his very first Illinois State Senate race... a man who displays a history of shocking and ruthless political opportunism... the deduction seems obvious.

The appointment of Hillary to State was likely a political bargain struck at the convention- Obama wasn't about to let qualifications or ethical considerations get in the way of such a win-win deal. And Barack takes care of Barack- so given the opportunity, it was a priority to control and contain Hillary, Richardson... even Biden. And if he hadn't suffered a most inopportune bimbo-eruption, elaborately-coiffed leftist Ken-doll John Edwards would have been appointed to a substantial position in the Obama Administration too... he was certainly angling for it.

But the Clintons were -and still are- the #1 potential Democratic threat to an Obama-world future. Obama knows his radical domestic transformation foisted upon an economically shellshocked American public in a desperate "do something" mood all but ensures that his popularity won't remain stable for long... particularly when the print-money spending creates 1970's style stagflation with continued unemployment. Obama's plan is to ram his entire liberal domestic program down our throats as quickly and quietly as possible- while putting a lid on other potential power centers like the Clinton machine and keeping the GOP back on their heels with the help of his MSM allies.

However, the Voice in my Head blog reports that in the wake of the mild rift between Biden/Hillary and Obama re. support of Iran's demonstrators, it now appears as though Hillary and perhaps some of the old guard are hedging their bets... so as to stake a claim on told ya so credits when Obama goes into his inevitable political tailspin:

Last week, the New York Times dropped this tibit about the Obama administration's response to the protests in Iran:

Even while supporting the president’s approach, senior members of the administration, including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, would like to strike a stronger tone in support of the protesters, administration officials said.

To that point, criticism of President Obama was mostly confined to Republicans and conservative leaning blogs. And while that story raised more than a few eyebrows, it was quickly dismissed by the White House.

However, since that time President Obama has begun to move away from his early hesitation in speaking out against the thuggish regime and for the protesters as reportedly advocated by both Biden and Clinton.

But even with this new approach, new evidence has emerged that Biden and Clinton may have themselves moved further toward the view that Obama is simply not up to the task.

So with Obama's poll numbers now slipping - the negatives are dragging him down- the Clintons' timing here in bringing-in such a loyal Clintonite Rottweiler like Sidney Blumenthal (who coined the phrase "vast, right-wing conspiracy") as consultant to Hillary is... let's just say they know what they're doing (as noted by Dan Riehl). And a betting man would keep an eye on them, for Clinton will be pro-actively planning her future with or without Obama- she's a canary in the coal mine that indicates top-level Democrats'/Clintonites' confidence in his leadership.

It shouldn't surprise anyone then if Hillary Clinton were to do a Bobby Kennedy, should it? RFK was Johnson's Attorney General -inherited from JFK- and when President Johnson's popularity started to slip, Kennedy turned on him and ran for President against him in the 1968 primaries. Anyone telling you today that the Democrats wouldn't run a serious primary challenge against Obama in 2012 -which I have heard and read often- plainly doesn't know what they are talking about.

Some time in the next 2 years, Clinton would simply resign as Secretary of State -saying that she can no longer support Obama, of course- and then run for President in 2012, perhaps presenting herself as the best (moderate) hope against Sarah Palin's appeal as a potential first female president.

You can never really count the Clintons out... and they've almost certainly schemed and brewed up a post-Obama "plan B" as The One employs politically high-risk policies at home and abroad... why wouldn't they? There's no real loyalty there, everybody knows that.

And although they are careful to say the right things these days, the pramatic, insatiably power-hungry Clintons must have all the bases covered, and are surely watching his ill-advised programs unfold like a gift from heaven as they wait for the exact right moment to expoit his mistakes. It would be hard to imagine Bill-n-Hill not holding a grudge too, desirous of revenge after the denial of a presidency they thought they owned, and of course all the things that were said by both sides in the primaries.

Hillary ain't going down with the USS Obamanation, bet on it- serving Chairman O to the bitter end is not the way the Clintons plan to end their legacy. And as for other Democrats who were caught surprised by the meteoric rise of Obama, then just went with the flow-- there's a lot of shallow support out there that could evaporate as quickly as it appeared. The arrogant serial-opportunist Obama seems destined to offend much of the party's old guard, as well as anyone else that he used to get elected... but now no longer finds useful.

The way he's burning through the unprecedented goodwill he's enjoyed is beyond me- a compulsive narcissistic personality disorder, coupled to a megalomaniac's warped sense of self-awareness has become the only apparent explanation. That, and he's incredibly spoiled after having the rails lubricated by a crooked Chicago Machine and adoring DNC for years... Obama simply doesn't seem to realize how quickly it can all disappear- he obviously believes his own mythical narrative... ala Elvis.

