More Journalistic Dishonesty

More often, the firm (Goldman Sachs) — whose lobbyists and outside lawyers include Washington luminaries like Richard A. Gephardt, the former House majority leader, and Ken Duberstein, the former Reagan administration official — has relied largely on intermediaries because politicians are worried about being associated with it, government and industry officials said. (NYT, 4/29/10)

Loved this curious omission in an article about Goldman Sachs. The Times points out that Duberstein worked in the Reagan administration, but neglects to mention something about Dick Gephardt. What could it be? Oh, of course! He’s a Democrat!

Quote of the Week
Top 10 reasons why the White House lies awake at night: The economy is reviving but employment is not. Solution: Attack Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. The White House knows that every day the media is writing or talking about their man's cat fights with conservative celebrities, it isn't doing stories about "Depression-like" unemployment.
(Daniel Henninger, WSJ, 4/29/10)

Shilling for Obama

The most intriguing findings in the Washington Post-ABC News poll published Wednesday are the barest hints of a possible upturn for the Democrats. They suggest that, while the political climate remains tilted strongly in the direction of the Republicans, the next months will be crucial in shaping what ultimately happens in November.

The Post-ABC survey found no dramatic changes in the overall atmosphere. (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

This is what the Washington Post considers newsworthy. The barest hints?

Thirty-nine percent said the policies pursued by Obama have made the economy better as compared to 26 percent who said they had made things worse. (Another third -- 32 percent -- said that Obama's policies had had no effect.) (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

The Washington Post could – if they were not completely in the tank for Obama – written: 58% of respondents said that Obama had no effect or made things worse!

Make Up Your Mind
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), on his party-switch:"Well, I probably shouldn't say this. But I have thought from time to time that I might have helped the country more if I'd stayed a Republican." (Washington Post, 4/28/10)

Memo to Specter: We don’t want you back!

Goldilocks Capitalism

RedStateVT watched some of the testimony of various Goldman Sachs executives before Senator Carl Levin yesterday. It’s always a hoot watching sanctimonious politicians pontificate before the cameras. Levin noted how Goldman had made billions on its mortgage trades; well it seemed like billions of times. All of which somehow reminded us of previous hearings on the AIG failure. So it seems like Dems don’t like corporations to either make or lose billions of dollars. Which is kind of how they want the world to work, e.g. no winners and no losers, everything even, all outcomes pre-ordained.

On the topic of Goldman Sachs, we are apparently supposed to believe that it was entirely coincidental that the SEC brought charges against the firm and that the hearings were scheduled right as Obama and the Dems pitch financial reform. Is this transparent attempt to influence public opinion the transparency that Obama talked about?

Up to His Eyeballs
“We are as vulnerable as we are today in the waning days of April 2010 as we were in the fall of 2008,” said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the banking committee, who is the primary sponsor of the bill. “Nothing has changed, except, of course, jobs have been lost, homes have gone into foreclosure, retirement incomes have evaporated, housing values have declined.” (NYT, 4/27/10)

RedStateVT reminds readers (once again) that Dodd is effectively being run out of town, in no small part due to his sweetheart mortgage deal with Countrywide. He hopes you forget. We won’t let that happen.

Street Fight
Why is Obama waging such unprincipled war on the tea party people? Because, at last, the Republicans have come up with an activist base to counter the ravages of the likes of Acorn and Moveon.org. The GOP is coming up with a ground game and it scares the daylights out of the Democrats. (Dick Morris, 4/20/10)

Catch-Up

Fox and the Chicken
Jon Stewart is going after Fox News again. The hysterically funny Stewart’s hysterically funny punch line is basically to say “F*** Fox News” which causes his hip studio audience to break up in hysterics. Hysterical!

Down on the Border
Arizona has enacted new legislation to combat the rampant illegal immigration which threatens this border state. Obama’s response is to warn ominously that the Feds will be watching for civil rights violations. God forbid someone should be asked to produce their birth certificate to prove they are a U.S. citizen. Oh, wait a minute….

Obama’s Priority #1
….that is, after health care, financial reform, immigration, cap and trade, etc.

