I will return thursday.

Well, it looks like we have an answer now to the question raised in that Monday Ticket item here: Obama White House probe of Obama White House finds no Obama White House impropriety on Sestak.

This Joe Sestak/Obama White House job mess does have legs. The public and the media are not buying the White House’s self-cleansing, self-serving explanation that everything was appropriate, just move along.

The issue of what Democrat Sestak was offered by an Obama aide to drop out of his ultimately successful Pennsylvania Senate primary challenge of what’s-his-name-the-old-former-Democrat-ex-Republican-now-Democrat Specter may well come up this morning at President Obama’s first White House news conference in months. It’s a lesson that White House after White House fails to learn, incomplete answers only raise more questions. If it smells like a fish, good chance it’s a fish.

One-time White House insider Karl Rove has been outside Washington most of recent months, promoting his new best-seller,”Courage and Consequence.” But Wednesday he chatted with our buddy Scott Hennen, the upper Midwest’s top political talk-show host.
Pennsylvania Democrat Representative Joe Sestak n ow candidate for the US Senate

We’ve got a good piece of video down below for you to ponder. But let’s just quote some of the characteristically blunt, clear insight that’s made Rove so successful in politics, on the Fox News Channel and so hated/feared by opponents.

Here’s Rove on Sestak:

One of two things is true, you can’t have two things true. One or the other is true. Either Joe Sestak is lying and he was not offered a position in the administration in return for getting out of the primary.

You know he’s a liar, in which case not worthy of public service.

Or, he’s telling the truth, in which case somebody inside the White House committed a felony. 18usc211 says that, a government official cannot promise a job in return for anything of value and it has a long list of values.

(more…)

from Flopping Aces

The dollar’s recent strength has been explained by most market analysts as a result of the euro weakness rather than any fundamental support for the greenback. In fact, a closer look at the dollar’s chart – particularly the dollar index – suggests the currency may be primed for a collapse.

~~~

This type of trend line curve was first identified in the 1930’s and it was mistakenly called a parabolic curve. We continue to use the name, even though it is not an accurate description. In the 1930’s this was a rare behavior. In the last decade this curve has become increasingly common as volatility has increased in modern markets.

US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus

The M3 figures – which include broad range of bank accounts and are tracked by British and European monetarists for warning signals about the direction of the US economy a year or so in advance – began shrinking last summer. The pace has since quickened.

The stock of money fell from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the three months to April, amounting to an annual rate of contraction of 9.6pc. The assets of institutional money market funds fell at a 37pc rate, the sharpest drop ever.

“It’s frightening,” said Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research. “The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression. The dominant reason for this is that regulators across the world are pressing banks to raise capital asset ratios and to shrink their risk assets. This is why the US is not recovering properly,” he said.

also:

From Powerline

Rich Enough To Be Stupid

There is a scene in The Friends of Eddie Coyle where an FBI agent says to Coyle, “It’s a hard life, but it’s harder if you’re stupid.” No doubt that is a central lesson of human history, but Mark Steyn argues in what may be his greatest column ever–certainly one of his most important–that there was a brief postwar moment in which Western societies were rich enough to be dumb. Now, however, We’re too broke to be this stupid. You really must read it all; this is almost a random excerpt:

[W]here does the government get the money to fund all these immensely useful programs? According to a Fox News poll earlier this year, 65 per cent of Americans understand that the government gets its money from taxpayers, but 24 per cent think the government has “plenty of its own money without using taxpayer dollars.” You can hardly blame them for getting that impression in an age in which there is almost nothing the state won’t pay for. I confess I warmed to that much-mocked mayor in Doncaster, England, who announced a year or two back that he wanted to stop funding for the Gay Pride parade on the grounds that, if they’re so damn proud of it, why can’t they pay for it? He was actually making a rather profound point, but, as I recall, he was soon forced to back down.

Quite a few years ago, I subscribed to the New Yorker. That was before I became a conservative and before the magazine became so insistently left-wing that I couldn’t stand it anymore. But I still recall a cartoon in which a man has answered his doorbell and the person on his front step says, “I’m from the government. I’m sorry to say that we’ve wasted all of your tax money. Can we have some more?” It may be that, at long last, the answer to that question could be No. Hard times and impending bankruptcy, in other words, may accomplish what philosophical argument never could.

also:

Why Would Anyone Have Expected Competence?

Peggy Noonan’s column in the Wall Street Journal, “He Was Supposed to be Competent,” has gotten quite a bit of attention. Noonan renders a harsh verdict on President Obama:

I don’t see how the president’s position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president’s political judgment and instincts. …

[Hurricane] Katrina did at least two big things politically. The first was draw together everything people didn’t like about the Bush administration…. The second was illustrate that even though the federal government in our time has continually taken on new missions and responsibilities, the more it took on, the less it seemed capable of performing even its most essential jobs. Conservatives got this point–they know it without being told–but liberals and progressives did not. They thought Katrina was the result only of George W. Bush’s incompetence and conservatives’ failure to “believe in government.” But Mr. Obama was supposed to be competent.