But Barack Obama's personality flaws and misguided decision-making are the kinds of things that political opponents tend to take notice -and full advantage- of.

You can be sure that the Clintons have- and are planning accordingly.

America, Enjoy Your New Edsel

Americans that voted to bring us "Hope" and "Change" last November have now received the first shiny, new product from Obama-Pelosi-Reid & company... the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a so-called "economic stimulus" package consisting of approximately $800B in  profligate spending.  This amount represents a full 6% of US GDP, and is due to rise to well over $1.2 trillion with interest expense... because we're borrowing every cent of it.

It was rushed through  the House, bypassing most standard procedural steps, and with all previous promises of public disclosure abandonded.  A Rasmussen poll last week showed only 37% public support for the legislation in it's final form.  Not one House Republican supported it, and even a dozen Democrats chose not to have their fate chained to this lemon.  The Senate then passed their version of the package with a shameful display of expediency by three GOP Benedict Arnolds- Senators Snow, Collins, and Specter.  The final version was thus signed into law by Obama on Tuesday.

There are no effective economic multipliers for most of this untargeted spending... meaning little leveraged financial growth can be expected.  The Wall Street Journal stated that only 12% of this spendthrift binge could even remotely be considered an economic stimulus. And while Obama promoted it as necessary to address an urgent financial crisis, much of it will take years to work, if ever.  This bill is plainly an opportunistic move by Obama to cash-in on our economic concerns, as well as his own political capital... to trigger an huge increase in the size and scope of government in this country.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste" said Rahm Emanuel in an unguarded moment- and "We're going to spread the wealth around" said Barack in Ohio last fall.   Indeed-

Besides the lack of proven, effective stimulative spending in the legislation, when it comes to the kind of morale-boosting leadership that could help show us the way out of  this crisis, Obama has already made it obvious that he's no Vince Lombardi.  For a guy who was basking in the triumph of "Hope Over Fear" just three weeks ago, his recent calculated and specious fear-mongering is irresponsible, unhelpful, and appalling.  The president employed this technique in scaring legislators and the public into supporting his spending package, proposing vast liberal programs in the name of "saving us all", and heaping as much blame as possible on  the Bush Administration... while simultaneously dampening expectations for his own results.

With Obama giving us doomsday forecasts on a daily basis, what little hope any of us had for the economy has been extinguished.  His analogies to The Great Depression are not only meant to deceive, they're also inherently reckless. Political brinkmanship consisting of incessant warnings about a pending economic implosion aren't likely to raise consumer or investor expectations any time soon.  This ill-advised tactic has almost certainly hurt consumer confidence, delaying any turnaround in spending habits.  And instead of the MSM calling Obama on his inaccuracies and/or ulterior motives, they continue to kiss his posterior.

Thus, due to the resulting lack of confidence in our near-term economic prospects, Americans will simply sit on any cash that comes their way from this spending program, either saving or paying off debt... regardless of the amount of money thrown at the problem. Note the almost total lack  of economic impact from the Bush "stimulus" passed last year.... while the personal savings rate in the last quarter of 2008 was the highest in six years.

One of the keys to Reagan's economic recovery in the 1980's -when he created 20M jobs and grew the Real GDP by more than 30%- was the sunny optimism he brought to the country with his confident leadership and upbeat, reassuring belief in America.  A most vital factor in our overall economic mood is what the president is saying- so if he badmouths the economy, it tanks.  And if he is bullish and confident, the markets listen... and are more willing to invest in the future.  While Obama is riding a high-tide of support, a little optimism might have done us all a great service... especially in an economic crisis that's rooted in lack of confidence and stability.

Instead, Obama's remarks accentuated the negative, and for political purposes.  Everytime dissappointing data was released, to Team Obama it was a sign of impending doom.  According to their disingenuous narrative, this economy is the worst since The Great Depression.  And without Obama's massive spending bill, we may fall into an abyss from which we will "never recover".  This alarmist propaganda may have been useful to Obama politically, but it's inaccurate historically... and betrays very poor leadership qualities.

Back in reality, our current economic challenges don't even come close to those of the 1930's. Even a comparison to the 1981-82 recession is inappropriate at this point.   Ronald Reagan was handed by the incompetent Carter Administration almost 11% unemployment, plus double-digit inflation and interest rates.  The most recent statistics put the US jobless rate at 7.6%... with low inflation and interest rates approximating zero.  And in The Great Depression, jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-2009... hitting a peak unemployment figure of 25.2% in 1932.