But the unemployment rate -- it may be the most recognizable economic indicator -- has held steady at 9.7 percent for the past three months, and 15 million Americans remain out of work. By the White House's own estimates, as well as those of many independent economists, that rate isn't expected to fluctuate more than a few tenths of a percent through the end of 2010. (Fox News, 4/27/10)

Those Things He Does

President Obama has – in RedStateVT’s view – a very curious personality trait. Obama acts at times in an almost defiant way toward the public. We could cite his push for his version of health care reform notwithstanding obvious and significant public opposition. But let’s put aside the political and cite two other examples. On opening day for the Washington Nationals, Obama steps out to the mound and promptly whips out a Chicago White Sox hat. Why? It was such an odd and unpresidential gesture that it cannot be explained in any rational way. What audience is Obama playing to….White Sox supporters who already know that he is a fan? For this, he is willing to antagonize Nationals fans, to what end? The second example is Obama’s response to the question of race on his census form. With a black father and a white mother Obama checks off “African American” instead of the obvious choice “mixed race.” Again, what is the rationale? Does Obama think that he has to show his ‘bona fides’ to African Americans? We’ll resist the temptation to play amateur psychologist any more than we have here, but there is another term that comes to mind…..narcissism. Leave it at that for now.

More Unpresidential
While it takes two to tangle, we think the hyper-polarization owes more than a little to Mr. Obama's own rhetorical habits. More than any President in memory, Mr. Obama has a tendency to vilify his opponents in personal terms and assail their arguments as dishonest, illegitimate or motivated by bad faith.

If the President and his advisers are wondering why his approval ratings are falling even as the economy is recovering, they might look to his own divisive conduct and the contempt he too often shows for anyone who disagrees with him. (WSJ, 4/22/10)

But will he give the $1M back?
Addressing leaders of New York’s financial giants, including Goldman Sachs, Mr. Obama described himself as a champion of change battling “battalions of financial industry lobbyists” and the “withering forces” of the economic elite. (NYT, 4/22/10)

Just the Facts

Will Obama Return the Money?
According to Federal Election Commission figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Goldman Sachs’ political action committee and individual contributors who listed the company as their employer donated $994,795 during 2007 and 2008 to Obama's presidential campaign, the second-highest contribution from a company PAC and company employees. (CNN.com, 4/21/10)

Dems loved to run around shouting the catch-all phrase “Halliburton” during the Bush years. Opponents of President Obama now have their response.

Good News!
The head of activist group ACORN came to a federal court Tuesday to observe a legal fight over its funding and said the group was on "life support" after waves of bad publicity and an attempt by Congress to cut off its money. (FoxNews.com, 4/21/10)

Andrew Breitbart for President!

South Poll
In North Carolina, a state that Obama won 49.7% to McCain’s 49.4%, Rasmussen reports that 57% disapprove of the job Obama is doing (with 51 percent "strongly" disapproving), while 42% approve.

Not to worry, those numbers should correct after the stimulus kicks in…scratch that…after the benefits of health care reform kick in…scratch that…after they pass financial reform…

Stop Making Sense

As a service to loyal followers, RedStateVT will occasionally tune in to the liberal media to keep current on what the other side is thinking. Last week, we watched Hardball with Chris Matthews who had as a guest, union godfather Andy Stern. Stern was apparently doing a victory lap after recently being honored as the most frequent visitor to Obama’s White House. Stern’s SEIU, of course, provides the street muscle for the Democrat Party. There must have been a time in the past when Matthews was an objective journalist. But then he lost it over George Bush and later developed a man-crush on Obama. In any event, here is Matthews ranting about……we’re not sure what:

MATTHEWS: What happened to America? These guys are making four billion dollars a year as hedge fund managers and nobody can figure out what they do. Whereas, the little guy starting a business—I don‘t care if it‘s a bakery a or movie studio, you don‘t see them making any money anymore. The money is going to the guy who is chopping and chopping.

What about that? You‘re a big labor. You‘re a big thinker. Are we ever going to get the money to go to the person who starts the business and works 60 hours a week and sweats it out, comes home at midnight exhausted? Is that guy or woman ever going to get their money again? (Chris Matthews, Hardball, 4/15/10)

So, Matthews apparently thinks the hedge fund guys are cheating some poor baker. As we have said in the past, there are some people you just can’t talk to. If Matthews wants to know, the thing that makes America great is that the little guy can start his own business, work hard, and achieve success. This is a foreign concept to some who think the government has to provide for all.

The Disgraced Former President Weighs In

Former President Clinton on Sunday broadened his warning that Tea Party protesters could feed violence reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing, suggesting "right-wing media" and the blogosphere could be culpable for any future politically fueled extremism as well. (FoxNews.com, 4/18/10)

From a family known for conjuring “vast right wing conspiracies” comes this. Meanwhile a real bomber like Obama’s patron William Ayers walks the streets a free man.

Don't call it a comeback. At least that's what former President Clinton is saying about anticipated Republican gains in the November elections.