What is curious is that quite a few people did think that Obama would be an especially competent president. Why? What evidence was there that Obama would be a skillful administrator? Before becoming president, he had never in his life run anything more substantial than a Senate staff. His executive experience was closer to zero than that of any president in memory.
(more…)

From Michelle Malkin

By Michelle Malkin

Last night, a community board in Manhattan approved a mosque/sharia-compliant “party space” at Ground Zero, two blocks from where the 9/11 hijackers mass-murdered thousands and brought down the World Trade Center.

Enraged 9/11 families protested the move and spoke truth to power:

After four hours of public debate, members of Community Board 1 finally voted 29-1 in support of the project. Nine members abstained, arguing that they wanted to table the issue and vote at a later date.

The board has no official say over whether the estimated $100 million mosque and community center gets built. But the panel’s support, or lack of it, is considered important in influencing public opinion.

Holding up photos of loved ones killed in the Twin Towers and carrying signs such as, “Honor 3,000, 9/11 — No mosque!” opponents of the proposed Cordoba House on Park Place called the plan an insult to the terror-attack victims.

“That is a burial ground,” said retired FDNY Deputy Chief Al Santora, referring to the fact that victims’ remains were scattered for blocks.

Santora’s 23-year-old son, Christopher, was the youngest firefighter to die that day.

“I do have a problem with having a mosque on top of the site where [terrorists] can gloat about what they did,” said Santora, with his wife, Maureen, by his side.

About 150 people attended the emotional Greenwich Street meeting, were some shouted down others as they took their turns.

More background from Allahpundit.

The indefatigable Debra Burlingame exposed the man behind the mosque complex, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who deceptively calls his development a “fun house.” Read here and watch this:

Debra met with the Soho Properties partners, Sharif and Sammy El-Gamal, owners of the corporation that bought the property with $4.85 million in cash. They refused to disclose their investors “on the advice of our attorneys.” According to Debra: “They showed us a professional rendering of the plans. It’s not a 13-story building. It’s a 15-story building and the mosque, accommodating 2,000 congregants, will be on the TOP FLOOR, with a commanding view of the entire Ground Zero site. On the ground floor, clearly printed, were these words: “Elevator to mosque.”
(more…)

By Regina Sztajer

Yesterday morning living on the top floor of a four story building became rather threatening. I never realized living in Timonium was like living in a war zone. Around 10:30 a.m., a helicopter began flying a steady path around my rooftop. It kept a circular path dropping down pretty low. Low enough for me to see it was similar to a brown military type aircraft. It was rather large and a door was wide open with a man sitting with his legs hanging out. It probably was a State Police helicopter.They were carrying out some type of surveillance. This went on for about a half an hour and I turned on the television to see If their was some type of alert.
Jim Smith, our county executive, would have spit bullets if this happened to him. The lower the copter flew I really believed he could accidentally clip the roof. So I called 911 and told them the story! It was ho hum to them and they put me through to the Cockeysville Police Station and the officer answering the phone treated me like, WOMEN, those impossible creatures. Excuse me mister self important police officer, I am a military historian and know what helicopters are used for.
When I said the copter was flying in circles over my building he said, “flying is what helicopters do.” It seems someone with a traffic violation was being chased by the police and he bailed out of his car so the Keystone Kops were chasing him. These guys should take a few lessons from the California Police because they know how to chase someone down.
(more…)

From Powerline

President Obama gave his first press conference in a long time today, and the questions were almost all about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Obama’s answers were disingenuous in several ways.

First, he couldn’t resist the temptation to blame the Bush administration for the spill. Is this getting a little old, or what? Obama said:

[I]n this instance, the oil industry’s cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship with government regulators meant little or no regulation at all.

When Secretary Salazar took office, he found a Minerals and Management Service that had been plagued by corruption for years. This was the agency charged with not only providing permits but also enforcing laws governing oil drilling. And the corruption was underscored by a recent inspector general’s report that covered activity which occurred prior to 2007, a report that can only be described as appalling.

And Secretary Salazar immediately took steps to clean up that corruption. But this oil spill has made clear that more reforms are needed.

For years there’s been a scandalously close relationship between oil companies and the agency that regulates them.

But the relationship between regulators and the industry they regulate is always “cozy.” This is true for at least two reasons. First, businessmen know far more about their businesses than regulators do. Regulators routinely defer to the superior knowledge and expertise of the regulated. Second, most regulators are young people who are planning a career in the regulated industry. A typical career path will begin with law school graduation, followed by a stint in a federal agency, followed by a highly-paid job with one of the formerly-regulated companies, representing that company before the same agency for which the regulator formerly worked. The regulator’s prime employment qualification is his or her personal relationship with those who are still at the agency–many of whom, in due course, will follow the well-trodden path into private industry.

This is not exactly a secret. The pattern holds at least as much in Democratic as in Republican administrations. For Barack Obama to pretend to be unaware of the symbiotic relationship between the regulators and the regulated is risible, and he has done nothing whatever to change the “cozy” relationship between regulators and regulated in the energy industry or any other.