Auto production in 2008 was dismal, to be sure... declining by 25%.  But how does that justify Obama's comparisons to 1932, when US production collapsed by 90%?  The failure of a couple dozen banks last year isn't anywhere near the 10,000+ failures of 1933... but you'd never know it from listening to President Obama, out there spreading gloom-and-doom daily to force the passage of his misguided socialist spending spree.  Anyone who expected him to act in the best interests of the country -rather than for his own political security and leftist agenda- must not have paid much attention to how he got this far in the first place.

In bad times, banks also hang-on to their money for fear of making bad loans, no matter how many bailouts come their way.  With consumers also paying-down debt and saving money, the country will be awash with dollars once the economy gets back on it's feet, stoking vicious inflation sure to bring another recession... as the Fed will have no choice but to hike interest rates dramatically to check it.  So Obama's "stimulus" package isn't likely to stimulate much except inflation, and that only once the economy is already improving in the course of the natural economic cycle.

The Democrats have initiated this monstrous spending they know the country cannot afford-  so eye-watering  taxation will surely be on the way... once the trillion-dollar deficits roll-in, inflation is stoked to double-digits, and the dollar is in the toilet.  Thus, forced-upon America will be the liberals' dream of sticking-it to "the rich", deploying a redistributionist agenda through the back door.  This legislation is clearly nothing but a socialist Trojan Horse-  while presented as a bill to help the economy, it's really just a Democratic Party wish-list of liberal social programs, with an extra-helping of pork for all at the table.  Never mind that the millions of Americans making over $150K/yr. that will be soaked to pay for Obama's Marxist-professor-mentors' dreams (plus interest) are largely the job-creating entrepreneurs and small business owners that Reagan famously said are "responsible for almost all the economic growth" in this country.

This legislation will do far more damage than good- and it will hurt recovery by crowding-out private borrowers and consumers as government borrows massive sums to cover the deficit.  It will effect a permanent expansion of government, while forcing the country to  employ massive tax hikes that no sane candidate would ever admit to planning.

Then there's the socialism-by-stealth scheme that was snuck into the bill, to avoid public outrage... if anyone was still wondering why it was not debated in committee, why legislators only had a day to read it prior to the vote, or why it was not published first online....as Obama had promised repeatedly.

  

In an under-the-radar move towards nationalized health care, the "stimulus" package includes $19B to modernize health-care information systems, leading to computerization of all medical records by 2014.  While that's a worthwhile endeavor, and will create quite a few jobs eventually, this centralization of records appears to be laying the groundwork for the establishment of socialized medicine in this country.  The bill also includes another $1.1B for "comparative effectiveness research"- basically studying which treatments work better than others.  This looks disturbingly like a first-step towards prioritizing and rationing treatments in a future one-payer system.  None of these provisions were subject to  any kind of congressional consideration... no committee mark up, no debate on the floor... and of course no public acknowledgement whatsoever.  Both were just buried into the bill, like an earmark.

For all the talk of Obama's first legislative "victory", it showed him lacking the political stature to control Pelosi and Reid... who hit the trough hard, while bickering like siblings.  And the paucity of GOP co-conspirators exposed the president politically... this legislation now looks to be a huge gamble. When all this pork and welfare fails to generate real economic gains, the Democrats could face a bloodbath in 2010.  This is likely to be his first and last chance to get the economy back on-track before the mid-term elections.  Team Obama has bet the farm that this legislation will bear fruit, and quickly-  while historical precedent suggests there's little chance that it will.

"Now, look, I won't lie to you," Obama told a crowd in Florida last week. "If it turns-out that a few years from now people don't feel like the economy's turned-around, that we're still having problems, that folks are still unemployed, that our health-care system's not more efficient, then, you know,  you guys won't applaud me the next time I come down here."  And Obama never avoided calling the "stimulus" package "my bill" while promoting it around the country.  With almost no GOP support for the measure, there is little political cover for Obama if it doesn't work.

The Democrats now seem nervous as their fiscal Frankenstein comes to life... moving in-haste to dampen expectations, while they cover their backsides. Note how the White House initially said the bill would create 3M jobs... then it was 3.5M... as the debate went on, and public  support sagged, it was bumped to 4M jobs.  Now that the legislation has passed, it's already dailed-back to 3.5M new and "saved" jobs (whatever those are)... and "patience" was urged before Obama had even signed it.

Barack's shmoozing of the GOP was supposed to bring "bipartisan" support on the Democrats' terms... but with the strict party-line voting, that part didn't go-to-plan.  Unfortunately for Obama, he now owns this clunker. This legislation likely presages the death-knell of the mindless Obamamania phenomenon... and it won't take us much more than a year or so to find out.