Despite growing discontent among conservatives, the former president told ABC's "This Week" that he doesn't think Republicans will be able to pull off the kind of congressional takeover they engineered under his watch in 1994.

"I don't think they will win either house, no. If history is any guide, they should make a few gains, but I don't expect them to win in either house," Clinton said. (FoxNews.com, 4/18/10)

Wishing won't make it so!

Careful What You Wish For

Woodstock, VT -- Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is quoted on WPTZ calling for the next Supreme Court justice to be "non-traditional with real world experience."

Leahy, 70, has been a professional politician since the age of 26. He has served in Washington for 36 years, and is seeking a seventh six year team. Leahy is one of sixty lawyers serving in the US Senate. He has never in his adult life held a private sector job. (VTGOP.org, 4/16/10)

RedStateVT says: let's extend the Senator's wish to.....the next Senator from Vermont!

Afternoon Tea

……the Tea Party has its share of faux populists. They march under slogans such as "can you hear us now?" and "we the people," but their demands on Tax Day were more those of the angry affluent than oppressed commoners. (Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 4/16/10)

Unsure of exactly how to demean Tea Party members, liberals have switched from labeling them stupid, to calling them angry white males, to - the latest insult - they're rich!

To be sure, great efforts have been made recently to demonize the Tea Party movement. But polling suggests that the Tea Party movement has not been diminished but, in fact, has grown stronger. The Winston Group found, in three national surveys, conducted from December through February and published April 1, that the Tea Party movement is composed of a broad cross-section of the American people -- 40 to 50 percent of its supporters are non-Republicans. Indeed, one-third of self-identified Democrats say they support the Tea Party movement.
(Patrick H. Caddell and Douglas E. Schoen, Washington Post, 4/16/10)

Meanwhile, it turns out some of them are actually Democrats!

The Tea Partiers assembled peaceably and made no secret of their grievances so they appeared to have met the Constitutional test of First Amendment protection. The New York Times estimated that "5,000 to 10,000 people attended" the event on the Washington Mall. If it had been a pro-Liberal-cause demonstration, the Times would have estimated the crowd at between 750,000 and 17 million people… (Rich Galen, Townhall.com, 4/16/10)

Good point, remember the "millions" who used to routinely gather to protest the Bush war in Iraq?

Taxing

What to Say?
Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public and tend to be Republican, white, male and married, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. (NYT, 4/15/10)

The Times probably didn’t know what to do with these findings. No doubt they were thrilled with the “white male Republican” result here because they can then play the “lack of diversity” card. It’s the “more-educated” part they will struggle with because it runs contrary to the party line that Tea Partiers are dumb hicks and anyone who disagrees with Obama is ignorant.

Eat the Rich!
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama made $5.5 million in 2009, up from the $2.7 million they made in 2008, according to the tax returns released Thursday by the White House. (Fox News, 4/15/10)

No more demonizing the wealthy!

Bad Medicine
People are scared of legalizing it because the right-wing press demonizes anything like pot and the whole experience," Chong explained. "Pot helped me cure my prostate problems and helps people with cancer. It really is a medicine and has been for centuries, since the beginning of time. Our culture is finally now coming around to realize that." (Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, Fox News, 4/15/10)

Oh, we thought Cheech & Chong movies like “Up in Smoke” were laugh fests for stoners. Turns out they were really for doctors…..

Half Nelson

Greta Van Susteren interviewed Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson last night on Fox and it was riveting. (The interview is posted on www.gretawire.com.) Apparently this is the first time that Nelson has been publicly asked to explain the $100 million deal that Nelson got for Nebraska (a.k.a. the Cornhusker Kickback) as part of the health care bill. Watching Nelson explain that he did not sell his vote and that the intention was for every state to get the same deal that he got for his state was downright humorous.

Civil Servants
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) issued a plea for civility Tuesday, calling on his colleagues not to "incite the public" and criticizing Republicans who doubt whether much-discussed racially charged incidents during last month's health-care debate ever took place. Hoyer also reminded the public that he steadfastly defended George Bush and Dick Cheney against vicious personal attacks during the previous administration. (Washington Post, 4/13/10)

OK, we made up that last sentence…..because it didn’t happen. Speaking of civility, our old pal Barney Frank was on Jay Leno recently, reminding us once again that civility is a one way street. Prompted by Leno, Frank took the low road issuing one word insults of Mitt Romney, John McCain and Sarah Palin. Given that Barney was supposedly the target of Tea Party insults during the health care debate, we might have thought that he would take the high road. He didn’t.