Obama’s principal revisionism lay in his account of how his administration responded to the Deepwater Horizon explosion. To hear him tell it, the administration anticipated the worst from the beginning and reacted accordingly:

The day that the rig collapsed and fell to the bottom of the ocean, I had my team in the Oval Office that first day. Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don’t know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred. …

Q. On April 21st, Admiral Allen tells us, the government started dispatching equipment rapidly to the gulf. And you just said, on day one you recognized the enormity of the situation. Yet, here we are 39, 40 days later, you’re still having to rush more equipment, more boom, there are still areas of the coast unprotected.

Why is it taking so long? And did you really act from day one for a worst case scenario?

OBAMA: We did.

This is pure revisionist history. A month ago, the administration’s spokesmen explained that their response was graduated as understanding of the magnitude of the spill increased over time. We told the story here and here. To sum up, we can’t do better than to quote the New York Times:

The federal government also had opportunities to move more quickly, but did not do so while it waited for a resolution to the spreading spill from BP….

The Department of Homeland Security waited until Thursday to declare that the incident was “a spill of national significance,” and then set up a second command center in Mobile. The actions came only after the estimate of the size of the spill was increased fivefold to 5,000 barrels a day.

The delay meant that the Homeland Security Department waited until late this week to formally request a more robust response from the Department of Defense, with Ms. Napolitano acknowledging even as late as Thursday afternoon that she did not know if the Defense Department even had equipment that might be helpful.

By Friday afternoon, she said, the Defense Department had agreed to send two large military transport planes to spray chemicals that can disperse the oil while it is still in the Gulf.

Officials initially seemed to underestimate the threat of a leak, just as BP did last year when it told the government such an event was highly unlikely. Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry, the chief Coast Guard official in charge of the response, said on April 22, after the rig sank, that the oil that was on the surface appeared to be merely residual oil from the fire, though she said it was unclear what was going on underwater. The day after, officials said that it appeared the well’s blowout preventer had kicked in and that there did not seem to be any oil leaking from the well, though they cautioned it was not a guarantee.

The truth is that the federal government’s response to the spill was slow and flat-footed. Perhaps Obama’s worst misrepresentation related to the government’s use of fire booms:

Now, when it comes to what’s happening on the surface, we’ve been much more involved in the in situ burns, in the skimming. Those have been happening more or less under our direction, and we feel comfortable about many of the steps that have been taken.

The real record with respect to “in situ burns” is quite different, as we noted here. In fact, the federal government had a plan to combat major spills in the Gulf that relied on fire booms to carry out in situ burns. But when the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred, the government realized that it did not actually possess any fire booms. It obtained one from a company in Illinois and tried to borrow others from foreign governments. Meanwhile, the oil spread. Ron Gouguet, the former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oil spill response coordinator who helped craft the government’s plan in 1994, expressed puzzlement that the plan had never been implemented and “speculated that burning could have captured 95 percent of the oil as it spilled from the well.”

So today’s press conference was just another chapter in the ongoing saga of the Obama administration’s dishonesty.

PAUL adds: The Weekly Standard’s “Scrapbook” adds an interesting footnote to the Obama administration’s response to this mess. The Department of Energy assembled a team of five top scientists to help figure out how to handle the clean-up. But one of them, physicist Jonathan Katz of Washington University, has a website on which he has publishes essays on non-science topics, including “In Defense of Homophobia” and “Diversity Is the Last Refuge of Scoundrels.”

Upon the administration’s discovery that Katz doesn’t toe the left-liberal line on gay marriage and affirmative action, it booted him off of the team. As the Scrapbook notes, this was a political decision by an administration that promised to “take politics out of religion” and “restore science to its rightful place.”

Frankly, I don’t expect the government to act flawlessly, or even all that effectively, in the face of true disasters like an enormous flood or a major off-shore oil drilling mishap. I’d be happy with an administration that avoided rank dishonesty and the use of political litmus tests in the selection of its experts.

also:

From Gateway Pundit

GOP Moves to Repeal Obamacare – Dems Lie About It’s Popularity

Nearly two-thirds of Americans want Obamacare repealed. Democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill down America’s throat in March.
Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill to repeal it.

The Hill reported: (more…)

Posted by Steven in National

Failed President Barack Obama plans to skip out of Washington DC and spend Memorial Day in Chicago, bailing on the traditional Presidential trip to Arlington National Cemetery and flipping the bird to the nation’s fallen soldiers who the holiday is meant to honor.

In New Mexico on Memorial Day 2008, then-candidate Obama claimed to see some of the “fallen heroes” in the audience as he spoke and falsely claimed that his uncle liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp when no American troops were involved in that liberation.

This year he won’t be embarrassing himself by revealing he has no idea what the holiday is about or making up self-aggrandizing stories about his family members’ achievements. He’ll be on vacation.

After arriving on Thursday night, [the Obamas] will visit with friends and participate in private events.

On Monday, Obama will make remarks at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, south of Chicago – missing the usual tradition of presidents speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.
(more…)

From Gateway Pundit

Try it…
Type “www.michellemalkin.org” and see where it takes you.
…The White House website.

Via Free Republic

Michelle Malkin’s correct website address is www.michellemalkin.com.

