Govt. Dependency

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Obama’s dream world

“We have come a long way over the past five and a half years.  Our challenges are nowhere near as daunting as they were when I first came into office.” – President Obama, Aug. 1, 2014

I came up out of my chair when I heard the president say that during his pre-vacation press conference on Friday, but there wasn’t a sound out of the dutiful press corps in the audience.

Really Mr. President?

Obama aug 1 2014 press conf (voanews.com)

President Obama told the press that “challenges are nowhere near as daunting” as when he came into office during his Friday press conference. (voanews.com photo)

Let’s look at the economy.  You said, “The good news is the economy clearly is getting stronger.  Things are getting better.”  And you claim “we’ve recovered faster and come farther from the recession than almost any other advanced country on Earth.”  Wrong.  We are mired in the slowest recovery ever!

What about the four per cent drop in real median household income under your watch, Mr. President?  And how about those 11 million workers who quit looking for work … the 11 million who went on food stamps … the increases in prices (food, gasoline and electricity)?  Growth is sluggish.

No, Mr. President, the economy is not looking up.  The national debt continues to climb and seniors have learned that Social Security will go broke in 2030, seven years sooner than when you took office. Continue reading →

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Pelosi’s statement backfires

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s statement, “Really, we should be afraid of this court … the five guys who start determining what contraceptives are legal,” was ruled “false” by PolitiFacts. (Win McNamee/Getty Images North America)

Regular readers of this blog and my op-eds will recall that I have often written about the bogus war on women Democrats claim Republican are waging.

A host of liberal women took to the microphones to assault the Supreme Court Justices who decided in favor of Hobby Lobby in its recent ruling.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, was so incensed she called a press conference, only to have it backfire.

If you didn’t see Megyn Kelly’s powerful response to Pelosi on the July 10, 2014 Kelly File, I invite you to click here.  Again, Pelosi is caught commenting on something without any knowledge of the facts and with no compunction to lie.

“She misspoke,” Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill acknowledged to PolitiFacts, “Obviously the impact of the court’s decision is not to make these four contraceptive methods illegal –i.e. no longer allowed to be sold,” he confessed.

PolitiFacts called Pelosi’s sweeping claim “false.”  Isn’t it convenient how someone can go before the press and make a blatant untruthful statement only to have someone else say, ‘Oops, she misspoke.’ And, of course, the correction is rarely covered by the press. Continue reading →

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Why regaining the senate is so vital

The 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court in the so-called Hobby Lobby case should serve as a wake-up call for conservatives who still haven’t understood the importance of gaining Republican control of the Senate in the mid-term elections this fall.

If you needed a clearer reminder why a Republican senate is so imperative, the vote in opposition by liberals on the Court, including Obama appointees Elena Kagan and Sonya Sotomayor, is it.  Continued Democrat control of the senate will assure the nomination of left-leaning individuals should one or more vacancies occur during the remainder of Obama’s term.

Regular readers of this blog know that I have been reminding you that we need to win six seats in November, most likely in Arkansas, Montana, Louisiana, South Dakota, North Carolina and West Virginia, where incumbent Democrats are most vulnerable.

OB-UP782_oreill_E_20120917235735(blogs.wsj.com)

Fox’s Bill Reilly captured my thoughts so powerfully that they are quoted here today. (blogs.wsj.com)

From time to time I happen to be on the same page with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly and, his June 30, 2014 Talking Points on this subject was one of those occasions.  It was refreshing because most of the media is inaccurately reporting the implications of the Court decision.  And, I noted Hillary Clinton, speaking in Aspen, also misinterpreted the decision; undoubtedly to support her “war on women” agenda.

“The Obama administration wants all corporations to fund things like the morning after pill, which many religious Americans believe is an abortion-inducing medication,” said O’Reilly, but adds, “the national media did not report that … (continuing) to say the Hobby Lobby case is about birth control per se, which it is not.”

Disturbed by the Court opinion of the four liberal justices, O’Reilly states they “apparently believe that American taxpayers should fund abortions.”  Noting the fact that religious freedom is a hallmark of the Constitution, he points to the liberal vote as contradicting the Constitution, and “that’s frightening.” Continue reading →

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Saying it’s a winner doesn’t make it so

  “I believe it’s a winner.” – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

In my March 25, 2014 posting, Kramer’s musings, I wrote about House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s press conference during which she insisted ObamaCare be referred to as the Affordable Care Act.  She went on to predict it will be a winning issue for her party in congressional elections this year.… read more

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No more ACA delays, Secretary Sebelius? Really?