Financial reform? Sure, go for it!

A group of Democrats, joined by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, are planning an aggressive spring offensive to strengthen key provisions of the financial reform bill — and daring Senate Republicans to vote against them. (Politico.com, 4/12/10)

Along with trial lawyers, Wall Street liberals are the biggest contributors to the Dem Party. Let's see if Dems really follow through when the money starts to dry up. Pop Quiz: Jon Corzine and Robert Rubin are a) Republicans b) Democrats c) Tea Partiers. If you guessed b) Democrats you win!

American Way
Europe is a free-rider. It can only afford to be Europe because we can afford to be America.

The most obvious and most cited illustration of this fact is national defense. Europe’s defense budgets have been minuscule because Europeans can count on Uncle Sam to protect them.

But that’s not the only way in which Europeans are free-riders. America invents a lot of stuff. When was the last time you used a Portuguese electronic device? How often does Europe come out with a breakthrough drug? (Jonah Goldberg, Boston Herald, 4/12/10)

Turning Red

In a state that Barack Obama carried in the 2008 elections 67 percent to John McCain's 30 percent, Rasmussen polling now shows the following: 62 percent disapprove of the job Obama is doing (with 52 percent "strongly" disapproving) while 36 percent approve.

(from www.politicsdaily.com, (4/11/10)

If Obama can't hold Vermont, all is lost.

Short Memories

“The constitution says 51 is all that’s necessary to confirm a Supreme Court justice,” Mr. Leahy said Friday in a telephone interview. “When I was the most junior Democrat in the Senate, I voted for John Paul Stevens. He was a Republican, nominated by a Republican president who was going to be up for election, and we voted for him, and proudly so. I would like to see a return to those kinds of standards.” (New York Times, 4/9/10)

In the 1990s, when Republicans were in the majority, Leahy criticized Republicans for holding up Bill Clinton's judicial appointments and stoutly defended Clinton on impeachment. When Leahy became chairman, he began to hold up judicial nominations himself. He led the rejection by party line votes of two nominees for the Fifth Circuit and demanded from another nominee the memos he had written while working in the office of the solicitor general during the Clinton administration-something never before sought. As ranking minority member in 2003-07, Leahy led filibusters against 10 appeals court nominees-the first in history-which were bitterly attacked by Republicans. (From the New York Times, Adapted from the National Journal's Almanac of American Politics)

So Vermont's Senator-for-Life, Patrick Leahy, now calls for a more genteel approval process for judicial appointees. Mr. Senator, you are hereby accused of the crime of hypocrisy! How do you plead?

Another "Wise" Choice?

Justice John Paul Stevens, the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court and the leader of its liberal wing, informed President Obama on Friday that he will retire at the end of the current term, setting the stage for an election-year confirmation fight that is likely to dominate the summer in an already divided capital. (New York Times, 4/9/10)

With the retirement of another Supreme Court justice it will take only seconds for Obama and the liberals to begin suggesting the next aggrieved or under-represented minority to fill the spot. Never mind judicial qualifications, there are quotas to be filled. The “wise Latina” opening has been taken by Sotomayor. So we are guessing that the following may be options: A wise lesbian; a wise illegal immigrant; a wise parolee; a wise welfare mother. RedStateVT readers are encouraged to submit their suggestions.


As RedStateVT Said
Obama has violated the Ronald Reagan rule that a president must “never say never.” He has eliminated the ambiguity which has kept us safe for decades and made it clear that our nation will not use its full resources to defend its citizenry even if millions are obliterated by heinous biological or chemical weaponry. (Dick Morris, 4/8/10)

He Does It...

His Way, Part 1
President Obama prefers to interact with questioners on his own terms. That means almost no prime-time news conferences -- he hasn't given one for more than nine months. Instead, he obviously favors any forum that allows him to give long, discursive answers without being subjected to follow-up questions. (John Fund, WSJ, 4/5/10)

His Way, Part 2
Coming on the heels of the U.S. public chastisement of Israel's government, the larger concern over the Karzai episode is what it reveals about Mr. Obama's diplomatic frame of mind. With adversaries, he is willing to show inordinate patience, to the point of muffling his objections when opposition blood ran in the streets of Tehran. With allies, on the other hand, the President is unforgiving and insists they follow his lead or face his public wrath. The result will be that our foes fear us less, and that we have fewer friends. (WSJ, 4/7/10)

Nuclear Fallout

Every day since the Senate vote against Vermont Yankee, the plant’s uncertain future has been a topic of conversation in Vernon, said Mike Ball, a Vermont Yankee senior engineer. Every day, he and his co-workers think about their future.