Confirmed: Unarmed National Guard Troops Won’t Be Used to Stop Illegal Immigrants

The illegal immigrants aren’t just from Mexico:

(FOX News)

Mexican President Calderon was right.
Those 1,200 National Guard troops who are being sent to the border… Will not be used to curb illegal immigration.
The AFP reported:
(more…)

from Flopping Aces

“You never want a serious crisis go to waste”

The Gulf oil spill has provided a crisis for Democrats to seize upon. There are different ways in which they tale advantage of it. Obama’s response to the crisis is to play golf. The Democrat Congress responds as it usually does- increase taxes.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Responding to the massive BP oil spill, Congress is getting ready to quadruple—to 32 cents a barrel—a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade.
The tax is levied on oil produced in the U.S. or imported from foreign countries. The revenue goes to a fund managed by the Coast Guard to help pay to clean up spills in waterways, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

The tax would quadruple existing oil tax to 32 cents per gallon. Ostensibly, the money would be used for the clean-up of the Gulf oil spill. But it gets confusing. On one hand the article says

Lawmakers want to increase the current 8-cent-a-barrel tax on oil to make sure there is enough money available to respond to oil spills.

But in the next moment it says

President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have said they expect BP to foot the bill for the cleanup.

But the most amusing sentence came from Harry Reid.

“Taxpayers will not pick up the tab,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Monday.

also:

Reporter/Stalker Of Sarah Palin Moves In Next Door

Dude….seriously?

What a freak!

Spring has sprung in Alaska, and with this beautiful season comes the news today that the Palins have a new neighbor! Welcome, Joe McGinniss!

Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is – about 15 feet away on the neighbor’s rented deck overlooking my children’s play area and my kitchen window. Maybe we’ll welcome him with a homemade blueberry pie tomorrow so he’ll know how friendly Alaskans are.

We found out the good news today. Upon my family’s return this morning from endorsement rallies and speeches in the Lower 48 states, I finally got the chance to tackle my garden and lawn this evening! So, putting on the shorts and tank top to catch that too-brief northern summer sun and placing a giddy Trig in his toddler backpack for a lawn-mowing adventure, I looked up in surprise to see a “new neighbor” overlooking my property just a stone’s throw away. Needless to say, our outdoor adventure ended quickly after Todd went to introduce himself to the stranger who was peering in…

Joe announced to Todd that he’s moved in right next door to us. He’s rented the place for the next five months or so. He moved up all the way from Massachusetts to live right next to us – while he writes a book about me. Knowing of his many other scathing pieces of “journalism” (including the bizarre anti-Palin administration oil development pieces that resulted in my Department of Natural Resources announcing that his work is the most twisted energy-related yellow journalism they’d ever encountered), we’re sure to have a doozey to look forward to with this treasure he’s penning. Wonder what kind of material he’ll gather while overlooking Piper’s bedroom, my little garden, and the family’s swimming hole?

Welcome, Joe! It’ll be a great summer – come borrow a cup of sugar if ever you need some sweetener. And you know what they say about “fences make for good neighbors”? Well, we’ll get started on that tall fence tomorrow, and I’ll try to keep Trig’s squeals down to a quiet giggle so we don’t disturb your peaceful summer. Enjoy!

- Sarah Palin

And the freakier it gets:

I haven’t been able to reach McGinniss, but did send an errant email to his son, the novelist Joe McGinniss Jr., who replied, “Sadly, she’s right. We tried our best to intervene, but alas, the heart wants what it wants. We can only pray for him now. He’s convinced that Todd will step aside and when the time is right, he’ll be there, right next door, to pick up the pieces.“

Some contact info on the jackhole:

Joe McGinniss, Jr.

Contact Info
Publicity

Deb Seager, Director of Publicity
Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
New York, NY 10003
212-614-7850
EMAIL

Agent
Katharine Cluverius
International Creative Management (ICM)
40 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
EMAIL

Author
EMAIL

http://www.joemcginnissjr.com/author.html

Here is the page to leave feedback for the author at his publishers.

While building that fence Sarah, put up a hundred webcams pointing towards the perv’s house and put the live feed up. Lets see how he likes it.

More here.

From Powerline

The combination of oil spill and anti-Arizona rhetoric continues to drag down President Obama’s poll numbers. Scott Rasmussen’s Approval Index, the difference between those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove of his performance, has declined to -22, the lowest point of Obama’s presidency so far:

Overall, Obama’s approval/disapproval among likely voters stands at 43/56. Other numbers are equally troubling for the President. Among men, 20 percent strongly approve of his job performance, but a stunning 50 percent strongly disapprove. And only 35 percent now say his handling of the economy is excellent or good.

also:

Echoes of the reconquest near Ground Zero

My conservative cousin from New York writes:

Plans to build Cordoba House, a 15-story Islamic Center two blocks north of Ground Zero, received a major boost yesterday when a Manhattan community board backed the proposal by a 29-to-1 vote. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said the center would help “bridge and heal a divide” among Muslims and other religious groups.