                                                      “No, sir.”

That was HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ clear, concise answer given with no hesitation in response to Rep. Kevin Brady’s (R-TX) question whether the Affordable Care Act individual mandate and enrollment period would be extended beyond the stated March 31, 2014 deadline.

That was just 15 days ago when she appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee. … read more

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Kramer’s musings …

                                             Beware the advice of the opposition

“I think the Republicans are wasting their time using that (ObamaCare) as their electoral issue, and they will find that out.”  –  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

If the Democrats really believed that, do you think they would be telling us?  It reminds me of how they tell us if we agree to amnesty, Hispanics will vote Republican.

                                                … and speaking of Nancy Pelosi

Did you hear how she corrected a reporter who asked her a question about ObamaCare?  “It’s called the Affordable Care Act,” she said, and then repeated, “It’s the Affordable Care Act.”  Then she continued by saying, “That’s a case we have to make.  We’re grown ups.”  And when the reporter reminded her that even the president calls it ObamaCare, she told him, “I tell them the same thing I told you.”

Pelosi (Evan Vucci AP photo)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reminds reporter that it is the Affordable Care Act, not ObamaCare. (Evan Vucci AP photo)

As if that wasn’t clear enough in her mind, she went on as if she were a kindergarten teacher to say, “Affordable. Affordable.  There’s a reason.  Affordable.  Affordable.  Affordable.   Affordable.  Affordable.”  All this to make her point that Republicans refuse to use the official name because they know it is more affordable.  Nearly everyone knows that for the majority of people, the Affordable Care Act is not more affordable.  Premiums are up and deductibles are up.  Republicans should continue to use “ObamaCare” to hang this miserable program on its namesake. Continue reading →

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The kiss of death for job training’s future

For decades the federal government has been involved in job training and, like nearly every other government-run activity, there’s waste and inefficiency at a time when our economy cries for results.

Coburn(foxnews)

Sen. Tom Coburn (foxnews photo)

For some time now, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has been shining the spotlight on this bureaucratic mess, talking about the web of 47 separate programs across nine different agencies, each of which overlapped with another program in providing similar services to similar populations.

In his January 2014 State-of-the-Union address, some five years into his presidency, President Obama announced that he was tasking Vice President Joe Biden to do a complete review of federal job training programs.  It’s the kiss of death.  Don’t expect any results even though the president has said he will use his executive prerogative to reduce duplication and demand effectiveness.

I’ve got to hand it to Coburn.  He immediately sent a letter to Biden, offering his support.  He reminded the vice president of the $18 billion annually spent on the 47 programs.  America Forward calculates the cost of all workforce development programs is closer to $60 billion. Continue reading →

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Democrats are insulting women

“All issues are women’s issues.  We are half of this great nation,” said Carly Fiorina to enthusiastic applause and a standing ovation at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference.

Fiorina(wired.com)

Carly Fiorina (wired.com. photo)

“I accept and respect that not all women agree with me, “ she said, “what I’m not prepared to accept is that we are waging war on women, just because we know that abortion at five months is inhumane to both mother and child.”

For Democrats to say Republicans are waging a war on women just because they want to restrict access to abortion and birth control is an insult to women, Fiorina added.

This piece isn’t about Fiorina, but it’s interesting to make note of her impressive career, especially the fact that she became the first female officer of AT&T’s male-dominated Network Systems Division at 35 years of age.

While I imagine she is no longer concerned about gender disadvantages in her own future, she is surely aware that those disadvantages still persist for other women, and often speaks of the role of women from the conservative viewpoint.  In her view, “it is liberals who believe they know what is good for you.”

Democrats focus on abortion and birth control to distract from the real issues facing women where they have utterly failed – jobs, pay, the economy and, yes, health insurance. Continue reading →

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Obama’s approval rating hits new low

It’s no surprise that the majority of Americans see the president and his administration failing to improve the economy. ObamaCare and mounting regulations on business continue to paint a dismal picture for the country.

In a just released Fox News poll among 1002 registered voters conducted by a bipartisan research organization between March 2-4, fewer than four voters in ten – 38 percent – approve of President Obama’s performance. … read more