If Ball were to leave Vernon, the town would lose him as a member of the Selectboard and as an emergency medical technician with the fire department. That sort of integration into the community is pervasive among Vermont Yankee employees, said Selectboard Chairman Mike Courtemanche, who does not work at the plant. Courtemanche noted that his son’s baseball coach works at the plant, and the spouses of employees are teachers at the elementary school. (BFP, 4/5/10)

Those legislators who voted against Vermont Yankee are now accountable for the devastating impact - as well as the ripple effect - that the loss of these 650 jobs will have on the community. These are decent hard working people - not the Wall Street fat cats or insurance executives that liberals love to demonize.

Dead Wrong

President Obama said Monday that he was revamping American nuclear strategy to substantially narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear weapons, even in self defense.The strategy eliminates much of the ambiguity that has deliberately existed in American nuclear policy since the opening days of the Cold War. For the first time, the UnitedStates is explicitly committing not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states that are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, even if they attacked the United States with biological or chemical weapons, or launched a crippling cyberattack. (New York Times, 4/5/10)

OMG, as the kids would say. Doesn’t Obama realize that – when it comes to national defense – ambiguity in the minds of your enemies is EXACTLY what you want? This guy is doing more to put this country at risk every day.

Well, which is it?
Obama received a rousing welcome from fans in the packed stadium…. (Washington Post, 4/5/10)

He received a loud ovation from the packed crowd, with a few boos scattered in. (FoxNews, 4/5/10)

Liberal journalists don’t hear it when the President is booed, but they do hear Tea Party members shouting racial epithets…even though no tape can be found to confirm the latter.

GM Fines Toyota
Government Plans to Seek $16.4 Million Penalty Against Toyota for Recalls
The Transportation Department says it's seeking the maximum penalty, more than $16 million, against Toyota for failing to promptly notify the government about defective gas pedals among its vehicles. (NYT, 4/5/10)

GM, formerly known as General Motors and now known as Government Motors... this is what happens when government intrudes on the private sector.

What Would Sean Penn Say?

Since Judge Afiuni’s imprisonment, a dizzying sequence of other high-profile arrests has taken place, pointing to Mr. Chávez’s recent use of his security and intelligence apparatus to quash challenges to his grip on the country’s political institutions. The arrests come at a time of spreading public ire over an economy hobbled by electricity shortages and soaring inflation. (FoxNews, 4/4/10)

Hollywood's favorite dictator!

RedStateVT Asks: Who Said It?

"But Democrats cannot win elections without capturing the votes of independent-minded swing voters. And that is where writing off the tea party as a bunch of racist kooks becomes self-destructive. The tea party outrage over health-care reform, deficit spending and entitlements run amok is no fringe concern. And it is insulting to all voters to suggest that criticism of President Obama, even by people who want to throw him out of office, is motivated by racism."

A) Conservative pundit Karl Rove
B) Conservative commentator William Kristol
C) Former Governor Sarah Palin
D) Liberal commentator Juan Williams
E) RedStateVT



If you guessed, D) Juan Williams, you are today’s winner!

What Liberal Media Bias?

New York Times headline today: Signaling Jobs Recovery, Payrolls Surged in March

Same article, paragraph 1: "The clouds have parted."

Same article, paragraph 9: "The March report may have been inflated, though, by a rebound from February when many people could not work because of snowstorms. Additionally, nearly a third of the hiring in March was temporary work on the 2010 census."

Whew.....good thing we kept reading! We might have been 'unintentionally' misled.

Gloating

Obama and his fellow Democrats passed their health care bill and if they want to celebrate, then that is their prerogative. Given the nature of the bill and the manner in which it was passed, however, one might think that they would exercise a bit more humility about it. Instead, we have the President taunting Republicans and the liberal left again lecturing the opposition about their failings, much as they did after the last elections.

Here’s the difference, though. The health care bill was passed not by a popular election and cannot in any way be perceived as a mandate from the people. It was passed by the slimmest of margins, using every procedural trick and every bribe that Pelosi and Reid could come up with, and seemingly against the will of a majority of the American public. So spare us the advice. The November elections will be a referendum on the bill, on the Democrats in Congress and on the Obama presidency.


Meanwhile…
The Obama health care bill was an authorization measure which established a program and set down its parameters. But authorization bills are not appropriations. Each year the Congress must act on appropriations for each department and agency in the government. If no funds are appropriated, nothing can be spent. (Dick Morris, 3/31/10)