Perhaps the Imam is sincere but I find the whole project an outrage. The name Cordoba House at best conveys a total insensitivity to the families of victims of the attack at worse it shows sympathy with the terrorist’s goals. Cordoba, was the Capital of Al-Andalus the Islamic Caliphate that ruled much of Spain during the Middle Ages. One of Al-Qaida’s main goals announced after the 9/11 attack was the restoration of the Cordoba Caliphate in Al-Andalus.

The Project is said to cost $100 million and no one seems to know who is paying for all of this. There are hundreds of Mosques in the New York area in a nation dedicated to religious freedom. If the Imam wants to “bridge and heal a divide” among Muslims and other faiths he should look beyond Manhattan. There are no churches or synagogues in Mecca, Riyadh or Kuwait. In Egypt, Iran and other Islamic nations those who don’t adhere to Islam practice their faiths at great risk to themselves and their families. I don’t understand why Mayor Bloomberg and other local officials are supporting this project.
(more…)

From Big Journalism and via Power Line:

by Dennis Sevakis

Big Journalism reports that the union demonstrators at the Bank of America lawyer’s house outside Washington, D.C., had a police escort. The escort comprised DC police offers; the primary role of the Washington cops in this event was to protect the protesters. Big Journalism observes:

A caravan of SEIU buses receive a Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department escort to a private home in Maryland where the protesters, from all appearances, violate Montgomery County law by engaging in a stationary protest. The Montgomery County police were not informed by their cross-jurisdictional colleagues of the impending, unusually large protest pending in their jurisdiction.

What’s up with that? Had the mob decided to torch the house, the D.C. police would not have been authorized to intervene. Not their jurisdiction. They’re just escorts. Meanwhile, a teenage boy is home alone [at the Bank of America lawyer's house], frightened by what’s happening outside his front door.

So, who ordered the D.C. police to escort the “demonstrators”? And why weren’t the Montgomery County police informed? Will the SEIU be prosecuted? Andy Stern certainly won’t. That may be why he stepped down as SEIU president — so that he can pull the strings from the shadows without putting himself in prosecution’s way. Right?
If this business doesn’t absolutely infuriate you, you may want to question the depth of your “interest” in politics. This is where the rubber meets the road as far as the “progressives” are concerned. I know. I’ve had some very personal experiences in this department.

But then, you have to wonder about the commitment of Montgomery County to protecting the safety of peaceful citizens in their own homes when officers of the law keep themselves entertained erroneously drug-busting Mayors and shooting dogs: http://www.reason.com/news/show/134734.html Maybe the Montgomery Poletzie were informed, but were asked and agreed to stay out of it. Ya think?

Nina Easton’s account of the SEIU demonstration that terrorized the son of her next-door neighbor — the deputy general counsel of Bank of America — has drawn remarkably little attention. That’s the way that SEIU wanted it; the union only alerted one of its handmaidens at the Huffington Post of the event. Easton notes that only “a friendly Huffington Post blogger showed up, narrowcasting coverage to the union’s leftist base. The rest of the message these protesters brought was personal-aimed at frightening Baer and his family, not influencing a broader public.”

Easton provided a straightforward eyewitness account of the demonstration, protesting mortgage foreclosures. Based on her reporting, Easton concludes that the protest was something of a pretext. She offered an explanation of SEIU’s demonstration based on its current organizing goals and noted in passing that “SEIU, suffering financially, owes the bank nearly $4 million in interest and fees. Bank of America declined comment on the loans.”

Easton is almost certainly on to something. We should pause to consider the event she witnessed long and hard. It provides another window onto the phenomenon that Michael Barone has dubbed “gangster government.”

The folks at Big Government and Big Journalism have followed up on Easton’s column. They note that the union and the lapdogs at Huffington Post and Media Matters have attacked Easton for reporting on the doings in her yard.

Big Journalism reports that the union demonstrators at the Bank of America lawyer’s house outside Washington, D.C., had a police escort. The escort comprised DC police offers; the primary role of the Washington cops in this event was to protect the protesters. Big Journalism observes:

A caravan of SEIU buses receive a Metropolitan (D.C.) Police Department escort to a private home in Maryland where the protesters, from all appearances, violate Montgomery County law by engaging in a stationary protest. The Montgomery County police were not informed by their cross-jurisdictional colleagues of the impending, unusually large protest pending in their jurisdiction.

What’s up with that? Had the mob decided to torch the house, the D.C. police would not have been authorized to intervene. Not their jurisdiction. They’re just escorts. Meanwhile, a teenage boy is home alone [at the Bank of America lawyer's house], frightened by what’s happening outside his front door.

Big Government also takes a look at the loans SEIU has taken out with Bank of America. The aptly named LIberty Chick reports that as of 2007, the SEIU owed Bank of America nearly $95 Million. By the end of 2008, SEIU owed more than $156 Million in total outstanding liabilities. Ms. Chick speculates: “Perhaps all that campaigning for President Obama has emboldened the union to think that they deserve a free pass on their debts to Bank of America, and encouraged them to employ their usual thuggish shakedown tactics.”

At this point it is safe to make one point at least. The event outside Nina Easton’s house deserves more attention than it has received to date.

UPDATE: The Washington Examiner arrives on the scene today in its editorial: “No police escort for union thugs.”

and:

Reporter Reveals: Gibbs Privately Scolded Press for Asking Too Many BP Questions

Finally:

Dick Morris: Sestak Bribery Scandal Is Impeachable Offense

However:

Justice Department declines to appoint independent counsel for Sestak case

Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a candidate in the Senate Democratic primary race, speaks to members of the media before casting his vote at his polling place in Gradyville, Pa., Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Sestak won the Democratic primary against Sen. Arlen Specter. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The Department of Justice doesn’t need any outside help investigating the White House — at least that’s what DOJ says. In a letter to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich attempts to tip-toe around the congressman’s request for an independent counsel to investigate a bribery claim made by Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak.
(more…)

From Gateway Pundit

In a 2001 interview Barack Obama said he wanted to radically reinterpret the Constitution to redistribute America’s wealth.

It looks like his plan is working.
Private sector pay shrank to its smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, government handouts soared.
USA Today reported:

Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds.

At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.

Those records reflect a long-term trend accelerated by the recession and the federal stimulus program to counteract the downturn. The result is a major shift in the source of personal income from private wages to government programs.

The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes. Reason: The federal government depends on private wages to generate income taxes to pay for its ever-more-expensive programs. Government-generated income is taxed at lower rates or not at all, he says. “This is really important,” Grimes says.

also:

Obama Tells Republicans to “Stand Up to Your Base” & Pass More Radical Leftist Legislation

63% of American voters want Congress to repeal the last piece of radical legislation rammed down their throats.
It doesn’t matter.

Barack Obama told Senate Republicans today to work with democrats to pass more radical leftist legislation.
The Politico reported:

President Barack Obama battled with Senate Republicans in a tense closed-door meeting Tuesday, facing tough criticism from his GOP adversaries — including John McCain — on issues ranging from health care to border security.

Senators and other sources inside the meeting described the gathering as “testy” and “direct” — and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) accused Obama of acting two-faced by asking for GOP support on regulatory reform only to push forward with a bill supported mainly by Democrats. Others felt that the meeting may have made already tense relations between the two parties even worse.

“The more he talked, the more he got upset,” Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said. “He needs to take a valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans and just calm down, and don’t take anything so seriously. If you disagree with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re attacking their motives — and he takes it that way and tends then to lecture and then gets upset.”

The White House said that Obama made a plea for bipartisanship on some of the country’s most pressing issues — and he urged Republicans to stand up to their base and compromise with the Democratic Party.

Bill Burton, a White House spokesman who attended the meeting, later told reporters that the meeting was “civil in tone” and not as contentious as Republicans have made it out to be. But he said Obama directly challenged the GOP to work in a bipartisan fashion on immigration and energy – or risk seeing those two major issues fall apart this year.

Inside the lunch meeting, Obama squared off with his old rival McCain (R-Ariz.) over border security, sources said. Sources described Obama’s conversation with McCain as rather direct.

McCain said he told Obama: “We need to secure the borders first. He didn’t agree.” A McCain spokeswoman said their exchange was “frank but respectful.”

Shortly after the meeting, Obama called for 1,200 National Guard troops to be deployed to the border, and McCain quickly one-upped the president, asking for 6,000.

One Republican senator told reporters after Obama left, “He’s pretty thin-skinned.”
No kidding.

Finally:

Figures. Obama Knew Arizona Immigration Law Would Be Challenged When He Announced 1,200 Guard Troops Would Be Sent to the Border Today

Ace of Spades nailed it.
The Obama Administration announced today that they would send 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border. Ace said it was just cover for the Administration so that they could go after the Arizona immigration law. Ace was right. In fact, today’s announcement was just a diversion. Barack Obama knew before today’s troop announcement that his Justice Department would challenge Arizona’s immigration law. His ingrained radicalism is predictable.

Tonight, a team of radical Obama Justice Department attorneys recommended that the U.S. government challenge the Arizona state immigration law. (more…)

from Flopping Aces

If Sestak is lying he should be disqualified for the Senate. If someone at the White House offered him a bribe to stay out of Senate race, they broke the law.

That’s really the only two ways to look at this story. The White House made it clear they did not want Joe Sestak to run in the primary against Senator Arlen Specter. Sestak has repeatedly claimed that he was offered a high level job if he were to drop out of the race which he won in last week’s Pennsylvania primary.

Sestak was asked about the controversy this past Sunday on Meet the Press and reaffirmed that an offer was made:

Sestak refuses to say what the job was or who at the White House offered it to him. Earlier this year, Robert Gibbs, White House press spokesman, repeatedly tried to stonewall the matter hoping reporters would drop it. Finally this Monday David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist said that the matter had been looked into and that “nothing inappropriate happened.” He refused to give any details and quickly changed the subject.

Something smells fishy here doesn’t it? Either Sestak was offered a job, in which case it could be a violation of federal law or he wasn’t offered a job and is lying about it. If “nothing inappropriate happened” why won’t the White House come forward and describe the contacts staffers had with Sestak to get him out of the race with Specter? And if any serious cabinet level job offer was considered it would have to have been made with the full knowledge and assent of the President.

Readers may recall the absolute frenzy and firestorm that broke out during the Bush Administration when it was falsely claimed that Karl Rove or other senior White House staff might have outted CIA agent Valerie Plame. No one was ever charged with violating the law against disclosing covert CIA agents, not even Richard Armitage at the State Dept. who actually leaked her name. There was no charge for violating that law because Ms. Plame did not meet the standards in the law defining a covert CIA agent. But that didn’t stop the Special Prosecutor from going forward with a full investigation of top White House officials.

There is ample law covering this subject:

Title 18, U.S.C. Section 211 says, “Whoever solicits or receives, either as a political contribution or for personal emolument, any money or thing of value, in consideration of the promise of support or use of influence in obtaining for any person any appointive office or place under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year or both.”

Title 18, U.S.C. Section 595, which says, “Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States … uses his official authority for the purposes of interfering with, or affecting the nomination of, or the election of any candidate for office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representative…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

Title 18 U.S.C. Section 600, which says, “Whoever directly or indirectly promises any employment position, compensation, contract, appointment, or other benefit provided for or made possible in whole or in part by any Act of Congress, or any special consideration in obtaining any such benefit, to any person as consideration, in favor, or reward for any political activity or for the support of or opposition to any candidate or any political party in connection with any general or special election to any political office … shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.”

Readers will also recall how former Obama buddy and former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevitch was indicted on multiple counts of corruption, including the attempt to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama after he was elected President.

U.S. District Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who was the Special Prosecutor in the Valerie Plame case is also the lead attorney prosecuting Blagojevitch. He might the ideal man to serve as Special Prosecutor investigating whether laws were broken in the Sestak affair.

One wonders how long a President that championed transparency and openness during the presidential election can continue to stonewall and evade a full and complete accounting of White House activity with Sestak. Clearly someone here is lying.

Ultimately, the question is: what did Obama know and when did he know it?

also:

Obama’s Redistribution of Wealth is Strangling the Economy

He’s killing the goose that lays the golden egg just like Greece!

Private pay shrinks to historic lows as gov’t payouts rise
By Dennis Cauchon
USA TODAY
May 25, 2010

Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds.

At the same time, government-provided benefits — from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs — rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.

Those records reflect a long-term trend accelerated by the recession and the federal stimulus program to counteract the downturn. The result is a major shift in the source of personal income from private wages to government programs.
(more…)

By Barry Rubin*

We depend on your contributions. To make a tax-deductible donation through PayPal or credit card, click the Donate button in the upper-right hand corner of this page. Donations by check: To “American Friends of IDC,” with “for GLORIA Center” on memo line. Mail: American Friends of IDC, 116 East 16th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10003.

Note: A different version of this article is published on Pajamas Media. Please also credit them in reprinting and linking.

The new sanctions proposed by the U.S. government, and reportedly accepted by the other permanent members of the UN Security Council-Britain, China, France, and Russia-will make it harder for Iran to get arms and slightly more difficult for it to get foreign investment. It is a step forward, a good thing, but a step too small and too slow.

At this stage of the process, U.S. efforts hardly match Iran’s determination to obtain nuclear weapons. Many will argue that this is the best outcome the Obama Administration could get with its approach. Perhaps true, but this shows the strategy is a problem.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says these are the “toughest sanctions to date.” But they are significantly weaker than what has been discussed earlier even by the U.S. government, far weaker than what Congress proposes. And the draft proposal may be watered down even further to win support in the UN Security Council vote.

Briefly, while we all know that sanctions–at least these sanctions–will not stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons that doesn’t mean that a sanctions’ effort is useless. There are many other purposes they could serve:
(more…)

From Powerline

Do you recall what was revealed the day that SEIU sicced a mob on the suburban D.C. home of the Bank of America deputy general counsel? Nina Easton filed an illuminating report. The mainstream media are studiously avoiding this story. Readers seeking to keep up with it will have to check in at Big Government with Andrew Marcus on the Obama connection and with Liberty Chick on the unholy SEIU/Media Matters/HuffPo alliance.

Big Journalism reported that the D.C. police escorted the union thugs to the Bank of America lawyer’s home in Chevy Chase. In statements to the Washington Examiner and Big Journalism, the police vehemently denied the BJ report. According to the D.C. police statement posted by the Examiner, the D.C. police “only shadowed the unpermitted march, while in the District of Columbia, to ensure that no one in the march was injured.” Now BJ asks: “As D.C. cops fine-tune their story, where’s the Washington Post on the SEIU protest at the Bank Of America exec’s home?”

banker_protest.top.jpg

It’s a long question to which I can offer a short answer: Missing in action.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds comments regarding the media silence enveloping the SEIU assault on the Bank of America lawyer’s home: “If he were a doctor who performed abortions or a ‘civil rights’ leader they’d be in full-blown have-you-no-decency-sir mode. But since he’s an Enemy Of The Regime, not so much.”

also:

Burn, America, Burn

by Matt Welch

Here’s to the Greeks!Via commenter Smoovev comes the latest example of well-respected former war correspondent Chris Hedges advocating political violence in America:

Here’s to the Greeks. They know what to do when corporations pillage and loot their country. They know what to do when Goldman Sachs and international bankers collude with their power elite to falsify economic data and then make billions betting that the Greek economy will collapse. They know what to do when they are told their pensions, benefits and jobs have to be cut to pay corporate banks, which screwed them in the first place. Call a general strike. Riot. Shut down the city centers. Toss the bastards out. Do not be afraid of the language of class warfare—the rich versus the poor, the oligarchs versus the citizens, the capitalists versus the proletariat. The Greeks, unlike most of us, get it.

Greek rioters have killed three so far. (more…)

From Gateway Pundit

The unions blew billions working to get democrats elected.
Now it’s payback time. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) wants taxpayers to fork over $165 billion to bailout the troubled union pension funds.
FOX News reported:

A Democratic senator is introducing legislation for a bailout of troubled union pension funds. If passed, the bill could put another $165 billion in liabilities on the shoulders of American taxpayers.

The bill, which would put the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation behind struggling pensions for union workers, is being introduced by Senator Bob Casey, (D-Pa.), who says it will save jobs and help people.

As FOX Business Network’s Gerri Willis reported Monday, these pensions are in bad shape; as of 2006, well before the market dropped and recession began, only 6% of these funds were doing well.

Although right now taxpayers could possibly be on the hook for $165 billion, the liability could essentially be unlimited because these pensions have to be paid out until the workers die.

also:

State-Run Media Now Comparing Arizona Law to Tiananmen Square Massacre

Respected State-run media journalist Sam Donaldson is now comparing Arizona to the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Jake Tapper takes him to task.
Via FOX Nation:

They’re checking ID’s, Sam… They’re not rolling over students in tanks.
Unreal.

from Flopping Aces

On March 26, in what was clearly an act of war, a North Korean torpedo sank a south Korean ship, killing 46 sailors. The Obama administration reacted by expressing a strong amount of “caution.” Two months later, Hillary Clinton finally got around to calling the situation “highly precarious.” The Obama adminstration supported South Korea’s move to cut trade with North Korea but then made clear it was afraid – afraid of pissing off North Korea:

“We are working hard to avoid an escalation of belligerence and provocation,”

This has become the hallmark of Obama foreign policy. Hillary Clinton has become Neville Chamberlain. I expect to hear that she’s gotten a “Peace with honour” accord with North Korea that will include a bundle of concessions. The US has been frustrated at the hands of the North Koreans before. A quick search for “North Korea reneges” yields 29,700 hits. But it’s not just North Korea. It seems to be the official policy of the Obama administration to have its ass kicked over and over and over.

Obama unilaterally decided to drop a plan for missile defense for Eastern Europe. Obama hoped to get support for sanctions against Iran in return without any commitment from Russia.

Obama’s climb down is likely to be seen by Russia as a victory for its uncompromising stance.

Today, however, analysts pointed out the decision would help Obama secure Moscow’s co-operation on a possible new sanctions package against Iran and would further his desire to “reset” relations with Moscow following a dismal period under the Bush administration.

How did that work out? Not so well:

Brazil, China, Russia: No To Iranian Sanctions

So what does one do when this approach fails? Why, you keep repeating it if you’re Obama.

Iran has been thumbing its nose at the US continuously. During the Presidential campaign Obama asserted that the world must keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons. What does Obama do?

Obama Accepts a Nuclear Iran

Iran’s obstinance continues to bear fruit:

The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the US had previously accused of assisting Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons.

Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria were also lifted.

The timing of the decisions, published in Friday’s Federal Register but not otherwise announced by the State Department, suggested the possibility of a link to US efforts to win Russian support for a new UN Security Council resolution expanding sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

It didn’t work last time, so why not try it again?

Sometimes Obama competes with himself for the title of Biggest Loser. He has decided to tell everyone in the world exactly how many warheads we have, and when we plan to make secret missile launches.

And Obama has decided that Congress doesn’t need to know any of this. Maybe it’s to spare them the anguish of watching a great nation’s downward spin in the current of the commode.

We can’t says we weren’t warned, and warned by Obama himself.

Obama has made clear that his policy for the United States is to diminish us, to humiliate us, and to weaken us. Our adversaries, in return have also made clear their policy toward the US:

U.S. and South Korea Plan to Retaliate by Launching Joint Military Exercises

South Korean soldiers aim their weapons near the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea in Yanggu.

MSNBC/AP:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — in Beijing to win support from China, North Korea’s top ally, for diplomatic action — said Monday the Obama administration is striving to avoid a conflict on the Korean peninsula.

“We are working hard to avoid an escalation of belligerence and provocation,” Clinton said. “This is a highly precarious situation that the North Koreans have caused in the region.” The U.S. will work with other nations to make sure that North Korea feels the consequences of its actions and changes its behavior to avoid “the kind of escalation that would be very regrettable,” she said.

Heh…and it seems like the North Koreans are working hard to achieve “an escalation of belligerence and provocation”.